FreeBSD 8.0 vs. Ubuntu 9.10 Benchmarks

[energyman]

it does not matter, even if compared to rhel or sles the bsd fanboys will scream no-fair. Except when they win somewhere - than everything was fair of course.

btw:
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=563624

freebsd fanboys come up with crap like this:
http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/compar...-bsd-oses.html

security 'very good'? FreeBSD does not fix local exploits! filesystem #good'? UFS SUCKS ASS. And everybody knows it. It is slow even compared to ext2. And despite the fact that freebsd routinely gets its ass kicked (except for some pbscure mysql benchmark a while ago), they claim that FreeBSD is faster. Yes, that is fanboyism for you. Ignore facts, spout crap. Never show evidence and if somebody shows contradicting evidence yell 'not fair'.

Never confuse BSD fanboys with facts.

[masinick]

Every published test that I have ever seen shows Linux systems beating out FreeBSD systems in at least 70% of the tests. There are a few where FreeBSD does well, but there are a few others where Linux systems, especially Ubuntu, really leave FreeBSD in the dust.

In my own usage of Linux and BSD systems, both run fine, but if you run a GUI and use them for interactive use, Linux systems are more convenient to install and without a doubt faster in feel, which supports the benchmark research.

BSD based systems are lauded as great servers, but Red Hat Enterprise Linux has great support, which makes it a winner in the enterprise. Based on the tests here, consistently finding CentOS to be faster in the majority of tests, I don't see how we can come to any other conclusion than that the majority of Linux systems utilize system resources more efficiently than the majority of BSD based systems.

I first saw this in 1995 when a 100 MHz Micron PC running Slackware booted and started a light desktop environment faster than a 200 MHz AlphaStation 200 with more memory, bigger and faster disks, and generally more capabilities. I am sure that the Alpha would toast that old Micron on compiler performance and floating point arithmetic, but nevertheless, the inexpensive Micron system with Slackware felt more responsive to the touch - noticeably so, compared to one of the fastest workstations of that era. More seat of the pants evidence of something I noticed more than a decade ago.

More recently, my Debian systems boot to the desktop and respond more rapidly to routine input in a GUI than the very nice, but so-so performing PC-BSD. Nothing empirical here, just seat of the pants observation. But coupled with these benchmarks, I'd say the evidence is pretty strong: Ubuntu beats FreeBSD, Ubuntu beats PC-BSD (an earlier study here I believe), CentOS beats FreeBSD (as discussed in this thread), Slackware beats BSD UNIX in the nineties in response and feel, Debian beats PC-BSD is response and feel; subjective but observed. That seems to be enough evidence, especially without much contradicting this information, first observed, then empirically confirmed.

[risner]

I have a new Quad Core Xeon (Nethalm/Core i7) ESXi box with 6 gb ram and 1.5 TB disk for a week.

I've already set up a FreeBSD properly in it (ZFS filesystem, optimized kernel/system, still gcc 4.2.1 but gcc 4.4 installed for ports.)

Anyone want to help me do any of these:
1) Install Unbuntu/Gentoo/Debian in a VM and optimize it.
2) Install and run the Phoronix Test Suite inside FreeBSD/Ubuntu so I don't have to learn how?

I'll work with anyone, provide access to the ESX vSphere client, do what I know how to do (install FreeBSD/ESXi/Gentoo.)

Would need to only have one VM running at one instant in time during testing to just get reasonable results.

Any takers?

[clau]

Anyone want to help me do any of these:
1) Install Unbuntu/Gentoo/Debian in a VM and optimize it.
2) Install and run the Phoronix Test Suite inside FreeBSD/Ubuntu so I don't have to learn how?

Comparing a benchmark ran in a VM with one ran in the host OS is completely pointless.
If you really want to do the benchmark yourself, you'd have to install both OSes directly on the hardware, no VM involved.

[risner]

Comparing a benchmark ran in a VM with one ran in the host OS is completely pointless.
If you really want to do the benchmark yourself, you'd have to install both OSes directly on the hardware, no VM involved.

First, you misunderstand. You can't run anything in a host OS of ESXi, since it doesn't have anything more swift than a busybox of the needed programs to allow you to manage the ESXi box. So every test (FreeBSD, Ubuntu, etc) would be running as a guest OS in the VMWare server and only one VM would be running (the one testing) simultaneously.

Second, pretty much no one uses bare metal now. Do you? For servers? I've got two racks of machines that I am responsible and not a one is bare metal. By your comments, it sounds like you do. But I don't at work or home.

[kraftman]

First, you misunderstand. You can't run anything in a host OS of ESXi, since it doesn't have anything more swift than a busybox of the needed programs to allow you to manage the ESXi box. So every test (FreeBSD, Ubuntu, etc) would be running as a guest OS in the VMWare server and only one VM would be running (the one testing) simultaneously.

What I know OS'es in vm show better numbers in Phoronix Test Suite in some benchmarks. Maybe they're cheating there somehow (and maybe one can cheat more then another? ; D)? It will be probably hard to setup a fair test - Mtippett post - and thus raw benchmark numbers like in the current comparison are rather meaningless.

@Energyman

http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/compar...-bsd-oses.html

Yeah, such things make me laugh

[risner]

What I know OS'es in vm show better numbers in Phoronix Test Suite in some benchmarks. Maybe they're cheating there somehow (and maybe one can cheat more then another? ; D)? It will be probably hard to setup a fair test - Mtippett post.

I can't comprehend how you could "cheat" with a VM, but fine.

I could do a bare metal then, but wouldn't be able to do a plethora of options. I'd only have time to do one FreeBSD test and one optimized Ubuntu test (9.10 desktop or 9.04 server?)

I can hand someone remote console to the system (IPMI IP-KVM) bare metal with the CD in the cdrom. Anyone want to help by doing the Ubuntu side?

[clau]

First, you misunderstand. You can't run anything in a host OS of ESXi, since it doesn't have anything more swift than a busybox of the needed programs to allow you to manage the ESXi box. So every test (FreeBSD, Ubuntu, etc) would be running as a guest OS in the VMWare server and only one VM would be running (the one testing) simultaneously.

Second, pretty much no one uses bare metal now. Do you? For servers? I've got two racks of machines that I am responsible and not a one is bare metal. By your comments, it sounds like you do. But I don't at work or home.

Thanks for the explanation. And yes, I usually use bare metal, but on the other hand I'm not dealing with lots of servers and neither with high performance hw.

Anyway, if you ever get them up and running, please consider running the benchmark presented here:
http://people.freebsd.org/~kris/scaling/mysql.html

Instead of running FreeBSD, Linux, DragonflyBSD and NetBSD, you could try just FreeBSD 7.2, 8.0 and a Linux distro with a recent kernel.

[kraftman]

I can't comprehend how you could "cheat" with a VM, but fine.

Like here in SQLite:

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...2631_kvm&num=3

I could do a bare metal then, but wouldn't be able to do a plethora of options. I'd only have time to do one FreeBSD test and one optimized Ubuntu test (9.10 desktop or 9.04 server?)

Maybe compare something recent? If you want test FreeBSD8 then test Ubuntu 9.10 maybe?

[kraftman]

Anyway, if you ever get them up and running, please consider running the benchmark presented here:
http://people.freebsd.org/~kris/scaling/mysql.html

Don't forget to use Google's malloc in this case. Hehe I thought about this benchmark before :P

http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kern...ggin/sysbench/

Bsd guys didn't even post configs, apps versions, they write linux not Linux, not nice :P