Would u install GENTOO as a SERVER?

[LugnutsForBrains]

I don't think I would, unless I had the time to install ebuilds that were proven stable. (I would if I was building a crash box to play with.)

For enterprise level servers, no way. I am having enough trouble getting my home workstation up and running...

I am pretty sure that most of my problems are due to the fact that I don't know my tail from a hot rock, but I am having a lot more trouble installing 1.4rc1 than I did with 1.2, for whatever that's worth.

[pilla]

Well, 1.4rc1 is a release candidate ( a beta ), not a final version, while 1.2 was a final version...

I am pretty sure that most of my problems are due to the fact that I don't know my tail from a hot rock, but I am having a lot more trouble installing 1.4rc1 than I did with 1.2, for whatever that's worth.

[mmealman]

I don't see anything wrong with Gentoo on the server if you're an experienced admin. I've been using Debian on servers for about 5 years and for 4 of those years I pulled out of unstable and then the testing branch(after it was created) with no issues.

You just have to test any upgrade on a beta machine first and keep a close eye on any critical programs that upgrade(lost bash on a test upgrade once, THAT was fun).

I've just gotten Gentoo up and running recently(like today) and the install seemed well suited for an experienced admin. Practically nothing went onto that Gentoo box until I told it to install.

But Debian has the stable branch going for it and it's a well known distribution. If a bus ran me down my boss would probably have an easier time finding a Linux admin that knows Debian than one that knows Gentoo.

[metalhedd]

But Debian has the stable branch going for it and it's a well known distribution. If a bus ran me down my boss would probably have an easier time finding a Linux admin that knows Debian than one that knows Gentoo.

i'm not convinced of debian's popularity anymore.. I think its too old even for the hardcore debian fans. its so hard to find a recent usenet posting or forum for debian... there just doesn't seem to be a user base for it anymore.. i could be entirely wrong though.. personally i hate it.

[rac]

OK, I don't usually move things in or out of Newbies, but this is going to Chat. And although I'm guilty of participating in "Gentoo v. Debian" tangents, we probably shouldn't have another one here.

[pilla]

OK, I don't usually move things in or out of Newbies, but this is going to Chat. And although I'm guilty of participating in "Gentoo v. Debian" tangents, we probably shouldn't have another one here.

I agree in both cases. I t was chat from the begginning (IMHO), and discussing Gentoo v. Debian or Gentoo v. Red Hat or Gentoo v. Mandrake etc is quite pointless.

[lemming]

Currently I've got Redhat 7.3 as my server. It just happened that I got my printer working just right recently. Otherwise, I'd be putting Gentoo on it right now.

I've got a test/demo machine that has Gentoo on it. I'm very happy with it. My laptop will be the next candidate for getting Gentoo. I tried Debian on it and it hated it. I had gentoo 1.2 on it for a bit and the only reason it's not had 1.4 installed is that the keyboard broke. So as soon I get the keyboard in, Gentoo will be there.

I think once 1.4 is an actual release I'll go ahead and put Gentoo on the server.

[KiTaSuMbA]

Gentoo is a powerful tool. All powerful tools are dangerous if mishandled. So, you can already immagine my reply...
Yes, if I knew exactly what and how I needed it. Because gentoo gives you the option to built exactly what you need - no more stuff no less. I would stick with stable and stay away from betas and rcs. I wouldn't install anything more than the necessary to run my desired server. I would use advanced yet well-tested optimisations (which means, if you hear trouble about that service being compiled with gcc3.2 or those specific flags/options or whatever, then DON'T do it!).

[DRosenthal]

My preference is Gentoo for my workstation, for servers I prefer something with more focus on stability, rather than bleeding edge and performance, OpenBSD being my first choice, then Debian/stable.

For servers/workstations that require commercial support, we run RedHat, which is also the commercial distro I've used the most, though I wouldn't mind trying out SuSE if the subject came up.

You might check out Libranet if you like Debian and want support for it. They are more up-to-date than Woody (e.g. they have the 2.4 kernel) and are based off of Debian, but are a "professional" (i.e. pay for it) distro. So you get access to all the cool Debian package trees but also have support if you need it.

David

[SockPuppet]

We currently use Gentoo in a large heavy traffic web cluster using LVS. The cluster is made up of 16 web servers, 2 director class servers, 2 very large NFS servers (.75 TB each) and 2 very large multi processor database servers. There are 4 main websites served off of this cluster generate more than 400 million hits per month and generate a steady 24/7 20mb of outbound traffic. Gentoo replaced the RH cluster due to its improved stability and performance. Additionnaly official updates to security breaches were too slow in coming on the RH servers and trying to manually install then became a circular RPM nightmare at times. (A PHP upgrade recently comes to mind). This setup has been operational for almost 4 months now without a single distrubition based problem.

A second identical cluster is located at another facility and is updated realtime to provide redundancy in the event of a failover.

So yes you can use gentoo in a serious production enviroment, its proven itself secure, easier to manage, and very high performance.

SP

[idl]

I wont ever use Linux on a server while Free and Open BSD are still around.

So yes you can use gentoo in a serious production enviroment, its proven itself secure, easier to manage, and very high performance.

A server is only ever as secure as the admin makes it. Don't ever be fooled into thinking your server is secure because you have patched it.
I cannot stress this enough, so many sites get owned and the admins wonder why, it becomes obvious when the only thing they have done to secure the server is patch _public_ security holes.

[csnyder]

I've been using Gentoo on most of our servers since last summer, switching from LFS (and before that RedHat and WinNT). Check out our our uptime. I also do emerge -u world weekly, which is risky, but has been fine so far with all the servers that are set up.

[TAF]

I need for example more then 1024 threads/process, which means either trying to install NGPT from IBM (oh yeah it would be ubercool to have it as an ebuild)

No need for that. Gentoo-sources already includes the new O(1) scheduler which has no real limit to your number of runnig threads/process.

BTW that new scheduler just thashed NGPT ... it simply made NGPT useless

[crichards]

I would recommend Gentoo for workstations and virtually everything except servers,

Why?

Well, before I installed Gentoo, I used Debian for quite a long time, and while it makes an adequate desktop, Gentoo is superior. However, on a server, I do not want gcc. I do not want source code on that system. I do not want bleeding edge software. I want proven software.

Example: I am getting ready to set up a Samba server for someone since Windows 2K sucks (in their view, however, I'd guess they don't administrate it properly), and I'm putting Debian on it. I didn't give it a second thought. Besides, apt-get update && apt-get upgrade (with security.debian-mirror.org in the sources.list file) simply downloads security patches for the installed software (in stable, the versions don't change), and its a breeze to maintain. It practically maintains itself.

[gsfgf]

I have a BSD server. It's old. I'd probobly use gentoo if i had to do it over, though. Uptime at 60 days. which == the age of my UPS.

[Mindstab]

I'm using Gentoo on my server. 44 days right now... can't remember why i had to reboot... Its good

[csnyder]

Server uptimes:
Firewall (LFS) - 207 days
server1 (Gentoo) - 187 days
server2 (Gentoo) - 145 days
other firewall (LFS) - 200 days

[really]

yeas.

[bink]

My question when it comes to using Gentoo as a server is what happens when sendmail requires a patch? Based on my extremely limited understanding of how Gentoo works I'd have to stop the service, do a compile and restart.

Generally it doesn't take much time for RPMs to be installed, an advantage when you're running a service that you don't want to be down for very long.

Can anyone out there using Gentoo as a server comment on downtime you experience due to security patches?

[csnyder]

When upgrading software, I compile the software, then restart it. Since code is in memory once it is started, changing the version on disk doesn't affect anything. This leads to only seconds of downtime.

[brain]

We've got about 5 Gentoo boxes running at work, doing mundane tasks: Intranet, CVS, Samba, etc. They have some of the best uptimes in the entire server room. I believe the CVS box has been up over 250 days!

[noff]

I need for example more then 1024 threads/process, which means either trying to install NGPT from IBM (oh yeah it would be ubercool to have it as an ebuild)

No need for that. Gentoo-sources already includes the new O(1) scheduler which has no real limit to your number of runnig threads/process.

BTW that new scheduler just thashed NGPT ... it simply made NGPT useless

Yeah but NPTL is designed specifically for the O(1). You can patch that. I think everyone would like an ebuild for that or at least add it after 1.4final and the testing. USE "NPTL"!

[Koon]

We've got about 5 Gentoo boxes running at work, doing mundane tasks: Intranet, CVS, Samba, etc. They have some of the best uptimes in the entire server room. I believe the CVS box has been up over 250 days!

Question to all of you Gentoo-server users : does the portage system impact your server abilities ? I mean, having to compile instead of just installing takes CPU and time, is it barely acceptable, a mild annoyance or nothing at all ?

Thanks for your feedback !

-K

[iKiddo]

Question to all of you Gentoo-server users : does the portage system impact your server abilities ? I mean, having to compile instead of just installing takes CPU and time, is it barely acceptable, a mild annoyance or nothing at all ?

I don't have a server, but using distcc would solve that problem, wouldn't it?

[csnyder]

uestion to all of you Gentoo-server users : does the portage system impact your server abilities ? I mean, having to compile instead of just installing takes CPU and time, is it barely acceptable, a mild annoyance or nothing at all ?

There's a slight hit to performance (for instance, phpBB pages take .3 seconds to generate instead of the normal .13) but it's not terrible.