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fresh images (bsd?)
  • lucaslucas
    you probably get this a lot and i apologize in advance.

    i'm a current customer running ubuntu. i'd die (or pay more!) to have a bsd image available for easy install. i know quite a few people in the bsd community, and i know that they really like what you offer (i've shown them!). many of these people aren't too particular about which specific bsd os they run, they are generally more about hier(7) and other such bsd concepts.

    personally, i'd love to see an openbsd image, though freebsd and netbsd are fine choices as well.

    keep up the good work!

    lucas
  • Zeno
    As far as I know there are two major issues:

    * NetBSD is the only BSD system that has Xen domU support in a stable release version.
    * There is only NetBSD support for Xen on plain i386. There is no PAE support, and no x86_64 support.
  • mattmatt
    Zeno sums it up - we'd love to offer it, but it's just not an option right now.
  • lucaslucas
    okay, i understand. i really appreciate the consideration, though! i'll hope for some netbsd ia64 xen support! :D
  • slamb
    I've heard Xen supports running unmodified guest operating systems through "VT-x":http://www.intel.com/technology/itj/2006/v10i3/3-xen/1-abstract.htm now. With that, I'd think "FreeBSD/amd64":http://www.freebsd.org/platforms/amd64.html would work pretty well on these machines. (In particular, FreeBSD has finer-grained locking than OpenBSD or NetBSD, so it will scale better to four-processor machines.)
  • masto
    Oh man, I would love you so much to have a BSD slice. I just had my initial experience as a Slicehost customer somewhat tainted by the sensation of beating my head against the razor-blade-studded wall of Linux. DO WANT BSD.
  • simesime

    Yeah, me to, I would kill for OpenBSD or NetBSD images. This is number one for me, everything else regarding Slicehost is excellent. Slicehost + BSD == heaven ;)

  • AlexExtremeAlexExtreme
    The problem with VT-x support is that it's much less stable than normal Xen virtualization. When I've used it I've experienced lockups, OSes just not booting, etc.
  • lucaslucas
    Posted By: sime

    Yeah, me to, I would kill for OpenBSD or NetBSD images. This is number one for me, everything else regarding Slicehost is excellent. Slicehost + BSD == heaven ;)



    whereas linux + slicehost = purgatory



    Posted By: AlexExtremeThe problem with VT-x support is that it's much less stable than normal Xen virtualization. When I've used it I've experienced lockups, OSes just not booting, etc.


    bummer
  • Zeno
    It seems that a stable NetBSD/Xen for AMD64 may soon be a reality:
    http://www.feyrer.de/NetBSD/bx/blosxom.cgi/nb_20071118_0613.html

    Though, I suppose that this will be integrated in NetBSD 5.0, which may take a while, since 4.0 is not even out yet.
  • jsts
    It looks like FreeBSD has initial support for PAE domU guests:

    http://wiki.freebsd.org/FreeBSD/Xen

    And Xen 3.1 has support for running i386 PAE guests under a native amd64 dom0 host.

    So it looks like you could begin offering FreeBSD slices now.

    I would be willing to pay for a FreeBSD slice right away, even if it were experimental and fully unsupported, with no guarantees of uptime, reliability or performance.
  • peropero
    Ough, count me in! It would be great if a FreeBSD slice is added.
  • malex
    Has there been any progress on this? I'd like to get a FreeBSD slice.
  • pgib
    When I originally signed up, it was because FreeBSD was coming soon. I was very disappointed when that was no longer the case. Reluctantly, I am running a Linux distro, but I would be WAY happier running FreeBSD. Having this as an option would likely cause me to order more slices.
  • mud
    Yes, I would LOVE to have FreeBSD as an option as well...
  • rob
    Posted By: pgibWhen I originally signed up, it was because FreeBSD was coming soon. I was very disappointed when that was no longer the case. Reluctantly, I am running a Linux distro, but I would be WAY happier running FreeBSD. Having this as an option would likely cause me to order more slices.
    Is FreeBSD stable enough under Xen yet to be run under production? In the meantime, you might want to look at Arch Linux; it seems to be the closest match to FreeBSD for Linux.
  • mdub
    Count me in too! FreeBSD would be awesome. Especially for us Mac OS X developers to feel at home (sort of).
  • SuperJaredSuperJared

    This is something we're continuing to research, but until we can offer something that's production-ready you won't see BSD slices. Unfortunately, most of the work needed to make this happen is out of our hands.

    And believe me -- I want FreeBSD just as much as the next guy ;)

  • mdub
    Posted By: SuperJared

    This is something we're continuing to research, but until we can offer something that's production-ready you won't see BSD slices. Unfortunately, most of the work needed to make this happen is out of our hands.

    And believe me -- I want FreeBSD just as much as the next guy ;)

    I work here.


    Thanks for the info SuperJared. Just out of curiosity what is the work that needs to happen to turn this into a reality?
  • Ville
    I'd also be interested in FreeBSD slice... I've been running various versions of FreeBSD in production since 2002, and would love to move from dedicated (and self-maintained) servers to slicehost. I'll keep checking Slicehost OS/distro list for updates.
  • jsts
    > until we can offer something that's production-ready you won't see BSD slices.

    As long as you can adequately protect the integrity and stability of the dom0 and the other users, I wish that you would offer FreeBSD slices even if they're not production-ready. I'll pay full price and agree not to complain about stability or features, nor to ask for help or fixes; I expect that a decent number of other users would be willing to do likewise.
  • lucaslucas
    same with me.
  • till

    Wondering if anything changed yet to update this situation.

    I know that dom0 on FreeBSD is not yet ready for production, but domU should be (closer)? ;-)

  • SuperJaredSuperJared
    None yet. Keep an eye on the blog for updates, though it may not be any time soon.
  • norm

    NetBSD 5.0 was released yesterday, and in the release notes it says their xen support now includes:

    • Added support for amd64, both as dom0 and domU.
    • Added support for the i386 PAE extension to Xen3 domU.

    Is that sufficient to get it working on slicehost hardware now? Happy to help beta test if you need volunteers.

  • fakeempirefakeempire
    Would be happy to beta test as well. I'm don't like using linux anymore at all, but just don't switch because you guys are the best show in town. But if there is anything we can do to help in this process, please let us know. I'm sure we will be all over it!

    Thanks guys.
  • freeloader
    Another +1 for BSD.
  • lionsburg
    Yet another person for BSD! My preference would be for FreeBSD.
  • brhelwigbrhelwig
    just curious. what does bsd offer that linux doesn't besides more liberal licensing? maybe if you push some of the merits they would be more likely to consider it.
  • jmstacey

    brandonh: One example is FreeBSD's ports system. There's also all of the little stuff such as different boot processes. If you want to step into the fundamental differences there's always the BSD engineered approach (kernel up) compared to the various GNU and linux pairing mess.

    I have a feeling that Slicehost will be more likely to consider it when FreeBSD 8 is released with equivalent xen support.

    Edit: But I wouldn't mind seeing FreeBSD become available.

  • mattfarina
    Any update to this now that the FreeBSD handbook has instructions on setting it up with Xen?

    http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/virtualization-guest.html#VIRTUALIZATION-GUEST-XEN
  • pvanulden
    +1 for FreeBSD. I feel so.....dirty using Linux. :-)
  • heidar
    Dear Slicehost!

    I would really love a FreeBSD slice. I am willing to mail you my left arm in a box of ice for it (as well as paying the monthly fee of course!).

    Looking at mattfarina's link, now that FreeBSD 8.0 is in RELEASE, would this be possible?

    Thank you in advance!
  • pinkboi
    FreeBSD 8 is out and it supports DOM-U. Is it time to add FreeBSD as an option? I, for one, am ready to get at least one new slice, possibly two if that happens (and migrate some existing slices to FreeBSD...) I like Gentoo, but I think I'm not alone in saying I love FreeBSD
  • npderive
    I love the service and support you guys provide here, and I am personally ready to move on to BSD. I've spent my time with Linux, and like everyone else who's had a taste of BSD, I'm bitting my nails waiting for it to be available here.

    Truth be told, I've looked into BSD VPS hosts, and found one that has gotten really great reviews. I won't post the name/link here as I'm not sure if that's permitted, but in any case I need a much bigger VPS (currently on a 3GB plan, and a smaller test one), but I'm debating with myself if I should just migrate things over to the new service.

    Please, please tell me you guys are working on having FreeBSD/OpenBSD available as a slice? Pleeeease! I'll jump on a 4GB plan to start if you do, and will likely upgrade soon after.

    What's the status on this?
  • minustheben

    @npderive

    sorry to say we don't have any plans to bring any of the BSDs on board at the moment.

    It very well could happen in the future, but for the moment that's not on the roadmap.

  • Jered

    If you're feeling adventurous it may be possible to get a BSD working on a slice using pv-grub. You could run through these instructions for setting up an arbitrary Linux distro:

    Installing an arbitrary distro on your slice

    Use the BSD files there, and use pv-grub to run the BSD kernel. And then, um, hope it works. I can't make any promises after that point, because I don't have any experience setting up a FreeBSD/NetBSD/etc. system myself.

    EDIT: Fixed link.

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