FREEBSD vs. Windows 2000 Adv. Server

[Crystal]

Questions:
=======

* I have a web site in Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Houston, Miami, and
San Francisco. Each site or city is attracting 5 MILLION web hits per month
(30 MILLION hits per month and GROWING). Can FREEBSD handle this kind of
stress?

* What are the hardware requirements?

* Each site also requires its own database containing 100 Million
database entries (600 million - 1 billion for all sites - GROWING). What
DATABASE is capable of handling this on FREEBSD?

* A Definite room for expansion is a MUST - will this be proprietary
solution or can a commercial solution be available for FREEBSD?

* Can each of these sites be managed from one location?

* Load balancing and fault tolerance will definitely be implemented - how
is FREEBSD on these technology - I know it is available - but is it ready
for
such request?

PLEASE PROVIDE unbiased views and feedback on the above requirement and tell
me whether these are accepatble and attainable objectives of FREEBSD. Thank
You.

We are considering Windows 2000 Advanced Server for this duty however input
from the technical community is GREATLY appreciated. We understand the
great technology of Windows but are seeking ECONOMICAL alternatives.

PLEASE PLEASE - - DO NOT TURN THIS INTO A FLAME WAR BETWEEN OS - - THANK YOU

[drwxrwxrwx]

of course freebsd can handle this. hotmail.com is run on freebsd. it
receives probably more traffic than the average website. it works
fine. in fact, when micro$oft tried to swap it over to NT, nt
couldn't handle it. and we all know that win2k is just nt5. i'd go
with freebsd cuz it's cheaper and you'll like it better in the long
run. check out www.netcraft.com to see what other very busy sites are
using. just put in the web address and search for it. you will see
that most of the busiest sites are runnin freebsd with the apache web
server. yahoo is the most popular search engine. u know what it
runs? freebsd. for hardware requirements check out www.freebsd.org
and www.xfree86.org (if u plan on runnin xwindows). i hope i helped
ya. all ya gotta do is read up a little on freebsd. you can find the
whole freebsd manual online. just look for the man pages.

---
drwxrwxrwx
*******
* from this mic device i spit non fiction
* who got tha power this be my question
* the mass or the few in this torn nation
* the priest the book or the congregation
* the politricks who rob and hold down your zone
* or those who give the thieves the key to their homes
* the pig who's free to murder one shucklack
* or SURVIVORS WHO MAKE A MOVE AND MURDER ONE BACK
*******

[Ed]

There is a lot to consider in selecting a platform for a site that large. You
need to think about several things:

1) Where is it going to be hosted?
Are you going to lease the lines and essentially become your own isp. Are you
going to trust this in the hands of someone who already has a multi-homed
backbone. With a site that gets as many hits as your predict, your bandwidth
will be key.

2) Platform?
Platform depends on what your site is and what it is used for. Is it
e-commerce? Is is real estate? What type of data are you retrieving. Now as
for the interpretation. Often e-commerce sites choose NT because it interfaces
nicely with inventory software and other software that can be used at the
packing/shipping stage of the order. UNIX is a little more clunky. As far as
the load goes, either os can handle the load. You will need multiple CPU's on
either os and multiple servers.

3) Data--
Your data in this case should be stored in an oracle database. You have
enough of it to support that level of expense. I'm not too familiar with it,
but the best parts of oracle are A) its has support & B) it runs on its own
machine therefore the load will not be placed on your webserver etc.

In considering these three factors. I can honestly tell you this: FreeBSD is a
wonderful platform. You are going to have to hire someone to administer it.
Plain and simple fact. Windows 2000 you are highly advised to have someone
administer it (it will work better), but it is a little more intuitive to
setup. As far as stability, where freeBSD will out perform microsoft is in the
uptime. Its remarkable ability to stay up and function while you make changes
is what makes UNIX great.

It sounds like you have an interesting project ahead of you. For something as
large as you are doing, I'd spend the money that you were going to on a great
staff, rather than on licenses. Just my point of view. That way you'll have
people to help with problems that arise as the arise rather than microsoft.

--
Edward