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For dedicated server systems that developers don't access, it's pretty much perfect. While this is mildly off-topic, I'm mildly frustrated that there doesn't s

For dedicated server systems that developers don't access, it's pretty much perfect. While this is mildly off-topic, I'm mildly frustrated that there doesn't seem to be any BSD equivalent to hosts like Digital Ocean and Linode. The closest I've been able to find in recent searches is RootBSD, and its specs are... well, pretty sad for a VPS in 2014. Are there technical reasons that make this difficult to do with FreeBSD? I know you can't use a Linux-specific VM solution like KVM, but is there no BSD equivalent, or no VPS provider with a more OS-agnostic solution?

empthought 12y ago
The BSD equivalent is Bhyve[1] which was only added to a release version of BSD this year. There is also very little in the way of tooling to make this easy to use. FreeBSD is available as an EC2 AMI. For what it's worth, Nearly Free Speech[2] offers jailed hosting on FreeBSD and has recently improved their ability to handle persistent processes. [1]: https://wiki.freebsd.org/bhyve https://wiki.freebsd.org/bhyve [2]: https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net
paulfurtado 12y ago
Note that KVM has no trouble hosting FreeBSD as a guest OS. You can also vote on this suggestion on the DigitalOcean website: https://digitalocean.uservoice.com/forums/136585-digitalocean/suggestions/3232571-support-bsd-os https://digitalocean.uservoice.com/forums/136585-digitalocea... I've had a lot of luck getting bleeding edge Arch linux kernels running on DigitalOcean using kexec to essentially turn the kernel DO gives you into a bootloader. It should theoretically be possible to get FreeBSD running in a similar manner, but it would obviously not be officially supported. If you're looking for other hosting providers, EC2 does have FreeBSD images available.
- justincormack 12y ago
  I was wondering about a kexec boot loader for BSD. Never seen one, was wondering exactly what state the hardware is left in.
  - paulfurtado 12y ago
    The hardware should theoretically be fine. kexec calls "shutdown" prior to executing the new kernel and some linux distros use kexec for fast reboots. Additionally, you can replace your /sbin/init with a shell script which calls kexec instead of actually calling init, which would probably avoid initializing some hardware altogether. It's actually possible to boot grub4dos via kexec, however it doesn't work out of the box in digital ocean. I'm not sure how to format code on HN so here's a proof-of-concept on pastebin: http://pastebin.com/5jcvG2N9 http://pastebin.com/5jcvG2N9 A kexec bootloader also exists, called petitboot, but I've never used it to boot anything other than linux, though scanning google, it looks like people may have used it to successfully boot FreeBSD on the PS3 or OpenWRT compatible routers. Petitboot can be found here: https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/geoff/petitboot/petitboot.html https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/geoff/petitbo...
sjackso 12y ago
It seems like only smaller VPS services offer first-class support for BSD. There's a few out there besides RootBSD. ARP Networks [0] is one; it's got pretty reasonable rates. [0]: https://www.arpnetworks.com/ https://www.arpnetworks.com/
- rsync 12y ago
  The very first VPS provider, JohnCompanies[1][2], was based exclusively on FreeBSD and jail. [1] Fall of 2001. [2] Yes, Verio had those weird virtuals running on e10ks, but JC was the first to offer the VPS as we all came to know it.
  - jwn 12y ago
    I can vouch for this. I recall hosting a homebuilt webmail system with them in 2002. I'm very pleased to see they're still around!
- jbergstroem 12y ago
  I can vouch for arp networks. I started off using their VPS services (kvm), running both linux and FreeBSD; but now use their dedicated services. Very knowledgable people behind this and a pretty active irc channel on freenode (#arpnetworks).
thelibrarian 12y ago
The Australian equivalent of Digital Ocean, Binary Lane[1] has "BYO ISO" support for FreeBSD VMs - it is not in the list of easy installs, but there is detailed documentation[2] in their support area on how to install it, and they host a local mirror of the FreeBSD install ISO. Their features and prices are very competitive with Digital Ocean, which is a nice change for an Australian ISP. [1] http://www.binarylane.com.au http://www.binarylane.com.au [2] https://www.binarylane.com.au/support/solutions/articles/1000044754-byo-operating-system-freebsd-installation-guide https://www.binarylane.com.au/support/solutions/articles/100...
- thejosh 12y ago
  Apart from their prices went up $5/m for new servers are are currently sold out.
  - thelibrarian 12y ago
    Yes, I saw their price rise - they warned about this a few weeks ago in their newsletter, and they blamed this on supply constraints on IPv4 addresses. The price rise did not effect existing VPSs, and will not effect those who go IPv6 only, when they implement that option.
    - thejosh 12y ago
      Yeah, I'm hoping more VPS providers have the option like EC2 does for assigning IPs, because honestly if you have the need for multiple machines most of the time you need a private network over a public IP (database servers, etc). A few providers have started doing this, but more need to do this as it would cut down on the wasted ipv4 addresses that they have in "stock".
- locusm 12y ago
  Hadnt heard of these guys before - pricing is very reasonable. Whats service/response to issues like?
  - 12y ago
ezequiel-garzon 12y ago
I heartily recommend RamNode: https://clientarea.ramnode.com/knowledgebase.php?action=displayarticle&id=44 https://clientarea.ramnode.com/knowledgebase.php?action=disp... They're affordable and answer support tickets within minutes.
- fapjacks 12y ago
  I have tried many, many (perhaps hundreds) of low-end VPS over the years, and the top of the pile is most definitely Ramnode. Digital Ocean is also good, if you can get past the hard limit of one IPv4 address per instance.
hobarrera 12y ago
arpnetworks offers openbsd and freebsd. They're pretty cheap and quite good. I've used them for years and have no complaints.
evandena 12y ago
I've been a happy multi-year customer with https://hostigation.com/ https://hostigation.com/ KVM FreeBSD VPS.
Mordak 12y ago
If you mean that you're looking for a VPS provider that offers FreeBSD images, they are out there. In addition to the ones already mentioned in this thread: Vultr.com[0] offers FreeBSD VPS from $5/month. I've used these guys, and have been very happy with the offering. Atlantic.net[1] offers FreeBSD VPS from $0.99/month. TransIP[2] offers FreeBSD VPS from €5/month. [0] https://www.vultr.com https://www.vultr.com [1] https://www.atlantic.net https://www.atlantic.net [2] https://www.transip.eu https://www.transip.eu

empthought 12y ago

The BSD equivalent is Bhyve[1] which was only added to a release version of BSD this year. There is also very little in the way of tooling to make this easy to use. FreeBSD is available as an EC2 AMI. For what it's worth, Nearly Free Speech[2] offers jailed hosting on FreeBSD and has recently improved their ability to handle persistent processes. [1]: https://wiki.freebsd.org/bhyve https://wiki.freebsd.org/bhyve [2]: https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net

paulfurtado 12y ago

Note that KVM has no trouble hosting FreeBSD as a guest OS. You can also vote on this suggestion on the DigitalOcean website: https://digitalocean.uservoice.com/forums/136585-digitalocean/suggestions/3232571-support-bsd-os https://digitalocean.uservoice.com/forums/136585-digitalocea... I've had a lot of luck getting bleeding edge Arch linux kernels running on DigitalOcean using kexec to essentially turn the kernel DO gives you into a bootloader. It should theoretically be possible to get FreeBSD running in a similar manner, but it would obviously not be officially supported. If you're looking for other hosting providers, EC2 does have FreeBSD images available.

justincormack 12y ago
I was wondering about a kexec boot loader for BSD. Never seen one, was wondering exactly what state the hardware is left in.
- paulfurtado 12y ago
  The hardware should theoretically be fine. kexec calls "shutdown" prior to executing the new kernel and some linux distros use kexec for fast reboots. Additionally, you can replace your /sbin/init with a shell script which calls kexec instead of actually calling init, which would probably avoid initializing some hardware altogether. It's actually possible to boot grub4dos via kexec, however it doesn't work out of the box in digital ocean. I'm not sure how to format code on HN so here's a proof-of-concept on pastebin: http://pastebin.com/5jcvG2N9 http://pastebin.com/5jcvG2N9 A kexec bootloader also exists, called petitboot, but I've never used it to boot anything other than linux, though scanning google, it looks like people may have used it to successfully boot FreeBSD on the PS3 or OpenWRT compatible routers. Petitboot can be found here: https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/geoff/petitboot/petitboot.html https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/geoff/petitbo...

sjackso 12y ago

It seems like only smaller VPS services offer first-class support for BSD. There's a few out there besides RootBSD. ARP Networks [0] is one; it's got pretty reasonable rates. [0]: https://www.arpnetworks.com/ https://www.arpnetworks.com/

rsync 12y ago
The very first VPS provider, JohnCompanies[1][2], was based exclusively on FreeBSD and jail. [1] Fall of 2001. [2] Yes, Verio had those weird virtuals running on e10ks, but JC was the first to offer the VPS as we all came to know it.
- jwn 12y ago
  I can vouch for this. I recall hosting a homebuilt webmail system with them in 2002. I'm very pleased to see they're still around!
jbergstroem 12y ago
I can vouch for arp networks. I started off using their VPS services (kvm), running both linux and FreeBSD; but now use their dedicated services. Very knowledgable people behind this and a pretty active irc channel on freenode (#arpnetworks).

thelibrarian 12y ago

The Australian equivalent of Digital Ocean, Binary Lane[1] has "BYO ISO" support for FreeBSD VMs - it is not in the list of easy installs, but there is detailed documentation[2] in their support area on how to install it, and they host a local mirror of the FreeBSD install ISO. Their features and prices are very competitive with Digital Ocean, which is a nice change for an Australian ISP. [1] http://www.binarylane.com.au http://www.binarylane.com.au [2] https://www.binarylane.com.au/support/solutions/articles/1000044754-byo-operating-system-freebsd-installation-guide https://www.binarylane.com.au/support/solutions/articles/100...

thejosh 12y ago
Apart from their prices went up $5/m for new servers are are currently sold out.
- thelibrarian 12y ago
  Yes, I saw their price rise - they warned about this a few weeks ago in their newsletter, and they blamed this on supply constraints on IPv4 addresses. The price rise did not effect existing VPSs, and will not effect those who go IPv6 only, when they implement that option.
  - thejosh 12y ago
    Yeah, I'm hoping more VPS providers have the option like EC2 does for assigning IPs, because honestly if you have the need for multiple machines most of the time you need a private network over a public IP (database servers, etc). A few providers have started doing this, but more need to do this as it would cut down on the wasted ipv4 addresses that they have in "stock".
locusm 12y ago
Hadnt heard of these guys before - pricing is very reasonable. Whats service/response to issues like?
- 12y ago

ezequiel-garzon 12y ago

I heartily recommend RamNode: https://clientarea.ramnode.com/knowledgebase.php?action=displayarticle&id=44 https://clientarea.ramnode.com/knowledgebase.php?action=disp... They're affordable and answer support tickets within minutes.

fapjacks 12y ago
I have tried many, many (perhaps hundreds) of low-end VPS over the years, and the top of the pile is most definitely Ramnode. Digital Ocean is also good, if you can get past the hard limit of one IPv4 address per instance.

hobarrera 12y ago

arpnetworks offers openbsd and freebsd. They're pretty cheap and quite good. I've used them for years and have no complaints.

evandena 12y ago

I've been a happy multi-year customer with https://hostigation.com/ https://hostigation.com/ KVM FreeBSD VPS.

Mordak 12y ago

If you mean that you're looking for a VPS provider that offers FreeBSD images, they are out there. In addition to the ones already mentioned in this thread: Vultr.com[0] offers FreeBSD VPS from $5/month. I've used these guys, and have been very happy with the offering. Atlantic.net[1] offers FreeBSD VPS from $0.99/month. TransIP[2] offers FreeBSD VPS from €5/month. [0] https://www.vultr.com https://www.vultr.com [1] https://www.atlantic.net https://www.atlantic.net [2] https://www.transip.eu https://www.transip.eu