Re: Suggestion for a new Opteron 1.6ghz box.
mike <mike@mike2k.com> writes:
> Based on the maturity of the AMD64 platform in regards to debian - what
> would people suggest running for a server mainly running:
>
> OpenSSH (very low traffic, maybe 2 users)
> Zeus webserver
> PHP Accelerator (phpa) + FastCGI
> Tinydns/Djbdns
> NFS client
>
> It will not require XFree86 (possibly a few libs for image processing for
> ImageMagick and the like...) but not for an actual console.
>
> Would anyone recommend using a pure 64-bit build? or a 32-bit one, and put
> on the 64-bit friendly GCC and do a hybrid install? Or scrap it altogether
> and just do a normal, 32-bit x86 install?
If you have to ask the right answere is almost always woody and that
means 32 bit i386.
> Also, which installer would one suggest using then? Sarge, Woody, or sid?
>
> It appears that nobody (fromw hatI've got from the list prior to my email)
> is suggesting using pure64 for production, and frowns on a hybrid install.
A real hybrid install, meaning multiarch, is absolutly pre alpha.
Nothing works there at all and it is purely for people developing
multiarch at this time.
A hybrid install with chroots on the other hand is perfectly
acceptable. You can try to install a 64bit base with all the little
quirks it still needs and see if that works for you and add 32 bit
stable chroots for things that need to be stable. Or you can do it the
other way around, install a 32 bit base and pure64 chroots to test out
new stuff.
The main question is: can you live with unstable/sid? Do you have the
knowledge and _time_ to handle it?
> I have a dual opteron system sitting here that I tried installing Debian
> on, it did not like my Si3114 chipset - so I had to use some special
> Debian sarge bootdisk with a modified 2.4.x kernel - thus putting me into
> normal 32 bit mode. Then I used the AMD64 Howto instructions to get a lot
> of AMD64 compiled binaries and packages on including GCC and such - but it
> was still crappy with some library issues as well as horrible when it came
> to trying to use the debian package manager (apt) with a mixture of sarge
> and woody sources.
You should compile yourself a current 2.6 kernel for 32bit or download
the amd64 kernel-image and install that with -force-architecture.
Crosscompiling your own kernel isn't maintained anymore and bitrot has
probably made it break or even more cmplicated.
> Since you know my needs, would it be stupid to even bother with anything
> special and just use this as a nice speedy x86 32-bit box? Or would I gain
> for trying to get a pure64 install going (remember, this is a single 1.6
> opteron, not the dual I described above) - my provider will be handling
> the install on this, not me.
Do you want something that works or do you want to play around at the
bleading edge of developement?
> Thanks in advance for any quick replies. I have a big decision to make
> (I'm probably ordering 4 of these opterons and would like to get them
> installed and up and running ASAP)
>
> - mike
MfG
Goswin
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