Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2017 23:01:44 +0100 From: Rafal Lukawiecki <raf@rafal.net> To: Frank Leonhardt <frank2@fjl.co.uk> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: VPS that will run xBSD Message-ID: <BD6B8672-9F92-4676-A513-B9F47184FB65@rafal.net> In-Reply-To: <2894b33a-ee7d-0a3f-4a3d-e4f03a2c38e2@fjl.co.uk> References: <673b7208-c0d9-5179-407a-2cf9d276e1a8@fjl.co.uk> <031E40A6-0C53-47B2-BA86-E9932E02000B@sigsegv.be> <cd7c0857-e6a2-916c-a873-692d1e78ed7a@ShaneWare.Biz> <a5c7f8e6-4b67-51ce-c29f-ab2b572fef1d@fjl.co.uk> <31D122B4-EC3C-41C0-9C72-7D859DD6492E@rafal.net> <2894b33a-ee7d-0a3f-4a3d-e4f03a2c38e2@fjl.co.uk>
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If you find sysadmining fun, go for it, but AWS is a bit of a learning = curve. Very enjoyable, but a change in the mindset: no consoles, = declarative configs etc=E2=80=A6 Powerful if you need a fleet of a = servers (a few or thousands), or if you use some other cloud services, = like content distribution networks or geo-aware DNS. AWS can be way too = much learning for just a single server, even if it is very cheap, or = free with the 12 month free tier, also offered on Azure. Other cloud providers can be more accessible, but, in my opinion, after = 6 years with AWS and Azure, hardly anyone other than those two come with = so many ready-made services, many of those critically important for my = business. FYI, years ago we run on RackSpace for a couple of years, and = Linode, for a much shorter time, having also tried some no-longer in = business server colocators. All of those were much closer to the =E2=80=9C= my machine in the server room next door=E2=80=9D feeling but nowhere = near the breadth, or the low prices we get with AWS and Azure. Good luck, and do consider contacting Colin if you have questions, he = has been very helpful to me and know much about FreeBSD on AWS=E2=80=94and= I am saying this only a few days into our trial benchmark of FreeBSD in = AWS against CentOS and Amazon Linux. There is a = freebsd-cloud@freebsd.org mail list, but it is still a bit quiet there. Rafal > On 30 Aug 2017, at 22:43, Frank Leonhardt <frank2@fjl.co.uk> wrote: >=20 > On 30/08/2017 22:39, Rafal Lukawiecki wrote: >> While I am not a FreeBSD expert, I have built a good few AWS AMIs = (Amazon Machine Images) for various Linuxes I have used over the years. = The process generally requires you to use an existing available machine = (say FreeBSD RELEASE) to build what you need first. You should use a = pricier and a much faster machine for that, but you can change the = underlying hardware just for this purpose, switching down to a cheaper = one later. >>=20 >> In the process, you create an AWS ESB volume that contains your = desired new OS (say STABLE in your case). You snapshot that, which is an = easy AWS operation, and you register that snapshot as a new AMI that you = can now use to launch any number of new machines with your desired = kernel and config. >>=20 >> Bear in mind this is an oversimplification of the process, as you = have to pay attention to the needs of the hypervisor and the provided = hardware. However, all of this has been done for us by Colin Percival. = Have a look at his article in which he explained how to build your own = FreeBSD AWS AMIs: >>=20 >> = http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2015-11-21-FreeBSD-AMI-builder-AMI.html >>=20 >> If you do not need an AMI, that is you only want to update the very = machine on which you are working, you can simply change to a new kernel = and reboot. Caveat: I have not tried that with FreeBSD (yet) only = CentOS. >>=20 >> Rafal >> -- >> Rafal Lukawiecki >> Data Scientist and Director >> Project Botticelli Ltd >=20 > Thanks - interesting to know. This is really just-for-fun so I might = well give this a try. >=20 > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > https://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to = "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"
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