FrigidTech Consultancy

A quick review: FreeBSD

Alex Conrey — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:18:12 +0000

Originally posted at Blog.AlexConrey.com

Now, I know that FreeBSD-CURRENT is 9, but I use 8 for stability purposes. With that said, lets get down to business, shall we?

FreeBSD is a BSD-spun distro that you simply cannot ignore. With FreeBSD, you get the power of a light operating system and the elegance of the ports system. With the ports system, not only do you not need to manually compile things, but all dependencies are solved 99.9% of the time, with zero issues. However FreeBSD is not for the Linux beginner, but it is easily learned and when you know how to use it, it is a very nice system.

Install.

The install is simple yet not for the inexperienced. For me, and I’ve installed FreeBSD many times now, the hardest thing to figure out was the partitioning of the drives, which I do believe is cfdisk on the FreeBSD installer. Now, the install took a little over 10 minutes, but it will take longer with a slower internet connection (assuming you did the FTP install). This machine has 512MB RAM and a 2.2Ghz Intel Pentium 4 processor, so it isn’t all too slow. When you’re installing FreeBSD, you want to install the ports, as it will save you a lot of time. You will avoid having to use portsnap, however when you want to update all of your ports, you will have to use the portsnap program (which is to be covered in a later post.)

Ports.

One of the things about FreeBSD is the ports system. Ports is simply a way to install a package you want, without having to know fancy package management terms. If you wanted to say, install ‘irssi’, its quite simple.
cd /usr/ports/irc/irssi && make install clean

Every program in the ports system has its own directory (for better or for worse), so you are able to build it in that directory. Simple enough, right? It’s designed so that the average user, assuming they know the program the want to install, can simply ‘cd’ into the ports directory for that program, and make it. No compilation, no package management dependency hell, just straight forward compilation.

If you’re a user that doesn’t like the idea of having to cd into a directory, or knowing which category its under, don’t fret! pkg_add is available! Now, I won’t go into depth, but if you want to install irssi with pkg_add, you would issue the following code.
pkg_add -r irssi.

Desktop.

Before I go any further, let me just warn you of the lack – rather total absence – of Flash support in FreeBSD 8. However, seeing as Flash can just go away (this is just my opinion here), it isn’t a reason to totally disregard FreeBSD. In a way, not having Flash can make for a potentially more secure system. Like most distributions, you can get X working without much pain. My personal window manager of choice is Fluxbox. You can install any window manager, ports is full of them, some that you may have not even heard of, most of these WM’s can be found under x11-wm in ports. One downside to the base install is that bash is not installed, which means, you’re defaulted to /bin/sh, which isn’t the end of the world. A simple install from ports clears that issue right up. Other than the core system, it looks no different than any other linux distribution with fluxbox would.

Server.

As a server, it functions very nicely. It, again, functions no different than any other linux distribution would. Seeing a trend here? It’s very much like linux in every aspect.

Overall, FreeBSD is a great OS that I think everyone needs to try out, or just look into a bit further. Though, its lack of flash may be a setback in the future, it is a very stable and well thought out OS. The ports system is pure genius, making the installation of packages and programs even more simple for the end user.

Cloud Computing: The Basics

Alex Conrey — Fri, 21 May 2010 22:08:57 +0000

If you have been following technology in the past few months, you have likely heard of Cloud Computing. You might be asking yourself, “What exactly is cloud computing?” Cloud Computing is defined by Wikipedia as “Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices on-demand, like the electricity grid.” Simply put, your resources, software, and information is completely online based, 24/7.

The most basic and distinguished form of cloud computing is a Virtual Private Server, or VPS. VPS’ have full functionality, and many times, its indistinguishable from a physical device (like a server at your house with comparable specifications). Since VPS’ use real memory, hard drive space, and Internet, they can’t just be thrown onto some old computer you have laying around. There are typically several VPS’ running on one server, therefore requiring more CPU power and memory. This why there’s now a demand for higher CPU speeds and more memory, and unfathomable hard drive capacities.

Now that Cloud Computing is such a popular concept, there are many strings attached. Without proper security measures, the data on that ‘cloud’ is vulnerable. If you’re working on a project for your business, and your ‘cloud’ comes crashing down, you’re out of luck as it’s in the cloud’s providers hands. Next, the seemingly obvious flaw. What if your internet goes down for an extended period of time? Your data might be nice and cozy, or it might be gone. Who knows? You’re not connected to the internet and you have no idea what’s going on. However, there are many benefits to having cloud services.

Though your data is in a remote location, it is always on, and generally accessable by everyone you allow. If your internet connection at your house, or worse, the data center goes out, the VPS is still online serving up that crucial content for your business. Since it isn’t on your local connection, it also won’t be slowing down that bandwidth, so faster internet (but not guaranteed). By having this always online connection, this makes project collaboration easier. Though you may be at home enjoying a peaceful evening with your family, one of your co-workers in another timezone can be working on that next world-domination program. Then, when he decides to head home (assuming they’re far enough away), you will be arriving at work, and can begin where your co-worker just left off. This can improve the quality of the product, as 2 minds are better than 1. It also can correct errors, simple mistakes, and complete the project before that deadline.

With both the pro’s and con’s being measured, it all depends on your needs and requirements are for success. If you need an always on data connection, cloud computing is the way to go. If you need to set up an Active Directory and Domain Controller for your business or network, physical hardware may be best for your situation. If you do choose to go the cloud computing route, I personally recommend looking at a service like EchoServers. FrigidTech has only had 1 outage with EchoServers in the 5+ months we have been with them. Check ‘em out, I think that you will find a good solution with them. They’ve also got customizable plans to suit your budget and needs!

Status Update: SVR1

Alex Conrey — Fri, 14 May 2010 01:05:22 +0000

SVR1 is online!

Welcome to FrigidTech

Alex Conrey — Fri, 14 May 2010 00:03:33 +0000

FrigidTech Consultancy was founded by Alex Conrey in 2010. After seeing complaints from many people of the overpriced competition, he created FrigidTech. Devotion to satisfaction and guaranteed lower prices than the competition, FrigidTech is your best bet for friendly computer repair, timely replies, and ultimate satisfaction without breaking the bank.

Hello world!

Alex Conrey — Thu, 13 May 2010 00:57:04 +0000

Welcome to Frigidtech.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!