Hans-Christian Andersen
hans.andersen at phulse.com
Wed Nov 16 13:35:46 CST 2011
John, I've never seen a Linux server to have its stability degrade over time, unless there was a serious problem going on (like hardware failure). I have known Windows servers to have stability problems, but more often than not, this is usually due to poor quality drivers and/or the use of consumer grade hardware or software with memory leaks. But, unless you know exactly what you are doing, you will still find that you need to reboot Linux servers on occasions after a software update if there is a serious kernel patch. It doesn't happen as often as on Windows, but we used to have a very neat tool called Ksplice, which can patch a running kernel on the fly. Unfortunately, Oracle bought the company that ran that product and immediately dropped support for other distros other than its own (as if I really needed another reason to despise Oracle). :p I haven't checked what our uptimes are on at my (Debian) server farm. I'll have a look in a bit. - Hans Sent from my iPhone On 2011-11-16, at 10:33 AM, jwcolby <jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com> wrote: > >With Windows, it is constantly rebooting after updates and if left alone for too long it will start acting strangely and need to be rebooted. > > I certainly don't find this to be true. Windows is much better about "needing to reboot after updates" though that certainly still happens upon occasion, but my Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 runs for months on end without a reboot. > > One day I will be building a multi-core mega server to run Linux and a MySQL variant. Then I will truly see how it goes. I entirely expect for it to "just work", or as much so as any system can expect. > > John W. Colby > Colby Consulting > > Reality is what refuses to go away > when you do not believe in it > > On 11/16/2011 12:16 PM, Jim Lawrence wrote: >> Hi Shamil: >> >> The TCO is an old and out of date concept. The phase was used when Linux had >> no GUI and most of its configuration had to be done at the command prompt. >> Linux products are now much more mature than they were in the late nineties >> when the phrase was coined. Note; just like any Windows or Linux, it >> sometimes requires you go under the hood but not for a basic or standard >> configuration. >> >> If a person is fully skilled at either Windows serversxx, IISx, SQL 20xx >> they can set up an operational system in a very short time but OTOH, this is >> also true for some person versed in Debian Linux sever (with Ubuntu Linux >> desktop), Apache and MySQL. Both the high end products are fully 64 bit and >> capable of managing multi-core processes. (The current Debian server OS has >> the capability to use a petabyte of memory, 128 to 256 cores(?) and could >> host over 10,000 users...it will take many years before the hardware catches >> up.) >> >> I would think that it would take the same amount of time for the basic >> configuration of both. >> >> This is also true for a station whether Windows7 or Ubuntu Linux 11.x. All >> will have the standard group of applications. Full Office, communications, >> music and video players, full networking, full list of internet products and >> on and on. Both Systems are incredible simple to setup, both systems have >> regular updates and both are easy to use and navigate around in and any user >> can get use to using either as they are very similar. >> >> I would think that it would take the same amount of time for the basic >> configuration of both. >> >> I have worked for years with various versions of Oracle and to install it is >> relatively easy. OTOH, to really optimize the DB you have to go in a tweak >> it very carefully to hardware and user requirements. In MSSQL, most(many) of >> these features are automated. Is that good or not, I do not know but MySQL >> can be the same. Many people just install and run it, as is but it can be >> tweaked to any requirement but like Oracle that takes a bit of training and >> investigation. Is that potential a plus or minus to the novice? >> >> If you have a problem with either MSSQL or MySQL or Linux or Windows there >> are plenty of books, Forums and blog sites with everything you will ever >> need to know. OTOH, if you have a serious melt down with in either Windows >> or Linux environment there is always an expert as close as the phone to >> help...and it is pay as you go...so much per incident. >> >> Therefore, in summary as far as I can see, there is no difference in TOC. >> The only cost is in how much time it takes to become an expert in either or >> in both and how much the initial products cost. >> >> Some other points to consider: >> 1. Linux is a very rugged product (it will run for years with little or no >> intervention). With Windows, it is constantly rebooting after updates and if >> left alone for too long it will start acting strangely and need to be >> rebooted. (20+ years from NT to 2008 server and still the same...at least it >> is consistent.) 2. Almost no malware can survive in the Linux environment. >> 3. The Linux footprint is very small. (About a third the size of Windows?) >> 4. Bugs in Open Source products can take days to fix while in proprietary >> products they may take years, if ever. A single OS product can have 1000 >> contributors while I would suspect much fewer resources for the equivalent >> Windows products. >> 5. Linux can out perform Windows on a computer with much less resources. >> >> Does this mean I am recommending everyone just abandon Window...hardly. They >> are the current standard and many of our clients use Windows products but >> OTOH I would suggest that every IT guy, who is planning to be around for the >> next ten to twenty years, become familiar with Linux as well. >> >> Jim >> > -- > AccessD mailing list > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com