DragonFly's HAMMER works pretty well across all memory configurations. It does work well in small memory configurations. Some care must be taken when using HAMMER on a small partition (more typically when using it on a small SSD). Since space is limited the automatic snapshotting feature's '60d' (60 day) default might be way too large and the reblock parameters might reblock a little too often and cause unecessary (but still not too much) wear on the SSD. The hammer and swapcache manual pages should have a good amount of information on this.
-Matt On Fri, Dec 26, 2014 at 10:48 PM, PeerCorps Trust Fund < [email protected]> wrote: > Really? Would have been nice to meet up for a chat, although I am only > there for part of the year. > > All of the BSD's, hmm. The results we came up with in our testing were as > follows (I'm summarizing). > > OpenBSD - having the ability to suspend and resume is extremely useful for > both a server device and workstations in this environment, and it does this > flawlessly on Thinkpads (which we are focused on using). It is easy to > install and everything was very very well laid-out, including getting a > nice simple desktop environment for the workstations. Unfortunately both on > the server and client side, NFS is just not there in terms of speed or > reliability no matter what configuration its in. Apart from NFS, everything > just works. > > NetBSD - couldn't get anything to work. > > FreeBSD - worked very well. Rich selection of packages. NFS is fast and > easy to configure on both client and server machines. ZFS is very useful, > but am not sure if it is a long term solution for low-end set-ups. > > DragonflyBSD - Works! Rich selection of packages (Dports). NFS is > extremely robust and ridiculously fast. Never seen anything like it before. > HAMMER offers quite a number of very useful benefits and we are learning to > put these features to good use. > > > On 12/27/2014 06:12 AM, Matthew Dillon wrote: > > That's an excellent use of a free OS. I was in Tanzania at the beginning > > of the year on vacation. You can do a lot with 1GB and a lean UI. All > the > > BSDs should do quite well in that configuration. > > > > -Matt > > > > On Fri, Dec 26, 2014 at 4:05 AM, PeerCorps Trust Fund < > > [email protected]> wrote: > > > >> It certainly is, although the machines are actually running stock > FreeBSD > >> 10.1. > >> > >> PC-BSD was an option in the beginning, but because these were older > >> computers it was easier to build a low-resource install enabling only > basic > >> services such as NFS rather than trying to pare down a PC-BSD install to > >> suit the needs of the project (which is a basic KDE-based workstation). > >> > >> Most of those desktops had only one gigabyte of RAM ad PC-BSD uses a lot > >> of resources. We learned a lot in the process and will be implementing > >> modified libraries in the coming year using donated computer equipment. > >> > >> I think many underestimate the enormous value that such projects have in > >> these communities. Just having access to books and educational material > is > >> tremendously beneficial from a development perspective. > >> > >> On 12/26/2014 01:12 PM, Carsten Mattner wrote: > >>> On Fri, Dec 26, 2014 at 12:43 AM, PeerCorps Trust Fund > >>> <[email protected]> wrote: > >>>> Indeed in Tanzania :) we have a couple of technology initiatives > taking > >> place at the > >>>> moment and *BSD is at the center in many ways. The delivery of > >> educational > >>>> materials and books to resource-limited communities is an important > aim > >> of > >>>> these initiatives. > >>>> > >>>> We actually used FreeBSD in our first effort, but want to experiment > >> with some > >>>> of the capabilities of DragonflyBSD and HAMMER in the next one. In our > >>>> estimation we can possibly stretch our hardware and funds a bit > further > >> with > >>>> DragonflyBSD/HAMMER owing to its low resource requirements. > >>> > >>> Ah nice. Is it the same project we heard recently of with photos of a > >> library > >>> room running PCBSD machines with a video and document library? > >>> > >>> > >>>> On 12/25/2014 11:20 PM, Carsten Mattner wrote: > >>>>> On Thu, Dec 25, 2014 at 7:08 PM, PeerCorps Trust Fund > >>>>> <[email protected]> wrote: > >>>>>> I just wanted to take the opportunity update a previous post that I > >> made to the > >>>>>> list concerning a swap_pager concern. It isn't an issue at all but > >> the fault of my > >>>>>> own ignorance and hardware limits. > >>>>>> > >>>>>> The external drive in question was simply not pulling enough power > >> from the > >>>>>> USB port of the laptop. This was likely resulting in a stalled drive > >> when anything > >>>>>> substantial was being copied to it. > >>>>>> > >>>>>> This has since been solved by connecting the drive first to an > >> externally powered > >>>>>> USB hub. So, if there is anyone else out there having a similar > >> issue, trying this > >>>>>> seems to do the trick. Alternatively, just use a drive that is > >> powered externally. > >>>>>> > >>>>>> Everything works beautifully now and this low cost experiment for a > >> simple file > >>>>>> server will find a home in a school classroom next year. > >>>>> > >>>>> In Tanzania? > >>>>> > >>>>> FreeBSD had a writeup about a set of PCBSD machines installed in > >> Nigeria IIRC. > >>>>> > >>>>> A blog post or other writeup to link on dragonflybsd.org would > surely > >> be nice. > >>>>> > >>>> > >> > >> -- > >> Michael L. Wilson > >> International Project Coordinator > >> PeerCorps Trust Fund - Tanzania > >> > >> > >> > > > > -- > Michael L. Wilson > International Project Coordinator > PeerCorps Trust Fund - Tanzania > > >
