Well, it is almost time to deploy my first Rails project and I am trying to finalize my choices for a deployment platform (OS, web server, fcgi vs scgi) ... I have been developing on windows with webrick and have been planning on deploying on linux with lighttpd and scgi but my initial setup and test left me a little wanting. I have been using Ubuntu 5.04/5.10 on our servers with mostly good results. We used to run Red Hat a long time ago, then SuSE for a short time, and then Gentoo (which I loved but installation just takes way too long...) Ruby support in Ubuntu/Debian has left a bad taste in my mouth, though ... so I am considering other choices. FreeBSD is looking attractive at the moment, but I''ve had almost no experience with it ... How is it for Ruby & Rails development and deployment? Any problems I should watch out for? My biggest need is for reliability ... I have very little time for mucking about with a server that just decides to quit working! I''ve toyed with Solaris 10 x86 a little ... Hardware-wise I have to stick with something x86-compatible (the server in question is an 800mHz Pentium 3 with 768mb RAM) but that limitation aside I am open to anything... I am also looking at using switchtower in the near future so that may need to be factored in. Thoughts? Thanks! Tim
Tim wrote:> I have been using Ubuntu 5.04/5.10 on our servers with mostly good > results. We used to run Red Hat a long time ago, then SuSE for a short > time, and then Gentoo (which I loved but installation just takes way too > long...) Ruby support in Ubuntu/Debian has left a bad taste in my mouth, > though ... so I am considering other choices.I''m developing on a mix of OS X, Debian and Win2K boxes, and of the three of them, I''d say the Debian box is the easiest to configure for production. That includes compiling lighttpd, which was really, really simple - even completely ignoring the dpkg-configure bits.> FreeBSD is looking attractive at the moment, but I''ve had almost no > experience with it ... How is it for Ruby & Rails development and > deployment?Allegedly very cool indeed. I''ll let others chime in on this one, but check http://www.flpr.org. It''s my next spare-weekend project. -- Alex
Ezra Zygmuntowicz
2005-Nov-03 21:33 UTC
Re: freebsd/lighttpd/scgi as a deployment platform
On Nov 3, 2005, at 8:10 AM, Tim wrote:> Well, it is almost time to deploy my first Rails project and I am > trying to finalize my choices for a deployment platform (OS, web > server, fcgi vs scgi) ... I have been developing on windows with > webrick and have been planning on deploying on linux with lighttpd > and scgi but my initial setup and test left me a little wanting. > > I have been using Ubuntu 5.04/5.10 on our servers with mostly good > results. We used to run Red Hat a long time ago, then SuSE for a > short time, and then Gentoo (which I loved but installation just > takes way too long...) Ruby support in Ubuntu/Debian has left a bad > taste in my mouth, though ... so I am considering other choices. > > FreeBSD is looking attractive at the moment, but I''ve had almost no > experience with it ... How is it for Ruby & Rails development and > deployment? Any problems I should watch out for? My biggest need is > for reliability ... I have very little time for mucking about with > a server that just decides to quit working! I''ve toyed with Solaris > 10 x86 a little ... Hardware-wise I have to stick with something > x86-compatible (the server in question is an 800mHz Pentium 3 with > 768mb RAM) but that limitation aside I am open to anything... I am > also looking at using switchtower in the near future so that may > need to be factored in. > > Thoughts? > > Thanks! > TimTim- I will chime in here and say that feebsd is a great platform for rails. Its what textdrive(the defacto rails web host) runs. And while I really like scgi, I feel that it is not quite ready for a production server. I would go with either debian/lighttpd/fcgi or freebsd/lighttpd/fcgi. Fastcgi is running many large rails sites including the one I wrote for the newspaper I work for. You can take a look at a fairly large site running on lighttpd/fcgi in my sig. Give a holler if you run into trouble configuring lighty/fcgi. i have some really good config files. Cheers- -Ezra Zygmuntowicz http://brainspl.at <- blog Yakima Herald-Republic WebMaster http://yakimaherald.com 509-577-7732 ezra-gdxLOakOTQ9oetBuM9ipNAC/G2K4zDHf@public.gmane.org
On 11/3/05, Tim <Tim.Ferrell-gUTHP3170uhWk0Htik3J/w@public.gmane.org> wrote:> > Well, it is almost time to deploy my first Rails project and I am trying > to finalize my choices for a deployment platform (OS, web server, fcgi > vs scgi) ... I have been developing on windows with webrick and have > been planning on deploying on linux with lighttpd and scgi but my > initial setup and test left me a little wanting. > > I have been using Ubuntu 5.04/5.10 on our servers with mostly good > results. We used to run Red Hat a long time ago, then SuSE for a short > time, and then Gentoo (which I loved but installation just takes way too > long...) Ruby support in Ubuntu/Debian has left a bad taste in my mouth, > though ... so I am considering other choices. > > FreeBSD is looking attractive at the moment, but I''ve had almost no > experience with it ... How is it for Ruby & Rails development and > deployment? Any problems I should watch out for? My biggest need is for > reliability ... I have very little time for mucking about with a server > that just decides to quit working! I''ve toyed with Solaris 10 x86 a > little ... Hardware-wise I have to stick with something x86-compatible > (the server in question is an 800mHz Pentium 3 with 768mb RAM) but that > limitation aside I am open to anything... I am also looking at using > switchtower in the near future so that may need to be factored in. >Having been primarily a freebsd shop for about 8 years now here is my biased opinion. I like how freebsd is structured, especially it''s port system. IMO it''s easier to manage and installing stuff from ports is less likely to screw up existing configurations you might have then using most of the linux package managers. Frankly the freebsd folks are just a bit more conservative, which suits my personal tastes a bit more. That said, most software apps run on linux first and bsd second. Some things that work fine on linux are buggy on freebsd. That''s because not as many people use the particular software on freebsd and the bugs don''t show up as fast. The more popular the software the less likely this is to happen, but be prepared because given enough time you will run into it. If you are comfortable with linux then stay with linux. Fastcgi and scgi work fine on freebsd though. I''ve used both without any issues. _______________________________________________ Rails mailing list Rails-1W37MKcQCpIf0INCOvqR/iCwEArCW2h5@public.gmane.org http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails