OpenBSD and Linux: Insights into a migration project at the INI

von Stephan A. Rickauer (Institute of Neuroinformatics, ETH / University Zurich)

Freitag, 01.06.2007, Workshop 1 (ICC-B/R44), 12:00-13:00 Uhr

The Institute of Neuroinformatics (INI) at ETH / University of Zurich has always been strongly Linux focused. In fact, over 90% of our clients run Linux. However, with time we've also seen a number of problems we couldn't fix with Linux: Real redundancy on our firewalls with state synchronisation, life cycle and upgrade problems as well as reliability issues.

We evaluated OpenBSD two years ago and were surprised, if not astonished, by the most professional approaches this OS and their developers take. We started to move one machine after the other to OpenBSD and, in the meantime, migrated 80% of our server infrastructure to OpenBSD. Not only that, it turned out it is also a perfect system to virtualize.

In this talk I will vigorously show the reasons why one migrates to OpenBSD, how that actually took place and what problems we faced and still face - based on real life experience. I will not only cover technical aspects but also managment and life cycle issues.

At the end, the audience should have a better understanding of when to use which OS depending on their environment.

This is my publication about firewall HA (Linux-Magazin): http://www.ini.unizh.ch/~stephan/articles/openbsd/064-069_linux-bsd-fw.pdf (it will also be covered in the talk)

Über den Autor Stephan A. Rickauer:

Playing with Linux since 1995 I started working in the professional Unix environment 4 years later, with supporting AIX on IBM RS/6000 boxes for two years. I then touched Solaris briefly and switched back to Linux on the first opportunity at Swissair/Atraxis. I worked there for a couple of years within the web and infrastructure department as a Unix Internet Engineer.

I am currently working at the Institute of Neuroinformatics, which tries to understand how brains work and implements these principles in artificial systems. During my work I discovered OpenBSD three years ago and from that on I use it wherever it makes sense.

My main interests are consistent systems, like OpenBSD, and Free Software and Freedom in general.