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What is FreeBSD?
- Authors
- Name
- Alex Lee
- @alexjoelee
FreeBSD is a free and open-source Unix-like operating system that is known for its robustness, performance, and advanced networking features. It’s derived from the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) Unix operating system and is developed and maintained by the FreeBSD Project. Here are some key aspects of FreeBSD:
Key Aspects
Performance and Scalability: FreeBSD is renowned for its performance, scalability, and advanced networking capabilities, making it suitable for both high-performance servers and desktops.
Advanced Networking: It includes a range of advanced networking features, including support for IPv6, network traffic shaping, and various network file systems.
Security: FreeBSD includes numerous security features, such as jails (for process and filesystem isolation), mandatory access controls, and a robust set of security-related tools and configurations.
Port Collection: The FreeBSD Ports Collection is a system for managing software installation, allowing users to easily compile and install applications from source code.
ZFS File System: FreeBSD supports the ZFS file system, known for its reliability, data integrity, and support for large storage pools.
Licensing: It uses the BSD license, which is permissive and allows for more flexibility in how the software can be used and redistributed compared to some other licenses.
Usage
FreeBSD is used in a variety of settings, from web servers and network appliances to personal desktops and embedded systems. It has a strong community and is supported by a variety of hardware platforms and architectures.
FreeBSD is the basis for the Juniper Junos OS and for the PFSense Firewall software. See a list of products based on FreeBSD
Why do we use it?
Simplicity and high performance were top of mind when choosing the operating system for our edge network. At one time, we had even experimented with supporting two operating systems at the edge: FreeBSD and Debian. After deploying FreeBSD for years in a high variety of different situations and environtments, the choice was clear to us. The operating system's simplicity out-of-the-box just led to better operations and uptime for us. There are tons of great things present in modern Linux distributions that improve the computing experience for general use cases: desktop, development, web surfing, etc. None of those things help us deliver web content faster. The advanced networking capabilities in FreeBSD (and the simplicity of configuring them) are a slam dunk for us.
Learn more
Learn about the FreeBSD Project Download the latest version of the FreeBSD Installer Donate to the FreeBSD Foundation