# FreeBSD vs Debian performance (for Erlang, Python, MySQL)



## nightblaze (Mar 30, 2013)

Hello.

I know that similar questions were here and read them. But I didn't find the answer. Some say that FreeBSD is faster, another says that Debian. I choose an OS for a server. My backend will be nginx, Erlang, Python and MySQL. I choose between FreeBSD 9.1 and Debian 6. Which one will be faster on a small VPS (about 512MB RAM, Xeon 1.8 GHz)?


----------



## pkubaj (Mar 30, 2013)

Just a side note, if you happen to choose Debian, don't install 6 but 7.


----------



## drhowarddrfine (Mar 31, 2013)

I have a feeling the answer is, "It doesn't matter", and you'll find they're both close enough that you wouldn't notice the difference unless you were getting millions of hits a day. So the choice should be based on which OS you is technically better and that decision is easy.


----------



## NewGuy (Mar 31, 2013)

*Not out yet*



			
				pkubaj said:
			
		

> Just a side note, if you happen to choose Debian, don't install 6 but 7.


Debian 7 isn't out yet, which makes it awfully difficult to install.

As the above poster said, the performance probably won't be all that different between FreeBSD and Debian GNU/Linux (I'm assuming you're looking at the Linux version of Debian and not the branch using the FreeBSD kernel.) The big difference will likely be the time you spend installing, configuring and upgrading software. In these areas Debian will provide a much quicker and easier path. The flip side to this is Debian 6 will be phased out over the next year or two, losing support while Debian 7 isn't out yet. If you're looking at long term support FreeBSD will probably provide the more pleasant upgrade path.


----------



## pkubaj (Mar 31, 2013)

NewGuy said:
			
		

> Debian 7 isn't out yet, which makes it awfully difficult to install.
> 
> As the above poster said, the performance probably won't be all that different between FreeBSD and Debian GNU/Linux (I'm assuming you're looking at the Linux version of Debian and not the branch using the FreeBSD kernel.) The big difference will likely be the time you spend installing, configuring and upgrading software. In these areas Debian will provide a much quicker and easier path. The flip side to this is Debian 6 will be phased out over the next year or two, losing support while Debian 7 isn't out yet. If you're looking at long term support FreeBSD will probably provide the more pleasant upgrade path.



LOL, why is it so difficult to download iso from the website?


----------



## NewGuy (Apr 1, 2013)

*Debian*



			
				pkubaj said:
			
		

> LOL, why is it so difficult to download iso from the website?



The ISOs for Debian 7 don't exist yet. You can download Debian Testing, but version 7.0 is still probably several months away. It's really not a good idea to install a pre-release snapshot.


----------



## pkubaj (Apr 1, 2013)

There's already RC1 of Wheezy so there won't be long waiting for the release. Wheezy is already very stable.


----------



## fluca1978 (Apr 3, 2013)

nightblaze said:
			
		

> Which one will be faster on a small VPS (about 512MB RAM, Xeon 1.8 GHz)?



Hard to say. First of all, it depends on the load, on the tuning you are going to do (or will to do). You should install the one you know the best, or the one your provider suggest, and keep in mind that running on a VPS is not as running on a real server, because you could have a disk that is shared across servers (for instance), and therefore you could get some I/O penalities. But again, it all depends on what you are going to do with your stack, how much important is your data, and so on...


----------

