Category Archives: Announcements
FreeBSD 8.4-RELEASE now available
Date published: June 13th, 2013
Posted in Announcements, FreeBSD | No Comments »
The FreeBSD Foundation has just recently released version 8.4-RELEASE which featured an array of security advisories, kernel changes, hardware support fixes and updates to contributed software. The entire release notes are available at the FreeBSD Foundation website. We have added 8.4-RELEASE to our signup form, and is now available as an install option for all of our VPS and Dedicated Server packages.
The major question most face is, do I need to upgrade? The answer depends on what you are using your system for and what subsystems you are using. If you have a highly customized FreeBSD configuration, it will be far more important that you read through all of the release notes. If you’re considering migrating to FreeBSD 9.0 or 9.1 you might want to wait until 9.2 is released, especially if you’re using ZFS pools with feature flags (see below). Version 9.x does offer some major changes from 8.x including high performance SSH, ZFS v28, updated ATA/SATA drivers with AHCI support and the NFS system is upgraded to support NFSv4. Version 9.2 could be available as early as December (unconfirmed) as for end of life on the current versions, 8.3 and 8.4 are extended (24 month security officer support) while 9.0 and 9.2 are slated to be normal (12 month). That also puts 9.1 and 9.3 at extended with 9.1 being supported until Dec. 31, 2014.
In FreeBSD 8.4-RELEASE there were a lot of bug fixes in the network interface support area as well as some new hardware support. Network protocols also had a major list of updates including some bug fixes to IPv6. FreeBSD 8.4-RELEASE also includes updates to major contributed software like OpenSSH, OpenSSL, and sendmail and the KDE desktop environment.
As security is always a major concern, here is a quick overview of what was fixed in FreeBSD 8.4-RELEASE based on previous security advisories. The oldest and most outstanding of these are the OpenSSL vulnerabilities that were fixed which dated back to May 2012 (SA-12:01.openssl and SA-13:03.openssl). Other security updates including changes to crypt(), named, bind, and input validation for the NFS server which could potentially have been exploited to allow arbitrary code to be run in kernel context.
In terms of the kernel itself, several bugs were fixed including those dealing with CPU affinity, VIMAGE and mmap. Other changes include some workarounds dealing with old versions of QEMU and Xen, and big changes to the FreeBSD sched_ule scheduler in terms of CPU selection in systems with symmetrical multithreading (or hyperthreading for Intel CPUs).
It you are considering migrating to FreeBSD 9.0 or 9.1 and are using the ZFS subsystem it’s important to note that FreeBSD 8.4-RELEASE can now support feature flags in ZFS pools, but the default version number will still be 28. FreeBSD 9.0 and 9.1 do not support these feature flags and so they cannot be used but a version 8.x system can be upgraded to version 9.0 or 9.1 without problem provided the ZFS pools are v28. If a ZFS pool is upgraded from v28 it would then prevent upgrade. However, FreeBSD 9.2 and later are slated to support ZFS pools with feature flags.
EOTW Dedicated Server Sale
Date published: December 21st, 2012
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In honor of the end of the Mayan calendar, as well as the winter solstice, we are running a special promotion for anyone who wants to order a dedicated server. This promotion is valid today only!
Get full control with your own dedicated server. This includes IPMI with remote reboot and remote KVM so that you can completely reinstall your operating system whenever you’re in the mood!
Order now, enter promo code EOTW during checkout
Special End Of The World pricing: $79/month, FREE SETUP!
Server Specs:
- Intel Atom Dual-core CPU
- 4GB RAM
- 1TB hard disk
- 100Mbps public port speed
- 1Gbps connection to our private network
- 100GB backup space on our backup server
- 2,000GB/mo bandwidth
- /29 IPv4 (5 usable IP addresses)
- /64 IPv6 (18,446,744,073,709,551,616 usable IP addresses)
- Your choice of OS (any FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Linux)
- IPMI remote control
Special pricing for co-location
Date published: December 14th, 2012
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Do you need a new home for one of your servers? We have recently started offering co-location service in our two datacenter locations (Dallas, TX and Raleigh, NC). Both of these facilities provide a safe and secure place to run your server, with redundant power and network connectivity.
Co-locating with RootBSD has many benefits, such as having direct gigabit connectivity to your VPS or dedicated servers with free bandwidth. We’ll also provide free shipping of your server to our datacenter, and 1 hour of free remote hands service every month. Unhappy with your existing provider? Send us a copy of your invoice and we’ll meet or beat what you’re paying now.
For the month of December, we are offering huge discounts for single server co-location in our Raleigh, NC datacenter. Take advantage of this special pricing while it lasts!
>> Co-location Special Pricing <<
Unscheduled Network Event: August 1, 2011
Date published: August 2nd, 2011
Posted in Announcements, RootBSD | No Comments »
Much of the internet connectivity in and to the Continental United States including our two datacenters was degraded by an outage within the Level3 Communications backbone that began at approximately 17:22 1 August 2011 UTC. The impact of this event was felt not only on the Level3 backbone but also on other carriers as providers shifted large amounts of traffic that would have normally transited the Level3 network onto alternate network paths, causing increased latency, congestion and packet loss.
Many providers who utilize Level3 Communications for transport services, both telephone and IP, were also impacted as these transport services utilize the same converged backbone as the Level3 transit product.
The Level3 Communications master case number is 40976066.
The Level3 Communications official statements regarding the unscheduled network event are:
8/1/11 7:12:56 PM GMT The IP NOC reports that the network equipment self
restored, resolving the routing issue and restoring services at
approximately 17:55 GMT. The IP NOC states that they will continue to
work with Level 3 OPS Engineers and the equipment vendor to isolate the
root cause of the service interruption. The Level 3 TSC has confirmed
that all customer services have been restored and the IP NOC will
continue to monitor for stability.
8/1/11 6:29:26 PM GMT The IP NOC reports that a routing issue failure
between Dallas, TX and Los Angeles, CA is impacting IP services in
multiple markets. The IP NOC has engaged the equipment vendor, as well
as Level 3 OPS Engineers and continues to investigate to isolate the
issue at this time.
If you have anymore questions about this outage, please contact our support team at [email protected].