Introduction to FreeBSD for Newbies

This makes no attempt to replace the most excellent FreeBSD Handbook and simply provides a quick overview of how things work with FreeBSD for new people.

FreeBSD Installation

Here are some of the important points to bare in mind when installing FreeBSD.

FreeBSD can run on both 32 bit and 64 bit processors. If you are unsure what version to use, the 32 bit version can run on both 64 bit and 32 bit processors however the 64 bit version can only run on 64 bit processors. I would recommend people to read more about the x86 and x86-64 architectures if they are unsure. Other processors architectures like PowerPC and Sparc64 are supported by FreeBSD but most people are not likely come across these without knowing what they are.

Hardware requirements are expected to be at least in this general area, FreeBSD can be run on lower spec hardware but roles are limited.

Any modern processor (Pentium or better)

64+ MB of RAM

500+ MB of Disk space