I did some tests to compare Linux vs FreeBSD using mysql and sysbench. This graph shows fedora core 6 vs freebsd bleeding edge in cvs 7.0. The test is sysbench with the following parameters: sysbench --test=oltp --num-threads=${i} --mysql-user=root --max-time=60 --max-requests=0 --oltp-read-only=on run Both operating systems are installed on the same machine on different partitions on a large raid