# Server Installation - Sched. Monday 28JUL08



## Dragoneer (Jul 26, 2008)

Just a note. I've got it scheduled on Monday to bring the server over to have it dropped in the colo. The site will not go back online the moment the server is up, as we still have to port the data, tweak and configure.

We were not able to get it done this weekend as our host was currently busy setting up a second colo facility in Baltimore (one that we will have access to, but more on that later). 

*NOTE: *Keep replies on topic.



[EDIT/Rhainor]
*UPDATE:*

The current main server will be taken offline in approximately 20 minutes, to switch over to the new Dell server (Trogdor). During this time, the FA front page (which currently shows Fender venting his rage on a helpless keyboard) will be inaccessible.

[EDIT 2/Rhainor]
*UPDATE 2:  *Yak just told me the following in IRC:

<@yak[work]> data transfered. tuning the kernel and the file system right now. then installing the environment. then bringing up basic file serving services. then fa itself. then finishing the recode.

I asked for an ETA and he just said "before FA:U (I hope)".  FA:U starts Friday, so it should be up in the next 48 hours.


----------



## TheGreatCrusader (Jul 26, 2008)

Yay. I'm glad to hear that they will be up _soon_.

Good luck.


----------



## Kitch (Jul 26, 2008)

Hmmmm, tell us more about this second colo...


----------



## Dragoneer (Jul 26, 2008)

Kitch said:


> Hmmmm, tell us more about this second colo...


Just a facility up in Baltimore, MD. We may end up putting an old server there to use for... something.


----------



## RailRunner (Jul 26, 2008)

Awesome.  Thanks for the update!


----------



## Bladewing (Jul 26, 2008)

ooo hey good to know!


----------



## Etsu Matsuya (Jul 26, 2008)

Dragoneer said:


> Just a facility up in Baltimore, MD. We may end up putting an old server there to use for... something.


Second server just to host the forum? Or heck maybe even use it to host other sites for some profit. FA is a huge site, and must cost a great deal bandwidth wise. So a full time income to supplement Donations wouldn't be too terrible.


----------



## isthisagoodname (Jul 26, 2008)

Any new info about CDW and the Sunfire Server, or is that off topic?


----------



## Dragoneer (Jul 26, 2008)

isthisagoodname said:


> Any new info about CDW and the Sunfire Server, or is that off topic?


We're sending the Sun Fire back to CDW. They sent all the parts, and we have all the parts, but they were supposed to install and test the system befoer shipping it out. They didn't. They just sent all the parts and went "HEY! Build the server yourself."

And we went, "No, we didn't spend that much money to get Digital Legos." Our concern is that if something were to happen with the server hardware wise, a fault or what not, we'd rather they find it and test it. We can still get FA up and online without it, but when you spend that much cash, you want it done right.

There were some other problems, too. But those are not of major consequence right now.


----------



## Delian (Jul 26, 2008)

Maybe they thought you were in a hurry and ordered every part to be shipped directly to you?


----------



## Felixpath (Jul 27, 2008)

Hmm, perhaps you could attempt to bring the site back up at 2 AM or thereabouts. It might help to stem the tide as the mighty furry flood surges in....


----------



## lostcat461 (Jul 27, 2008)

Felixpath said:


> Hmm, perhaps you could attempt to bring the site back up at 2 AM or thereabouts. It might help to stem the tide as the mighty furry flood surges in....


 
The problem is, that 2 in the morning is still only 11 just across a few state lines (and even earlier over seas). Any chosen time would likely be flooded. Honestly, if you knew FA would be up at 2am on a certain day, would you not stay up a bit later then usual to see?

A completely random time, with no leaks, is likely the best bet. Though as soon as one ambitious fellow finds the site, posts a blog, spreads it on their messangers, and on IRC, well the flood gates shall open anyways.

This is just what happens when you keep furries from their porn for so long 

Anyways, out of curiosity. Are you going to try and press CDW to knock off some of the bill for that Sun Fire system? It seems that they did drop the ball, and could do with a bit of prodding (after it has been assembled that is >>) But as they say, "Vengeance is a dish best served cold, if only so you don't burn your fingers."


----------



## blade (Jul 27, 2008)

That sounds quite good, though that rots about CDW.

Crossing fingers and looking forwards.


----------



## LittleBlue (Jul 27, 2008)

How long will installing the server take?


----------



## jmynstyx (Jul 27, 2008)

so when will the site go up?



Dragoneer said:


> Just a note. I've got it scheduled on Monday to bring the server over to have it dropped in the colo. The site will not go back online the moment the server is up, as we still have to port the data, tweak and configure.
> 
> We were not able to get it done this weekend as our host was currently busy setting up a second colo facility in Baltimore (one that we will have access to, but more on that later).
> 
> *NOTE: *Keep replies on topic.


----------



## duo2nd (Jul 27, 2008)

It's Monday here in my part of the world.


----------



## net-cat (Jul 27, 2008)

duo2nd said:


> It's Monday here in my part of the world.



At the tone, the time will be Sunday, July 27, 23:52:15, Eastern Daylight Time. (AKA "Server Time")

*beep*


----------



## maxgoof (Jul 28, 2008)

Wait...you mean you're going to try and bring it back up with just the dell, and then put the sun in later?

I have the feeling that Murphy is going to have a field day with this...


----------



## Dragoneer (Jul 28, 2008)

maxgoof said:


> I have the feeling that Murphy is going to have a field day with this...


No.


----------



## Rhainor (Jul 28, 2008)

maxgoof said:


> Wait...you mean you're going to try and bring it back up with just the dell, and then put the sun in later?
> 
> I have the feeling that Murphy is going to have a field day with this...


Not *just* the Dell.  FA currently has 5 or 6 servers at their disposal, in varying degrees of readiness.  The following is taken from FA's page on WikiFur:



> *The hardware *
> 
> There are currently six servers held by Fur Affinity:
> 
> ...




I don't know if Gecko is still in use.  Ghostlight is used for the forums only.  Between Tiamat and Bahamut, one of them blew a component and caused this mess.

Trogdor and either Tiamat or Bahamut (whichever is operational) can easily handle FA until Novastorm gets back from CDW.


----------



## TheRedRaptor (Jul 28, 2008)

Beware Murphys' Law


----------



## Dragoneer (Jul 28, 2008)

TheRedRaptor said:


> Beware Murphys' Law


I always plan for the worst, hope for the best.


----------



## duo2nd (Jul 28, 2008)

Dragoneer said:


> I always plan for the worst, hope for the best.



*Crosses Fingers*


----------



## DracoOfZeradaith (Jul 28, 2008)

Dragoneer said:


> I always plan for the worst, hope for the best.



And as such, we have nothing to worry about.  Srsly, ppl (DWN WTH VWLS!).  FA will be up as soon as they can possibly swing it.

Have you guys tested the Dell prior to installing it sometime today or is that something that will have to happen once it's in the colo, up and running?

Sincere thanks to all of the staff members for your dedication and hard work during these past few weeks.   You all rock my world.


----------



## Dragoneer (Jul 28, 2008)

DracoOfZeradaith said:


> And as such, we have nothing to worry about.  Srsly, ppl (DWN WTH VWLS!).  FA will be up as soon as they can possibly swing it.
> 
> Have you guys tested the Dell prior to installing it sometime today or is that something that will have to happen once it's in the colo, up and running?
> 
> Sincere thanks to all of the staff members for your dedication and hard work during these past few weeks.   You all rock my world.


We tested the Dell and the HDs. Plus the Dell was pre-tested before it shipped. There is always a chance something can go wrong, that something may go wrong... but if so, we've got a 24 hour response time from Dell to fix it. I've got spare HDs. We've got good warranty.


----------



## blade (Jul 28, 2008)

crossing fingers for today, and warrenties are our best friends XP


----------



## Winterbeast (Jul 28, 2008)

>Between Tiamat and Bahamut, one of them blew a component and caused this mess.

When you are thinking and lose your train of thought, this has been known to be referred to as a Brainfart. In this situation, The computers have lost their trains of thought and the website is down because of it. What silly descriptions can we come up with to describe the degree of this passage of thought-gas?


----------



## RailRide (Jul 28, 2008)

Winterbeast said:


> >Between Tiamat and Bahamut, one of them blew a component and caused this mess.
> 
> When you are thinking and lose your train of thought, this has been known to be referred to as a Brainfart. In this situation, The computers have lost their trains of thought and the website is down because of it. What silly descriptions can we come up with to describe the degree of this passage of thought-gas?



An elephant with indigestion farting on a lit blowtorch.

---PCJ


----------



## Cloudy-Kitty (Jul 28, 2008)

Ah it'd be the best thing if you could bring back the site today or tomorrow!  I hope everything will be okay :3

You can do it!


----------



## AlexInsane (Jul 28, 2008)

The only part with making your own servers and things is that when they break, there's no warranty, no returning parts, no refunded money. If you take the time and money to get a warranty on all the components, that ends up being VERY expensive.

Better to waste money on something that can be replaced over and over without more money being spent than to keep blowing it repeatedly on something that would only do a little bit better and requires more work to keep up.

And I've had nothing but good experiences with Dell. When you get down to it, most of the name brand computers are complete pieces of shit that will die in a couple years and/or become obsolete the second you buy them. I would LOVE to make my own computer from square one, but I don't have the liquid assets or the resources to do that. Neither, I am guessing, does FA.

And you're still forgetting that this is essentially their site. They can buy crap if they feel like it.


----------



## DarkTalbain64 (Jul 28, 2008)

Good luck guys, hope everything goes well.


----------



## Dragoneer (Jul 28, 2008)

DigitalMan said:


> If I were in range of you guys, I could drive over and have that box assembled in 30 minutes. Maybe 45, if it's a really awkward design. Of course, I'm not the only one of my kind. And I'm not the best; I don't even have my A+ Certification yet.


I work in the IT department of a highly specialized division that focuses on stuff most people would think only exists in movies and/or Bill Gates' basement. I know my hardware, I know my servers. Putting the Sun Server together would take me 10 minutes. Maybe 20 to configure the RAID. In fact, let me assure you than the fact I'd like to do nothing more than install this server right now. I'm going to the colo in about an hour or two to install the Dell.

We ordered the server COMPLETE. Not in parts. COMPLETE. When it comes down to the warranty, if anything goes wrong, we want to be able to say _"Your hands worked on it, your problem. Fix it."

_They would still honor the warranty if we assembled it on our side, yes, but they botched things up. Several times over. They could have given us a discount, instead they chose to reimburse us for partial shipping. They could have handled it more professionally, they did not.

We have a paper trail, and we just want things done RIGHT. Not "the fast way". Not "the easy way". We've taken those routes before on Fur Affinity, and we've learned our lesson. The site will come back and return online. And it will do so correctly.

Trust me when I say I'd like nothing more to do it myself, but I agree with the rest of my team that this is the right decision. Is it a fast decision? No. Is it the right decision? Yes. As somebody who has spent over $45,000 at Newegg alone in the past few years, I know how to build powerful systems cheaply. But I'm not interested in cutting every corner to do this right. I can get great hardware from Newegg, and I can build a great server. But I don't want great. I want the best.

*EDIT:* And furthermore, if I bought used/new server parts off of eBay given the sheer amount of donations and left the future of this site and this community in the hands of eBay and Paypal... well, let's just say I'd have to be crazy.


----------



## STrRedWolf (Jul 28, 2008)

Dragoneer said:


> We were not able to get it done this weekend as our host was currently busy setting up a second colo facility in Baltimore (one that we will have access to, but more on that later).



O_O

Dragoneer, if you are willing to share the name of your colo via PM, I'd appreciate it.  I'm always on the lookout for a east-coast colo for Keenspot and my own devices...


----------



## Arshes Nei (Jul 28, 2008)

STrRedWolf said:


> O_O
> 
> Dragoneer, if you are willing to share the name of your colo via PM, I'd appreciate it.  I'm always on the lookout for a east-coast colo for Keenspot and my own devices...



No need, it's been stated previously the colo is named Ironpath.


----------



## Toonces (Jul 28, 2008)

Seems like some tech guys on these forums are about as good as little children screaming "but I want do it MY WAY!!!!"

I mean I complained about the server's stupid name but that's trivial. Dragoneer's kept this site up and running with bicycle parts and the Power of Good Intentions for a few years now, and he's got a hell of a lot to do right now without every furry who once installed a stick of RAM telling him what he should be doing.


----------



## Calorath (Jul 28, 2008)

DigitalMan said:


> -snip-
> 
> For example, the Dell? That's a no-no -
> 
> ...




I would suggest you get a few more years, and a plethora of experience under your belt. 

Perhaps some of this advice is applicable to desktop systems. But for a commercial/enterprise server solution. You could not be more wrong.


----------



## Adelio Altomar (Jul 28, 2008)

AlexInsane said:


> And I've had nothing but good experiences with Dell. When you get down to it, *most of the name brand computers are complete pieces of shit that will die in a couple years and/or become obsolete the second you buy them.* I would LOVE to make my own computer from square one, but I don't have the liquid assets or the resources to do that. Neither, I am guessing, does FA.


 
*coughgatewaycough*


----------



## Abyss666 (Jul 28, 2008)

Dragoneer said:


> I work in the IT department of a highly specialized division that focuses on stuff most people would think only exists in movies and/or Bill Gates' basement.



I really, really, really want to know more about this statement. Do you have those 3d holograms or computers that read the users eye and hand movements? At least thats the stuff I imagine in Bill Gates basement, something like the Iron Man or Minority report computers. Where can I order them?

/Is joking
//Mostly 
///I understand you probably dont want to list the company name that you work for but I've never heard of a company that specializes in custom computers for the rich and famous.


----------



## Snapai (Jul 28, 2008)

STrRedWolf said:


> O_O
> 
> Dragoneer, if you are willing to share the name of your colo via PM, I'd appreciate it.  I'm always on the lookout for a east-coast colo for Keenspot and my own devices...


http://www.ironpath.com/

12    46 ms    42 ms    42 ms  fe-4-1.core1.ash.va.ironpath.net [63.210.41.158]
13    44 ms    42 ms    43 ms  66-112-208-6.ironpath.net [66.112.208.6]
14    41 ms    42 ms    49 ms  66-112-210-116.ironpath.net [66.112.210.116]

traceroute or any site generally will tell you the colo on the last hop or two. (though I'm not sure why their colo servers are ironpath.net while their site is ironpath.com. Google came to the rescue on that. )


----------



## kusanagi-sama (Jul 28, 2008)

I would assume that Dragoneer has to have a Classified or greater security clearance at his company, so if he were to tell you what went on there, he would have to kill you, heh.

Also, this DigitalMan must want FA to fail if FA were to go his route.  No sane person would ever buy hardware off of any auction site.  A sane person would go through a company like NewEgg (I've been using NewEgg for about 7 years and have had great experience with them.  Zero defective hardware from them, and only had to do about one RMA to get a newer revision of a motherboard)


----------



## Rhainor (Jul 28, 2008)

UPDATE:

The current main server will be taken offline in approximately 20 minutes, to switch over to the new Dell server (Trogdor).  During this time, the FA front page (which currently shows Fender venting his rage on a helpless keyboard) will be inaccessible.


----------



## Artie (Jul 28, 2008)

Rhainor said:


> UPDATE:
> 
> The current main server will be taken offline in approximately 20 minutes, to switch over to the new Dell server (Trogdor).  During this time, the FA front page (which currently shows Fender venting his rage on a helpless keyboard) will be inaccessible.



IT BEGINS


----------



## Seiniyta (Jul 28, 2008)

Rhainor said:


> UPDATE:
> 
> The current main server will be taken offline in approximately 20 minutes, to switch over to the new Dell server (Trogdor).  During this time, the FA front page (which currently shows Fender venting his rage on a helpless keyboard) will be inaccessible.



Any idea when fender can sit behind his computer and see the people coming into FA? :O


----------



## AlexInsane (Jul 28, 2008)

Seiniyta said:


> Any idea when fender can sit behind his computer and see the people coming into FA? :O



I'm thinking FA will be up and running in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. If we're lucky, we might be able to get on around midnight.


----------



## Chaotis (Jul 28, 2008)

Edited


----------



## STrRedWolf (Jul 28, 2008)

We await with baited breath all the stuff we missed at AC.


----------



## CyberFox (Jul 28, 2008)

this just in
"404 Not Found"
WTF?


----------



## masterofire (Jul 28, 2008)

so when exactly do we expect FA to be back up?


----------



## iceykitsune (Jul 28, 2008)

CyberFox said:


> this just in
> "404 Not Found"
> WTF?



Progress!


----------



## vlaadlynx (Jul 28, 2008)

Yay! 'Will Return Shortly' Now!!!!!

It's almost like we're on commercial, and the main program will be right back!!!

/me starts a timer to ctrl-f5 *once* every 5 minutes.

Plz not to be hammering main page with f5's peoples. Kthx.


----------



## baggy52 (Jul 28, 2008)

DigitalMan and those who wish to argue with him: Take this to PM's

People are reading this thread for upddates concerning the server installation, not to read abour how you would have done it, nor to read others point out fallacies in your arguments. Point is, you're not doing it, it's being done the way the staff wants it done, and boohoo if you could have done it better, the money has been spent.


----------



## Thorne (Jul 28, 2008)

WAT.


----------



## oniontrain (Jul 28, 2008)

Thorne said:


> WAT.



Let's hope those HDDs don't melt from the rush. I know I have a bunch of crap to upload.


----------



## Dragoneer (Jul 28, 2008)

icehawk said:


> http://www.dell.com/content/topics/...t/4hour_svc?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz&redirect=1From what I've heard previous servers were whitebox.


Untrue.

The previous servers were purchased via Thinkmate, an excellent company and I recommend them through and through. However, there were additional hardware issues than just mere defects. More on that later.


----------



## vlaadlynx (Jul 28, 2008)

Wow, almost as many people anxiously awaiting the server as there have ever been on the forums.

Currently Active Users: 1206 (215 members and 991 guests) 		 	   	 		

 		 			 				Most users ever online was 1,323, 06-23-2008 at 04:28 PM.


----------



## ravewulf (Jul 28, 2008)

vlaadlynx said:


> Wow, almost as many people anxiously awaiting the server as there have ever been on the forums.
> 
> Currently Active Users: 1206 (215 members and 991 guests)
> 
> Most users ever online was 1,323, 06-23-2008 at 04:28 PM.


 
Lol

Think we can make a new record?


----------



## vlaadlynx (Jul 28, 2008)

We're getting there.. we were in the 1240's, but it dropped back to 1230's now.

Everyone! Call your friends! 

No wait.. we don't want to break the forums server...


----------



## Rhainor (Jul 29, 2008)

vlaadlynx said:


> Yay! 'Will Return Shortly' Now!!!!!
> 
> It's almost like we're on commercial, and the main program will be right back!!!
> 
> ...


Patience.  I doubt the site will be up until at least tomorrow.


----------



## muddypaws (Jul 29, 2008)

Very cool!

I did see the change in the window, with the classic "Fender" pose. Do what you need to do - I'm in no rush.


----------



## Balto.Woof (Jul 29, 2008)

muddypaws said:


> Very cool!
> 
> I did see the change in the window, with the classic "Fender" pose. Do what you need to do - I'm in no rush.



*<F5><F5><F5><F5><F5><F5><F5><F5><F5><F5><F5><F5><F5><F5>*

:twisted:


----------



## dmfalk (Jul 29, 2008)

Do you F5ers realise that repeaded F5s (refreshes) only slow the server's file-transfer process DOWN by adding more processing load? Please be patient!

Granted, I wonder if FA will survive the spooge flood when it hits- No, not the submissions-- All the pent-up spooge FAers have had for a lunar month without their FA fix....

*shakes nervously* Squirreltits, mousetail, bunnyboobs, skunkfluff.... *need addiction fix*

d.m.f.


----------



## yak (Jul 29, 2008)

As for FA, the server has been installed and the tech guys have access.
We are working on moving the data and finishing recoding parts of the website. With all these things on the TODO list, do not expect FA to be back in the next 36 hours.


----------



## Leasara (Jul 29, 2008)

yak said:


> As for FA, the server has been installed and the tech guys have access.
> We are working on moving the data and finishing recoding parts of the website. With all these things on the TODO list, do not expect FA to be back in the next 36 hours.



Gotcha, looking more like late Thursday or early Friday then.  Good to know.


----------



## Boue (Jul 29, 2008)

Well, we've been waiting for awhile, I guess a few more days can't hurt.  Can't wait to see it come back up, thanks to all the hard work the staff's been putting in.

Here's to later this week!


----------



## DigitalMan (Jul 29, 2008)

*drools* Ohhhh, I have got to get me one of those, if only to say I've got one... I doubt it has any kind of hardware graphics acceleration, but that would make one _hell_ of a render slave!

Firefox is now giving me a "Failed to Connect" error on FA, figured I'd let you know (you know, just in case that's _not_ supposed to happen).


----------



## Selunca (Jul 29, 2008)

Its good to see progess as someone who knows absolutely nothing about servers. Having the front page change was a good sign to me. Though you guys were great at updating it threwout this entire process (letting us know when things where shipped, arrived, etc.)

Thanks so much for all your hard work guys, I can't wait for FA's community to have its heart back again.


----------



## Arshes Nei (Jul 29, 2008)

I had moved the server hardware war under a similar title over to the Bits and Bytes forum. You can continue your discussion there please.


----------



## DigitalMan (Jul 29, 2008)

dmfalk said:


> Do you F5ers realise that repeaded F5s (refreshes) only slow the server's file-transfer process DOWN by adding more processing load? Please be patient!



This actually makes me wonder. I assume anything with a Fender image is actually taking data from some server, somewhere. But, if there's just an 404 page - like now - does this mean that the servers aren't sending any data at all, may not even be plugged in to the 'net, and thus refreshing would have no effect on processing? Also, am I correct in assuming that, in general, a load is a load, so even having a "be back soon" type message hosted on the forum server would be a bad idea?

Not that it makes one bit of difference to anyone, I'm just curious =P


----------



## Dragoneer (Jul 29, 2008)

DigitalMan said:


> But, if there's just an 404 page - like now - does this mean that the servers aren't sending any data at all, may not even be plugged in to the 'net, and thus refreshing would have no effect on processing? Also, am I correct in assuming that, in general, a load is a load, so even having a "be back soon" type message hosted on the forum server would be a bad idea?
> 
> Not that it makes one bit of difference to anyone, I'm just curious =P


You're getting a 404 because we updated DNS. It may just not have propagated yet.


----------



## SDWolf (Jul 30, 2008)

Out of curiosity (and I apologize if I missed this posted elsewhere), but which box will you be using as the web/app server until NovaStorm gets back?


----------



## Dragoneer (Jul 30, 2008)

SDWolf said:


> Out of curiosity (and I apologize if I missed this posted elsewhere), but which box will you be using as the web/app server until NovaStorm gets back?


Trogdor. It's got 32GB of quad-core computing power. It can MORE than handle it.


----------



## SDWolf (Jul 30, 2008)

*headtilt*  Everything running on the file/db server?  I was thinking you might put one of the other machines (maybe Gecko) in service until NovaStorm comes back (hopefully in one piece this time).  No matter how you look at it, the site is going to get hammered (read: "slashdotted") for about the first week after you bring it back online.  I'd think you'd want to spread the load over as many boxes as possible.

Then again, you know these systems better than any of us, so if you think Trogdor can handle it, then I'm not worried.


----------



## Wolf_Fox_Guy (Jul 30, 2008)

since theres not really a designated update thread abotu it, is there a better ETA or does everything still look like its gonna be up tomarow? 

also, um, I dont know if folks say this alot but I thought you guys have done a pretty good job handeling this outage and everything. I mean, everything considered if I was in your place  I know I would have had trouble with it.


----------



## TheRedRaptor (Jul 30, 2008)

I hope you know Voodoo Information Technology.


----------



## DigitalMan (Jul 30, 2008)

SDWolf said:


> No matter how you look at it, the site is going to get hammered (read: "slashdotted") for about the first week after you bring it back online.



OH! *facepalm* That reminds me, I _may_ have an idea. FA is going to be put up at an undisclosed time, right? That'll limit the burst of traffic... until everyone starts contacting their friends, and their friends' friends, and everyone - reasonable timezone or not - comes rushing over. Okay, a bit exaggerated, but you get the idea.

It might be a bit late and/or impossible to implement this, but what if you tacked a software bottleneck of some sort onto the server? Ideally, that would simply limit the amount of traffic to about an average day, denying access to additional users until the flow evens out more. Basically, make it _act_ like it's stressed to absolute processing and bandwidth limit, when it's really not.

I have little idea how one would do that, and considering the monster of a box you've got it's probably not necessary, but I figured I'd toss it out there, just in case. (Maybe it'd also work to limit forum traffic immediately after a site crash?)


----------



## Rhainor (Jul 30, 2008)

SDWolf said:


> *headtilt*  Everything running on the file/db server?  I was thinking you might put one of the other machines (maybe Gecko) in service until NovaStorm comes back (hopefully in one piece this time).  No matter how you look at it, the site is going to get hammered (read: "slashdotted") for about the first week after you bring it back online.  I'd think you'd want to spread the load over as many boxes as possible.
> 
> Then again, you know these systems better than any of us, so if you think Trogdor can handle it, then I'm not worried.


I might be mistaken, but I believe the current plan is to have Trogdor handling both the storage and application stuff, with Tiamat remaining as the DB server (that _is_ why they bought all that extra RAM, y'know).  Once Novastorm gets back from CDW, it will take over the application side of things, and we'll be running on 3 servers.


----------



## SDWolf (Jul 30, 2008)

Rhainor said:


> I might be mistaken, but I believe the current plan is to have Trogdor handling both the storage and application stuff, with Tiamat remaining as the DB server (that _is_ why they bought all that extra RAM, y'know). Once Novastorm gets back from CDW, it will take over the application side of things, and we'll be running on 3 servers.


 
Ohh, okies.  So if I'm understanding this right:

Temp Config:
Web/App Server:  Trogdor
Database Server:  Tiamat
File Server:  Trogdor

Final Config:
Web/App Server:  NovaStorm
Database Server:  Tiamat
File Server:  Trogdor

If that's how you're setting it up, then it sounds good to me.


----------



## Hollud (Jul 30, 2008)

DigitalMan said:


> OH! *facepalm* That reminds me, I _may_ have an idea. FA is going to be put up at an undisclosed time, right? That'll limit the burst of traffic... until everyone starts contacting their friends, and their friends' friends, and everyone - reasonable timezone or not - comes rushing over. Okay, a bit exaggerated, but you get the idea.
> 
> It might be a bit late and/or impossible to implement this, but what if you tacked a software bottleneck of some sort onto the server? Ideally, that would simply limit the amount of traffic to about an average day, denying access to additional users until the flow evens out more. Basically, make it _act_ like it's stressed to absolute processing and bandwidth limit, when it's really not.
> 
> I have little idea how one would do that, and considering the monster of a box you've got it's probably not necessary, but I figured I'd toss it out there, just in case. (Maybe it'd also work to limit forum traffic immediately after a site crash?)


Throttling, you mean?

Why would you want to "limit" it when you want to give a good workout? That would be like saying, "I want to run full out for this marathon, but I'm going to go at a comfortable pace."

You can't "act" stressed until you're really, _really_ stressed.

At the most, the administrators can program the software to throttle activity when it's having difficult fulfilling requests. Then, through diligent monitoring of log reports generated by the software, can a set of results be obtained, providing a gauge of what sort of levels of stress the server can tolerate.


----------



## Rhainor (Jul 30, 2008)

*UPDATE:  *Yak just told me the following in IRC:

<@yak[work]> data transfered. tuning the kernel and the file system right now. then installing the environment. then bringing up basic file serving services. then fa itself. then finishing the recode.

I asked for an ETA and he just said "before FA:U (I hope)".  FA:U starts Friday, so it should be up in the next 48 hours.



SDWolf said:


> Ohh, okies.  So if I'm understanding this right:
> 
> Temp Config:
> Web/App Server:  Trogdor
> ...


Yes, to my knowledge, that's the plan, and I'm sure this isn't too far off.


----------



## TheRedRaptor (Jul 30, 2008)

Yay!


----------



## yak (Jul 30, 2008)

SDWolf said:


> Ohh, okies.  So if I'm understanding this right:
> 
> Temp Config:
> Web/App Server:  Trogdor
> ...



Yes, this is how it is and is going to be.


----------



## dmfalk (Jul 30, 2008)

Quite a few furs have been saying FA'll crash once it's up, because of the load.

Thing is, that would be true under the old configuration. Since then, everything's been taken up to the next level, and then some, with more processor power and more RAM (MUCH more!), that'll be harder to overload.

Even if that assumes everyone will start uploading the moment FA is up. I still hold that the peak traffic day will be third day up. 

d.m.f.


----------



## Dragon-lover (Jul 30, 2008)

dmfalk said:


> I still hold that the peak traffic day will be third day up.
> 
> d.m.f.



Yeah true..

1st day- Very few will know it's up except for the rabid F5'ers.
2nd day-News of FA's return will spread across the globe Via many means.
3rd day- The RUSH...


----------



## Rhainor (Jul 30, 2008)

Dragon-lover said:


> Yeah true..
> 
> 1st day- Very few will know it's up except for the rabid F5'ers.
> 2nd day-News of FA's return will spread across the globe Via many means.
> 3rd day- The RUSH...


Personally, I expect that sequence of events to play out in no more than 36 hours.


----------



## TigerShadowclaw (Jul 30, 2008)

Rhainor said:


> Personally, I expect that sequence of events to play out in no more than 36 hours.



Judging by how a lot of the people have been posting lately thats a little optimist


----------



## dmfalk (Jul 30, 2008)

Dragon-lover said:


> Yeah true..
> 
> 1st day- Very few will know it's up except for the rabid F5'ers.
> 2nd day-News of FA's return will spread across the globe Via many means.
> 3rd day- The RUSH...



Considering FA's been down long enough, most don't bother to check everyday. Heck, most didn't check everyday before the crash, either.

d.m.f.


----------



## DigitalMan (Jul 30, 2008)

Hollud said:


> Throttling, you mean?
> 
> Why would you want to "limit" it when you want to give a good workout? That would be like saying, "I want to run full out for this marathon, but I'm going to go at a comfortable pace."



Yes, that's it! Thank you, new term for today.

To be honest, I'm not sure if even desktops need time to "get into the groove" or "warm up", though apparently heatsink paste takes a few hours to bond properly (but since the server was pre-tested I'm sure that's a non-issue). Then again, my mini fridge needed 24 hours before I could actually use it, and servers are just like refrigerators, right? =P

I do have to wonder just how thoroughly they test the servers - are we talking power-on, or are we talking simulated full load?



dmfalk said:


> Considering FA's been down long enough, most don't bother to check everyday. Heck, most didn't check everyday before the crash, either.



This is true. But now, we actually have a rough deadline. Technically we already passed the first "deadline" (you know everyone thinks server online = instant site revival), and now we have a new one for somewhere around today or tomorrow. From what I've seen elsewhere, news of even that rough deadline has already spread by the same means news of the site being up would. Thus, all eyes are on FA now, and the people are waiting...


----------



## Winterbeast (Jul 30, 2008)

is it possible to let us know what tweaks and adjustments are being done in the mean time? I know we are close to coming up, so I am rather curious.


----------



## Dragoneer (Jul 30, 2008)

Winterbeast said:


> is it possible to let us know what tweaks and adjustments are being done in the mean time? I know we are close to coming up, so I am rather curious.


The most major of them all is a full database optimization on a scale not before attempted on Fa.  It's a very good thing. Some other little things here and there.


----------



## Winterbeast (Jul 30, 2008)

Thank you, Dragoneer, I am not a database administrator, so I don't know the terms. so, with a complete lack of knowledge, what does a full database optimization entail? 
is it possible to explain this to the average user in understandable terms?


----------



## Rhainor (Jul 30, 2008)

Winterbeast said:


> Thank you, Dragoneer, I am not a database administrator, so I don't know the terms. so, with a complete lack of knowledge, what does a full database optimization entail?
> is it possible to explain this to the average user in understandable terms?


Basically, making the DB work better/more efficiently.  Efficiency is good.


----------



## dmfalk (Jul 30, 2008)

Rhainor said:


> Basically, making the DB work better/more efficiently.  Efficiency is good.



Efficiency = less load/strain = GOOD!

d.m.f.


----------



## SDWolf (Jul 30, 2008)

Winterbeast said:


> Thank you, Dragoneer, I am not a database administrator, so I don't know the terms. so, with a complete lack of knowledge, what does a full database optimization entail?
> is it possible to explain this to the average user in understandable terms?


 
Think of it like defragmenting your hard drive.  The data, which is normally just thrown into the database as quickly as possible, tends to get disorganized over time.  To be clear, nothing's lost, everything's indexed correctly, but it's not in any kind of order, so it takes extra time and effort to find anything.

So, just like defragmenting your hard drive, optimizing the database organizes the data so it's neat and orderly again, so the data can be found much more quickly and with much less effort.

(Note that I'm oversimplifying here, so my apologies go out to those db engineers who are cringing as they read this.)


----------



## Rafeal (Jul 31, 2008)

SDWolf said:


> (Note that I'm oversimplifying here, so my apologies go out to those db engineers who are cringing as they read this.)



LOL... I think they will... after they torch your effigy... *evil grins*

At least we have someone that understands some of what is going on...


----------

