# Server Update - April 4th, 2006



## Dragoneer (Apr 4, 2006)

*Server: Gecko*
Gecko, FA's primary server, is expected to make an attempted revival this weekend so we can finally get off the temporary system. The server is going to be upgraded soon as well.

Right now, I am awaiting the arrival of refreshment parts to rebuild the system and replace its defective motherboard. We will try to minimize downtime.

*Server: Cerise*
We are currently processing funding for a second server, Cerise. The server's tentative specifications are a dual Opteron 275 system, 4GB of RAM and upwards of 1 to 2TB of data storage space.

We will announce more on the expansion in time. Expected launch for Cerise is May/June.

*Server: Tylenol*
I am also building a 1TB remote backup server to do remote nightly archiving of FA. Tylenol will be housed at my house -vs- the colo facility and will ensure we have the latest copies of the site in case of power failure.

This way will help ensure that hardware failure does jack shit to our operation long term. I am handling all server related matters and hardware from this point on.


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## TORA (Apr 4, 2006)

Question, Dragoneer: Who came up with the names of the servers? Very interesting names. ROWR.


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## Dragoneer (Apr 4, 2006)

TORA said:
			
		

> Question, Dragoneer: Who came up with the names of the servers? Very interesting names. ROWR.


Gecko is named after the server's primary contributor, same with Cerise. Tylenol is named such because, should we ever NEED the data on it, it's going to save me a shitload of headaches. LOL


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## yak (Apr 4, 2006)

I always fancied a Gentoo rsync server that went by the hostname of raptor.gentoo.org. It had(has?) the same CPU as my own notebook (PIII 800MHz Katmai), only who of them. 
raven, raptor, owl, cheetah - hostnames such as these i like...


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## Dragoneer (Apr 4, 2006)

yak said:
			
		

> I always fancied a Gentoo rsync server that went by the hostname of raptor.gentoo.org. It had(has?) the same CPU as my own notebook (PIII 800MHz Katmai), only who of them.
> raven, raptor, owl, cheetah - hostnames such as these i like...


Yep. That's what tylenol is. A Sempron-based celeron rsync server. There's not much reason to have an uber-fast CPU in a FreeBSD rsynch box. It's not going to do anything OTHER than synch data.

It's a lot cheaper than driving out to backup the site. It costs me about $40 to make that trip. I'm building it for about $650/700. All the money is in the HDs and a solid power supply.


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## yak (Apr 4, 2006)

Dragoneer said:
			
		

> yak said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow, hold on a minute. I always thought Rsync servers need A LOT of processor power for making diffs.  It is how the rsync protocol works.
*checks* Yes, as stated here(and a related article btw) - rsync gives the longes lasting migrane to the CPU...
But i do agree with you - no use giving more performance then needed. Besides, this is not all that time-critical task, and give or take half an hour is not worth some extra cash. 
But i just can't shake the feeling that there is also lazyness involved there somewhere 

--
....
Except that you would also need an exceptionally fast connection and a limitless bandwidth @ home  Folks like me on a dialup speed ADSL sureley can be jelous of you...
_
Ahh, another case of FreeBSD based server.. Why do people inevitably come to the decigion that FreeBSD is the best suited for this task OS? (ritorical question really )_


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## timoran (Apr 5, 2006)

Dragoneer said:
			
		

> *Server: Gecko*
> Gecko, FA's primary server, is expected to make an attempted revival this weekend so we can finally get off the temporary system. The server is going to be upgraded soon as well.
> 
> Right now, I am awaiting the arrival of refreshment parts to rebuild the system and replace its defective motherboard. We will try to minimize downtime.



I'm confused by these two statements. Are you expecting the replacement motherboard to come before this weekend? If not, how can you possibly have the server running this weekend?


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## Dragoneer (Apr 5, 2006)

timoran said:
			
		

> I'm confused by these two statements. Are you expecting the replacement motherboard to come before this weekend? If not, how can you possibly have the server running this weekend?


I got the replacement power supply yesterday. I am expecting the motherboard today.


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## timoran (Apr 5, 2006)

Woot.

Heh, I'm sure you're well aware of this, but update the BIOS before you do anything. When I upgraded to an x2 processor, my computer started to crash on boot... it turned out that the BIOS had a bug in the microcode! They fixed the bug in the next release. I swear, a bug in the microcode... there are some things that shouldn't be beta tested on customers.

And on that note, a great column from PC World:

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,124850,00.asp


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## Suule (Apr 5, 2006)

Products are rushed now. What do you expect?


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