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Help Beta Test The New Slashdot Server

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the it's-all-fun-and-games dept.

Its been a long tradition here of letting Slashdot users pound on new boxes before we take them live, so if you don't have anything more exciting to do, feel free to test beta.slashdot.org. The new setup is bigger, faster, stronger, and will hopefully make these busy afternoons nice and perky. Please go post comments, moderate, meta moderate etc etc. When the dust settles, we'll make the big switch, and all will be well. We'll have detailed specs on the setup soon, too.

19 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. Has does this affect the 'live system'? by beebware · · Score: 2

    Does any actions on the beta system affect the live system data?

    For example, if I were to try and be a troll (I'm waaay to intelligent to be a real troll :) ) would it knock my karma down.

    Here's looking to the future of Slashdot and more news for nerds!


    Richy C.
    --
  2. Do We Get Free Stuff? by dougman · · Score: 3

    Most Beta programs offer the volunteer testers free stuff. So what do we get? Slashdot T-Shirts? Underwear? Condoms? Kitchenware?

    1. Re:Do We Get Free Stuff? by cheekymonkey_68 · · Score: 2

      Hmm slashdot underwear...
      I can see the logo now:

      boxens for geeks, stuff you can slash in

  3. Going Downhill? by hexx · · Score: 2

    /. apparently needs less strict posting guidelines... there have been too many comments in the past week with people saying "I posted this 3 days ago, and it's been on Ars for 4 weeks", etc also I remember the time (*sigh*) when there was a new story up here every half hour or so. I had to visit /. constantly. More news. Less moderation. (let's hear it. reply if you agree?).

  4. Beta Server? by siokaos · · Score: 2

    People overuse beta as a term. ICQ2000a Beta 263? how can you have a beta alpha?!?! v1.06a v1.06b v1.061a v1.07 It's all greek to me!

    --
    http://siokaos.org/
  5. Seems fast...but... by cwilper · · Score: 2

    How about:

    1 - Using something like Mercury or WebLoad,
    then posting the results.

    2 - Upgrading the image/ad servers too!

    - Chris

  6. Hmmm by Signal+11 · · Score: 2

    Hey Rob, if I ask you about the new server will it slow down for 24 hours? =)

  7. Repost! by Phil+Gregory · · Score: 2

    [Insert whining about slashdot reporting old stories.]

    See! This was posted previously on August 30, 199 and March 8, 1999. (And there was also a hardware change announced on June 27, 1998, but Rob apparently didn't have a testing period before that switch.)

    Actually, it's somewhat interesting to watch both Slashdot's progression through various hardware and the Slashdot readers' responses to the changes.


    --Phil (It's also interesting just to look at the change in overall attitude of the comments through time.)
    --
    355/113 -- Not the famous irrational number PI, but an incredible simulation!
  8. A comment to the /. crew by spiralx · · Score: 3

    Kind of offtopic, but anyway. I browse at -1 since I like to be able to see everything, but the posts below that consist of endless copies of "DEEZ NUTZ IS SUX0RED BY SLASHDOT" is very annoying and makes /. take a lot longer to load.

    Could we have it so that comments at -1 are cut off at 15 lines or so, with the "Read the rest of this comment..." link after that? It's a simple solution IMHO to the cut-n-paste spammers, and doesn't require any changes to the moderation system.

    Comments are welcome.

  9. I'm curious about the setup by Nadir · · Score: 2

    Seeing how the big boys implement their architectures separating servers from storage (the much hyped SAN - Storage Area Network) and how they are all heading towards fiber-attached disks, I wonder about the actual setup at Slashdot. Is it based on the SAN concept ? Or is it all server-attached storage ? Why not put a DIA diagram of the architecture or some kind of white paper.
    --
    The world is divided in two categories:
    those with a loaded gun and those who dig. You dig.

    --
    --
    The world is divided in two categories:
    those with a loaded gun and those who dig. You dig.
  10. Netscape: Error by anatoli · · Score: 2
    A network error occurred:
    Cannot connect to server
    The server may be down or unreachable.

    Try connecting again later.
    (But it responds to pings...)
    --
    --
    Industrial space for lease in Flatlandia.
  11. It was working by jbarnett · · Score: 3


    It was working, really fast to... but I think it got slashdotted.

    If slashdot runs a news story about slashdot, does the slashdot site get slashdotted in an infinate loop?

    --

    "`Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.'" -THHGTTG
  12. First Root! by zCyl · · Score: 3

    Woohoo! I'm the first one to gain root access! I posted this by hand using vi!

    1. Re:First Root! by Dr.+Sp0ng · · Score: 3

      Woohoo! I'm the first one to gain root access! I posted this by hand using vi!

      Hahahaha oh, I see. So vi can now insert rows into MySQL tables, eh? :-)
      --

    2. Re:First Root! by zCyl · · Score: 3

      > Hahahaha oh, I see. So vi can now insert rows into MySQL tables, eh? :-)

      Ah, uhm, well, uh, maybe I used emacs then. It was really dark, I couldn't see...

  13. Re:still not much faster by dillon_rinker · · Score: 2

    please please PLEASE tell me you've been up for three days straight and that's why you've misplaced your sense of humor...or do you respond this way to knock-knock jokes, too?

    Knock, knock
    Who's there?
    Duane
    Duan who?
    Duane the bathtub, I'm dwowning

    you're names not duane, idiot, you're not in a bathtub and you're NOT drowning..

  14. Looks like... by jd · · Score: 3
    The beta site has not only been slashdotted, but has suffered a DB roll-back, too.

    Assuming that wasn't a one-off, I hope that Rob upgrades to the ultra-latest versions of Slash, Perl, mod_perl and MySQL. To minimise server lag, I'd also recommend using Apache 1.3.12 + SGI Apache Acceleration patches. PGCC is a good bet, too.

    I would =strongly= suggest that script fans stress-test the beta system above and beyond the call of duty. That'll give Rob, et al, a better idea of how the system will behave under extreme system loads. (Better to find that out now, than when the system goes live.)

    Last, but not least, Rob - install ip-utils, compile the QoS drivers, and soft-limit the throughput. This will reduce the chances of the server blowing up every few minutes from being Slashdotted. (By using soft-limits, users can borrow unused bandwidth off each other. This makes a lot of sense. Or a lot more sense than relying on luck and penguin mints.)

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  15. Two bugs on hof by ajs · · Score: 2
    The "hof" link off of the front page goes to a list. Click the very first entry in the first list, and you will see two bugs:
    1. A 404 error and
    2. The mailto link is correct, but the text for the link is something like "yourname@domain.com" or the like

  16. Re:Good idea by Ed+Avis · · Score: 2

    It would be cool if you could submit snippets of Perl code to process comments for you; then you could get things like 'truncate all -1 posts over 15 lines' without needing to pester Rob to implement them. The problem with this is security and the scope for DoS attacks. Perl has a module called Safe to run code in sandboxes, and it's easy to timeout things if they run for too long, but even so it's a scary idea.

    Java has something similar called 'servlets' (untrusted code to run on the server), but I don't think it ever took off.

    --
    -- Ed Avis ed@membled.com