Slashdot Mirror
Slashdot Prepares for a Server Move
At about 10pm Eastern Time tonight, the overworked and mentally deranged Slashdot crew will make the transition from our current overburdened setup to our brand spanking new hardware over at Exodus. It'll take a few minutes for us to dump the existing data over there, and a second story will announce when this actually occurs, but at that moment, any comments posted here will be lost. We've tested the new metal pretty extensively, but none of us are planning on sleeping much. Bug reports can go to CowboyNeal (who plans to not sleep until friday anyway ;) Don't say we didn't warn ya ;) Update: 05/09 09:48 by CN : You can also post bugs at our SourceForge bugs page so that you can see what's already been filed, and make the transition that much smoother.
Now if we could just convince Slashdot to get a real database (such as Oracle), we would be stylin'.
Note to Slashdot: Not to rag on MySQL, but you guys have grown way beyond it. You can afford a high-level database. Please consider using the right tool for the job. If an Open Source alternative comes down the pike that could handle the load, then change it. But in the meantime, please admit to yourselves that you need to switch. The lack of row-level locking is going to continue to bite you guys in the butt.
Maybe you could even keep older data online and wouldn't have to keep flushing it! [I assume that's done because of the performance limitations of MySQL].
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Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
They said before on beta.slashdot.org what the boxes, are. They ARE va linux boxes and there are four of them. And they said that it is STILL LINUX! Check your facts.
I just went down to the beach with my old twin fin thrasher with a box. It's supposed to give me better controll.oh wait. wrong kind of surfboard. sorry.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
He works at Andover, so that would put him in Acton, Mass. Then again, the new servers are just outside of Boston, Mass, so he could be there.. Then again, he could be sitting on the couch with the Commander and Hemos. That would put him in Holland, Mi. Take your pick.. I don't know!!
.sig: Now legally binding!
Here is the story containing the specs on the boxes, the network topology, database and slashcode.
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Is it true Exodus is owned by the Church of Scientology? Apparently this was not a factor in /.'s choice of ISP...
Hehe, i was just looking at some windoze shell replacement doobry, came accross this screen shot (top right, the MP3 player). Wondering if this person is on Metallica`s list?? :)
Oh boy, are you guys in for a shock. At work, almost all of our servers have been moved to Exodus in Jersey City. The ping times for our machines have become pretty damn horrible since then. We had this thing set up so that if the machines went down, we got beeped at least 15 minutes into it (15 minutes is the longest one of our servers takes to come back up on its own), but for some reason that never happens anymore. (not sure if it's exodus related, but easy enough to blame it on them.) Alot of tech support guys there can't handle linux, and most of them can't handle computers in general. "ok, i typed reboot, but nothing happened." "Ok, what does it say on the monitor?" "Mon-ee-tohr?"
The problem is, it took almost a week and a half for the DNS to propagate after we moved, and our sites were unavailable for that period of time. We're really worried about how much downtime we'll have if we try to move again, but we're gonna have to risk it at some point.
Here's hoping you get better service than we do.
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Peace,
Lord Omlette
AOL IM: jeanlucpikachu
[o]_O
Nah you are confusing it with Earthlink. Earthlink's founder is Church of Scientology
Also, it'd be interesting after you're done to get your opinions on the experience - hosting centers are a major part of the Internet these days.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Hey everyone! Maybe slashdot moving over will help pull my Exodus stock out of it's current slump. Quickly everyone buy shares of EXDS!
-shiver- That's a creepy idea.
BTW - does this mean that all us +1 bonus users can spam without worrying about our Karma? >:-P
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Evan
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
CowboyNeal said it's gonna be on 8 red hat and debian servers (red hat for dbasing and debian for everything else).
Can I have the old boxes?
AdFuel
I just went down to the comca$t office today to trade in my old Motorola Cybrsurfr for a General Instruments SURFboard SB3100 Cable modem. It's SUPPOSED to give me better bandwidh. Anyway - hope your move went as smooth as mine! -Sonicboom
[Connection closed by foreign host]
-dwd-
Oh! What joy that tomorrow shall bring forth! Surely the "waiting for reply" message shall no more vex my weary eyes!
int 20h
Hmmm; not up to TrollMastah standards, but a good try nevertheless.
Trollmastah: You are missed.
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Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
Errm, IIRC it's four quad Xeons and a couple of dedicated DB servers. I can't be sure of any more details though.
Hey!! You ruined it! I was going to drive over to the Geek Compound with a trunk full of the finest British exports to help them celebrate a successful server migration!!
Now that you went and fucked it up, what the hell am I going to do with a pony of Guinness and five sixers of Bass? Not to mention the case of Harp!!!
.sig: Now legally binding!
This message will get lost in the transition, right?
Right?
;)
Check out the story from beta.slashdot.org. And while you're there, you may try giving it one last load test before it goes live.
So, does this move mean that beta.slashdot.org will go away? That was rather interesting at times. It was a bit more liberal than the regular Slashdot. I know, hard to believe. Check it out!
Bye-bye beta.slashdot.org! We'll miss you!
Withdrawal before climax is very ineffective and those who try this are usually called "parents."
And then take a few days off to recover from the alcohol poisioning!
.sig: Now legally binding!
Yes, but did they ever get rid of that god awful LAMENESS filter they were trying out? If not, I know of one very unhappy caveman. I honestly don't think it will accomplish too much, except make the spammers (I refuse to call them trolls)change their methods, not their behavior. I mean, you've already taken steps to filter out ascii art (they just put leading ...s to make up for it), disabled file links (prompting the glorious return of goatse.cx) and various other steps. While restricting things such as typing all caps may weed out those less net savvy and such, it really won't do too much in the way of solving the underlying problems people here seem to have. and furthermore I CAN'T OUTLINE MY POINT IN CAPS anymore. It only let like one word with caps through. NExT PeOPlE WiLL JusT HAvE tO Do ANnoYiNg ThINgS lIkE THIs To GeT AtTTenTion. Which is worse, if you ask me.
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How come you can get Douglas Adams to answer our questions, but not Natalie Portman?!?!?!
surely you jest, O lame one....
I run an ISP and Qwest is notorious for having a dicked up network. I was getting lots of spam from some node on their network a few months ago and emailed root@qwest.net postmaster@qwest.net and abuse@qwest.net It was about the same time that one of their sales reps was trying to get me to lease a T1 from them...
Guess what...their mail server sent back "no such mailbox" daemons on all 3 addies...that made up my mind about doing business with them more than some short-skirted marketroid ever could.
Qwest: "You may ride the light, but the batteries in the flashlight are dead"
Where is this moving to? The one in Sana Clara (sp?) California or Oakbrook, IL??? Tips to remember... You cant rip cardboard inside your cage... Those smoke alarms are so sensitive. They also have raised flooring... The water sensors are sensitive enough to see a small cup of water UNDERNEATH the floor... That and the bullet proof glass, bomb safe building (all but the ceiling), and soon they are switching from 1024 bit encryped key access cards to scanning in your hand for authentication... Exodus is making waves... /. I think you will be quite pleased...
Sarcasm is the recourse of a weak mind...
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No, the spammers can't use caps any more, they'll just move onto bold instead. And any alternative is bound to be worse, just because an effort was made to try and thwart them.
I was wondering the same thing too. I've actually seen the slashdot box in DN's data center, and now that fuzzy feeling of seeing the box in action, and not anymore, is well... Depressing. WOOHOOO
Hmm so is there any support for any ethernet cards in Xenix? For instance the 3c501? I figure one braindead ethernet card for one braindead OS. Read the 3c501.c file in the linux kernel if you don't believe me.
Impersonating Tycho from Penny Arcade since before there was a PA.
Good question. There are a couple of issues. First, some of our boxes cannot be in a pool; not all of our boxes are web boxes. :-) Second, we will have a whole bunch of just general purpose web boxes waiting to be used by various sites, not just Slashdot. So we may have six web boxes in the Slashdot pool, and 10 sitting there twiddling their thumbs, and if two go down for Slashdot, we bring in two more; if two go down for some other site, we can use those, etc.
<pants>Hot Grits</pants>
The sublimely concise expression of the hot grits post! Now can you do an open source/stone/portman?
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"Rex unto my cleeb, and thou shalt have everlasting blort." - Zorp 3:16
Sacred cows make the best burgers.
Actually, we announced our use of Source Forge when we first announced the beta servers a couple of weeks ago. :-)
boy, that brings back some memories.
I know of a place that still has an Altos 586 in working condition. They don't use it anymore, of course.
I think it was in active use up until 1990 or so.
Reading between the lines and among the slashes and dots, I can see it's painfully obvious. Trollmastah just outed himself.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Brilliant. Slashdot's been really lagged today, so things should be better on this ol' 56K modem. Is WAP going to get sorted now? :)
Good luck (you'll need it 8-)
YaaaYYYYY Now my posts can be deleted faster than ever..!!!!
Dirty Pirate Hooker
So what are the specs on the box? I assume its from VA... How many processors? How much Ram? Raid? What kernel version??
Finally switching to Win2000, IIS, and Active Server Pages, huh?
Does this mean I can't be a karma whore for a whole hour or so?! Shit!
-- Count Spatula: The Culinary Vampire "...because my cooking sucks."
Knowing this message will be lost at server change, I offer myself a brief moment of sanity...
FIRST POST!!!!
Aaaahhhhhh......
-- It's always darker before it goes pitch black.
Exodus is a good hosting company. Congrats. Does /. have a cage?
Hajo Monogamy: Belief so strong that millions of people end perfectly good relationships in order to start a new one.
So does this mean that slashdot.org is not going to point to 209.207.224.40-42 anymore? If so, how about a pointer until all the dns tables get updated?
What are the exact stats on the new server (or did I miss that posted someplace?)
/* Of course I'm real, but can you prove it? */
Every troll and their brother is going to be ready at 10 hoping to the the first 'first post' on the new boxen. I can't wait.
A frantic scramble of the hordes of the Easily Amused all trying to get the real 'Last Post' just before or at 10:00PM ET. But.. how will they know?
Poetic, that non-answer is.
This is more like a speculation on what might happen than a poll, but hey, it could work as a poll too. (Don't blame me, I'm the Poll Mastah, I express myself using polls. :-)
What will happen when Slashdot moves to a new server?
Poll Mastah
no, I'm not flaming, and no, I'm not trolling. This is serious stuff.
2.2.12 and newer stacks get misinterpreted by fingerprinting proggies written before they were released.. Conversly, some of them written after the fact report AIX as Linux 2.2.x...
.sig: Now legally binding!
Why are you guys moving from DN to Exodus? I've heard lots of good things about DN and was considering colo'ing a server with them...is this just some consolidation between Andover and VA, or is the reason for moving a performance issue?
./'ers who've hosted over at DN.
Any Editors' feedback welcome, as well as any
Cheers
Exodus has pretty much taken over from UUNet the distinction of being the most notorious spamhaus ISP. Unless you count Telstra and Sprint.
I woner where CN posts from? It's only 3:05 pm here in California. ;)
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Did you say *spanking hardware*?
Ouch!
E.
Hey, if /. is moving to Exodus, Waltham, they'll be next to my boxes!
Just think, when I get that dedicated T1 between our office and Exodus, I can route directly to /. without having to go through the cloud! I'll be, like, four hops away, or something similarly stupid.
This way, when slash is slow, I'll know it's a hardware problem, and not my connection. ;-)
I could give tours of the boxes to my friends!("And on your left we see Lycos...and on your right, Slashdot..."). Kewl!
From the info about the beta servers, I noticed this line:
Second, we're also developing some in-house software (code named "Oddessey") that will keep each Slashdot boxed sychronized with a hot-spare box, so in case a box suddenly dies it will automatically be replaced with a hot-spare box -- kind of a RAID-for-servers solution
Why not include these in the load balancing or round-robin hunt pool? Overall performance should then be higher, and if one machine dies, the performance would be the same as it is currently.
About time you guys upgraded from that C64.
ObBeowulf reference as well.
its 3:59:59 here in jolly ol' england
the AC
KarmaWhoring for the hell of it, gotta get some sleep.
Hemos is like...sci-fi fans;he thinks technology is cool, but he hasn't bothered to understand the science it's based on
NTP anyone?
the AC
Hemos is like...sci-fi fans;he thinks technology is cool, but he hasn't bothered to understand the science it's based on
I work at MS, and we also contract to Exodus sometimes.
Damn, my code might be running in the same building as Slashdot! The ironies of existence never cease to amaze me.
-konstant
Yes! We are all individuals! I'm not!
-konstant
Yes! We are all individuals! I'm not!
In general, though, I've had nothing but good experiences at Exodus. Well, maybe the time one of their staff backed into my newly-painted Triumph TR6 in the parking lot (Hi T!) but they were honest and promptly came in to tell me and swap insurance, so no foul at all.
-Sierran
...I have no connection w/Exodus save as a customer. I don't even own their stock, dammit all.
A hero is someone who knows when to run away. I am a hero. -Trent the Uncatchable
Not too much drink until the thing is actually _working_. Don't want to scare everyone by accidently plugging that spare c64 into the internet...
*shudder*
Gosh, I am _so_ incredibly tired of lynx staying on HTTP request sent; waiting for response. and then going to cook a 4 course meal and then come back and having it say HTTP 1.0 200 OK.
That sucks! I was going to say some witty, brilliant, insightful stuff! Now I'll have to wait until 10 to do it.
how those trollers used to make me smile
And I knew that if I had my chance
I could make Slashdot:ers dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while.
Did you write the stuff that matters /. tells you so
And do you have faith in CmdrTaco
If the
Now do you believe in rock 'n troll
And can moderation save their mortal soul
And can you teach me how to troll real low
Well I know that you're in love with her
'Cause I saw you posting in the forum
Pouring hot grits down her pants
Man, I dig those flamebait rants
I was a lonely teenage broncin' h4x3r
With a pink iMac and a Beowulf cluster
But I knew that I was out of my mind
The day The Slashdot died
I started singin'
Bye-bye, Miss Petrified
Surfed my IE to the forum but the forum was dry.
And good old trollers (were) drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
I met a geekgirl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some nerdy news
She stole my coke and turned away
Well I surfed down to the sacred forum
Where I'd saw the posts years before
But the 404 said the posts woudn't come
Well now on the street the trollers screamed
The l33t3rs cried, and the h4x0rs dreamed
But not a word was posted
The Taco Bells all were broken (OT?)
And the free man I admire the most
OOG with the Holy Post
He sent the last post to the host
The day The Slashdot died
We started singin'
||: Bye-bye, Miss Petrified :||
Surfed my browser to the forum but the forum was dry.
And good old trollers (were) drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
(repeat plz)
(TTL 4) We started Pingin'
____________________________________________
By: TACO TROLL of the Troll Liberation Lobby
Are you going the x86 route or something bigger? Personally I think you should use a few UltraSparcs, 3 linux boxes can't handle the load.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
Well, if its not just burned, but OVERBURNED.. Well, that I can see being a problem.
(I had thought the problem was that they were overburdened) :)
Addison
I don't think sourceforge is all that bad, personally. Guess slashdot doesn't either!
Mike Roberto (roberto@soul.apk.net) -GAIM: MicroBerto
Berto
Hey Rob and Co,
I remember at one point you decided to use a xBSD server for images. You said it was an experiment to see how you liked the performance. How did it go and it it still in use?
_damnit_
_damnit_
It's my job to freeze you. -- Logan's Run
And I thought Karma Whores were a problem
Now it looks like there is a Karma Rapist
134340: I am not a number. I am a free planet!
Guess we'll all have to check out http://www.chimpnet.com/ while /. is down! Chuck Bucket ---- If I had more time, I'd throw more nukes.
free ipod and free gmail!
Has anyone else noticed that beta.slashdot.org when quesoed reports itself as IBM AIX? Anyone else think this is a little hypocritical or is queso just fucked up?
BTW a big enough round robin should be able to handle just about anything so what is the deal.
If you liked this thought maybe you would find my blog nice too:
....you're going to need it. The second the new box is up, it'll get pounded by all the lamers trying for a first post...
reverend lola
the titanium sheep
provider of steel wool
If they reset the timeouts properly on the DNS tables they should be only off the air a few minutes for IP# change over. Basically if you know you are going to be changing a name to IP# mapping and you want good continuity you can reset the timeout values for the name low. This means your DNS server will get hammered harder, but when you finally change from one number to the other it will take effect much faster. Depending on site the normal timeouts for name caching are on the order of hours to days. You can change them down to minutes if you wish for a domain or name. It's just your DNS server gets to work harder if you do.
Stand to the ready, gents! It may be years before you get another f1r57 p057 opportunity like this one!
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Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade