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.
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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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
-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
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?
;)
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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."
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?
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.
First of all, no 6th post, and second of all: to clarify. Messages now are ok, messages posted at the moment they change the server will be dumped.
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Restating the obvious since nineteen aught five.
Bah... Does it all really matter?
The new code and HDD's won't know me... I'll have to offer them new pearls, get to know them...
Ciao, old server. New box, beware!
Good night...
-- It's always darker before it goes pitch black.
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!
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!
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*
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
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
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.