2001 Upgrade Notice: SIX & NINE

[Deb]

There has been a lot of talk concerning upgrades.[nbsp][nbsp]Let this post be the flag that begins the race![nbsp][nbsp]To start off the New Year we begin with a hard drive and kernel installation for servers SIX and NINE.

On Tuesday, January 2nd (01/02/01), within the maintenance window of 1:00am to 5:00am EST, both SIX and NINE will have new 36Gb Atlas 10K II SCSI hard drives installed and will receive a kernel upgrade from 2.2.17 to 2.2.18 w/ enhancements which will open the door for SIX and NINE in the area of ReiserFS and memory improvements.

Benefits:
1) Ease current free space levels
2) Bring forth ReiserFS
3) Pave the way for increased disk space offerings
4) Try to nail the do_try_to_free_pages() kernel bug

The downtime will be minimal as only new hard drives are being installed during this time (less than 30 minutes)

Work Flow:
1) Pull NINE offline
2) Install new drives
3) Restart NINE
4) Initialize new drives

5) Shift contents of SIX's 9Gb STATS overflow drive to NINE
6) Pull SIX offline
7) Install new drives
8) Restart SIX
9) Initialize new drives
10) Transfer back contents from NINE

TAZ, SEVEN, and ASTRO will be receiving hard drive upgrades later on as well, but they will be wrapped in with another upgrade set, which will be of a much higher purpose.[nbsp][nbsp]This will all be announced at a later date.[nbsp][nbsp]

The current drive installation is the first step of a multi-step process.[nbsp][nbsp]This particular process should go virtually unnoticed by all sites on SIX or NINE outside of the short downtime during the installation.

One other point some will notice is the Time Since Last Reset within the Server Info section of your CNCs.[nbsp][nbsp]SIX will be reset after over 92 days of solid uptime and NINE after over 66.

We thank you for your patience and understanding ahead of time.

--
FutureQuest, Inc.
Debbie Gillespie, CEO
Http://www.FutureQuest.net


[This message has been edited by ccTech (edited 01-01-01@05:14 am)]

[Terra]

The initial portion of this upgrade is done, with only minor bits left to cover...

For now, I will fallback and observe the servers operation with the new kernel set before proceeding forth with retrofitting the old servers with ReiserFS and other goodies...

I am not 100% confident this new kernel will be stable, but I am hoping if something does go wrong - it does so swiftly, as I have 2 fallback plans just in case...

--
Terra
--Have laid the first few critical bricks of our new yellow brick road--
FutureQuest

[This message has been edited by ccTech (edited 01-02-01@12:27 pm)]

[pier]

>I am not 100% confident this new kernel will be stable

The current load on SIX is 49 right now :(

Pier

[Terra]

The high load is coming from a domain that I'm getting ready to pull the plug on...

--
Terra
--Coincidental train spotting--
FutureQuest

[heath]

According to the email I got from you guys, NINE will be upgraded to php4

Is this correct?

I thought your stated intention was to leave NINE as is?

Please let me know as this has the potential to adversely effect my site, and wreak a considerable amount of havoc throughout others.

Thanks
Heath

[Deb]

At no time has our intentions ever been to leave a server 'as-is' while upgrading all of the rest.[nbsp][nbsp]We did hold off on PHP4 upgrades until there was a 'safer time' to try and implement them and I believe we have always stated that all servers would in fact be upgraded to match that of the newest.

I can think of no logical reasons to leave a server in the background for any extended length of time while moving all of the others forward.[nbsp][nbsp]The main delays with the current set of upgrades on the older servers is the core changes that are required.[nbsp][nbsp]However those changes are now being put into place (after allowing the holidays to roll by unaffected) and it is time to move forward in bringing even TAZ up to the QBERT levels...

Deb
[nbsp]- No Pain No Gain

[heath]

Deb --

was this response directed at me?

If so -- it was ambigious at best.

I just got done reading through some of the past forum threads and find example after example after example of Terra, et al claiming that this upgrade to NINE WAS NOT going to be done - citing my case as a specific example.

Could you please be more specific as to what is going to happen, when its going to happen, etc?

This is the busiest time of the year for my site, and I am not looking forward to going through this whole mess with you guys again.

Thanks
Heath

[Deb]

Yes, the upgrade to NINE will be done.[nbsp][nbsp]I can recall stating that none of the servers would be upgraded at the end of the year etc.. and there would be delays and reasons why it would be a bad idea to do it then but I do not recall a statement such as you are noting where we would say that NINE simply would not be upgraded at anytime.

On this end we wish we could leave those with PHP3 on PHP3 as they are running great but demand is for us to continue to move forward and as a community we must follow through with that as promised.

All servers are scheduled to have PHP4 upgrades this month with more detailed information coming as the final requirements are put into place.

We will certainly be posting more information and help very soon and are actively working to put it altogether.

NINE will not be held back from the upgrades.[nbsp][nbsp]To clarify -- ALL Servers will have PHP4 and NO servers will be left behind...

Deb
[nbsp]- We must do what we must do

[heath]

Deb --

Okay, I'll go back and find all the comments that seem to indicate nothing will be done to disrupt the current stability of the servers.

Just so you know, if I have the problems I had before, you can expect more of the same from me as I believe its complete negligence for you to upgrade your servers knowing what happened last time:

i.e. sensitve information from others servers being displayed on my site, etc.

Can you at least tell me when this might occur so I can try and be prepared?[nbsp][nbsp]I'd like to be able to be able to try and circumvent what happened before from happening again, and I'd like to know the time frame I am working with.

Heath

[Deb]

I do not see a reason to dig up old posts however you may of course if you like. The main goal here is to accomplish a task and one that will take a lot of community support and dedication from all involved.[nbsp][nbsp]All servers are in fact going to be upgraded and we are going to do what we can to keep the task a doable situation for all.[nbsp][nbsp]There are site owners who would rather not be upgraded and there are site owners who really want the upgrade.[nbsp][nbsp]In an effort to keep sanity within the many servers, as well as with supporting them, we must work toward streamlining them and that means keeping all as up-to-date as possible.

We all agree that it's not a simple thing but it is also something that must be done especially when considering the community environment of the servers.[nbsp][nbsp]We cannot keep the servers on old software for the sake of the few but must move forward for the sake of the many.[nbsp][nbsp]I agree that for some sites it may be good to stay on "tried and true" older software but to accomplish that task a dedicated solution would be needed.[nbsp][nbsp]A community solution will not work for those with very specific requirements.[nbsp][nbsp]

The upgrades will occur this month and NINE will most likely not be done until after DEEDEE, DEXTER, & PHOENIX are completed which will allow you to at least see 'what happens' before it comes to your server.[nbsp][nbsp]-- Exact order will be posted officially within a short amount of time.

Soon we will be posting up some helpful files for everyone who will be affected to view and learn from.[nbsp][nbsp]We of course will also be working triple time in the PHP forum in an effort to guide those who need help in the right directions.[nbsp][nbsp]Obviously we will be depending on the community to work together to help each other out as well.

I would rather not repeat what has happened with you/your account either and in order to prevent that we will need to work together.[nbsp][nbsp]We will not argue the finer points nor can we afford the forums to be cluttered with such actions as that will only hurt those who need help and make it difficult for them to find it.[nbsp][nbsp]Also note that keeping your xIP different from the rest ended up causing other problems which again gives good reason to do our best to keep all servers equal wherever possible.[nbsp][nbsp]It would require no work from FutureQuest to just leave the servers as-is and never upgrade -- heh it'd be nice if we could just do that but obviously that would also mean loss of sales and eventually loss of the business due to unsatisifed site owner requirements.[nbsp][nbsp]Hence, we must follow through.[nbsp][nbsp]I'm sure many have seen TeRRa explain why he would rather stick with PHP3 -- if it's not broke don't fix it -- but that philosophy will not work in an environment that requires improvements and the 'latest technology'.

As long as you remain on the mailing list, we'll of course be sending more information your way which should help.

Deb
[nbsp]- Doing what's right vs. doing what's easy[nbsp]

[farlane]

So as of today the version of PHP on NINE is __________ ?

If it's 3.whatever, when can/should/might we expect PHP 4 ?

Thanks!
------------------
farlane aka andrew mcfarlane
http://www.leelanau.com/pages/farlane/

[mike_w]

The phpinfo function will tell you all you need to know. Just add this somewhere and view it.



<html>
<head>
<title></title>
</head>
<body>
<?php phpinfo() ?>
</body>
</html>

[Terra]

You can also view the 'Server Info' contained within your CNC...

--
Terra
--It's not a matter of if, but rather a question of when--
FutureQuest

[farlane]

Wow Mike, That's a pretty darn cool function -- thanks for the tip.

Terra, I see that it's still v. 3.0.15. I checked CNC but thought it might not be an automatic thing -- I should know better. ;)

I ask because I'm trying to set up a script that requires PHP 4 to test for a client and need to know what to tell them regarding the timetable.

Any idea of when PHP 4 will roll into town?
------------------
farlane aka andrew mcfarlane
http://www.leelanau.com/pages/farlane/

[Terra]

Details will be forthcoming very soon... :)

I cannot say more than that right now...[nbsp][nbsp]:(

--
Terra
--Stay tuned for information from our sponsors--
FutureQuest

[farlane]

OK I guess ... can you at least tell me if SPECTRE is involved Mr. Bond? :)

[Terra]

Nah, everyone knows that Blofeld's White Cat is the one really running the show...[nbsp][nbsp];)

--
Terra
--Never Say Never Again--
FutureQuest