UMSF - Server Switch 10th & 11th May Options

[djellison]

After the great 'server drive' fund raising by UMSF members, we have our dual 3ghz server up and running. I have another domain hosted on it already. It has been fast, and 100% stable ( touch wood ) for 2 months.

Thus, the intention is to move UMSF to the new server this weekend.

At approx 1200UT ( 1300 my time ) UMSF will be 'turned off'. The database is rather large, and can not be moved in an instant - nor can the 4Gb of attachments.

After the forum is switched off, a full backup will begin, sending the entire forum content to the new server ( this has been tested just now - and takes 2-3 hours )

Only once the full backup is successfully completed, will the DNS settings be changed, pointing the domain to the new server.

Once the backup is completed, the database must be repopulated on the new server, the attachments moved to the right place, the settings updated and checked - and only once the forum itself is up and running will it be turned 'on' again. At that point, it will take a couple of hours ( potentially significantly less ) for the domain-name shift to propagate across the web to your own ISP.

The move is scheduled for what is the quietest days of the week, and the quietest hours of that day for UMSF - to minimize withdrawal symptoms. Things might not go perfectly, so you'll just have to hold tight.

To keep everyone up to date - I will use a new external blog ( http://umsf.blogspot.com/ ) with news of the transfer - once UMSF is down, check there for details!

[nprev]

<grumble>...ya just gotta worry about the guy; he's still got a day job! Running UMSF alone woulda killed me outright two years ago...</grumble>

[centsworth_II]

...ya just gotta worry about the guy....

Brace yourself, this is something you may not like to think about...................................................he's young.

[elakdawalla]

Brace yourself, this is something you may not like to think about...................................................he's young.

Not only that, he doesn't have kids yet. He has approximately eleventeen times the 'free' time that us old breeders have.

It's a good point about the UPS arrangements. The power issue could have been related to today's freak storms -- I heard on the radio that there was actually a tornado east of here, which is practically unheard of. In honor of the polar landing, it actually hailed at JPL today -- I've got pics to post later. After waiting out the hail I drove out of a thundery downpour across the valley to cloudless skies and fire-tinder-dry landscape at home.

--Emily