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Aaron Cake
Administrator
Canada
6718 Posts |
 Posted - Dec 23 2006 : 4:49:04 PM
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As I'm sure you can tell from the massive speed improvement, the new server is in place. I set aside a few hours earlier in the afternoon to not only get the new server in place but also tidy up all the wiring and also replace the outdated old 10 Base-T hub.
The machine is an IBM eServer X226 with dual 3 GHz Pentium 4 Xeon CPUs, 1 Gig of PC3200 DDR2 registered memory, 6 disk Ultra 320 SCSI RAID array and Gigabit Ethernet. I currently have two 160GB 7200RPM 8MB cache Seagate SATA HDs installed, set up in a mirror set. Honestly even the old SCSI drives on the old server were never taxed so I saw no need to spend another $2000 on Ultra320 drives in this machine. Though since the system supports hot swap it might be a possibility in the future should the disk access requirements of this site increase. The new hub is a 16 port 10/100 switch by D-Link. This should make a big difference in network speed during peak periods since the old setup generated quite a lot of collisions when traffic increased (typical of nonswitched Ethernet networks).
Software wise this server is running Windows 2003 Web Edition and IIS6. I've also set up MySQL 5.x and MyODBC connector.
The plan is to gradually migrate the website off of the Access 2000 databases it currently runs to MySQL during the next update and over the next few months. The transition should be seamless and it will allow the site to grow as I expect it to over the next year or so.
Speaking of growth, I have some BIG plans for the Circuits section. At the next update I'm going to move the circuits into a database driven templated design which will include some neat stuff I don't want to mention in public. 
The forum has also received a few mods, most noticeably file attachment and some important anti-spam additions.
I thoroughly tested the site for several weeks on the new server so I don't expect any problems but if you notice any bugs, please let me know.
Download Attachment:  New Server.jpg
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marks256
Mad Scientist
USA
402 Posts |
Posted - Dec 23 2006 : 9:05:10 PM
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Ok, now i'ma droolin'! That looks freakin' sweet! I love the speed now, too! That is actually why i didn't come here for a while(my internet sucks too...)
It looks soo awesome! |
Intel: We put the 'Um...' in Pentium! |
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Happy Dude
Apprentece
Australia
23 Posts |
Posted - Dec 24 2006 : 07:47:34 AM
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| Lovin' it, Aaron! |
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boron
Mad Scientist
Canada
223 Posts |
Posted - Dec 24 2006 : 09:57:01 AM
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Once again, very cool.  |
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Aaron Cake
Administrator
Canada
6718 Posts |
Posted - Dec 24 2006 : 10:13:15 AM
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Yeah, I'd say the speed is a slight improvement from before. The old P166 w/64MB RAM was just hurting under the constant load. While it did it's job since sometime in the late '90s, it was time to let go. 
The IBM is an absolute beast. During testing I load tested it with over 5,000 simultaneous connections to all areas of the site. I think CPU usage peaked at 38% during that test.  |
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marks256
Mad Scientist
USA
402 Posts |
Posted - Dec 25 2006 : 1:50:36 PM
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| lol. i am jealous... :D |
Intel: We put the 'Um...' in Pentium! |
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Happy Dude
Apprentece
Australia
23 Posts |
Posted - Dec 26 2006 : 04:38:10 AM
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| Aaron, compared to your main comp and the comp in your room, this is futuristic. lol. :) |
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Happy Dude
Apprentece
Australia
23 Posts |
Posted - Dec 26 2006 : 04:41:23 AM
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| P.S: what's happening to the mail server? |
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Aaron Cake
Administrator
Canada
6718 Posts |
Posted - Dec 26 2006 : 10:45:07 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Happy Dude
Aaron, compared to your main comp and the comp in your room, this is futuristic. lol. :)
The "main" computer has been upgraded since I last chnaged that page. It's now a P4 1.8. Not crazy fast but enough for what it needs to do. The computer I use the most is the one I'm using now, the tablet. It's a Pentium M 1.8 w/512MB RAM.
quote:
P.S: what's happening to the mail server?
What about it? |
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Happy Dude
Apprentece
Australia
23 Posts |
Posted - Dec 29 2006 : 06:18:47 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Aaron Cake
quote:
Originally posted by Happy Dude
P.S: what's happening to the mail server?
What about it?
Well, its not in the picture. So yeh? Is it running on the new server? |
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Aaron Cake
Administrator
Canada
6718 Posts |
Posted - Dec 29 2006 : 09:12:25 AM
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The mailserver has always been on the machine on the left.
The little Compaq below was the spam filter and Symantec AntiVirus Server. The spam filter is now offsite and the anti-virus has been moved to the old server on the left.
The new server is purly for the website and MySQL. I'm also running DNS on it so I can turn off the old server without effecting the website (as I will be probably doing on Saturday to install a 100MB LAN card). |
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Happy Dude
Apprentece
Australia
23 Posts |
Posted - Dec 29 2006 : 9:49:17 PM
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My fault...
/me hides |
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SpaceBison
Apprentece
23 Posts |
Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 07:23:35 AM
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| Sweet! What are you going to do with the old server? |
Don't like my signature? Click on it to make your own! |
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Aaron Cake
Administrator
Canada
6718 Posts |
Posted - Dec 31 2006 : 10:48:59 AM
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| Nothing really. It's still running email, DNS, antivirus, file and print sharing, DHCP, etc. |
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wasssup1990
Nobel Prize Winner
A Land Down Under
2261 Posts |
Posted - Jan 11 2007 : 03:11:13 AM
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| There is a noticable speed increase at this end of the line, all the way down under. I've got ADSL2+. Aaron, is this the best setup you've got now or do you have a few bottle necks somewhere in your network to fix? What internet connection do you have? |
When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity.
When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion. |
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Aaron Cake
Administrator
Canada
6718 Posts |
Posted - Jan 11 2007 : 10:24:11 AM
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My connection is a 8MB cable connection. As far as I know, that's the only limitation. I've never seen CPU load on this new server go over 10% due to the website.
I'm slowly converting the site to MySQL as well. Soon the only thing left on the Access database will be the forum as converting it is more of a challenge. |
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New Server is Up And Running!
