[Theforum] FundRaising and Hosting/Move Solutions Proposal

Ron Dorman rwd at csi1st.net
Tue May 21 19:30:36 CDT 2002


Patti Ames wrote:

> At 12:30 AM -0400 5/20/02, Ron Dorman wrote:
>
>> 3)  Moving.  We have basically two options for moving, here or anywhere.
>>
>> 3.a)  No down-time move.  This requires more planning, coordination and
>> a few tasks not needed in a down-time move.  We have enough capacity
>> here to move some things (all right now) to our servers and keep them
>> running while we move the boxes.  We should have to resync data when the
>> evolt.org boxes arrive here and then resume service off the evolt.org
>> boxes again.  The amount of services that could be moved here
>> temporarily will depend on how much hosting comes into CSI between now
>> and the move.  We might be able to do it all at once, or we might have
>> to do it a box at time.
>
>
> IMO, this is the more cumbersome technique, but (IMO) completely
> worth it. With a spare, temporary box and a backup tape (are there
> backups?) of weo, you've got a 1 day old version of weo and not too
> much in the way of shipping costs.


yes, there are backups.

I tend to agree that it is worth it, simply because it gives us multiple
backups; evolt.org boxes, temp boxes at new destination and
tape/cd/whatever removable media.  It does require more planning and
then restoration/resync of everything once the evolt.org boxes arrive
at their new home.

I think a combination would do us the best.  Backups, copies to temp
boxes, moving the evolt.org servers *during down-time*, starting
evolt.org boxes, testing, and the going back on-line.  This would
relieve the resync task which could be big with the traffic of thelist
and it's archives.  With the other lists, article submissions and new
signups it could take quite a while to resync and get everything right.
  It also gives us the option of using the temp boxes if something
drastic does happen to the evolt.org boxes.


>
>> 3.b)  Down-time move.  This would require announcing a day or two of
>> downtime, doing backups, shutting down, moving, starting and testing,
>> then serving off the evolt.org boxes.
>
>
> Don't forget about the "moves never go smoothly" fudge factor. I have
> done a lot of moves, and almost none have gone smoothly. Expecting
> the move to only take 2 days - with a 34hr drive - is pretty
> optimistic. I recently shipped a 2u, 35lb server across the country
> (CA -> NC) for $60.


for the most part (murphy's law), true, but doable.

It's about 17 hours drive from current location to our offices (if it is
decided to move them here).  I have pulled off one smooth move.  An IBM
AS/400 4096 F Model (large box) with 37 desktops on the LAN.  We backed
up Friday at 2:00 pm. Packed up as soon as the backups were done.  Drove
from Central Texas to NE Alabama (21 hours).  Put everything back
together and were running Monday morning for business.  Of course, we
planned and then prepared for 3 months before actually moving.

We would have the advantage that moving to any established host will
provide good cabling and connectivity.  Much of what 3 months of prep
time includes is cabling and testing at the new site.

With the evolt.org move we will also be dealing with IP address changes
as well.  A couple or three days of down-time would give the changes
time to propagate.

> Another option: I checked the pricing of he.net. No, I don't work for
> them, so I can't get some really cool discount. But it would be
> $300/mo for half of a rack of real estate + $400/mo for .5Mb.
> (Obviously, this is not enough for beo.)
>
> Just another option.


Good to see some options and numbers.  And thanks for the disclaimer.
That is most of the reason I thought long and hard before offering CSI's
services, and why I offered them at cost only.  It is difficult to get
the message across that your motivation is getting the best for
evolt.org when you/your company will get revenue from the deal, even if
it is a cost only deal.


> And I'd be happy to do any unix administration. (Its what I have
> gotten paid to do for the last 3 years; my credentials are:
> http://pattiames.com/resume.html .) I think that I added myself to
> SystemAdmin on the wiki.


yep, you're on the wiki SysAdmin page.  If you click the "?" next to
your name you can enter info about yourself, and/or link to your resume
if you wish.

I appreciate your feedback and look forward to your participation.

Ron D.




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