DelTech Labs Development Center

Another Move?

DJ Tama — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:36:19 +0000

Seems that the powers-that-be (mainly those that own the location where my servers are at), want to move my servers to another location within the same building. What does this mean?

Well, simply put, it means that I will have to shut off services for a while until this move is complete. Now, I know what you are thinking, and all your data will be safe. The downtime will be within 15-30 minutes and should be back in full swing before you know what happens.

Normally, if a large downtime like this planned, it will occur late into the night, say midnight to 1am.

Hope this relieves any fears.

System Upgrades

DJ Tama — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:28:45 +0000

Recently, updates have been done on the web servers that now make them faster. This includes an major overhaul of how we host. So what did we do to improve performance?

As of today, the single core 32 bit systems have been replaced with a single dual-core 64 bit system running 3 machines as a virtual host. This machine has been pumped with lots of ram and will not be needing to be rebooted for quite a long time.

With this change also increases reliability of this system as now regular backups of live systems can be taken. The only devices that are still on separate machines are the new Firewall, and MySQL Dedicated Database (running on a dual core 64-bit OS as well for improved performance).

Now we have one more upgrade coming soon, and it will be a doozy. Lets just say that Time Warner has finally worn out their welcome…

The Big Move

DJ Tama — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:23:37 +0000

At the moment, I’m working on a new server for the hosting site and am working hard in geting it up and running with the minimal of pain involved to my customers involved. My first attempt onto a small machine failed when one person’s blog got totally screwed up by software that I didn’t realize was screwed up as bad as I thought.

Now I took one of the most powerful machines I had and pumped it full of RAM (8GB) and split it into 3 servers. This makes use of the server for 24/7 deployment and relieves the need for more than 2 servers.

The MySQL server will also be put onto a power system and be given a boost to perform at its best. And since data on the DB will be important to my customers, I will be pulling it off from public view and filter connections to allow the webservers access and no one else (except for me, of course).

So stay tuned as the move goes into Take 2.

B0rked… D’oh!

DJ Tama — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:01:25 +0000

So it seems that I broke the FreeBSD server that hosts a few customers I have in the Philippines. I was upgrading the 3rd server (FreeBSD 6.3 -> 7) when one of the seemingly seamless steps to upgrading caused the system to not update properly… This resulted in the system being partially functional, but essential programs such as apache, the jk-mod for Jakarta-Tomcat, and SSH inoperable. So that means I will have to go to the data center to get it fixed.

Joy…

Dolphin 6.0.0005 Update

DJ Tama — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:55:18 +0000

To all our customers using Dolphin for their community services, your installations are being upgraded to 6.0.0005. This will be a seamless integration. If you have any questions, please contact us at our support e-mail.

WordPress 2.5.1 Update

DJ Tama — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:39:38 +0000

All customers have been updated to Wordpress 2.5.1 from 2.5. You will not need to do anything. If you have any questions, please contact our support e-mail.

The perverbial mobius strip of hosting

DJ Tama — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:14:45 +0000

So it seems that I am in the process of adding new customers, once yearly, now increased to monthly (yay?). As much as I like having new customers that pay for the services here, it seems that the more I get, the more I need to upgrade.

My current hosting connection is approx 2Mbps and thats sharing with people who are piggy-backing the same line to get internet. If I block them (or move the servers to a private location), then I’d get the full capability of my bandwidth.

I’m starting to consider whether I should charge the “piggy-backers” for usage of my internet connection as overusage does cost me a little. So far the only complaints, if any, have stemmed from the recent blowing up of a UPS device that didn’t like a small power surge caused by the heat-induced activation of AC units in the neighborhood. Go figure…

Possible move in the future?

DJ Tama — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:40:43 +0000

There are things in the works for a possible move. If the move does go through, I will most likely look into a higher bandwidth service to better serve all the customers that I have to date. This might mean a slight interruption of service for some (as there are only 3 total servers in my stack) while the move takes place. Of course, all customers will be notified prior to any such move or maintenance as it has in the past.

I’ll be looking around the area for different carriers, but most likely it might remain TWC until FIOS becomes available. (AT&T has no foothold in the area where the servers are located)

DTL Shop and Google Ads

DJ Tama — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:36:07 +0000

So I added a few things here and there to see how it would show up and I see some improvements. So far, a noticable item is the Google Ads that now show up to help pay for the site and development. Another thing added what Google Analytics. This helps me detirmine how traffic is being directed to this site and how popular it is compared to the main site.

Amongst other things, my sister, (who owns HowAGirlFigures.com) seems to be pleased with the effort I’m putting for her to allow her the opportunity to do more to her blog than just post. The plugins that I’ve tested seem to work well.

I will most likely add Wordpress.org as a free addon if you get any service level of my hosting.

Something else added is a Shopping cart system thats in closed beta. I’m testing a few resources and seeing which will fill my needs. If all pans out, I may offer it alongside my services.

New items for this blog site.

DJ Tama — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:06:31 +0000

New items have been included on this site including a new theme, a few plugins for anti-spam, and Google integration. So far the system is behaving properly and will be tested fully as time goes along.