Sometime over the next few days tonight we are moving from a VPS to a Dedicated Server. 7 years ago, SM started on a shared host. Our next jump in '06 was for a better shared host. (Shared means that a couple hundred sites are installed on the same computer). In early '08, we moved to a VPS (Virtual Private Server) and we were 1 of 25 on the box. Last year we moved to a new VPS where we were one of 8 on the box. 2 storage upgrades and 2 RAM upgrades later, we're outgrowing the VPS and moving to our very own dedicated server. (This means that only SM will be served from this server without having to share any resources with other websites) Today we have 20 GB storage and 2 GB RAM Later this week, we'll have: 3 hard drives and 4 GB RAM. The new server is being prepped and readied for the move now and I already like what I'm seeing When we do make the move, we'll be getting new IP addresses and those can take a few hours to a day to populate the various DNS centers. This is a heads up that you may get Page Cannot be Found errors during this time. Bear with us during this transition. Maybe we'll need more server in a couple of years...
We've tweaked the VPS for optimum performance. It basically came down to room and memory; to add more was going to be cost comparable to a dedicated server anyway. The main problem is that with all the caching we have running (memcached and APC), We're having to flush the caches daily or we start to slow down after a couple of days. We keep 5 days of database backups but we're running out of room for them by day 3 now. We've worked within 5/10/15/20 GB for so long, I don't know what we're going to do with 250 GB of main space... Well, actually I do: We're going to host every survival and back to basics pdf you all can find! By moving the MySQL database to it's own drive, large downloads won't jam up the regular forum calls. We're moving from CentOS to Fedora so I don't think the learning curve will be all that steep. We're also testing Varnish-Cache as well so things should be pretty snappy when we're tuned.
A wee bit tongue-in-cheek, but... YouTube - Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!
Much appreciated, Melbo Thank you for the heads up. I know that Survivalmonkey is not a one man band, but your hands are notable on the tiller, Thank you for your dedication and commitment on what is a superlative survival site. My regards go to all those who contribute to making this site a pleaure to visit. There are many prepper and survival sites on the net, but this is one of the best. I am happy to make this site my home. Keep up the good work. Cheers from Chello
Thank you melbo for allowing us to write on the walls here. Anybody wanting to help keep the lights on could do so here, every little bit helps. http://www.survivalmonkey.com/forum/welcome-new-members/2160-donations-site-supporter.html#post20497
Looks like this may happen this evening. Will likely close the forum around 10:00 PST and you may not be able to access the site for a number of hours after that.
OK, we are on the new server. Please bear with us as we tune and optimize this place for the new home. Also, let us know if you find anything not working. Thanks