New NWFA Server Ordered! - The NWFA Migration Thread

[Joe Link]

I'm very excited to announce that the software upgrade last night went much smoother than expected, and that this morning we finally placed the order for the new NWFA server! Though we're only about halfway to our fundraising goal for 2014, we made the decision to place the order to take advantage of a promotion our host was offering. For reference, our last actual migration to a completely new server was back in 2010!

The migration timeline we've set has us fully migrated by November 15th, though we may finish much sooner. I don't have any indicator yet as to when the actual migration will take place, or how much downtime we're looking at, but I'll be sure to update this thread when I have an idea. We're working hard to prepare in advance, with the hope that this migration will be seamless to our members. If you do notice any bugs, issues, or anything you think we might want to know about, and you likely will, we ask that you check to see if there's a thread in the Questions, Comments, Ideas, & Announcements section. If not, please create one so we can take a look.

To raise additional funds, I'm also happy to announce a sale on all NWFA apparel. From now through Christmas, all apparel is priced at a 20% discount, and shipping is still free! We're tossing in a couple NWFA refrigerator magnets with each order as well. You can <broken link removed>, or by clicking the NWFA Store tab near the top of the page. As always, all profits go to support this site.

We appreciate all your help and support.

Lastly, here are some details for those of you who understand! While we'll have slightly less processing power, we'll have quadruple the RAM and a dedicated SSD array for the database

Old Server:
Dual Xeon E5506 Quad Core @ 2.13GHz
8GB DDR3 SDRAM
2 x SATA 250 GB Hardware RAID 1
250 GB SATA backup
Linux CentOS 5

New Server:
Single Intel Xeon E3-1270 V2 3.5GHZ Quad Core – Hyperthreaded
32GB DDR3 SDRAM
2 x SATA Software Raid 1 Drives (1TB 7200RPM SATA)
4 x SSD Hardware Raid 10 Drives (120GB Kingston Hyper-X SSD MLC)
1 x SATA Backup Drive (1TB 7200RPM SATA)
Linux CentOS 6 64-Bit

=========================================================

NWFA Migration Update #1

Alright folks, here's our window. We'll be migrating to our new server at some point tonight, depending on how smooth our work goes.

Feel free to discuss in this thread.

For status updates once the server goes offline, please see our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/northwestfirearms

Wish us luck!

Read More

 

[NoFlinch]

New Server:
Single Intel Xeon E3-1270 V2 3.5GHZ Quad Core – Hyperthreaded
32GB DDR3 SDRAM
2 x SATA Software Raid 1 Drives (1TB 7200RPM SATA)
4 x SSD Hardware Raid 10 Drives (120GB Kingston Hyper-X SSD MLC)
1 x SATA Backup Drive (1TB 7200RPM SATA)
Linux CentOS 6 64-Bit

COOL!
That's Exactly what I would have ordered.

Although I would have stuck with Windows 7.

I'm glad you know what you're doing

Congrats on this!

 

[DeanMk]

I'm very excited to announce that the software upgrade last night went much smoother than expected, and that this morning we finally placed the order for the new NWFA server! Though we're only about halfway to our fundraising goal for 2014, we made the decision to place the order to take advantage of a promotion our host was offering. For reference, our last actual migration to a completely new server was back in 2010!

The migration timeline we've set has us fully migrated by November 15th, though we may finish much sooner. I don't have any indicator yet as to when the actual migration will take place, or how much downtime we're looking at, but I'll be sure to update this thread when I have an idea. We're working hard to prepare in advance, with the hope that this migration will be seamless to our members. If you do notice any bugs, issues, or anything you think we might want to know about, and you likely will, we ask that you check to see if there's a thread in the Questions, Comments, Ideas, & Announcements section. If not, please create one so we can take a look.

To raise additional funds, I'm also happy to announce a sale on all NWFA apparel. From now through Christmas, all apparel is priced at a 20% discount, and shipping is still free! We're tossing in a couple NWFA refrigerator magnets with each order as well. You can <broken link removed>, or by clicking the NWFA Store tab near the top of the page. As always, all profits go to support this site.

We appreciate all your help and support.

Lastly, here are some details for those of you who understand! While we'll have slightly less processing power, we'll have quadruple the RAM and a dedicated SSD array for the database

Old Server:
Dual Xeon E5506 Quad Core @ 2.13GHz
8GB DDR3 SDRAM
2 x SATA 250 GB Hardware RAID 1
250 GB SATA backup
Linux CentOS 5

New Server:
Single Intel Xeon E3-1270 V2 3.5GHZ Quad Core – Hyperthreaded
32GB DDR3 SDRAM
2 x SATA Software Raid 1 Drives (1TB 7200RPM SATA)
4 x SSD Hardware Raid 10 Drives (120GB Kingston Hyper-X SSD MLC)
1 x SATA Backup Drive (1TB 7200RPM SATA)
Linux CentOS 6 64-Bit

Very cool news, Joe.
Congrats, and good luck with the change over.


Dean Mk

 

[Garg]

Just curious why you went with the single Xeon, rather than a dual, or multiple platform motherboard?

 

[BAMCIS]

New Server:
Single Intel Xeon E3-1270 V2 3.5GHZ Quad Core – Hyperthreaded
32GB DDR3 SDRAM
2 x SATA Software Raid 1 Drives (1TB 7200RPM SATA)
4 x SSD Hardware Raid 10 Drives (120GB Kingston Hyper-X SSD MLC)
1 x SATA Backup Drive (1TB 7200RPM SATA)
Linux CentOS 6 64-Bit

What? You couldn't you find a phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range to go with all that stuff?

​

 

[Joe Link]

Just curious why you went with the single Xeon, rather than a dual, or multiple platform motherboard?

Good question!

First, we had to go with what our host had available. For years we've hosted with a fully managed premium provider. Because it's fully managed, we have access to a support team 24/7, located in America, guaranteed to answer the phone within 60 seconds. I can't explain how much money this has saved us over this years, not having to pay to hire an IT team. Hosts of this caliber come with their own set of unique benefits, basically meaning we're well-insulated from outside influences. There are only a handful of hosts of this caliber in the country. Check out this facility! They're going to be set for the zombie apocalypse. https://www.liquidweb.com/data-centers/michigan.html

Regarding the processor choice, this is one I've researched extensively. The E3 series processors are quite impressive, and in many cases will yield better performance than the dual processors we were running before. For our application, the higher clockspeed was of more benefit than the multiple cores, the site being less reliant on CPU than RAM or disk I/O.

The newer processor also supports advanced instructions, such as the aes-ni instruction set. Next on our to-do list is serving all of our content via SSL, the speed of which will be greatly increased with this instruction set.

 

[BAMCIS]

Joe, does this mean NWFA is growing (fast)?

 

[Joe Link]

Joe, does this mean NWFA is growing (fast)?

This has been a needed upgrade for quite some time, with increasing pressure added from our steady growth. The fact that we have 320,000 unique visits per month, and 4 out of 5 gun owners I talk to still haven't hear of the site, tells me we still have a ton of work to do!

 

[Garg]

Well, I am certainly not as up to speed on the new server blade tech as you are. I guess that the 32gb -vs- 8 would in itself would be a major upgrade. Congratulations on the new unit. I wish you (as you know) nothing but continued success!!! Are you buying or just leasing?

 

[spectra]

Joe are you talking to the right gun owners I heard of the site in 09

And as far as what GB and RAM it has I am lost.... I would rather shoot my computer than try and figure it out

Thanks though for what you do!

 

[DeanMk]

Spectra,

Think of it this way - The site is currently equivalent to a .30-06.
When the change over is done, it will be more similar to a .300 Winchester Magnum.
...see the difference?


Dean

 

[206thsense]

Nice! Money's tight this money, but I plan on donating some more funds in DEC. BTW, I check the swag shop and I was surprised there's no coffee mugs. Ha!

 

[spectra]

Nice! Money's tight this money, but I plan on donating some more funds in DEC. BTW, I check the swag shop and I was surprised there's no coffee mugs. Ha!

And the 12 dollar tee is only for the little guys

 

[Joe Link]

Nice! Money's tight this money, but I plan on donating some more funds in DEC. BTW, I check the swag shop and I was surprised there's no coffee mugs. Ha!

I'm hoping to find a decent supplier soon, but I'll still need to find an affordable way to ship them. I like including shipping in the price advertised.

And the 12 dollar tee is only for the little guys

Yeah, the L and XL T's sold out fast!

 

[BAMCIS]

Spectra,

Think of it this way - The site is currently equivalent to a .30-06.
When the change over is done, it will be more similar to a .300 Winchester Magnum.
...see the difference?


Dean

When it's put like that I bet everyone on this forum has no problem understanding.

On the other hand if this analogy were posted on any other web site the members there would be like:

 

[DeanMk]

LOL! If mentioned that on most of the other forums I belong to, only a few member would even know what the heck I was referring to.
I like coming here because I'm a gun and shooting enthusiast, too.


Dean

 

[RB87]

Congrats on the new hardware. Those newer Xeons are nice chips. Clock speed still matters a lot if the programs you're running are single threaded. The SSDs should speed things up mucho too.

 

[j4545]

Congrats and keep up the good work!

 

[CanonBallBust]

Hey Joe, are you sure you have the t-shorts labelled correctly? I just went to look at a large heavyweight t and saw the price at $12 down from $15, yet the lightweight t was $16 down from $20. Just thought I'd ask.

<broken link removed>

<broken link removed>

 

[elsie]

Hey Joe, are you sure you have the t-shorts labelled correctly? I just went to look at a large heavyweight t and saw the price at $12 down from $15, yet the lightweight t was $16 down from $20. Just thought I'd ask.

<broken link removed>

<broken link removed>

T shorts sounds uncomfortable...




elsie