Developer Only Discussion List

["Jeremy Blosser (emrys)" <jblosser-smgl AT firinn.org>]

On Oct 16, Eric Sandall [eric AT sandall.us] wrote:
> On Fri, 14 Oct 2005, Jeremy Blosser (emrys) wrote:
> <snip>
> > After discussing this further, we believe that our best option for the
> > future is to get our primary web box on a paid line with an SLA (Service
> > Level Agreement) that will eliminate the kind of unattended outage we're
> > currently experiencing.  Moving away from "a donated box under someone's
> > desk at work" to a paid SLA line is a next step in growing as a distro, 
> > and
> > we believe we have the resources available to cover the costs.
> >
> > (Note that we're primarily talking about this for the web / dev support /
> > application server role.  www.sourcemage, bugs.sourcemage, and probably
> > eventually the SCM.  Depending on what course we pursue we will likely
> > continue to use ibiblio as our primarily download.sourcemage and
> > codex.sourcemage distribution site, since those things mostly need lots 
> > and
> > lots of bandwidth, and ibiblio has no shortage of that.)
> 
> We'll need to pick up the pace on the non-profit status, then, so that
> we can accept tax-deductable (at least in the US at first) donations.

Let's discuss that now, then.  Where are we exactly?  As I understand it
we're somewhere hung up on "we need a treasurer".  I can potentially add
that to my list if it's useful.  I assume the role is: take money in, keep
it in a separate account a few appropriate people have access to, provide
regular reports, cut checks as required and approved.

> <snip>
> > As for local SMGL administration, I and two other guys are within a half
> > hour of that place.  The other two (Dave Josephsen (superdave) and Mark
> > Bainter (shamgar)) aren't that active in SMGL development yet, but all
> > three of us are Sr. Systems Engineers responsible for keeping high-volume
> > corporate servers and services up 24x7x365.  None of us tolerates outages
> > on our servers, and all of us know how to do what it takes to avoid
> > problems or fix them when they happen.  So it's safe to say we'd be
> > well-covered for redundant local administration.  :-)
> 
> Sounds good. :) We'll have multiple keys for physical access, then?
> And knowledge of which machine is ours. ;)

They're a secure facility, meaning all visits are going to be escorted.  So
it wouldn't so much be keys and a map as it would be them maintaining a
list of who is allowed access.  I forgot to mention before, we'd have
dkowis on that list too.  He's 4 hours away but that's short in TX terms,
and useful if all of the locals die from drinking the water or something.
:-)

> <snip>
> > Option A: Colocation
> >
> > Option B: Dedicated Server
> 
> I prefer Option B just for simplicity, though getting the correct
> hardware would be important. Some of the options on
> http://www.sprocketnetworks.com/dedicated.htm look they could handle
> our needs, with a little more money (than the proposed Option B).
> Option A would let us get the most for our money, but would also
> require two servers (or at least enough spare parts to keep the 'main'
> server going), while Option B puts the overhead on Sprocket Networks
> (Spacely Sprockets? ;)).
> 
> For Option B, I believe our needs would more go towards hardware space
> than higher CPU usage, though a dual (or more) CPU system (even if
> lower hertz than a single) would also be a good idea. Obviously RAID
> if we can get it (mirroring or RAID-6, though preferably just the
> mirroring to avoid to much 'wasted' space).

I don't think SMP or hardware RAID are options for a dedicated server since
they aren't on any of their lists, and they are particular about the
components they provide being on their lists.  I don't see RAID as a major
concern since they'll be responsible for the hardware of the drives and
we'll have local off-site backups nearby.

I have a request in for quotes on a few other hardware permutations than
what they list.  AMD 2200/2800 and 64bit 3000, each with 1GB RAM, 80GB HD,
and just the 100GB monthly transfer.  I'm hoping with the discount we can
get for paying 12 months at a time we can afford one of these upgraded
options.

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