New Servers on the Way!

Muhammad · Feb 2, 2004

Hi Guys (and girls!),

In January, TractorByNet.com registered more than 74,000 unique users, shattering our old record from early 2003. We project another record-breaking month in February, and want to welcome all new users to a smooth-running TractorByNet.com.

So, help is on the way! We have made the decision to retire our trusty old server, which is more than three years old and has 600 million+ hits on the "clock."

We'll be replacing it with not one, but two servers that will "team up" to handle TBN's ever-increasing traffic load. One server will be dedicated to running our database, and the other will run everything else.

For those of you who are curious, our new setup will be...

Server 1:
1.3ghz
40gb HD
1gb RAM

Server 2 (Database):
1.3ghz
36gb SCSI HD
512mb RAM

At this point we're focused on restoring the site to optimum performance at all times, but it will probably be a little bit quicker with the new servers, too. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif More importantly, we'll be able to handle our projected growth through this spring and summer without slow-downs.

There will likely be some limited downtime when we make the switch. As always we'll do our best to make the transition smooth and problem-free. But, we ask for your patience in the process.

Thanks for your continued support that has made TractorByNet.com the #1 tractor website.

TWINKLE_TOES · Feb 2, 2004

Just keeps getting better /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Thanks Muhammad

MossRoad · Feb 3, 2004

First Ibrahim updates his bio, now this? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Thanks for making this such a great site. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

fivestring · Feb 3, 2004

<font color="blue">"First Ibrahim updates his bio, now this?" </font>

Then Henro updates his.... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Thanks for everything you do. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Hopefully our t-shirt orders will help pay for some of the upgrades.... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

DAP · Feb 3, 2004

At the risk of being nosey, Muhammad, just curious as to why you chose the beefier machine for something other than the DB?

Guess it's the "everthing else" that has a greater requirement than a relational database?

/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

JASTN70D · Feb 3, 2004

It looks as though Muhammad got it right with the SCSI drive in the DB server. Memory is useful only if the application that is running can use it all if the DB opens are smaller than the memory then he got that right also. I suspect the all other server is running more applications on it. In any case he has done a great job so far.!

Muhammad · Feb 3, 2004

Well, Ibrahim is the one who made the decisions... so I must deflect the credit. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Worst case would be if one of them needed more RAM, which would be an easy upgrade.

Ibrahim · Feb 3, 2004

Right. It may be that we have to very quickly add more Ram in the MySQL sever, which would be a hassle and a bit more money, but I'm confident that it'll be faster for some time. When we say just the MySQL, we mean just that. Right now, a single machine handles over 116GB of traffic a month. I wasn't going to drop that machine's Ram by too much. Especially with having to handle PHP and mail.

We'll see how quickly you guys rip it apart, but maybe it'll last through to the summer. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

-Ibrahim

_RaT_ · Feb 3, 2004

Muhammad, I'm just curious, are your two computers located where you live which I would assume would mean you buy a static address? What kind of connection is needed to handle the traffic on TBN? I think it would be interesting if you took a picture of the two computers and posted them. It's strange to think all that goes on here is acutally in two small boxes located in some guys house. Keep up the stellar work. Rat...