Applying fixes

[Angus]

Steve is taking the server down for about 5 minutes to apply some fixes

I will post here again in a second about the state of play with the server and what is being done about it

regards
Angus

[Angus]

Back up again

[Angus]

OK

As you will be aware, since bringing the new hardware online we have been experiencing high load issues

The new server is about twice as powerful as the old one and we have removed a couple of reseller accounts to other servers so it should be flying in comparisoon to the old server but clearly this is not the case

We have had a few experts reviewing the server to try and find the cause of this. The have identified a memory leak due to the kernel being used and an issue with the Raid card

For the non techies out there what this means is as follows

The previous server was our standard configuration of one main hard drive (for the operating system, cpanel, sites etc just like the drive in your PC) and a secondary drive for the backups

The new server has 2 primary drives that mirror each other through the use of a Raid card and a third drive for backups

This configuration, with the 2 primary drives and Raid, means that in the event of the main drive failing we could simply switch over to the secondary one and "hot swap" the main one. This means take it out while the server is running and put a new one in with no downtime

The problems we have been experiencing are due to the kernel version (the server's brain for want of a better word which lets the Operating System communicate with the server's hardware and cpu etc) and its compatibility with the Raid card (the hardware which allows the 2 primary drives to interact)

Thsi should not be happening as they should both be compatible with each other

Steve contacted 3ware, the makers of the Raid card for their thoughts on the 18th and their site said we would have a response within 4 - 24 hours but we haven't heard anything back yet (the weekend won't have helped this and it is still Sunday in the US)

He has therefore submitted a further query and we are waiting to hear back from them

In the meantime we are to be moving our own sites on the server to Barossa, including the support one, to help reduce loads while we wait for a resolution

I understand there is some frustration with email but I ask you to bear with us

Failures to connect to the mail server are not because the server is down (see http://status.alpinesupport.net/) but simply because it is labouring to service all the requests coming in at once so no mail is being lost, just delayed, something like a bottleneck on teh Freeway but everyone gets there in the end

The reason for the hardware change was to increase the level of service and performance for you our clients so as you can imagine these current problems are causing a major sense of frustration on our behalf but we are working on this as hard as possible and seeking a speedy resolution

If you have any queries on what I have posted here or would just like more clarification if my attempt to explain the tech issues have failed :) please just post and I or Steve will be happy to elaborate

regards
Angus

[Snowman]

Sorry for the delay in getting this resolved everyone.

its a very complex issue and we need to ensure that what we do to fix it will work

Jeff is currently hooking up the server to KVM to apply the patches and kernel updates

Once the KVM is setup and configured we can get this finally sorted.

I will let everyone know the status as soon as we hear back from Jeff

[Snowman]

New kernel has been compiled and is now running.

We still need to do some final adjustments but the server should stabilie in the next hour or so

Thanks for everyones patience