Server Move Tonight

[Vekseid]

Planning to begin roughly 5 hours from this post.

Everything is pretty much ready on the new servers (finally : /) and aside from some issues that don't affect the main server (have IPv6 setup on the slave and it's a bit fickle...) everything is working fine.

The database is colossal by forum standards, and it's hard to be sure how long it will take me. There are a number of forums with more than ten million posts (BMR and E combined), not many have more than ten million private messages on top of that.

Search and the AJAX shoutbox will both be making a return on both E and BMR, though I can't make promises for how the shoutbox will go on Elliquiy here. The new server is significantly more powerful, but Elliquiy is also a fair bit larger than when we had to turn it off.

After restoring both sites to working status, the process is going to be:
1) Restore PMs, the Shoutbox, and AJAX notifications on Blue Moon
2) Attempt to restore the AJAX Shoutbox on Elliquiy
3) Attempt to restore Sphinx Search on both communities.

#3 may not be completed in a day, some of the code probably needs to be rewritten, especially in BMR's case.

I expect that both sites will be down for a good portion of tomorrow, though in worst case it might take two days. I've decided to skip some optimizations that would necessitate a really long downtime - I don't think a temporary minor benefit is worth another day.

In the mean time, World Enough and Time, Lunar Radiance, and of course Mumble/IRC will still be online, and I'll probably post updates on twitter also.

Finally, I'm starting up two new non-adult sites/forums. The first and most relevant of these is Hexwiki, where I'm planning on uploading the results of documenting this little adventure. It's primarily going to be a technical community that we can point people to various resources I and others put up, without having to point people directly to an adult site here. I am likewise interested in people who would also be willing to share their technical knowhow here. Documenting this mess is a big part of why this took so long. : /

There will be a more obnoxious piece of flare going up an hour or so before shutdown, to give people time to finish up posts and so on.

Thank you for your patience, everyone.

-Vekseid

[Trieste]

Thank you, Vekseid.

[ObscureObscenities]

Huzzah, the return of the SB, and the exit of my free time and life.

[Beguile's Mistress]

*lays in massive quantities of Ibuprofen* ;D

[TamaRose]

Good luck! Would you like a drink before you start?

[Nico]

Good luck with the move. May things go smoothly.

Thank you for all the work you are doing man!

[Ember Star]

Site... down... long... time... horror... *twitches* LOL. I'll live though! Just means I get to launch my new group on the new old E!

[Stella]

Hope it all goes well. Thank you!

[Kuroneko]

Thank you for all your hard work, Vekseid!

[desert ashes]

Thank you for everything, Vekseid.

[Wistful Dream]

Thank you for everything. See you on the other side. :)

[Nadir]

thank you so much <3

so excited for the shoutbox!

[Finite True]

I appreciate the head up! :3

[Kye]

Thank you, Veks.  *hugs*

[Josietta]

You're a Rockstar, Veks! Thank you and good luck in your move!

[Ariel]

You're simply fucking amazing, Vek. Thank you. Thank you so very much for what you do.

[RedPhoenix]

Shoutbox and search?!?!? *squeals and runs around screaming for joy*

[Blitzy]

*Smiles.* Thank you for everything you do for us, Veks. Thank you! :)

Cannot wait to see if the Shoutbox works right!!

[Psycho Serenity]

Well, at least it's my birthday tomorrow so I won't be sitting around like a zombie with nothing to do!

[Lady Aura]

Well, I can say, sleep and cleaning tomorrow will definitely happen. I can't wait to see the new changes Veks!

[CriminalMindsFan]

Best wishes on a smooth transition and I'm seeing several users/avatars for the very first time thanks to this thread.

[sleepingferret]

Thanks Veks!  And I'll see everyone on the other side.  8-)

[Indyo]

Thank you for all the hard-work, Veks!

Best wishes on the smooth transition. :-)

[ShadowFox89]

 Awesome Vekseid, can't wait.

In the words of Samuel L. Jackson.... hold on to your butts.

[jouzinka]

Keeping fingers crossed, Veks. :)

[Bludmagnus]

Thank you for letting all of us know.  May all go well.

[Nataleigh]

Thank you for all the hard work you put into these sites, Vekseid. We really do appreciate it. ^_^

I'll keep my fingers crossed that it all goes according to plan. <3

[Geil]

Cheers Veks; hope it goes smoothly and thanks for the effort you put into the sites and extra double-thanks for the timing - you've managed to organise the downtime to start within an hour of when I go off on holiday  ;D

[Muse]

That's awesme Veks!  Thanks again for all your hard work. 

Guess I have an excuse to sleep in.  ^_^;; 

[Azumi]

Thank you for the wonderful job, Vekseid!

Good luck on the transition!

[Remiel]

Keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes without a hitch!

[AurelieCatena]

Thanks for the head-up. I'll miss Elliquiy during the down period. I hope all goes well. I'll be following it on Twitter.

Thanks again for all your efforts to make this wonderful forum possible.

[Styx26]

Thank you, Veks!

[Wolf O Donnel]

Thanks Vekseid, bope all goes well good luck...

*thinks of a way to cope for two days*

[Sofina]

Thanks for all your hard work Vekseid, You are a hero keeping the site running, as a fairly new member I  must compliment you for this oasis  on the net. I have never met such a lovely cross section of people who have made me welcome and kept me safe.

Good luck with the changeover.

Sofi xx

P.S. I've actually got a tear in my eye, I have finally found a place I can call home.

[rahatngt]

Vekseid,
Thanks a lot for all the hard work :). Unfortunately my lack of experience in operations and forum software precludes me from helping but I have seen the operation work involve in successful migration. So my sympathies and thanks specially since you have to do it all alone without someone else to verify checklists/steps. Good luck with everything.

I probably am most looking at the return of search to find roleplays that I found interesting but didn't bookmark. This is primarily a same codebases migration right? Or have you also made some updates in the system other than turning back on some high overhead feature.

The plan was for the new forum software on the new hardware right (if my broken memory serves right this time) but we had to move ahead of schedule right?

See you all soon on the other side :P

[Rhedyn]

I hope the move goes smoothly Veks, thank you for all your hard work in keeping such a special place as this running.

[Lord Drake]

You're simply fucking amazing, Vek. Thank you. Thank you so very much for what you do.

This.

Dragon fingers are crossed, too Veks. See you all on the new server!

[Peripherie]

Thank you for all your time and effort Veks! I know this is a huge undertaking but we are all behind you.

[marauder13]

As someone who has done more than a few server migrations in the past, may yours run as smooth as silk, Veks.

Also, thank you for everything you do for this site, mate. You're bloody brilliant and a fine fellow to boot.

[Vekseid]

Looking at the Who's Online list I'd swear some of you are playing "Who gets the last PM?" games or something.