Web server to be replaced this week

The server that hosts this website and several others will be decommissioned and replaced with an identical unit this week. For some time I have found that a problem with the CMOS chip backup battery has caused some unreliability requiring the battery to be replaced every six months or so and this same problem has caused recent downtime for iServ and the other websites.

Tonight I replaced the battery again and when I did this I found a dry solder joint underneath the plastic battery holder. In spite of this discovery I will still commission the replacement server and pull the existing one down so it can be taken apart, repaired and cleaned. The discs on this server will then be reformatted and a fresh install of Windows will be loaded, along with the usual updates, network and video drivers, etc and then put through a rigourous field test between now and the middle of January, 2010. This will confirm whether repairs were successful or not. If everything is fine then the decommissioned server will be put back into service when the necessity dictates. Otherwise it will be wrecked for interchangeable parts and then scrapped.

Nothing lasts forever, apart from iServ itself.

Written at 21:29 on 30 August 2009 by Lord Watchdog.

Comments

Steve Member #: 195 16 February 2009. Posts: 22.	Posted at 11:18 on 31 August 2009.
	I didn't know you hosted this site yourself. I have noticed that the site wouldn't load on a few visits but I think that is how it goes sometimes. Good luck getting the new server going. I don't know much about computers but I can imagine it can be hard managing everything to do with a website.

Lord Watchdog

Top Dog

Member #: 2
28 January 2006.

Posts: 537.

Posted at 16:53 on 31 August 2009.

Everything is done in-house Steve. Development, publication, hosting, administration and unfortunately the maintenance as well.

The downside to all this is that running a bank of servers, along with the uninterruptible power supplies and routers they are all connected to all day every uses a fair bit of electricity. The upside, and it is a big upside, is that you get to choose the features you want and if, like me, you host domain name support as well you can have things like subdomains, multi-homing and traffic redirection all on tap to turn on and off at will. There is also virtually unlimited webspace - something that a commercial webhost like Telstra charges an arm and two legs for. Despite the extra electricity usage I'm probably saving money rather than outlaying more and at the end of the day I get to set everything up the way I want it. With this in mind it is easier to tolerate things going wrong although downtime here is quite rare, something that can't be said of many websites that cost millions to run.

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Regards, Lord Watchdog.

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Web server to be replaced this week

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