Message-ID: <415AF128.2070208@sympatico.ca>
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 13:30:16 -0400
From: Robert Bernier <robert.bernier5@sympatico.ca>
Reply-To: robert.bernier5@sympatico.ca
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Cc: PostgreSQL www <pgsql-www@postgresql.org>,
	PostgreSQL advocacy <pgsql-advocacy@postgresql.org>
Subject: Re: [pgsql-advocacy] Server unreliability
References: <200409291713.i8THDLn14086@candle.pha.pa.us>
In-Reply-To: <200409291713.i8THDLn14086@candle.pha.pa.us>
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Bruce Momjian wrote:

>It is my opinion that we have to make major changes in the way we
>provide hosting for our servers.  There are several problems:
>
>o  Location of servers
>
>The location of our servers in Panama is a problem.  They are too far
>for any PostgreSQL maintainers to access.  Changing hardware or
>diagnosing problems has been too hard.  I have had like 2 days of
>downtime on my home machine in the past 12 years.  We have had more than
>2 days of downtime in the past 6 months.  My wife would not accept such
>a reliability level.
>  
>

Could somebody explain to me how panama came to be chosen. Those reasons 
may have changed since then.

>o  FreeBSD
>
>The use of FreeBSD jails can cause servers to take +8 hours to fsck on a
>server crash or power failure.  Again, I would never accept such
>problems on my home server so it is hard to fathom how a project with
>thousands of users can accept that.  Either we need to find a fix, stop
>using jails, or get another operating system, but continuing to use a
>setup with a known problem is just asking for trouble.
>  
>

I'm very comfortable using Debian and would be willing to remote admin 
using that. As for sticking with FreeBSD its the better choice if 
there's somebody up to speed with security. The best resource person I 
know is OReilly's FreeBSD columnist Dru, dlavigne6.sympatico.ca. She 
might be convinced to "advise" what to do.

>o  Archives
>
>The archives situation is a continual problem.  Again, maybe a dancing
>bear can help.  :-)
>  
>

How does the archives work i.e. what's running it? I hate to state the 
obvious but can we have an itemized list as to what's wrong with them. 
I've got my own ideas but I'd like to be on the same page as everybody else.

>Are there any proposals, no matter how radical, to correct these?
>  
>

I've got thoughts as to server hosting but I don't even want to discuss 
it until the guts of the site has been updated.


Robert