Bubbles in the Bathtub

SEATURTLE.ORG had enough funds in the bank this weekend for me to run out and pick up the new server.

There was a lot going on, quite the whirlwind of a day (raquetball in the morning, naps, a trip to the library, trying to get across town to the apple reseller, and a party in the evening to celebrate a snazzy award that my boss received). The unfortunate side was that I wasn't able to fully enjoy the experience, in the way that one should enjoy a purchase of this caliber. Rushed out to get the server, rushed back home, tossed it in the office and then had to go straight out to the party. I didn't even get to open the box! *&$!^(#%^*@&%

I went round and round in my own mind about what kind of server to get. On the one hand I could just get a newer Dell, install the same operating system (RedHat 8), move everything over and call it a day. On the other hand, I could go for an XServe. Less money for a comparable or better server (depending on what you are looking for of course). Lots of really nice Apple tools (streaming QuickTime!) all sitting on top of the same tools the current server has. The downside is a new operating system and file structure that I would have to figure out, and more time spent transmogrifying all of the existing files and programs to the new server.

I finally decided to go with the XServe, mainly because if there is one thing that I know better than *nix it's mac. Double bonus! By purchasing through a local reseller instead of directly from Apple I was able to get about $500 off retail. Woo-hoo! Unfortunately they didn't have all of the components on hand and have to send a few items from the warehouse (1.5 GB of RAM and 2 more hard drives) which should arrive tomorrow.

So what did we get?
An Apple XServe with dual 1.33MHz processors, 2GB of RAM, and 4x60GB hard drives. One drive for the system, one drive for all the data (websites, user files, etc) and a drive each to mirror the first two. The two drives for the system and data are important because it helps protect the system from user error that might bring the system down. The two extra drives are obvious in that everything will be immediately backed up. If one drive fails, just switch it with the mirror and put in a new mirror drive.

I was finally able to open the box on Sunday. Started the process of copying all of the files from the old server to the new server (only took about 48 hours, actually started that on Friday night from the old server to an external hard drive). I have been playing with setting up all of the services (web, ftp, mail, dns) to see how the work and what I need to do to customize them. Almost have them all figured out. I've started the long, long process of installing all of the extra modules and extensions that seaturtle.org and the other sites need to do their fancy thang. I've actually set-up one test site (a local version of seaturtle.org) and mostly have it working. Still haven't tested everything, getting Maptool functioning for one will be a prickly pear.

Once I get seaturtle.org running properly (it's by far the most complex), I'll set up the others, shut down the old server, syncronize all of the files and databases one last time and then the new server will go live! Hopefully I will have it all figured out by the end of the week and be able to take the server to the new ISP next weekend.

I see a lot of late nights this week...