ADMIN: New server is being added

This is the first in a series of updates regarding the mailing list server improvements which are being done at fatcity.com. Please read these updates as they will contain valuable information about the status of your mailing lists.

• Update #1 ==

A new main server (hardware) is in place and is currently being used for all activity at fatcity.com. I've also completed the addition of a faster Internet connection (bandwidth). I've modified the ListGuru program (software) to make better use of this faster connection, although more work remains on the software side. That trio of hardware, bandwidth and software is a fairly big part of this upgrade process, so having it done is good news.

You should now start seeing a noticible improvement in turn-around time for messages. This isn't the final state, which I expect to get even faster yet, but it SHOULD be an improvement for just about everybody. There were some glitches this morning which means that some of the early morning traffic (around 6-8am PT) might still be getting out, but I'm expecting good things today.

Here are the latest caveats:

1. Mailing list digests *ARE* being archived, but they aren't available via ListGuru right now. I can make them available on the web via FTP for anyone who is interested -- please contact me.
2. You may notice some periods of quick response, and other periods of status-quo response. This will be the result of me changing things around on the server, doing testing, switching out software, etc. Please be patient with these speed changes. I'm hoping to get everything settled down by next Monday.
3. There may be some delays related to me responding to requests for help, getting mail through to certain addresses at fatcity.com, etc. If you're having a problem and don't get resolution quick enough, please contact me here.
4. Please refrain from posting messages to the list merely to test out the new response time. I know there will be a lot of people who will want to do this, but it really makes it difficult for me to gauge load changes on the server if I don't have a fairly typical flow of traffic. 30 zillion "just testing!" messages won't help me, I promise. ;-)

Sometime tomorrow I'll make this mailing list available on a web page for you to view. You won't be able to DO anything with that page, but you will be able to see the most recent traffic. Note that the vast majority of the turn-around delays are from us SENDING messages out, not receiving them, so if you go to that page, it should be pretty current. I'll also have a summary page showing just headers (basically the same as a ListGuru ALLMAIL command).

Reminaing work centers around two efforts: 1) converting the rest of ListGuru to use a sendmail server, and 2) optimizing the server for fastest throughput on message traffic. I'll keep y'all informed as to progress.

If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know. Received on Mon Aug 28 2000 - 11:43:24 CDT