Author Topic: withgusto Networks - Status Updates and Discussion (Read 58801 times)

alberthrocks · « **Reply #15 on:** September 15, 2013, 12:35:01 pm »

Server Update - 09/15/2013
Importance: IMPORTANT Author: albert Date: Sun, Sept 15 9:29:07 AM PDT 2013 Blog post: http://withg.org/blog/index.php?post=1379262547 State of the (with)gusto ========================= Wow... it’s been three great years, a milestone passed on September 14th, 2013! Thank you everyone for supporting and making the withgusto Network one of the best community servers out there! The withgusto Network started out as a simple VPS, and eventually evolved into a full blown “network”... if you consider 3 disjointed servers a network, that is! However, I’ve been supporting the network for pretty much the whole time the network is active. People have offered donations, but I’ve pretty much refused them. (shmibs, that Amazon GC is still active - you can still redeem it for yourself!) Now that I’m heading for college, I can’t afford to throw my money around anymore. I’m dedicating my time to learning quite a bit in college, so no paying jobs for me. (My jobs allowed me to pay for the servers - so yeah, no magical thousand dollar bank account here!) Did you catch my hint? Yup, there’s a big change: From now on, servers on the withgusto Network will be financially supported by the community. I can no longer support the network, and will no longer do so. Right now, the server bill looks like this:

withg.org: $15.00/month ($180/year)
backup.withg.org: $25.00/year or around $2.10/month
backup2.withg.org: $7.00/month ($84/year)
withg.org backup service @ Rackspace/JungleDisk: $12.00/month ($144/year)

Total: $36.10/month ($433/year) Yikes! So much money down the drain, right? That’s why there’s another big change: withgusto Networks will be consolidating services to reduce costs and make donations to the server somewhat more easy and affordable. ...now before everyone goes crazy, what this means is that we’re just reducing our spending amount. It does NOT mean that we’ll be shutting down our network. The only way the network goes down is if there’s no more interest in it, and/or no one is paying for it at all. Budget consolidation is by no means cutting (but it can be involved, too). For us, it means finding better providers that can offer a MUCH lower price for their services. It can also mean combining servers into one and removing some unneeded services. Whatever it is, it means that there should be no losses from making the bill smaller. My current proposition for consolidation:

Removing the withg.org backup service. The $25/year server can do that, and probably even better.
Switching providers for withg.org. This is a little tricky because the provider I’m looking at uses a different VPS virtualization software, which is slightly more restricted... but we’ll see. (We use a KVM VPS at the moment, and the new cheaper one uses OpenVZ.)
If the “price is right”, we may even consider merging backup2.withg.org into withg.org, reducing costs significantly.
Some “fundraising” on our part. To be determined.

The proposition is just a proposition - consolidation will ONLY happen after the withgusto community has a thorough discussion about what to do. (Other people might have better ideas, too!) After all of that, where do I stand? I will continue to be the main admin for withgusto Networks, toddling around with the server during the school year, but I will be looking for more admins in the coming weeks to help support withgusto. No worries - current admins will still be admins, but they are far more busier with their lives, and new admins would help support withgusto when they’re busy! And, not to forget: I will no longer offer financial support to withgusto. At most, if there are problems with securing donations, I will sponsor 1-2 months of funds in a year. But if the monthly donation pool doesn’t meet the goal, then withgusto will be shut down.** No exceptions at all - even if $10,000*** worth of donations came in, it still has to go down. (So yes, prompt monthly donations are a MUST!) I really can’t afford to spend any more money on this... sorry. No worries - given the strength of the withgusto community, I’m certain that we’ll have enough money to keep it running from now on! ** It will be shut down after an extra month of uptime to allow for backups. *** If you really did donate that much, then that’s another story. My point is that if you just donated the monthly amount after the bills are due, then I have no way of supporting it further. OK, now to the much more merrier news... Coming Soon - Server Updates! ============================== Yes, server updates! The withgusto server has been gathering some dust, so we’ll be making a few cool updates soon! #0 - Donation Website ---------------------- While we are still on the topic of money... there will be two donation pools set up. One donation pool is to help pay for the servers each month, and another is for the poor college kid (me)! (The former should take more priority over the latter!) Come next month, I will be in $5000+ in debt, and $5000+ more the next months as well. This donation pool is NOT - I repeat, NOT - necessary for the withgusto Network to stay alive. However, if you are feeling generous, put something in the tip jar every month! Feeling guilty for doing something bad? Relieve your conscience by donating to me! Feeling bored? Throw numbers and numbers into my tip jar number counting script! In all seriousness, please do consider donations to the server. Then, if you have some extra cash, please consider helping me out! #1 - Debian 7 x64 ------------------ Our servers are running an updated Debian 6 x86. Debian 7 has been out for some time, and some remaining bugs have been knocked out. Furthermore, the repositories that provide withgusto with updated server software have enabled support for Debian 7. Therefore, we are pretty much ready to upgrade! The really nice feature about Debian 7? Its support for multiarch. Did you notice that we mentioned x64 instead of x86? That’s because with multiarch, we can install and run both the “native” x64 software and the x86 software at the same time! We are preparing for our upgrade soon, so stay tuned! In the meantime, gear up your backuping-fu, because we’re getting ready to move! #2 - withgusto Central Authentication System (CAS) --------------------------------------------------- Have access to withg.org, but don’t have access to the RAM-loaded backup2.withg.org? That’s blasphemy. Unfortunately, pretty much everybody suffers from “withg.org-only-access” syndrome! (Except for the admins, of course...) How can we fix that? The answer? A central authentication system, using LDAP and Kerberos. In the future, once Debian 7 is installed, we will be migrating to a central authentication system. You will still login via SSH/SFTP/FTP to gain access to the server, but this time, you will only have to worry about one login and password on the main server: withg.org. Once you have an account on withg.org, you can access backup.withg.org and backup2.withg.org immediately with the same credentials. Isn’t that cool? This also means that for current (and future) services, one-login-for-all might be implemented for it. #3 - Website and Services Redesign ----------------------------------- Sometime soon, we hope to release a new version of our withgusto website! At the same time, we will be revamping our services (like mail/webmail, ZNC, and others) to make it stable and user-friendly to use! We’re also looking into a web control panel (ISPConfig or Webmin) for making management easier for both admins and users alike. Stay tuned! THE END... ERR, BEGINNING OF MORE THINGS TO COME! ================================================== Yeah, we have financial problems, but we’re still looking forward! We think that the withgusto community will continue to thrive for years to come, and we’re planning in anticipation for that! Because we’re not just a VPS network. We’re not just a shell service with benefits. We’re a network and community withgusto! OK, that was cheesy. Blargh. Thanks again for an awesome 3 years, and here’s to more years of reliable service to come!

alberthrocks · « **Reply #16 on:** September 16, 2013, 07:06:48 pm »

Just to clarify on the above announcement (sorry for the double-posting bump!):

1) The service will not shut down at all as long as there are people who are willing to donate, and more importantly, people who still want to be a part of the withgusto community and network!
2) Besides donations, we also are consolidating and doing some fundraising as well. To clarify even more, the monthly bill probably won't cost $40 (maybe $20 or even less!), and fundraising will also offset the monthly cost!

In a nutshell, the sky is not falling, so don't rush to move away!

EDIT: Donations can now be made here. Our monthly goal is $40 until consolidation occurs, so please help us out!

alberthrocks · « **Reply #17 on:** October 30, 2013, 12:16:38 am »

Server Update - 10/30/2013
Importance: IMPORTANT Author: albert Date: Tues, Oct 30 9:09:57 PM PDT 2013 Blog post: http://withg.org/blog/index.php?post=1383106197 withgusto Update: IMPORTANT survey, new blog, donations, and SSL fun! ====================================================================== A little more than one month later, we have plenty of updates to announce! IMPORTANT MANDATORY SURVEY --------------------------- As we mentionned before, we will be transitioning into a donation-supported service. This also means that we will do whatever it takes to try and slim down our hosting bill! That said, withgusto Networks is not just a service, it is a community. We want to make sure that the new servers we move to are perfect for you! Therefore, we ask that ALL withgusto users take this survey. We created this survey to examine how people are using withgusto, and to determine what would be an appropriate VPS provider (and VPS!) for us to migrate to. This survey will help us figure out the best option for withgusto in the future, so *PLEASE* spend some time to fill this survey out. Unlike most surveys you might see out there, this survey is pretty important because it *WILL impact you directly*! This includes what stuff you are running on the servers, what you are connecting to, etc. If you don't take the survey, your input won't be heard, and we probably won't be moving anytime soon after this. So, PLEASE, PLEASE TAKE THE SURVEY! It will only take you around 15-20 minutes. You can find the survey here: http://withg.org/survey/ This survey will close on Friday, November 15th, at 11:59:59 PM. Make sure to take this survey before then! New blog! ---------- Yup, we have a new blog! OK, it's just a webpage with all of our server announcements, but it's pretty cool! (Thanks to Sorunome for making that for us!) You can check out our "blog" here: http://withg.org/blog/ Donations are open! -------------------- We are finally ready to release to the public our donations page! It's a pretty nice donations page, so go check it out... and donate! For now, we only support Paypal. If you want to donate via another method, whether it is by Amazon Payments, or even snail mailing cash/check, contact the admin, Albert! You can find our donations page here: http://withg.org/donate/ SSL fixed! ----------- Our SSL certificate quietly expired at the beginning of October. (If you're curious, it's October 6th to be exact.) We use the same cert on ZNC and NGINX, as they were on the same domain. NGINX went unnoticed (unless you were using webmail or some secure site on withg.org), but ZNC didn't... and people could no longer connect. Sorry about that! If your client refused to connect, it means that it strongly enforces the SSL certificate's validity. If you have such a client, simply disable SSL checking and/or set an option to still connect, even if the certificate is invalid. (NOTE: If you are super-paranoid, this is NOT an option you should change.) If you are using XChat/Hexchat, open your Network List. (You can do so by accessing the menu XChat > Network List... or Hexchat > Network List...) Select the ZNC "network" that you created, and click Edit. Then check the box that says "Accept invalid SSL certificate". Once checked, make sure the "Use SSL for all the servers on this network" box is still checked, and then close the window. You're done! From now on, you can continue to connect to ZNC, even with a bad SSL certificate! (Hopefully you won't have to deal with that again.) Long story short, basically I forgot that the emails reminding me to renew the SSL certificate were actually important. For that, I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience I may have caused you. I'll make sure that will not happen again! And yes, it's fixed! Both NGINX and ZNC have the new certificate. If you are still seeing warnings, clear your cache and try again. That's it! ----------- Again, please make sure to take the survey, and check out our new blog and donation website!

alberthrocks · « **Reply #18 on:** November 17, 2013, 01:34:10 pm »

Hey everyone!

It looks like everyone took the survey... but just to make sure... we will keep it up until midnight EDT tonight!

You can find the survey here:
http://withg.org/survey/

Please ask everyone you know that uses withg to take the survey!
We want to make sure that the decision we make in the future supports everyone!

alberthrocks · « **Reply #19 on:** January 13, 2014, 02:25:12 pm »

Server Update - 1/13/2014
Importance: IMPORTANT Author: albert Date: Mon, Jan 13 11:25:00 AM PDT 2014 Blog post: http://withg.org/blog/index.php?post=1389641100 withgusto Update: We're moving! ====================================================================== Welcome to the new year! You've heard about it, and now it's happening! As part of our consolidation plan, we are shutting down a few servers and moving to a cheaper, better server! Moving, moving, moving! ------------------------ As part of the moving process, we would really appeciate if you could do the following: * If you have any big files on the server, please download them to your computer so that we can pack and move lightly to our new server. As always, make sure to md5sum/sha1sum the file on your computer BEFORE deleting it from the server! * If you have any running processes that are necessary, download their files now and be ready to move them to the new server. * Also, if you have any running processes, make sure to start them now and keep them running with an "always-on" script. (Usually, a while loop running the program will do, WITH a time delay. If you don't have a time delay, the program will use up all of the CPU, backups will slow down, and your program WILL BE TERMINATED! So don't do it!) Our moving process will proceed in five stages: * System freeze and backup (1/15/2014-1/18/2014) - We will "freeze" the system and prevent any changes from being made to the system files. You can still login and do things on the server at this time, but you will NOT be able to install anything on the server. We will then proceed to back up only the system files. Within the same time period, once the backups are complete, we will transfer and restore them to the new server, starting on 1/17/2014. * Data freeze and backup (1/17/2014-1/20/2014) - We will "freeze" the entire server (including user files) and prevent any changes from being made to the user directories. You will be LOCKED OUT during this phase, and will be denied login access. At this phase, your shell will be replaced with a status page on the backup and moving of the server(s). If absolutely necessary, we may make exemptions on a case by case basis, but keep in mind that changes you make will NOT be backed up. Like the previous stage, files are backed up and being restored to the new server at the same time. * Verification day (1/20/2014) - This is the day when the server will be "unlocked". You will be allowed to login again on this day. Check your data on this day to make sure everything has arrived safely. If you have any issues on this day, please let the admin know ASAP. After this day, the server will be DELETED! Alternatively, if it is just a minor problem with some files, simply copy the files from this server to the new server. * Old VPS/Backup Service Termination (1/21/2014) backup2.withg.org, the old withg.org server (this one), and the backup service, JungleDisk, will be terminated on this day. (JungleDisk made daily backups of the main server... but costed too much! Backups will be done in the future in a decentralized environment... and as always, it is up to the user to backup as well.) * New VPS restoration complete (1/22/2014) withg.org will now point to the new server, and services should be restored. Keep in mind that backup2.withg.org and withg.org (this server) will be TERMINATED. All necessary preparations should be done by 1/17/2014 (or earlier). The freeze will prevent you from logging into either server, so be ready! Servers backup2.withg.org and withg.org will be moved to the new server. Data should be intact, but you should make sure to check on verification day, 1/20/2014! A final SQL backup will be made right before verification day. We will perform this last due to the ongoing nature of SQL. A graphical timetable can be found here: Services --------- Web services will continue to run for the duration of the move, and should not be affected. DNS will be changed immediately after the move has been completed for the system and the web files, so DNS propogation hopefully won't be an issue. If you are having problems accessing withg, we will have a new site pointing to the new server, v2.withg.org. SFTP will still continue to run during the data freeze period, just not SSH. You may continue to make your own backups until the servers are terminated. ZNC will have a brief interruption on verification day, so make sure to start any additional IRC clients on your side if you need to keep ops. Any background processes will be terminated when the servers terminate, so make sure you start them up ASAP! New Server Funding ------------------- This is important! Starting today, all funding for the server will be 100% user-donated. The owner will no longer provide any funding due to financial constraints. Our new provider has these plans: * $4/month: 1 vCPU, 512 MB RAM, 15 GB SSD, 1 TB bandwidth * $8/month: 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 25 GB SSD, 2 TB bandwidth * $16/month: 2 vCPUs, 2 GB RAM, 50 GB SDD, 3 TB bandwidth * $24/month: 2 vCPUs, 3 GB RAM, 75 GB SSD, 3 TB bandwidth * $32/month: 4 vCPUs, 8 GB RAM, 200 GB SSD, 5 TB bandwidth Why would I show you these plans? Simple - the donations that are received each month will determine which server specs withg will have. Starting today until the new VPS is purchased (1/17/2014), donations for this month are being accepted. If the community wants a super speedy server for $32/month, pitch in $32/month! If the community wants a decent (but not too crazy) server, pitch in $24/month! A lesser server, $16/month, and so on... According to the survey, our ideal server is at $16-24/month range, and if everyone pitches in, we'll have extra money left over for the next month! (We apparently have a LOT of willing donors... BUT don't take that as an excuse to not donate! If you don't donate, chances are that everyone else won't donate, either...) Note that all the donations MUST be received by 1/17/2014. Even if you donate a day after 1/17/2014, funds will be allocated for next month, not the current month! This provider is also pretty great in terms of flexibilty! If money is short, but we have enough for a lower plan, I can easily downgrade to a lower plan and things will work out perfectly! (Not sure about downtime, but from what I've heard it is minimal.) I truly apologize for sounding harsh (like an angry landlord, no less!), but I really need to cut back on spending, as money is short for both me and my family. That said, please donate! http://withg.org/donate/ On a more positive note, the plans are MUCH cheaper, and you guys get really fast SSD storage, so that's something to look forward to! The Future (again)! -------------------- There are some exciting announcements that will be made in the future, so stay tuned! Thanks again for flying withgusto! ✈ We'll have a brief stopover on an island, and we'll be transferring to a new flight, withgusto v2! Your captain (aka admin), Albert H (alberthrocks)

alberthrocks · « **Reply #20 on:** January 17, 2014, 03:23:05 am »

Server Update - 01/17/2014
Importance: IMPORTANT Author: albert Date: Fri, Jan 17th, 2014 at 12:18:59 AM PST Blog post: http://withg.org/blog/index.php?post=1389946739 withgusto Migration Update #1 ============================== We have reached Day 5 of migration! Writing status updates are painful (especially since we want to be on schedule), but I didn't want to have too much panic, so I'll be "open and transparent" (BUZZWORD) about what's going on behind the scenes, and some plans ahead! Current Status --------------- I'm writing the backup software in-house. Why? There's no software out there that does the backup that I'd like to do - a very fine, intensive but safe backup. (I can't do partitioning because that would be a little... weird to copy over to another server. And it's really big, too. And it can only result in a clumsy mess... at least for VPSes!) Due to some unforeseen bugs within Python-APT (Debian's Python interface to their APT packaging system), development of the tool is taking a bit longer than usual. Development time was slated for 1-2 days, but it has gotten a significant delay. However, the backup itself shouldn't take too long as long as the number of packages are low (<1500), internet is fast and speedy, and there's enough disk space. I just finished writing the workaround for that bug today, so normal development should resume tomorrow, and we could be seeing system backup start as early as tomorrow evening! I won't go into too much details - we'll save the fun technical stuff for after the migration! Nevertheless, for those who are curious, here's a link to the workaround code: https://gist.github.com/alberthrocks/4bef423e8ecc4df357ce Moving Forward --------------- The Global Data Freeze will still be occuring today, Friday, January 17th, 2014. As for time, the freeze will occur at 11:59:59 PM on that day, so there should be plenty of time to move and sort things out! Again, we ask that if you have any large data files, please download them to your computer for backup and delete them from the server! We switched to CloudFlare for faster DNS propogation, so hopefully when the time comes, "flipping the switch" will not take too long! We do not anticipate any web service outages at this time. ZNC service will be switched over sometime next Tuesday. We'll provide another update as to what time. To prepare, make sure you have a backup IRC client/user ready if you need to keep ops! OmniNET IRC on this server (irp.irc.omnimaga.org) will be going down soon. (No worries, it WILL come back, but only after the new server is up and ready!) If you are on OmniNET, just switch to irc.omnimaga.org. If you are already there, you should be fine. Note that NickServ and ChanServ data will be wiped on the new servers that are supporting OmniNET, so you will have to reregister. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Eeems · « **Reply #21 on:** January 17, 2014, 10:02:08 am »

A note on the Omninet thing. All chanserv and nickserv data was wiped already across all servers.

Eeems · « **Reply #22 on:** January 22, 2014, 11:35:32 am »

Server Update - 01/17/2014
Importance: IMPORTANT Author: albert Date: Wed, January 22nd, 2014 at 8:27:46 AM PST Blog post: http://www.withg.org/blog/index.php?post=1390408066 withgusto Migration Update #2 ============================== We have reached Day 10 of migration! Unfortunately, as you might have noticed from a lack of downtime or notice, the migration process has a major delay... apologies! Some people thought we have moved already because there were no more messages. The news you get on startup only shows ONCE. To show the news again, run: system-msg --all (Our admin Eeems will implement a --last soon, no worries!) We will ALWAYS announce whether we have moved or not, as well as any schedule changes or planned downtimes. Do NOT assume that we have done anything unless you see it here! That said... Current Status --------------- As I mentionned before, the backup software is written in-house. We write our own because the type of backup software we want has never been made before! The backup software is a comprehensive Debian packages and system backup that figures out what packages are installed, what files inside the installed packages have changed, and if there are any new files added to the system, either via pip or some external software installation. And, most importantly, we want to do this kind of backup efficiently. Why backup the entire HDD (or all the system files) if you can just backup the stuff that "changed"? It's easier to restore to a different OS using package lists and a changed files archive than a tarball of files that you can't really use! More importantly, the data from the package list allows for package restoration, meaning that fewer things break on the user side of things! This also allows the next step of the backup to be much easier - just backup the data and not the system files! But all of this only works if there's hard work put into coding, debugging, and making sure it really works. (The debugging part is particularly painful...) The backup software is almost done - it's running a backup now, and will complete within an hour or two. If it crashes, I'll fix the bug, and then the backup starts again... which means another hour or two. (I'm going to implement state saving after this, but not before due to the risk of potentially screwing up the backup.) If it succeeds, I'll download the backup and verify that it did what it needed to do successfully. If everything is good, we'll run it again on backup2, and repeat. Once we're done, the global data freeze will begin. We will announce this when it happens. Moving Forward --------------- We can't give you a definite timeline, but we're hoping to be done with backups by the end of this week. We still need to write a restore script (which is harder than you might think), but no worries - we'll try to be faster! Again, sorry for the delays, and thanks again for flying withgusto! -alberthrocks

alberthrocks · « **Reply #23 on:** January 28, 2014, 10:44:52 pm »

The global data freeze is now in effect - you will no longer be able to log in. You can still SFTP data back and forth, but we recommend not changing any data on the server, as it could mess up the data backup and result in your data being lost! (After the data backup is finished, we will NOT copy changes you make to the new server, even when unlocked! It is now YOUR responsibility to make a backup of any changes!)

If you REALLY need access to the server, let me know and I'll unlock your account.

In the mean time, you can login to your account and see this live status screen!

Juju · « **Reply #24 on:** January 28, 2014, 11:21:36 pm »

Oooh I like that screen ^_^

Eeems · « **Reply #25 on:** January 29, 2014, 12:25:49 am »

Quote from: alberthrocks on January 28, 2014, 10:44:52 pm

The global data freeze is now in effect - you will no longer be able to log in. You can still SFTP data back and forth, but we recommend not changing any data on the server, as it could mess up the data backup and result in your data being lost! (After the data backup is finished, we will NOT copy changes you make to the new server, even when unlocked! It is now YOUR responsibility to make a backup of any changes!)

If you REALLY need access to the server, let me know and I'll unlock your account.

In the mean time, you can login to your account and see this live status screen!

I'm going to need access to the IRC server at some point, so that when Juju moves it we can move the config file.

cooliojazz · « **Reply #26 on:** January 29, 2014, 02:13:24 am »

Did you or albert ever move it, or is the IRCD still in my home dir? Cause I just left it there when I set it up oh so long ago and last time I checked it was still there

Probably not the best place to store that I feel though, especially since I don't exactly manage it anymore.

Sorunome · « **Reply #27 on:** January 29, 2014, 05:59:40 am »

cooliojazz posted

Anyways, that is indeed a nice screen

Hoping the migration will pass by easily

Eeems · « **Reply #28 on:** January 29, 2014, 09:45:09 am »

Quote from: cooliojazz on January 29, 2014, 02:13:24 am

Did you or albert ever move it, or is the IRCD still in my home dir? Cause I just left it there when I set it up oh so long ago and last time I checked it was still there Probably not the best place to store that I feel though, especially since I don't exactly manage it anymore.

/home/ircd now. I've revamped omninet. If you connect you'll notice you no longer have oper and there are a lot more servers ;P

alberthrocks · « **Reply #29 on:** February 24, 2014, 10:23:03 pm »

TL;DR: really sorry for delays, backup+migration will get done, I promise!

Hey everyone! Let's see, where do I start....

I'll start by saying that I'm a horrible server/VPS/network admin, who promised you guys a migration to a faster server and gave... nothing. And on top of that, this admin locked everyone out of their accounts!

For that, I'm really really really really really really really really really really really really really really

Spoiler For :

really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really + (really * ∞)

...sorry for the inconvenience. And even with that, 1000 + ∞ (yes, you can count them, 1000 is possible on the internet) really sorries don't make up much for it. But I promise you that I'll get to the migration.... eventually.

If you depend on withgusto for services other than ZNC and require login, please let me know and I will be happy to unlock your account. This includes any special requests, like software installations, server setup, etc.

As for reasons/excuses why it hasn't gone anywhere:

The data backup software is 100% custom written. It's written by hand for many reasons, tl;dr (1) partition backup wouldn't really be fun on a VPS; (2) want to preserve current setup as much as possible while still moving to a new server AND newer OS; (3) much more efficient while ensuring that it's a good, solid, safe backup.
The package backup portion is 100% successful! However... the data backup portion (which I had mistakenly thought would be easy peasy to write) failed miserably. (tl;dr it forgot to backup files in most of the directories - i.e. it backed up /dir/subdir, but not /dir/file, even if it backed up /dir/subdir/file or /file)
As a result, the thought of it failing and the fact that it needed a really serious rewrite significantly killed motivation. Not sure if this happens to you or not, but project development failure can really ruin your motivation.
Motivation levels have picked up (still low ish but more like low-medium area), but I just had a midterm last week, and will have 2 more this week and another one next week. Sorry, college > all - gotta make sure I do well on these exams!
Developers are notoriously bad for underestimating development time - myself included.

No worries - I'm personally motivated to make withgusto the best for its users (thank you for your support)! And there's monetary motivation, too - I just paid around $23 worth of server fees, and have another $15 invoice due 3/1. Eeeek!

It'll get done... eventually. I don't want to give any timelines, but I can promise you it WILL get done. Eventually.

To prove that, I'll give you guys the current status on the move. It'll get updated on the IRC EFNet/OmniNET channel status of #IRP, maybe here if I get time/motivation.

Current Status:

Status last changed: 3/2/14 (this is NOT the post update time, just the time I last worked on the migration!)
Time spent: ~6 hours.
ETA: ∞ - ~6 hours.
Next step: Small scale local testing.
TODO: Large scale local testing, code integration, large scale production testing, deployment, and completion of backup.
Further TODO: Copy data backup to new server, re-do system backup, write system backup restorer, write data backup restorer, run data backup restorer, run system backup restorer, start ZNC on new server, update DNS, do "user migration period", move ZNC config, terminate old server
Completed tasks:
Data program - Completely rewrote logic for data backup. Incomplete. [2/12]
Data program - Continued to rewrite logic for data backup. Fixed some bugs here and there, still needs another look. [2/17]
Data program - Finalized logic for data backup. Still untested, but it should be ready for integration. [2/19]
Data program - Wrote verification code to ensure that complete backups are made. [3/1-3/2]

Apologies again for the delays!

EDIT #1: Minor edits here and there. Please take note of the stuff in bold!

Author Topic: withgusto Networks - Status Updates and Discussion (Read 58801 times)

alberthrocks

Re: withgusto Networks - Status Updates and Discussion

alberthrocks

Re: withgusto Networks - Status Updates and Discussion

alberthrocks

Re: withgusto Networks - Status Updates and Discussion

alberthrocks

Re: withgusto Networks - Status Updates and Discussion

alberthrocks

Re: withgusto Networks - Status Updates and Discussion

alberthrocks

Re: withgusto Networks - Status Updates and Discussion

Eeems

Re: withgusto Networks - Status Updates and Discussion

Eeems

Re: withgusto Networks - Status Updates and Discussion

alberthrocks

Re: withgusto Networks - Status Updates and Discussion

Juju

Re: withgusto Networks - Status Updates and Discussion

Eeems

Re: withgusto Networks - Status Updates and Discussion

cooliojazz

Re: withgusto Networks - Status Updates and Discussion

Sorunome

Re: withgusto Networks - Status Updates and Discussion

Eeems

Re: withgusto Networks - Status Updates and Discussion

alberthrocks

Re: withgusto Networks - Status Updates and Discussion