We're on the move
Posted by Huw,
On Monday morning (BST) next week, Brickset will be moving to a new server. We've been using the current one for almost ten years, but unfortunately our hosting provider is no longer able to fully support it, so we need to move now to avoid problems in the future.
I am not anticipating that there will be any downtime, but there will be period of about one hour when any changes made to the database (e.g. to your collection/comments etc.) will be lost.
The plan is as follows:
- Add a big red banner to current site stating that the move is underway
- Backup the database
- Transfer the database to the new server and restore
- Test
- Change the CloudFlare settings to point at the new server
Overall, it should take less than an hour.
I apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.
190 likes
33 comments on this article
You got this, @Huw !
maybe add a way to set the site to readonly for maintenances like that so users cannot make changes that get lost
Good Luck Huw and the Brickset crew!
I hope Ben is assisting with all that. He knows his onions.
@masterX244 said:
"maybe add a way to set the site to readonly for maintenances like that so users cannot make changes that get lost"
Setting the database login to r/o would stop the site working at all, so for the length of time that it will be an issue it's not worth seeking a more complicated alternative solution.
The big red banner will be effective enough!
Good luck!
I forgot to get boxes and tape!! Aaargh.
Seriously, I've been engaged in my own epic Lego reorganization for the last couple months. I sympathize with Huw and wish him the best.
Hold your breath, everyone! :0
Good luck, @Huw!
The site has been struggling performance-wise for some time, so I can only conclude that this is the right course of action.
Thanks for all your efforts @Huw!
@EtudeTheBadger said:
"The site has been struggling performance-wise for some time, so I can only conclude that this is the right course of action."
Really? Google Analytics suggests it's actually 10% faster than it was this time last year despite serving pages to 28% more users.
Everything Brickset does is done right !!! Plus, it's still free, so we're not going to complain !!! :-)
"I am not anticipating that there will be any downtime,"
Famous last words...
Godspeed! Thank you for the transparent communication in advance.
@EtudeTheBadger said:
"The site has been struggling performance-wise for some time, so I can only conclude that this is the right course of action."
Speak for yourself. From my experience Brickset is one of the fastest sites I visit. And has become faster and more reliable over the years.
I for one cannot complain.
In any case, all the best @Huw for the move. You're doing an awesome job.
@EtudeTheBadger said:
"The site has been struggling performance-wise for some time, so I can only conclude that this is the right course of action."
Ive never had any problems with it, except recently but i discovered the problem is at my end, some extension messing with some sites on chrome. seems good now ive deleted it.
@Huw said:
"The big red banner will be effective enough!"
You are being rather optimistic there I reckon. Humans being human and everything... Hope it all goes smoothly!
Thank you, Hue, for your dedication and hard work (and cost) to providing Brickset to us all. It's truly an invaluable part of my family's LEGO experience and has saved us plenty of $$ and time.
Thank you for making Brickset the 1 Lego site I visit! (More than Lego.com even!)
Good luck, and thanks for the transparency as always!
I work in an IT department.. I can understand it is not an easy activity.. so good luck! And please.., come back soonest;-)
@Huw:
If I'm at work, and sometimes when I'm at home, review pages can take a long time to load, with images coming in maybe one or two per second. I wouldn't really mind, if it weren't for two things. One, you can't post (or even Like posts) until the page finishes loading (on my work network, this process can sorta stall out if I don't scroll up and down the page to trigger images to load). And more frustratingly, the top of the page is locked in place, and everything else shifts down on the screen as each image loads. This makes it impossible to even read anything until the images finish loading.
Most sites I've visited lock the page at the center of the screen, and any images that load off-screen push the top or bottom of the page away from what you're trying to read. If you can find a way to change these two things, pages that load slower will be less noticeable to readers.
@maffyd said:
" @Huw said:
"The big red banner will be effective enough!"
You are being rather optimistic there I reckon. Humans being human and everything... Hope it all goes smoothly!"
Build something idiot proof, and someone will build a better idiot...
@PurpleDave said:
" @Huw:
If I'm at work, and sometimes when I'm at home, review pages can take a long time to load, with images coming in maybe one or two per second. I wouldn't really mind, if it weren't for two things. One, you can't post (or even Like posts) until the page finishes loading (on my work network, this process can sorta stall out if I don't scroll up and down the page to trigger images to load). And more frustratingly, the top of the page is locked in place, and everything else shifts down on the screen as each image loads. This makes it impossible to even read anything until the images finish loading.
Most sites I've visited lock the page at the center of the screen, and any images that load off-screen push the top or bottom of the page away from what you're trying to read. If you can find a way to change these two things, pages that load slower will be less noticeable to readers."
I've had similar issues at times, where images don't load. Isolated to Brickset. This is on the latest version of Safari if it helps debugging. Haven't checked on a Windows machine in a while.
@MacGyver85, @PurpleDave, we are addressing that issue by reducing the size and JPG quality of review images slightly, which should shrink them to about 25% the file size that they are now.
We trust in Huw (pun intended)!
@Huw:
Is that going to be restricted to the inline images? I do like being able to zoom in to get a supersized image at times (especially on tiny mobile screens), so hopefully it's just the inline images that impact page load times.
Here's hoping everything goes like tiled surfaces, not studded ones!
@FARLANDER said:
"Everything Brickset does is done right !!! Plus, it's still free, so we're not going to complain !!! :-)"
I'm not sure if the User Suggestions page counts as complaining, but there are definitely people there who'd disagree with your first sentence, at least to some degree.
Hope it all goes smoothly, and thanks for the heads-up Huw!
Hopefully the server move will cure Hewbot's predilection for clickit sets!
I wish ye every success in moving servers.
Sorry @Huw - wishing you success.
Dear Hew. Will your moving affect on my account?
WHAT?! Again?!?!