New Server Address

June 17, 2002 3:30 PM

The new server is here for now:
http://209.10.108.225/
Be a dear and please give it a go today. It's a copy of the entire server, as of this past weekend, and I don't mind if you post drivel there, as I'm just checking to see how it performs. Try out the search engine, change your sorting options, post a dozen comments. The server should be downright zippy at all times, do report back here if you find any snags or slowdowns.
posted by mathowie to MetaFilter-related at 3:30 PM (116 comments total)

Soy muy robusto!
posted by Meta Filter Server at 3:37 PM on June 17, 2002

wow, for the first time ever i was able to do a search 'since day one' and have it actually work! and fast! yay!
posted by modge at 3:46 PM on June 17, 2002

hmmm, I could still get the search engine to bonk on a "since day one" search. Maybe the timeout threshold could be extended a bit?
posted by machaus at 3:47 PM on June 17, 2002

well, I'm leaning strongly towards not allowing deep searches of comments, instead leaving the google search for that.
posted by mathowie at 3:50 PM on June 17, 2002

I don't know if this is by design, but when I went there it showed June 12 as the latest date, then when I logged in it showed June 17 as the latest.
posted by jonah at 3:53 PM on June 17, 2002

You prolly did this on purpose just for the testing environment, Matt, but don't forget to change the header link to MetaTalk---currently just pointing at "#".
posted by Sapphireblue at 3:56 PM on June 17, 2002

Yeah, the front page as presented to logged-in users is totally different, content-wise.
posted by NortonDC at 3:59 PM on June 17, 2002

Are the archived-month pages not supposed to carry over user settings for typefaces and such? I successfully changed my type sizes and it showed up on most pages, but a random archive page I clicked on is still presented in my old sizes.
posted by Sapphireblue at 4:02 PM on June 17, 2002

... oh. I guess that's cause those links still point to the old server. carry on.
posted by Sapphireblue at 4:06 PM on June 17, 2002

I don't mind if you post drivel there, as I'm just checking to see how it performs

Wow! If that's the deal, can I please be a permanent performance-checker, Matt? ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 4:07 PM on June 17, 2002

Each time I go there, it's telling me that every post in every thread is new ...
posted by feelinglistless at 4:09 PM on June 17, 2002

I pasted the entire source from one comments page into a comment on another, and the resulting preview page was all kinds of fubar, with no working buttons, etc.

Sounds serious. I mean, if we can't do that, then the cats are already walking on the keyboard.
posted by NortonDC at 4:13 PM on June 17, 2002

This may be just a general bug as opposed to a new-site-specific bug... I wouldn't know, I've never filtered by "my comments" before :) But anyway, yeah, chronological sorting in "my comments" could maybe use some work; the first two on my list were recent ones, but the third one was a certain undead two-year-old thread, that I hadn't posted to since it was new. (I had previously sorted by "recent comments", perhaps the ORDER BY was sticky?)
posted by Sapphireblue at 4:21 PM on June 17, 2002

I tried the spell checker. I don't know if it hung or not, but I sure got tired of waiting for it after a few minutes (seemed like 5 probably closer to 2). Mac x IE 5.1 FWIW.
posted by willnot at 4:24 PM on June 17, 2002

BOOOO:

Sorry

You cannot post to the front page at this time. This can be due to one of several things. You may not have been a member long enough, you may not have posted enough comments, or you may have already posted a link in the past 24 hours.
posted by NortonDC at 4:26 PM on June 17, 2002

If you really want to abuse the new box, everyone should load and comment on the thread that wouldn't die.
posted by NortonDC at 4:27 PM on June 17, 2002

yeah, michelle, the order by could be improved.
posted by mathowie at 4:28 PM on June 17, 2002

Heh, looks like you're running with it, Matt.
posted by NortonDC at 4:40 PM on June 17, 2002

It's blazing fast. Those donations were money well spent.
posted by insomnyuk at 4:51 PM on June 17, 2002

Wheeee. That was fun. Thumbs most definitely up on posting and searching.

And as for those donations... Well... Who's the only person to get mentioned on the thank you list twice?

*cough*
posted by MUD at 5:03 PM on June 17, 2002

I give it a 95, since it has a great beat and awesome lyrics. I also, for the first time ever, was able to complete a "since day one" search.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:05 PM on June 17, 2002

Very fast. Got one error message about something not existing, that's it.
posted by rushmc at 5:11 PM on June 17, 2002

I gave it a good going-over. Searched for "metafilter" since day one; was promptly delivered the list(5015 mentions!). Loaded (and posted to) the longest thread; found it at least 4-5 times faster. Zoomed about like a swift on speed. Very quick and smooth, yessiree!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 5:15 PM on June 17, 2002

It's freakin' scary over there. Damn quick too.
posted by anathema at 5:26 PM on June 17, 2002

Hey Matt, should you maybe shut off the text ads on the new server until you put it into production? With all these page views, are people's ad cycles gonna get chewed up on testing?
posted by machaus at 5:44 PM on June 17, 2002

But wouldn't the good ol' beast of burden we've been beating for so long be just as fast if it were similarly (un)loaded?

Not that I really doubt it's a faster machine (unless Matt's been reading hardware reviews from the wrong pile again...), but we have yet to see how it performs under normal conditions.
posted by whatnotever at 5:51 PM on June 17, 2002

For the first time ever, I have been able to load the entire thread that doesn't exist over my meek (28.8) dial up connection. Huzzah.
posted by drezdn at 5:54 PM on June 17, 2002

Of course, there were only 5 of us over there...what will it be like when the other 13,995 show up?
posted by rushmc at 5:58 PM on June 17, 2002

I like the content being posted on the test box better than the stuff over on the real MeFi. Am I going crazy?
posted by jkottke at 6:23 PM on June 17, 2002

WHEEEEEEEEE

*homer giggle*

matt, u rox.

the fastest search EVER.

posted by sugarfish at 6:32 PM on June 17, 2002

No, you're not crazy. You just can't think of anything fun to do.
posted by thebigpoop at 6:34 PM on June 17, 2002

Holy frijoles, Quicksdraw! Now that is zippy.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:22 PM on June 17, 2002

"Hey, kids! Drink all the liquor you want, sniff all the drugs you can, and then drive really fast all over town, but remember you have to stop at midnight...come on, genie, get back in the bottle. Unspread that butter. Don't track any of that silliness back on our clean rugs here."
posted by ColdChef at 7:38 PM on June 17, 2002

By which, what I mean to say is: once you've given someone a taste of absolute freedom, they're gonna wanna ripsnort all over here, too.

Kids, remember your manners.
posted by ColdChef at 8:15 PM on June 17, 2002

This is the bestest thing that's ever happened. Thanks, Dad.
posted by yhbc at 8:17 PM on June 17, 2002

I already wanted to ripsnort. Does this mean it's okay now?
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 8:30 PM on June 17, 2002

two things :
This post :
"Now this is something I just don't get. Getting worked up because some people are posting longer entries? Can someone explain this to me? So Ben Brown mentioned that he prefers longer posts, and a few people responded to the idea favorably. But then there's backlash to this idea? Can someone please explain to me how someone writing long posts is somehow wrong? Is anyone holding a gun to your head making you read anything on the web? If Ben Brown's posts are too long, don't read them. If Jack's or Brig's are too long, don't read them. If I'm wrong here, please set me straight. I must not have read the weblog rulebook that states posts should be short and snarky, if anyone has a hyperlink to said rule book, please post that too.
posted by mathowie at 8:45 PM PST (1595 comments total)"

stopped allowing comments at 1595, what's up with that?

second, i'm still concerned that if i say stupid stuff that it will be added on to my user profile. will that happen?

super fly

posted by sadie01221975 at 8:34 PM on June 17, 2002

please disregard question #2, ty :)
posted by sadie01221975 at 8:40 PM on June 17, 2002

As for question #1, the "posted by mathowie at 8:45 PM PST (1595 comments total)" line is bogus (and therefore static), a la this stuff.
posted by yhbc at 8:43 PM on June 17, 2002

dang, they got me. ty yhbc
posted by sadie01221975 at 9:07 PM on June 17, 2002

well the one thing that has always sort of bugged me is that when you search for a user, you have to do it "since day one" in order for that search to not come up empty. how about a default setting for user search to just be "search for this user" or some such?
posted by jessamyn at 9:14 PM on June 17, 2002

yeah, that search is flakey jessamyn, and should be rethought.
posted by mathowie at 9:58 PM on June 17, 2002

The spell checker seems to be a little wiggy. When doing a spell check, it just kinda hung there, with a little line chart graphic jauntily bouncing about...but after about 3 minutes it hadn't done anything else. Thus, I closed it.

Tried it on a couple of different threads, always the same response...line bar graph thingy, and nothing else.

Other than that...the site is blindingly fast and OMG have the threads and comments been cracking me up. Y'all are some funny, funny people when you set your minds to it. :)
posted by dejah420 at 10:16 PM on June 17, 2002

The sideblog is gone in IE 5.1.4/OS X. Here's a screenshot.
posted by evanizer at 10:38 PM on June 17, 2002

Evanizer, you probably already know this so I apologize in advance, but did you click on the little chevrons next to the XML icon? When they're facing inward, the sidebar is hidden/collapsed.
posted by nikzhowz at 10:43 PM on June 17, 2002

"There were 15529 results for "as" in the following threads"

Searching for "as" times out, as it probably should with 15,000+ results, but it's a good test I suppose.
Maybe not allowing a search for 2 or 3 letter words would be a good idea? I can't imagine anyone needs to really search for "as", and if someone does it's gotta be a helluva load on the server.
posted by Blake at 5:17 AM on June 18, 2002

Probably a dumb question: why, when you're not logged in, does it only show content through June 12? Not that I ever spend any time at MeFi not logged in...
posted by ook at 5:24 AM on June 18, 2002

ook: I think it's because it's OUR secret playround...
posted by goneill at 6:04 AM on June 18, 2002

nikzhowz: Believe it or not, I actually didn't know that the chevrons collapsed the sideblog! D'oh! Thanks for the tip... But when I click them to uncollapse it, IE hangs, requiring a force quit (the 'spinning beachball of death' pops up, OS X's nasty way of saying everything's FUBAR). Strange. Anyone else on X have this problem or is it just me?
posted by evanizer at 6:27 AM on June 18, 2002

maybe you have too many bookmarks, ev. I'm just sayin'...
posted by ColdChef at 7:12 AM on June 18, 2002

Another weirdness: Occasionally when I refresh the front page or click "Home", I have to log back in. This never happens in the 'real' Metafilter. Could be a cookie-writing problem?
posted by evanizer at 7:13 AM on June 18, 2002

I could never get the spell checker to work.


posted by MaddCutty at 8:12 AM on June 18, 2002

It isn't nearly as much fun going wild when Matt asks us to go wild. ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 8:31 AM on June 18, 2002

Coming to an infomercial near you:

"HOT HOT HOT Action! Drunk and on the loose!
It's Miguel's Gone Wild!
HOT WET FLASHING Action!"
posted by ColdChef at 8:48 AM on June 18, 2002

*sniffles, whimpers*

*clings to IMG tag*

We knew it couldn't be forever. But what we had was ... beautiful. I'll never forget.

*stifles a sob*

posted by Sapphireblue at 9:55 AM on June 18, 2002

Actually if you want to make the search box [which looks really wierd on IE5 for Mac OS9 by the way] be snappier you may want to see if you can get it to not search for stop words, unless they're part of a bound phrase [i.e. in quotes]. This way the server's not using up valuable brainpower searching for the "the" in Felix the Cat [ or "an" as in Blake's example] and can concern itself with loftier matters.
posted by jessamyn at 10:35 AM on June 18, 2002

Michelle, I dropped all the images from the front page because I was trying to isolate slow loading to the server itself, and not rely on other servers to slow down the page.
posted by mathowie at 11:44 AM on June 18, 2002

I know MeFi uses SQL Server---if you use SQL Server's full-text indexing, and query using CONTAINS, noise words are automagically excluded, no valuable administrative brainpower required :) Perhaps the new server is brawny enough to make this an option; updates of the full-text catalog can be pretty processor-intensive. I haven't played with this idea yet, but maybe it might not be so bad if you do continual updating of the catalog in the background, as opposed to scheduled periodic updates---in my experience there are undocumented problems with the scheduled FTS tasks forgetting to run, for whatever reason, anyway, which just makes it all that more resource-intensive to bring it back up to date.

---also, you'd be *amazed* how well MeFi handles in Netscape 3.0 on the Mac. I couldn't see the sidebar or figure out a way to get to it, but other than that, I was really impressed at how well the site performed in such a crusty old browser. In some ways it's even better, because there's no CSS for someone to mess up by forgetting to close a pseudotag or whatnot.

Matt: no problem, of course, it's all dummy data that will get dumped anyway I presume... I was just toooo proud of myself and my cute little graphic, that's all :D
posted by Sapphireblue at 11:51 AM on June 18, 2002

*sniff* You cut out my linkless post, too.
posted by Marquis at 12:12 PM on June 18, 2002

Matt, I have been playing around with the new server pretty hard (not as much as rushmc, though) and I haven't made it burp considerably. It's wicked fast.
posted by ColdChef at 12:47 PM on June 18, 2002

It does seem very fast, but it is worth noting that there should be at least *some* difference between the server load hosting SillyFilter and the server load hosting MetaFilter. I am sure the upgrade will well worth it, though.
posted by adampsyche at 12:53 PM on June 18, 2002

Who knew all those years of training in concentrated goofing-off and high-pressure server-stressing would one day be harnessed for a good purpose. *sniff* I'm proud to have played my own small part. If there's one thing we have all learned from this server test, it is this - never send a man to do a monkey's job. Send a whole lot of monkeys instead.
posted by yhbc at 12:56 PM on June 18, 2002

Am I wrong in assuming, Matt, that the new server will mean some well-deserved time off for Skippy? Or will he, in fact, have to be double quick on his heels to keep up with the extra pressure? If it's the latter, I don't want to know. ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 12:57 PM on June 18, 2002

Skippy's looking like yesterday's news. Out with the old, in with the...

...you know, the new server needs a name.
posted by ColdChef at 1:06 PM on June 18, 2002

Zippy.
posted by yhbc at 1:09 PM on June 18, 2002

I propose the Banana Jr. 6000.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:10 PM on June 18, 2002

I suggest that we name it something feminine.
posted by ColdChef at 1:15 PM on June 18, 2002

How about "Billy Maulana"?
posted by Marquis at 1:15 PM on June 18, 2002

not that I'm suggesting that because it "serves you" it's a woman. nevermind. I withdraw my suggestion.
posted by ColdChef at 1:16 PM on June 18, 2002

Matt, I have been playing around with the new server pretty hard (not as much as rushmc, though)

Hey, I heard that the five most active testers would get upgraded to the lowest available MeFi user numbers!
posted by rushmc at 1:17 PM on June 18, 2002

Do I count for that? I changed my preferences to load a thousand days worth of front page posts. I thought it'd be enough to get me all the way to thread 19, only made it to 168. It took over six minutes to load on a dsl and I was unable to close the tab in galeon. Actually had to restart my linux machine. Last time I do that..
posted by Apoch at 1:27 PM on June 18, 2002

Name suggestions:

Hellcat 2002
The Peacemaker
Ippy (from I/P)
The Colander
Post II
The Symbiote
Datachurn
Grendel Cluster
Serverino
TARLIC (Talk and Relative Links in Cyberspace machine)
The Spewmeister
Patriot
The Adjudicator
posted by rushmc at 1:27 PM on June 18, 2002

The front page MetaFilter is now behaving like SillyFilter: it shows fewer posts and comments if I'm not logged in.

Before I log-in, the newest post is mine from this morning. Once I log-in, I can see 4 newer posts. Also, the comments total changes.
posted by timeistight at 1:40 PM on June 18, 2002

Wait, so are all the rules suspended for the test site? Even self-links?
posted by Sinner at 2:02 PM on June 18, 2002

oh, man. You're so late to the party.
posted by ColdChef at 2:11 PM on June 18, 2002

I know, I know.

Please enjoy the funny.
posted by Sinner at 2:13 PM on June 18, 2002

Or not. Thread deleted. Apologies if I violated a rule of some sort, Matt.
posted by Sinner at 2:15 PM on June 18, 2002

*sniff, sniff*
posted by ColdChef at 2:21 PM on June 18, 2002

I don't think it was you, Sinner.
posted by yhbc at 2:23 PM on June 18, 2002

No! It was you, Sinner. I hope you're happy!
posted by ColdChef at 2:25 PM on June 18, 2002

I'm so tempted to just post the damn link here now. Oh well.
posted by Sinner at 2:26 PM on June 18, 2002

yhbc: I don't think it was you, Sinner.
ColdChef: No! It was you, Sinner. I hope you're happy!

My nick here is Sinner, for [deity]'s sake. Chances are, it was my fault.
posted by Sinner at 2:28 PM on June 18, 2002

heh, I had two windows open, one to metafilter, one to the test box, and forgot which was which when I deleted the self-link.

Then I remembered that Jason told me the box was compromised today (I forgot one SQL hotfix on the new box), so I shut it down. It seems to work, I'll migrate the sites over to it late this week and then start working on cutting down the database server load (like refining the search, locking old threads, etc).
posted by mathowie at 3:29 PM on June 18, 2002

Hey, are we gonna use the old server as Baby Metafilter (BabyFilter?)
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 3:42 PM on June 18, 2002

I just got this:

------------------------------
Error Occurred While Processing Request
Error Diagnostic Information
ODBC Error Code = 08001 (Unable to connect to data source)

[Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][Shared Memory]SQL Server does not exist or access denied.

The error occurred while processing an element with a general identifier of (CFQUERY), occupying document position (230:1) to (230:42).

Date/Time: 06/18/02 16:06:42
Browser: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; T312461; .NET CLR 1.0.3705)
Remote Address: 192.195.64.103
HTTP Referrer: http://metatalk.metafilter.com/
---------------

I'm using IE 6 on WinXP.



posted by Argyle at 4:08 PM on June 18, 2002

I just got this: [etc etc]

Yeah, me too. I think it is related to someone who 0wn uS d00dz. I think mathowie is trying to apply hotfixes and restart the server.
posted by plemeljr at 4:13 PM on June 18, 2002

Noooooooooo! All me byootiffle postings!!
posted by rushmc at 4:40 PM on June 18, 2002

Marquis: "How about "Billy Maulana"?

That was the funniest thing I've heard since forever. I'm secretly (well, not anymore) making a list of things that you've all said that have made me laugh out loud. That one is right up there with dong_resin's comment in the communion wafer thread:

"That Jesus always goes straight to my hips"

which pops into my head at odd times and makes me laugh out loud, which is really embarrassing when I'm shopping or driving, and I'm by myself.
posted by iconomy at 6:01 PM on June 18, 2002

I'm flattered, iconomy; it didn't feel nearly as funny when I was preparing my material two weeks ago, but hey, live audiences surprise you.
posted by Marquis at 6:21 PM on June 18, 2002

Don't worry, folks. I made a huge web archive of SillyFilter this morning, so it is saved for all posterity. Trouble is, how do you put a Microsoft WAFF file on the web so other people can see it? Is there a way to unpack it?
posted by evanizer at 7:27 PM on June 18, 2002

OH GOD NO!!! Remember that problem I mentioned earlier in the thread? Well, when I saved SillyFilter, it saved the NON LOGGED IN VERSION!!! It's gone forever!

*sob*

I still have a couple screenshots...

*sniffle*
posted by evanizer at 7:30 PM on June 18, 2002

oh, the humanity!
posted by rushmc at 7:32 PM on June 18, 2002

(whew...wipes brow in relief)
posted by rushmc at 7:32 PM on June 18, 2002

There, there Ev. As long as we hold SiFi dear, it's never really gone. It's in each of our hearts.
posted by ColdChef at 7:32 PM on June 18, 2002

Except for Sinner who killed it and probably has no heart.
posted by ColdChef at 7:33 PM on June 18, 2002

www.sillyfilter.com is availible....
posted by eyeballkid at 7:35 PM on June 18, 2002

Maybe we weren't meant for Paradise. Maybe we were meant to fight our way through. Struggle. Claw our way up, scratch for every inch of the way. Maybe we can't stroll to the music of the lutes. We must march to the sound of drums.


posted by vacapinta at 7:47 PM on June 18, 2002

ColdChef: Except for Sinner who killed it and probably has no heart.
ColdChef: There, there Ev. As long as we hold SiFi dear, it's never really gone. It's in each of our hearts.

First one is - sadly - true on both counts. Of course, to the second statement, I can't both have no heart and have SiFi in my heart. Logically inconsistent. That's probably my fault, too (anyone else read Palahniuk's "Choke"?)...

Sigh.
posted by Sinner at 8:28 PM on June 18, 2002

This is usually about when somebody says:

"Oh my God, we finally did it ... You maniacs! You blew it up! Augh... Damn you... damn you all to hell!"
posted by yhbc at 8:32 PM on June 18, 2002

Me: First one is - sadly - true on both counts. Of course, to the second statement, I can't both have no heart and have SiFi in my heart. Logically inconsistent.

Weird. How is it that I read the first statement second and the second statement first? It's not logically inconsistent if it's an exception.

As usual, my fault. This is getting depressing.
posted by Sinner at 8:37 PM on June 18, 2002

at 8:55 PM PST: Connection refused.

Hopefully it's just a bit of tinkering going on, and not a heinous crash.
posted by majick at 8:56 PM on June 18, 2002

If people save the bits of SiFi in their cache, including comments, evanizer can coordinate its reconstruction should he want or need it to achieve happiness again.

Tell your browser to work offline, follow the new server link above, save and repeat for each of the comments you had visited.
posted by southisup at 10:54 PM on June 18, 2002

Skippy's looking like yesterday's news.

No, it was ColdChef's fault for violating an old taboo and dissing Skippy who must have just upped and left, arms flailing and bawling his little heart out.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 1:17 AM on June 19, 2002

Oh my God, we finally did it ... You maniacs! You blew it up! Augh... Damn you... damn you all to hell!
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 9:15 AM on June 19, 2002

Let me throw an idea out there:

We should keep SiFi around. June 18th was, in all honesty, one of the best front pages I've seen in a long time. We had I/P, homosexuality, education (sort of), politics, and soccer. And nothing turned ugly, blew up, etc. The 17th was pretty good, too. Here's one vote for keeping the thing (or something similar) around, to let us vent.
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 9:25 AM on June 19, 2002

Thank you for finally saying it, YAN, I was patiently waiting for someone to do so. ; )

It did turn a little ugly at the very end, though, which was why I originally thought Matt pulled it, and why I (obliquely) tried to reassure Sinner that he (or she, I suppose) didn't do anything wrong.
posted by yhbc at 9:34 AM on June 19, 2002

It was wonderful and silly, but best left as a dream, I think. The comments were vapid (and gloriously so), the posts inconsistent (consistently, gloriously so), but I think SiFi functions best as a fond memory. Like fireworks.
posted by Marquis at 9:44 AM on June 19, 2002

"One time, on SiFi..."

I'll remember you always, SiFi. Always.
posted by gummi at 10:43 AM on June 19, 2002

hey guys, i finally made it and i brought the--oh, it's over? well, damn.
posted by witchstone at 11:46 AM on June 19, 2002

*click*

*click*

*click*

dammit.
posted by rushmc at 8:31 AM on June 21, 2002

Let it go, rush. Let it go. It's gone to a better place.
posted by ColdChef at 8:41 AM on June 21, 2002

Oh, okay...sigh.

...

What's the URL?
posted by rushmc at 9:52 AM on June 21, 2002

~
posted by ColdChef at 9:53 AM on June 21, 2002

* sniff *
And I hope you are all having fun over there while I'm at work.
* sigh *
posted by yhbc at 10:26 AM on June 21, 2002

Ahem. Stav set this up specifically for you, yhbc. Does it work?
posted by ColdChef at 11:17 AM on June 21, 2002

No dice. It's either our filter blocking the ".net" domain, in which case I'll need to find a legitimate .net site that I "need" to access, or there's something about 9622's template that makes the filter think its full of viruses, in which case I'll have to think of a more clever way to approach our network admin. Thanks for trying, though, guys.
posted by yhbc at 11:43 AM on June 21, 2002