Is Physics Forums Moving to a New Server Tomorrow? Stay Updated Here!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Greg Bernhardt
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Physics Forums is transitioning to a new server due to an imminent disk drive failure, with minimal expected downtime of about two hours. The migration aims to enhance performance without any data loss. The announcement of PF Award winners will be postponed until Thursday to accommodate the server move. Users are encouraged to stay updated on any unexpected issues via the forum's Facebook page. The community expresses a mix of humor and concern regarding the transition, particularly about preserving popular threads.
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Facing imminent disk drive failure, we've decided to take this opportunity and move to an entirely new server. No data will be lost and there should be little downtime (~2h) over the new couple days. Mostly due to any DNS propagation. It will be a faster server ready to serve you PF discussions at great speeds to quench your thirst! Due to this development we'll likely wait to announce PF Award winners till Thursday! Thanks for your understanding!

If we do encounter any unexpected hiccups we'll post updates at
http://www.facebook.com/physicsforums
 
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Physics news on Phys.org
Someone back up the kitten thread!
 
Evo said:
Someone back up the kitten thread!

BURN IT! DROWN IT! THROW IT INTO THE DEPTHS OF HELL WHERE IT SHALL NEVER EMERGE AGAIN!

Oh alright, you can have some catnip and a goldfish.
*Pets the kitty*
 
Drakkith said:
BURN IT! DROWN IT! THROW IT INTO THE DEPTHS OF HELL WHERE IT SHALL NEVER EMERGE AGAIN!

Oh alright, you can have some catnip and a goldfish.
*Pets the kitty*
Unhappy Cat!

http://i.imgur.com/NzECN.png
 
Evo said:
Someone back up the kitten thread!

WHA!--NOOO!--KITTEH--*faints*
 
Greg Bernhardt said:
No data will be lost and there should be little downtime (~2h) over the new couple days. s[/url]


:rolleyes:
The world ending's sooner than 21 December!
 
Greg Bernhardt said:
No data will be lost and there should be little downtime (~2h) over the new couple days.

HAH! I'll believe it when I see it!

:)

Zz.
 
ZapperZ said:
HAH! I'll believe it when I see it!

:)

Zz.

Gotta be positive! :D
 
  • #10
Do we get a countdown to the "physics cliff"?
 
  • #11
jtbell said:
Do we get a countdown to the "physics cliff"?

Nope, we're driving blind... :D
 
  • #12
Greg Bernhardt said:
Nope, we're driving blind... :D
:eek:
 
  • #13
Greg Bernhardt said:
Nope, we're driving blind... :D

Evo, put ALL the kittehs in the car. We are going to need something to cushion us in the crash.
 
  • #15
Greg Bernhardt said:
In a few minutes I'll be closing the forum.

Farewell all! It has been a good run! I shall see you all on the other side!
 
  • #16
Well folks, I hate to say it but I screwed up. The data transfer went a bit haywire and I'm going to have to do it over again. I'll be moving the database last so I can turn them back on for a bit. I'll expect to close them again in a few hours. Sorry!
 
  • #17
Drakkith said:
BURN IT! DROWN IT! THROW IT INTO THE DEPTHS OF HELL WHERE IT SHALL NEVER EMERGE AGAIN!

Meanie !
 
  • #18
Thank you Greg! The most important thread on the forum was saved...The Kitten thread.
 
  • #19
Evo said:
Thank you Greg! The most important thread on the forum was saved...The Kitten thread.

Where's the "Evil Monsters That Prey On Kittens" thread? Oh no...NOOO! It's GOOONE!
 
  • #20
Drakkith said:
Where's the "Evil Monsters That Prey On Kittens" thread? Oh no...NOOO! It's GOOONE!

Double meanie !
 
  • #21
Drakkith said:
Where's the "Evil Monsters That Prey On Kittens" thread? Oh no...NOOO! It's GOOONE!

Hah! I saved that one on my hard drive. What's it worth to ya'?
 
  • #22
berkeman said:
Hah! I saved that one on my hard drive. What's it worth to ya'?

Two kittens and a baby otter.
 
  • #23
Drakkith said:
Two kittens and a baby otter.

Deal. :devil:

(I sure hope Evo and micromass don't see this thread...)
 
  • #24
berkeman said:
Deal. :devil:

(I sure hope Evo and micromass don't see this thread...)
:cry: I want two kittens and a baby otter! :cry:
 
  • #25
Evo said:
:cry: I want two kittens and a baby otter! :cry:

You can have them. They just won't be...well...we won't say anymore on that subject.
 
  • #27
Yay, we're back! I've been having withdrawal symptoms all morning and afternoon.
 
  • #28
PF rises like a phoenix, reborn, better than ever. Ready to flex its wings and take flight!
 
  • #29
Thank you Greg for the hard work you made to improve PF! Now we could see how terrible boring the World were without the little world PF. Keep it alive forever!

ehild
 
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  • #30
A fantastic new server, Greg!
In particular, the processing of "b"'s and "f"'s seems particularly improved!
:smile:
 
  • #31
arildno said:
In particular, the processing of "b"'s and "f"'s seems particularly improved!
:smile:

Haha that's what we ordered! New high technology! However that comes at the price of slower "Q"'s and "V"'s, but who uses those letters!?
 
  • #32
Now if you could speed up my DSL, PF would be FTL. :-p
 
  • #33
dlgoff said:
Now if you could speed up my DSL, PF would be FTL. :-p
I need that, too. My "dsl" barely let's me watch YouTube videos or the advertisements that precede them.
 
  • #34
turbo said:
I need that, too. My "dsl" barely let's me watch YouTube videos or the advertisements that precede them.
Actually, I have no complaint. But more is always better.

I was curious about my DSL speed, so I installed Speed Test and Diagnostics (Firefox extension for Windows).

attachment.php?attachmentid=53946&stc=1&d=1355530575.jpg
 

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  • #36
Michael Redei said:
... copyright 2007 and not compatible with the newest Firefox 17.0.1 for Windows :frown:

Why not just use speedtest.net?
 
  • #37
Michael Redei said:
... copyright 2007 and not compatible with the newest Firefox 17.0.1 for Windows :frown:

:cry: So I'm not seeing PF screaming fast?

Dang. I should have believed the reviews.

Uninstalling :mad:
 
  • #38
PAllen said:
Why not just use speedtest.net?
Because they showed a slower speed? :biggrin:
 
  • #39
PAllen said:
Why not just use speedtest.net?

How does that work? I need to download some utilities first? Do I end up paying for them, or are they free forever?

speedtest.net said:
Includes over 30 powerful tools... try it for FREE!
 
  • #40
berkeman said:
How does that work? I need to download some utilities first? Do I end up paying for them, or are they free forever?

free online service. just click start :)
 
  • #41
Greg Bernhardt said:
free online service. just click start :)

Actually, just click "Begin Test", ignore everything else on the site.
 
  • #42
PAllen said:
Why not just use speedtest.net?

Thanks for the hint. I've tried that, and apparently my download speed is ~5.7MB/s; less than half of what's said to be average worldwide, but still nearly 6 times as much as what dlgoff's machine reported. :biggrin:
 
  • #43
Michael Redei said:
Thanks for the hint. I've tried that, and apparently my download speed is ~5.7MB/s; less than half of what's said to be average worldwide, but still nearly 6 times as much as what dlgoff's machine reported. :biggrin:
:confused:...:cry:...:frown:
 
  • #45
Evo said:
Try this http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?flash=1

For me, none of the servers are well located. I use 3 different speed test sites (that agree well), while this one is very much an outlier - disagrees way low compared to all the others. I've tested actual large file download times and upload times, and the other sites agree with direct measurement.
 
  • #47
PAllen said:
Evo said:
Try this http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?flash=1
For me, none of the servers are well located. I use 3 different speed test sites (that agree well), while this one is very much an outlier - disagrees way low compared to all the others. I've tested actual large file download times and upload times, and the other sites agree with direct measurement.

I found the servers rather untrustworthy. Two were offline and one reported my download speed to be over 60MB/s. (Six-TY! I tested it three times.) Most gave me figures between 2.4 and 2.9, which seems more likely.
 
  • #48
PAllen said:
For me, none of the servers are well located. I use 3 different speed test sites (that agree well), while this one is very much an outlier - disagrees way low compared to all the others. I've tested actual large file download times and upload times, and the other sites agree with direct measurement.
Would depend on if you want to know how you connect to nearby sites or sites you might actually access. Are all of the sites you access located near the test sites?

Also, different carriers have different routes. It's always good to know what routes your carrier uses. It can make a huge difference. As well as their peering arrangements. Less to do with the speed you might get from a local server, but will give a truer picture of speeds you get farther away.

I just did a test with dsl reports and speedtest.net

speedtest.net says I have a download speed of 20.36 mbps, I don't have that kind of connection.

dslreports shows me at 3.5 mbps download, that I can believe

A couple of weeks ago I had my cable company check my speeds because of some troubles I was having and they said I was averaging ~2.5mbps download, which is within my expected speeds.

No speed test will be exact as it depends on your carrier and the carrier of the speed test and the reasons I cited above.
 
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  • #49
Evo said:
Would depend on if you want to know how you connect to nearby sites or sites you might actually access. Are all of the sites you access located near the test sites?

Also, different carriers have different routes. It's always good to know what routes your carrier uses. It can make a huge difference. As well as their peering arrangements. Less to do with the speed you might get from a local server, but will give a truer picture of speeds you get farther away.

I just did a test with dsl reports and speedtest.net

speedtest.net says I have a download speed of 20.36 mbps, I don't have that kind of connection.

dslreports shows me at 3.5 mbps download, that I can believe

A couple of weeks ago I had my cable company check my speeds because of some troubles I was having and they said I was averaging ~2.5mbps download, which is within my expected speeds.

No speed test will be exact as it depends on your carrier and the carrier of the speed test and the reasons I cited above.

Interesting. For me, speedtest.net matches what I measure if I e.g. download a large install file from a commercial site, while dslreports was 1/3 the speed I actually get for typical file downloads.
 
  • #50
PAllen said:
Interesting. For me, speedtest.net matches what I measure if I e.g. download a large install file from a commercial site, while dslreports was 1/3 the speed I actually get for typical file downloads.
If the speed test server and places you download from are on the same network, they will be the fastest. Even if they are different backbones, if the routing and peering are optimal, you will see better speeds. That could explains the results. It's not really so much about your "connection" speed. This is why website optimizations such as edge router caching can speed up your download times when viewing a website.

In other words, the speeds you see from speedtest.net may be correct if it more realistically reflects the connections you get.

I have no idea why it was so off the charts for me.
 
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