New Host

 Internet, Linux, Reviews, Ubuntu  Comments Off
Sep 052010
 

I can’t remember whether I made a blog post about my previous VPS switch to Fivebean (now part of Bluemile Inc). The service I received from Fivebean was brilliant, and I can’t fault it at all. I opened a few support requests with them during the initial period (as Fivebean), and recently (as Bluemile) – I genuinely cannot fault the replies I’ve had, which have been stunningly quick, and incredibly helpful.

However…I have (as of yesterday) migrated the site to a new VPS with Linode. I have almost the same VPS (now a Linode 512), however I was suffering from some high memory usage with the Fivebean VPS, which have inexplicably gone away with the Linode host. I don’t think this was the way the physical server was setup, it could quite easily have been Ubuntu 9.10, which is what the previous host was running. The new server is now running 10.04.1 LTS.

The main reason for me moving the service to Linode was not because of bad service from Fivebean/Bluemile, or because of the high memory usage issue. It was, in fact, because I almost always experienced lag when I was accessing the server via ssh. And when you run some things in screen via ssh (IRC being one of these), and frequently use the ssh connection to the server, you’ll soon come to realise that it becomes frustrating using it with lag all the time.
Again, this was nothing to do with the server (as far as I’m aware), it was more to do with the fact that the datacenter is in Texas, whereas I’m in the UK. The new Linode host is in a datacenter based in London, which is around 100mi away from where I live, thus, much better in terms of lag. Not to mention a convenient iOS app from Linode which allows me to check the stats of the server wherever I am, as well as reboot it, if necessary. Combined with the SSH app I also have, remote administration is remarkably easy for me.

I’d still recommend Fivebean/Bluemile to anybody who is in the market for a VPS, as they offer incredible service, however, Linode is a strong competitor, and it’s hard to promote one before the other.

 Posted by at 13:45  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

WordPress 3.0 Upgrade

 Other  6 Responses »
Jun 202010
 

So as I’m sure a great many of you are all aware of, WordPress 3.0 has been released, fixing a number of new bugs, bringing some new features…and probably bringing new bugs (it’s to be expected, let’s be honest), though I’m sure that won’t get advertised!

As I upgraded, I decided to change my theme. I quite like the new theme, it makes a change to have a bit of colour on my blog, which I quite like, though I do still have the old theme kicking around on the server, should I decide to change my mind. Another change, is the VPS on which this blog is hosted, which is now hosted by Fivebean. So far, no real issues, the minor issue I initially had was dealt with promptly and explained thoroughly, I’d definitely recommend giving Fivebean a look if you’re in the market for a VPS :)

I do have one small issue currently, which I’m not sure whether it is being caused by WordPress, PHP, Apache, or the VPS setup on Fivebean’s part, whereby directly after a reboot the RAM usage sits at around 300MB, and refreshing the WP dashboard causes usage to jump upwards by around 200MB. Now I know WordPress likes its RAM, but not that much, it certainly wasn’t an issue on the old VPS. Anyway – more news on that as it comes.

 Posted by at 20:36  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Some Scheduled Downtime

 Internet  Comments Off
Nov 262009
 

My VPS is kindly provided by a friend of mine (if you really want to know who, drop me an email, I’ll forward them on to him). And this weekend – he’s scheduled some downtime on the server – so the site will be offline for a while around 2100UTC (incase anybody happens to be trying to access it).

I just thought I’d make anybody aware – hopefully we won’t be offline for too long!

 Posted by at 22:53  Tagged with: , , ,

Machine Naming Convention

 Other  5 Responses »
Oct 152009
 

Following Laura Czajkowski’s post about machine naming conventions, I thought I’d post mine :)

Initially, my machine’s were named after characters from the Devil May Cry series of video games, though I changed that around 6 months ago, and went with something different, and with far more room for expansion….names of planets from the Star Wars Universe.

Currently, my desktop is kashyyyk, my laptop is naboo, my VPS is tatooine. I’m currently thinking of the less desirable planets to name the Windows PC’s in the house ;)

 Posted by at 23:43  Tagged with: , , , , ,

All Settled In

 Internet, Ubuntu  4 Responses »
Mar 152009
 

I’m running from my new VPS now. It has a healthy 1GB RAM (much better than the 384 I used to have!). And everything seems to be running smoothly.

I did have possibly the most unusual method of moving my blog over – in that I zipped up the directory, moved it over to the new VPS, and imported the database, same for the apache2 settings. Luckily, 98% of it went without a hitch! A few issues with virtual hosts and mod_rewrite, but that’s all.

I now have a constant IRC presence, because I’m no longer limited by the VPS provider on what I can and can’t use (gotta love having a friend with a server!). And yes – it’s running Ubuntu 8.04 Server ;)

 Posted by at 00:59  Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,

New VPS

 Internet  2 Responses »
Mar 132009
 

I know I know, I’m terrible for switching.

But anyway – I’ve got a new VPS, and I’ll have to take the site down for a while to switch the domain over to the new VPS and set everything up.

I’m doing what I can to minimise the downtime, and I don’t know whether it’ll be later today or sometime in the week. But if you see my site down in that time – don’t panic, it just means I’m mid move :)

New post when I’ve finished the move.

 Posted by at 20:34  Tagged with: , , ,

Moving Home?

 Apple, Internet, Ubuntu  4 Responses »
Mar 032009
 

I’m thinking of moving this blog over to joeb454.com

As some of you know, I recently bought a MacBook, and I realised I didn’t have a page up on my .com domain, so I decided to kill 2 birds with 1 stone, and had a play with iWeb ’09. The end result isn’t bad, and moving the blog over to my VPS provider would mean 2 things:

1) I’d actually be using my VPS for something
2) I’d have a more fine grained control over my blog, because I would be hosting it myself. Currently this blog is hosted by wordpress.com

It could mean I’d need to upgrade my VPS package, because currently I only have 384 MB RAM on there. I guess it all depends on how much MySQL decides that it wants to take, though before upgrading I’d look into tweaking some MySQL settings to see if I can reduce the amount it needs.

Ultimately I’d like to do this just because of number 1 above. But also it would teach me some more about Apache, MySQL, possibly PHP. I may also look into changing the site at some point, possibly to a Drupal installation, but we’ll have to wait and see :)

Any thought’s on whether you think this would be a worthwhile move, or any recommendations you have on tweaking various settings on the server (it runs Ubuntu 8.04) would be fantastic!

 Posted by at 18:32  Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,

Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) Pt. 2

 Other, Ubuntu  8 Responses »
Nov 052008
 

So I’ve had 8.10 installed for just under a week now, and so far, all is well :)

I have actually been making use of a tabbed Nautilus (yay!) which I didn’t think I would. I’ve also been using my VPS to torrent the desktop and alternate versions of Intrepid (32 bit versions). Stats of that at the time of writing are:

Desktop – Uploaded: 8126 MB
Alternate – Uploaded: 1680 MB

As you may have guessed – the alternate iso has only been seeding for a day or so. But this is what VPS’s are for ;) I’ll continue seeding until Sunday night (GMT).

As for what I think of Intrepid on my laptop…well…I love it (as always). The only downside to it that I can complain about is the fact that unless I play my audio at near inaudible volumes (thus defeating the object of audio ;) ). The sound distorts like a music concert recorded on a mobile phone (cell phone for the Americans reading this :) ).

Luckily – I don’t need to use the sound a lot, I’ve been playing my music from my iPhone and it’s dock, as it has a lineout on the rear of the dock :D

All in all – I think Intrepid is a decent release, though I totally understand people sticking with 8.04.1 as it’s an LTS. I mean, I was considering it, but I love upgrading!!

In other news – that isn’t worthy of it’s own post – I’m going to be going to a LUG meeting next week, it’ll be the first time I’ve ever been, so I’m a little nervous, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy it. I’ll let you know :D

 Posted by at 13:38  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Slicehost

 Internet, Linux, Ubuntu  16 Responses »
Oct 212008
 

Now, I’m sure a great many of you have at least looked into getting dedicated web hosting or VPS Servers at some point or another, I know I have! The real killer on it for me, was partly cost, and partly due to the fact that I would be limited as to what was on there, as I couldn’t install anything on the server – no company would give you root access for obvious reasons.

Well I found out that’s not quite true! Slicehost give you FULL root access. How or why may be what you’re thinking…well it’s because you actually have a virtual machine on one of their servers. What’s even better is that they’re not slow servers either!

I personally have a 256 Slice as I don’t really need a massively powerful server. I’ll let you read the other types of slices on their website, but the 256 Slice gives me:

  • 256MB RAM
  • 10GB Hard Drive Space
  • 100GB Bandwidth

I personally think it’s a brilliant idea, and it costs me $20 per month (now as I’m in the UK that works out to about ¬£11.50). Some people may have noticed that I’m on IRC 24/7 now too…screen and irssi work great for that ;) I should also point out that all the servers you can install are Linux servers, they offer plenty (I noticed Gentoo 2007.0 got updated to 2008.0 recently) – mine runs…Ubuntu of course :D

From my (albeit brief) experience, I’d highly recommend Slicehost to anybody looking for hosting of any sort next time you’re in the market for it.

 Posted by at 22:48  Tagged with: , , , , ,
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