March 1st, 2007 [by sysadmin]
From # zdump -v PST8PDT | grep 2007EST5EDT Sun Apr 1 06:59:59 2007 UTC = Sun Apr 1 01:59:59 2007 EST isdst=0 gmtoff=-18000EST5EDT Sun Apr 1 07:00:00 2007 UTC = Sun Apr 1 03:00:00 2007 EDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-14400EST5EDT Sun Oct 28 05:59:59 2007 UTC = Sun Oct 28 01:59:59 2007 EDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-14400EST5EDT Sun Oct 28 06:00:00 2007 UTC = Sun Oct 28 01:00:00 2007 EST isdst=0 gmtoff=-18000Note that Daylight Savings Time 2007 occurs March 11, not April 1 as displayed above. The first step will be to download the new # cd /usr/local/src# mkdir tzdata# cd tzdata# wget ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/tzdata2007c.tar.gz# tar xfvz tzdata2007c.tar.gz# zic -d /tmp/zoneinfo northamericaThis last command will compile the timezone information and place it in the directory /tmp/zoneinfo. Now we copy this information to the appropriate places:# cp -p /tmp/zoneinfo/PST8PDT /usr/share/zoneinfo/PST8PDT# cp -p /tmp/zoneinfo/America/Vancouver /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/Vancouver# cp -p /tmp/zoneinfo/PST8PDT /etc/localtimeIt is very important that /etc/localtime is updated with the new # zdump -v /etc/localtime | grep 2007/etc/localtime Sun Mar 11 09:59:59 2007 UTC = Sun Mar 11 01:59:59 2007 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800/etc/localtime Sun Mar 11 10:00:00 2007 UTC = Sun Mar 11 03:00:00 2007 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200/etc/localtime Sun Nov 4 08:59:59 2007 UTC = Sun Nov 4 01:59:59 2007 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200/etc/localtime Sun Nov 4 09:00:00 2007 UTC = Sun Nov 4 01:00:00 2007 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800The system now shows DST starting March 11.If you are a
February 28th, 2007 [by Doug Alder]
The first thing you should do when you gain access to your server (assuming you have an unmanaged server which is usually the case) is to start increasing its , operating from the principle that you can’t be too careful. Any server with any OS that is connected to the net is inherently at risk as there will be open ports. That Windows is the most targeted OS is only relevant in that you need to be a little more vigilant.Foremost on your list of actions should be the installation of good and software along with a good two-way , even if your host is providing you with a network edge hardware . An all-in-one solution is . You want a two-way firewall so you can restrict the apps that want access out from your server.There is a wealth of information and tools located at to help you as well. Here’s a start:
For an overall look at the security of your server, and pointers on where to make improvements, try the free and has a good list of resources for securing your server as well.While servers are not intended to be used as vehicles from which to launch a browser and browse the web if you are going to do that then you need to take further precautions. Both the and Browser Helper Objects are very much worth installing. You may also want to consider As always it is your responsibility to ensure you have the proper licensing for any software you install. Manufactures’ licensing agreements can change without notice.Keeping your server secure is a matter of common sense, research and above all staying on top of application and OS patching. If you simply rent or set up a server and then walk away from it administratively, you will be compromised in short order.
February 20th, 2007 [by Doug Alder]
What do you get when you combine an 5300 server with an unmetered dedicated ? One heck of a multimedia performance machine is what you get. is serious about finding affordable solutions for companies and our new plan is just the thing to get you where you are going. Multimedia requires a lot of and if you are paying by the GB it’s going to cost you a fortune. A 100Mbps connection can theoretically do 30TB of data in each direction per month. Realistically it can do about 60% to 70% of that due to packet overhead. The cheapest I’ve seen bandwidth go for is $0.25/GB and it is poor quality connections you get for that price. Good solid Tier 1 connections go for about a $1/GB. Consider those prices and what they can mean to your bottom line. If you max out a 100Mbps pipe in each direction you’re going to do somewhere between 40 and 50TB of data over the course of a month (that’s terabytes not gigabytes.) At $0.25/GB that would cost you between $10,240 and $12,800 per month.RackForce’s new plan is a mere $1000/mo per server (sorry but at these prices you can not aggregate multiple servers on one connection). Note that this is not a shared 100Mbps. It is fully dedicated throughout our network to you. No more competing with others on the same pipe for the bandwidth necessary for your data. You will always know what you have available to you.Currently this connection rate is only available on our fully dedicated 5300 Quad Core series. Got multimedia? What are you waiting for. Order Now
January 15th, 2007 [by Doug Alder]
There is a paradigm shift taking place in the way computer and server CPUs are built and in the way you, the consumer need to think about them. In the past the focus has been on ever higher speeds achieved through faster GHz processors, the higher the number the faster the processor. However Moore’s law and basic physics are finally catching up to that way of doing things. The faster you make the core the more heat it generates and the harder it becomes to disperse that heat. To make the core faster you need to pack more transistors in a smaller space which means thinner layers in the die which in turn leads to problems with power leakage, data corruption, data synchronization, and heat dissipation. The same holds true for scaling down transistors to the nanoscale level (and eventually to the atomic level where you transistors made up of just a couple of atoms (or maybe a single atom of an exotic compound)
One of the major challenges in integrated circuits that use nanoscale transistors is increase in parameter variation and leakage currents. As a result of variation and leakage, the design margins available to do predictive design is becoming harder and additionally such systems dissipate considerable power even when not switching. Adaptive and statistical design along with leakage power reduction is critical to sustain scaling of CMOS. A good treatment of these topics is covered in Leakage in Nanometer CMOS Technologies. Other scaling challenges include:
- The ability to control parasitic resistance and capacitance in transistors,
- The ability to reduce resistance and capacitance in electrical interconnects,
- The ability to maintain proper transistor electrostatics that allow the gate terminal to control the ON/OFF behavior,
- Increasing effect of line edge roughness,
- Dopant fluctuations,
- System level power delivery,
- Thermal design to effectively handle the dissipation of delivered power, and
- Solve all these challenges with ever-reducing cost of manufacturing of the overall system. (more…)
The added complexities of trying to continuously go for faster single cores must drive the cost of making those cores up exponentially.To counteract this direction, both AMD and Intel have switched their main focus to multi-core CPUs. Each processor includes two or more complete cores per physical processor, enabling server platforms to execute more tasks, software threads and/or applications simultaneously. RackForce has opted to go with Intel’s implementation of this technology as you can see from our extremely popular 5100 Series of IBM Dual Core servers.The pace of progress in multi-core chips is nothing short of phenomenal. Less than a year ago the dual cores came out, now we have quad cores about to make the scene and RackForce will be one of the very first data centers anywhere to have Intel’s new quad core CPUs and the first to have IBM’s implementation of that technology in our new 5300 series of servers coming online this week. Already Intel is working on an 80 core chip due out in 4 years.More cores means more work done in less time. A quad core processor running at 2GHz (yes that right just 2GHz) is up to 4 times faster (depending on the process) than a single core 2GHz CPU. That’s the equivalence of an 8GHz single core CPU, something that doesn’t as yet exist.That’s what RackForce is all about. Bringing you the best so you can be your best. RackForce brings you advanced technology so you can get your work done more efficiently, whether that work be website hosting, streaming media, database crunching or any other application for a server you can imagine, we are here to help make it possible for you.
January 2nd, 2007 [by Doug Alder]
Ready to Run Software Inc., the company that created the Front Page extensions for Linux/Unix has announced that as of June 2006 there will no longer be any support kits for Front Page Extensions available for Linux/Unix servers.
Please note: effective June 30, 2006 the Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions for UNIX have been End-of-Lifed. The FAQ, Discussion Groups, and other documentation have been removed as this material is the property of Microsoft.
Plesk has followed suit and notified it’s customers that
new installation of Plesk since 8.1 version will not have FPSE feature, but if you upgraded from the previous Plesk version that had FPSE installed, it will work.
The same should hold true for cPanel and all other hosting control panels on a Unix/Linux platform.As long as you currently have the extensions installed you should be OK, at least as long as you are upgrading in the same version number. Eventual architecture changes in the control panels as new stable full versions are released will likely remove this functionality completely.All is not lost though. Front Page extensions will continue to be supported in Windows servers, both VPS and dedicated. The Microsoft VS2005R2 virtual server platform is very stable, and is an excellent choice for those seeking to use Front Page. RackForce has a wide range of Windows servers, both virtual and dedicated to choose from. From the dds200-w entry level VPS to the 5100 Intel Woodcrest Core 2 duo Xeon dedicated server, we have what you need to host your Front Page sites.
December 28th, 2006 [by Doug Alder]
The advent of Intel’s new multi-core chip technology optimized for virtual technology has created whole new opportunities for the use of virtual servers. Dual core processors (see our 5100 series) operate at ~2.5 to 3 times the speed of a similar single core chip and the new Intel quad cores, which we will be offering in about three weeks time, operate at ~4.0 to 5.0 times a single core chip with the same GHz rating.Now imagine this scenario. You currently run a cluster of P4 technology era servers, let’s say six servers altogether, one web server, one mail server and one db server, with the remaining 3 being used to mirror the others through rsync and db replication. How can you lower the amount of hardware you need to care for?
VS2005R2 allows you to create a a back-end vlan between the VEs so data can flow smoothly between them without having to go out to the network and back in again. With this setup you have accomplished in one server what took six before. Now of course whether this will work for you or not will depend on just how busy those 3 servers were, the apps that were running on them and other factors.Virtualization gives you the opportunity to reduce total cost of ownership if you own your own hardware or your ongoing rental costs. It is the way of the future for servers.
December 22nd, 2006 [by Doug Alder]
The Staff of RackForce would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our customers and guests a joyous holiday season and a happy and prosperous New Year.
December 8th, 2006 [by Doug Alder]
If you are reading this you are using a computer and the Internet. It is unlikely you would be doing so if it wasn’t for the work of Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, USN (1906 to 1992). Tomorrow would be her 100th birthday and everyone who uses a computer today owes her an enormous debt of gratitude.It was Admiral Hopper’s work for the navy that led to the development of COBOL, the very first high level programming language and from which all others eventually flowed. Before COBOL everything was coded only in machine language, that’s all there was. It was her work on higher level languages which allowed the modern computer age to flourish, that allowed non-scientists and non-engineers to begin working with computers and programming them.She was also the coiner of the term “bug” to refer to a glitch in a computer system. Early on in her work her team found a moth trapped in a relay (this was before the days of transistors and silicon chips my friends) on a Mark II mainframe that had caused some problems. It was removed and pasted into a scrapbook and can be seen today in the Smithsonian.How valuable was Adm. Hopper to the US? Well when she was 40 she was asked to leave the Navy, after all the war was over and she was deemed too old. By the time she was 80, President Reagan had to go to Congress once a year to get permission for her to not have to resign from the Navy.So on December 9th each year, pause for a second and give thanks to Grace Hopper and those like her who paved the way for those of us who are here now and who benefit from their brilliance and hard work.
December 6th, 2006 [by Brian]
RackForce has just recently launched its new 5100 server which is a substantial step up again from the 5000 series. While it is still within the Intel Xeon family this is a Woodcrest processor and you can expect 30% improvements over the previous generation. In addition to processor speed improvements the front side bus is now 1066MHz with dual FSB as compared to 667MHz single FSB. The 5100 also has dual SCSI drives (RAID 0 or RAID1) to add another 20% in performance. We decided to sell this server with a minimum of a dedicated 10Mbps to maximize its performance. Price to Performance we think it is the best product we have ever launched. We look forward to hearing your thoughts.
November 10th, 2006 [by Brian]
Keeping your web site alive 24/7/365 requires a lot more than a server and an internet connection. Many people are renting severs based on price and performance specs but there is so much more to it.Sitting on the inside of an infrastructure provider (A company that owns physical data centers and manages network) you get a pretty unique understanding of what it takes to keep servers running and the web sites popping up with a quick snap that everyone likes to see. In this post I want to cover off what is involved, and points to consider, when you are choosing a partner to bet your business on.
There are many businesses out there generating $10s to $100s of thousands of dollars a month from their web site and they are sitting in a small ISP server closet with a single data connection, no UPS or any other form of redundant back-up power. If this business was a storefront you would invest substantially in protecting your asset. Choosing a good infrastructure provider is just as important. I hope this short summary on what goes into server reliability was helpful. RackForce’s sales team will be happy to answer all these questions and more.Good luck out there!
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