MacDailyNews and iPodDailyNews will be undergoing a significant server upgrade tonight to a custom-designed load-balanced dedicated web serving solution created by our preferred web host, EngineHosting.
As you probably know, the site has been sluggish lately as visits to our sites continue to grow. During recent Apple events, and even during “regular” days, the sites have been virtually inaccessible at times, so the upgrade is in order – especially with the Apple event scheduled for tomorrow at 10am PDT! (While we like to live dangerously, we also trust our web host.)
Our host, EngineHosting, has explained that an IP address change will be necessary as we move to the new setup. As some of you may know, our sites are driven by Ellis Lab’s ExpressionEngine and we highly recommend EngineHosting for dependable, secure, high-performance web hosting with excellent customer service. They are the ExpressionEngine experts.
We expect the vast majority of visitors will see the new servers within hours as the DNS information propagates. For a small minority, it could take up to a day or so for the new IP information to propagate. It will depend on your ISP. During the changeover, visitors whose ISP’s haven’t yet incorporated the new DNS information and are still hitting the old server will see a note stating:
This site is currently offline as we migrate to our new load-balanced web servers. If you are seeing this page you are still seeing the old server location, please check back again soon!
If you see the actual MacDailyNews or iPodDailyNews web site as usual, you’re all set; you’ll already be visiting the new web servers.
Thank you for your patience during this changeover and enjoy the increase in site responsiveness!
Thank you very much for visiting and supporting MacDailyNews and iPodDailyNews by spreading the word to your friends, providing reader feedback, and also for patronizing our advertisers, without whom we wouldn’t be here today.
MacDailyNews Note: As those who’ve followed our travels from server to server over the years know, MacDailyNews’ and iPodDailyNews’ current host, EngineHosting, uses servers that run Apache on Linux (Red Hat). We have also used Mac OS 9, Mac OS X and FreeBSD in the past. We probably will hit one or all of them again in the future – well, maybe not Mac OS 9. 
Notice that we have never used a Windows-based server, nor will we ever. ‘Nix variants, when offered by a robust host with reasonable rates, are all in play, with Mac OS X, of course, being our primary choice when it’s available. This site was designed on Mac OS X, the articles are written on machines running Mac OS X and we endorse Mac OS X completely for servers and many other uses. Because we use Ellis Lab’s ExpressionEngine, we feel our best hosting choice by far is EngineHosting (we’ve been with them since the pMachine days). MacDailyNews’ host server information is, as always, publicly available via Netcraft here.
More power to you!
Well, as long as you’re back up and ready by the morning (that’s what SHE said….
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Glad to hear the server is getting a second hamster.
Will there be live updates from the event tomorrow?
With all that may be happening tomorrow this may not be the best time to do a changeover.
Hopefully all goes well, looking forward to the new and improved MDN!
Great news !
Buy AAPL.
Great news !
Buy AAPL.
Great news !
Buy AAPL.
Great news !
Buy AAPL.
server update? ..how many updates do you need in such a short period?
this is good news indeed. now i imagine you’ll get to work on those other upgrades you mentioned a while back …
like, for example, user accounts … i know i’d post here more often and spend more time clicking around if the site had more community features.
Windows Server 2003 and the soon-to-be Windows Server 2008 pwn the market. It’s taking share from Apache and Linux FAST! Just like they’re taking share away from Apple on the desktop.
Where is Apple on the Netcraft statistics again? Someone help me find it:
http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2007/08/06/august_2007_web_server_survey.html
and you know it
I like MDN of course, but with all due respect, I think the number of ad servers that must be queried before a page propagates is more at fault for slow responsiveness than is the growth of visitors to the site. Don’t take this as complaint against advertising – it’s how I make a living. But there is a balance of ads-to-content that hits the sweet spot, and MDN has exceeded that ratio in my opinion. MDN used to include pictures (a picture) with there articles, even if was the re-usable flying chairs for Ballmer stories. Now there is just one more ad taking the place of a key image. And most recently, readers are forced to skip through another ad when clicking the article link. It’s a bit too much MDN. You can raise ad revenue in two ways. Run more ads (the path you’ve apparently taken), or improve the site and it’s content to encourage more traffic; at which point you can charge you advertisers more and run fewer ads. Just my 2¢.
I’m not sure how wise it is to be crowing about the high performance web service you are using with the performance of the site lately. Perhaps after the upgrade when things are running a bit smoother would be a little smarter…
Will it have the new invisible ads feature?
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Seriously, my downstream time is 15Mb/s but I find the longest time downloading with MDN is ads. Safari just hangs up waiting for ads, especially on the iPhone.
i’ve been following all this “slow server” stuff over the past month or so (longer than that, but it’s seemed to be picked up recently). and i must say, i’ve never had the page load slow…and i hit up this site several times a day…
i’m running a MBP 2.33 core 2 duo but if it’s MDN that’s slow, then comp speed should have nothing to do with it…
i just find it interesting that i’ve never had MDN load slow….
oh BTW, where’s iphonedailynews???
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I don’t mind patronizing your advertisers. But popups, popunders, obtrusive on-hover ads with sound, and javascripts that gum up the works will make me take defensive measures in proportion to the pain.
Ads? Huh?
Slow Server? Really?
I never noticed, sure glad I have my AdBlock Plus extension locked and loaded.
Ads are great… For me to poop on!!!!
hey, just got back online after you got the new servers up and running. My dog is now snappier! He rolled over and scratched his ear, hasn’t done that in days and days! Thanks MDN.
It can also transfer photos, videos, games, and calendars to the models that support them. Apple focused its development on the iPod’s unique user interface and its ease of use, rather than on technical capability. As of April 2007, the iPod had sold over 100 million units worldwide,[1] making it the best-selling digital audio player series in history.
http://www.ipodconverter.com
That ad from Ford Genuine Parts is always trying to take over my screen using Safari, I wish MDN would . . . no, stop. . . get back! . . . back I say . . . it’s taking over . . . someone call 91 . . . AAHHHHHHHHHHHH! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“Where is Apple on the Netcraft statistics again? Someone help me find it:”
The truth is that if even a rabid Apple fanboy site like MDN won’t use Apple products for web hosting, who will?
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TO MANY ADS!!!!!!
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Looks like the server upgrade worked…..
the ads come up *VERY* quickly…..