FAQ regarding the forthcoming upgrade.

[Michael Morris]

I'll answer what questions I can regarding this weekend's upgrade to RC4. I'll start with the questions I've already been asked in chat.

1. What are we upgrading to?
We're going from VBulletin 3.0.0 beta 6 to VBulletin 3.0.0 Release Candidate 4 (or RC4). It's believed that RC4 will be the final version of 3.0.0. RC4 has several new features which will make browsing the forums quicker and easier.

2. Why will it take so long?
RC4 uses a slightly different table structure than beta 6. As a result, during the upgrade the whole database has to be retabulated. The forums database is over 2 gigabytes in size, so this will take awhile. Two days is Thomas Heretic's estimate. If the computer finishes the work early, we will of course re-open early. As a side effect though, the retabling should help fix the search feature.

3. Will the news site be affected?
In order to let the computer focus it's processor power on the retabling ALL sections of ENWorld will shut down for the weekend. This includes the news site.

4. What does RC4 do that's so special anyway?
RC4 requires far less processor time per page query than beta 6. As a result the server should speed up after the upgrade. RC4 also has a more controllable stylesets than beta 6.

5. Will all the stylesets survive?
I will carry over as many as I can rebuild, though the priority is on the ENWorld primary set, then the others. As time goes by all stylesets should come into play, and then some.


If any of you have additional questions, please ask.

 

[Gez]

Can you detail of few of these new features?

Drop-down lists to change style, like on Nutwarz, for example?

Additional vB code tags?

These are not request, I just wonder what the new features could be.

 

[Zappo]

Maybe there's a changelog somewhere on vBulletin's website.

 

[Michael Morris]

Some of the new features are as follows...

drop down style menus - you can switch stylesets without going into the user control panel

Horizontal message display - http://forums.nuklearpower.com uses this - At least one style here at ENWorld will use this system (Probably the new Stealth)

Vbulletin has a list of all features of RC4 on their website, and vbulletin.org is running RC4.

 

[Mirth]

So why not wait to do this until the new server is installed? Not criticizing, just curious.

 

[Umbran]

So why not wait to do this until the new server is installed?

Just a guess, but I'd think there are two reasons.

1)The software upgrade will improve board performance until the hardware upgrade can be done.

2)Why deal with two problems at once when you can deal with them individually?

 

[Mirth]

1)The software upgrade will improve board performance until the hardware upgrade can be done.

This one I can understand.

2)Why deal with two problems at once when you can deal with them individually?

Because then ENWorld would only be down for one extended period instead of two?

 

[Henry]

Speaking from a position of experienced in Information Technology but unfamilair with the board's server, I can tell you that when making major changes to a live environment, it's best to not bite off more than one can chew at one time. If changing both hardware and software, there is the potential for major problems that can take a system down for extended periods of time. It is frequently better to handle one major revision at a time, instead of injecting too many unknown quantities into a server upgrade.

So, the goal would be to deal with the new vbulletin and SQL changes first, then make sure the system is stable; THEN make the hardware changes. Then, if something goes wrong, you're not troubleshooting two issues at the same time.

 

[Umbran]

Because then ENWorld would only be down for one extended period instead of two?

Maybe. Or maybe it will mean EN World will be down for a pair of two day stretches instead of one six day stretch. Generally,the more variables you try to change at once, the more complicated your problem becomes, and the more likely the downtime wil really be extended. Trying to solve two problems at once usually takes longer than trying to solve one problem now and another problem later.

It's two days. Two days is not an "extended period". It's the chance to read a novel. A chance to get some fresh air. A chance to give your carpal tunnel syndrome a rest.

 

[Henry]

Maybe. Or maybe it will mean EN World will be down for a pair of two day stretches instead of one six day stretch.

Exactly. Done one of these too, have we?

At my work, we unfortunately have to deal with this frequently. In our case, schedule DICTATES we have to save major changes up into one "Jam Session" at a certain point in the year (it's a 24-7 operation). Painful, but we split it up into "what do we do now" and "what do we do in 6 months."