Forum Upgrades

[gingofthesouth]

As some of you may know we have been investigating upgrading the forums.
I have gone through the current host setup and we have some issues:

1. We can not install the new enough version of PHP on it to run the latest version of phpbb.
2. I can not get a stable enough ftp connection to the server to back up the 14gb of files (images etc you have uploaded into your build threads etc).
3. There is not backup! If the server was lost or the data accidentally deleted the forums would be lost.
4. Migrating the hosting to go daddy's new servers would result in some downtime and some configuration changes.
5. Migrating to a new server is impossible until we can get a stable sftp connection to the server to download the user uploaded files.
6. We can't get sftp access without enabling ssh on the current host. That can't be done with the classic host currently in place without migrating to a new go daddy server. Again some down time here.
7. The server is located on the EAST COAST of USA. Performance is not great so moving the server to the west coast or even better Australia / NZ would improve performance.

Going forward I suggest:
STAGE 1:
1. Accepting that some down time is inevitable and will have to be accepted during the migration process. I suggest next weekend that we assume that the forums could be down for the entire weekend but most likely not that long at all (just pre prepared to accept the outcome should it take all weekend to bring them online).
2. Migrate the current classic go daddy hosting to their newer servers to enable SSH (so we can sftp among other things to download a backup of all the files). This will require some reconfiguration of the databases for the forums to use a new database name which is a side effect of the migration.
3. Upgrade the PHP to latest version then migrate to the latest version of phpbb.

STAGE 2:
1. Find a host that has servers closer (WEST Coast US or closer), is VPS in nature for full OS and stack control and uses SSD's for hosting.
2. Install and configure LAMP stack + Lets's Encrypt for SSL support.
3. Install the latest backup of the forums and ensure and test deploying the forum software with the latest backups of the database and files.
4. Once we are confident the services are all working fine and it is clear exactly how to migrate the live forums over we take down access to the forums, take backups of the database and files, migrate them to the new server and get the forums up and running.
5. Change the ins for NZDatsun to point to the new server.

This will give us full control of the server for updating, creating backups / snapshots, improve performance and security.

Adam found a host with SSD VPS with good performance for a steal at the moment. I suggest we take advantage of the sale (which ends in 12 hours) and pay the annual discounted fee of $67 USD ready for stage 2. It meets the requirements of location (West Cost), performance and full OS access.

I suggest Stage 1 is attempted NEXT weekend, stage 2 the following weekend.

So, does anybody have any questions? Anything to add? Who has the authority to ok or challenge this plan?

[torqued]

First of all I want to thank you Earnest for coming to party and putting in this work.
I agree with your path and I shouldn't think having downtime for a weekend will be an issue
( Although i am not one to make these decisions )

Going forward this truly is our best option.

[chris_g1]

I've got absolutely no idea what the fuck you just said ,ginge ,but you've got my support 'cos you're a

G.C. And know what will work.

Cheers,
Chris and Bernie .

As some of you may know we have been investigating upgrading the forums.
I have gone through the current host setup and we have some issues:

1. We can not install the new enough version of PHP on it to run the latest version of phpbb.
2. I can not get a stable enough ftp connection to the server to back up the 14gb of files (images etc you have uploaded into your build threads etc).
3. There is not backup! If the server was lost or the data accidentally deleted the forums would be lost.
4. Migrating the hosting to go daddy's new servers would result in some downtime and some configuration changes.
5. Migrating to a new server is impossible until we can get a stable sftp connection to the server to download the user uploaded files.
6. We can't get sftp access without enabling ssh on the current host. That can't be done with the classic host currently in place without migrating to a new go daddy server. Again some down time here.
7. The server is located on the EAST COAST of USA. Performance is not great so moving the server to the west coast or even better Australia / NZ would improve performance.

Going forward I suggest:
STAGE 1:
1. Accepting that some down time is inevitable and will have to be accepted during the migration process. I suggest next weekend that we assume that the forums could be down for the entire weekend but most likely not that long at all (just pre prepared to accept the outcome should it take all weekend to bring them online).
2. Migrate the current classic go daddy hosting to their newer servers to enable SSH (so we can sftp among other things to download a backup of all the files). This will require some reconfiguration of the databases for the forums to use a new database name which is a side effect of the migration.
3. Upgrade the PHP to latest version then migrate to the latest version of phpbb.

STAGE 2:
1. Find a host that has servers closer (WEST Coast US or closer), is VPS in nature for full OS and stack control and uses SSD's for hosting.
2. Install and configure LAMP stack + Lets's Encrypt for SSL support.
3. Install the latest backup of the forums and ensure and test deploying the forum software with the latest backups of the database and files.
4. Once we are confident the services are all working fine and it is clear exactly how to migrate the live forums over we take down access to the forums, take backups of the database and files, migrate them to the new server and get the forums up and running.
5. Change the ins for NZDatsun to point to the new server.

This will give us full control of the server for updating, creating backups / snapshots, improve performance and security.

Adam found a host with SSD VPS with good performance for a steal at the moment. I suggest we take advantage of the sale (which ends in 12 hours) and pay the annual discounted fee of $67 USD ready for stage 2. It meets the requirements of location (West Cost), performance and full OS access.

I suggest Stage 1 is attempted NEXT weekend, stage 2 the following weekend.

So, does anybody have any questions? Anything to add? Who has the authority to ok or challenge this plan?

[85_Z31]

I'm not much of an IT person myself but i can follow that description and roughly what i means.

It looks be to be a very logical considered and well thought plan.

[Datto_610]

I say go for it!

[torqued]

Cool so yes everyone agrees.
Can Ging just do it? or does the committee need to approve?

[braasmonkey]

Cool so yes everyone agrees.
Can Ging just do it? or does the committee need to approve?

I agree and concur with previous statements etc. What we need to sort is payment, as I don't believe we've got a club credit card, unless someone NZ based is keen to bill the club and provide invoice. I know this is what Dan Lodge is doing currently.

-- Nick/Braasy

[DJZ]

We can use my credit card if required - just let me know what you need.

[braasmonkey]

We can use my credit card if required - just let me know what you need.

Excellent! Although be great to confirm/sort a club credit card for expenses like this in future. Are you able to touch base with Ernest (gingofthesouth) to discuss/action next steps?

[gingofthesouth]

I've been busy at my new job and with the fire you guys down in ChCh were having I thought best to put off the migration.
Will look to do the initial migration this weekend (+ get a backup of the server) and aim to migrate to the new hosting service the following week.