…so we moved libsdl.org from Dreamhost’s shared servers to Dreamhost
PS, which basically gives us dedicated RAM and CPU that doesn’t have to
compete with everyone else on the server.
This is actually pretty cool; I can add more physical RAM to the machine
by adjusting a slider, and the system’s Linux kernel thinks you
hotswapped some more memory chips into the “machine” without a reboot.
The problem, it turns out, is that the system can be pretty unforgiving
when you don’t have that slider adjusted high enough. For those that
have gotten occasional (and not so occasional!) 503 errors in the past
two weeks, this is what’s been going on. We’re still trying to decide
exactly how much memory is needed, since we pay by the megabyte for
Dreamhost PS.
There were one or two other migration burps (like an incompatible python
install with the Subversion web viewer), but overall, I think we’re
probably solid again now. We’re still optimizing things to use less RAM
and make sure we don’t hit the ceiling, regardless of optimization. It’s
a little funny to be sitting here, in 2008, and thinking “PHP uses 8
megabytes per instance, how can I get that down to six?”
Sorry for any inconveniences. If you have problems with any part of
libsdl.org (website, subversion, email, etc), please don’t hesistate to
contact me directly and I’ll take a look at it right away.
–ryan.