So, I have the opportunity to upgrade the forum software to the latest and greatest version. The new version does have some pretty cool features but there are some negatives to upgrading and I wanted to see what you all thought. Obviously, this forum is in place based off what the member base would like to see. So this is why its being asked first versus just doing it.

If we upgrade:

Pro's
- Much faster forum
- Much better search feature with quicker results
- Social Networking tools built in
- Better Search Engine Optimization
- Designed for very large boards with over 10K members, and 500K posts which we fit under


Con's
- We lose ALL skins
- We lose the Arcade
- We lose the Staff Application feature
- We lose the Garage
- We lose the shoutbox (I can upgrade the shoutbox but it will work a little different than the one we have now)
- We lose the Tutorials
- We lose the Video feature
- We lose the Timeslip feature
- We lose the Download feature
- We lose all of the little mods like the member mood, member bar, youtube widget, ebay widget, etc...


The reason why we would lose so much is because all of these forum features are built for the version we're on now. The new version wont support any of them, and they would either be broken or not show up at all.

So lets hear your thoughts and what you guys want to do. Also, if we upgrade, the forum will be down for a few hours while the upgrade takes place.

 

What I use, and would like better:
Speed
Better searching

What I don't care about and don't ever use:
Skins
Arcade
Staff Apps
Garage
Shoutbox
Tutorials
Videos
Timeslips
Moods

I see no loss upgrading, and if it improves search, then yay!

 

I should also mention that the new version looks 100% completely different than what you're used to...not sure if that would be a pro or con, but there will be a learning curve to figure out where everything is and how to do stuff on the forum.

 

Upgrade. But, Do so with a different method then usual. Utilize a Virtual Machine. A virtual machine would allow portability of the site to any host. You can run virtualbox on any computer and load up any virtual appliance you wish. This would allow for easy backups and maintenance of the website. If the host goes down, then you simply copy the virtual appliance off of the host and run it on another host until the primary server comes back up.

This means if the server goes down, you grab the hard disk (or boot from Ubuntu on a thumbdrive), copy the data, put it on another host, then you can point the DNS directly at your home computer and load the server up there.

A virtual machine also allow for full control of the environment. Say windows needs to be upgraded and it breaks the machine, well, traditionally, you start all over. With a virtual machine, you go back and hit the restore button, presto, back to the way things were before.

You can copy a virtual machine to another computer and perform upgrades on it, when they don't work, you simply hit revert and try again a different way. You can run the exact same copy of Hyundai Aftermarket on 2 computers, then use the DNS server to point at which computer you want to be the server and do whatever maintenance is required.

The server can run linux (which is noted for it's stability and network ability) and if the Windows virtual machine has a problem, you simply make it full screen and work on it, or remote desktop in from another location. This allows the stability of Linux with the interoperability of windows and the added advantage of not allowing buggy windows to interface directly with the computer hardware on the server. Also, virtual machine hardware has been debugged completely by both Microsoft and the VM software designers.

Virtual machines are like physical machines, but don't have the limitations of hardware or the perminantness of changes to the operating system. They can be transported, copied, or reverted. They are hardware independant, and any operating system can host a number of different operating system virtual machine. Also, Microsoft allows you to use your key in a virtual machine.

 

Not doing a virtual machine. I have a separate copy of the forum where I do all the testing and where new features are built in. The new version would get uploaded to production, overwrite everything and we'll have a fresh clean forum with no "aftermarket" features built in. I'll then do the same on the test forum and start building in features. Once I have made sure the new features work perfectly, they will be moved to production here.

 

I'll volunteer to install add-ons. The core database will be preserved and it will run faster. The extra stuff is all that will be lost and it can be rebuilt.

Just let me know, I have a windows virtual machine which I can use for testing, do crazy stuff, crash, revert(takes <1 minute including reboot time) , and repeat. I'd be happy to sit down one weekend and make things work.

 

nothin wrong with the current one

why ruin a good thing

 

Because in general, the site runs about 10X slower then it should and the search takes about 2-10 seconds when it should take .1 second. I mean, really, have you looked at the times at the bottom of the site? It should be reading around .02. It's reading .2 during the slow periods and up to 20 seconds during server loads. On top of that there's other lag associated with loading each page as well that could be cured. The database on the site runs very slow because it is not equipped to handle the size of the website. The upgrade will cure the lag.


Visionz, I really think if you got familiar with VMs you would see the advantage to using virtual appliances rather then physical hardware. I understand that you may not be familiar with them right now so they may not seem like the way to go to you right now. Just keep the VM thing in the back of your head and talk to some server managers to see what they have to say. A Virtual Appliance is only 2 or 3 files which contains a computer. VMs are easier to backup, copy and restore then any physical machine because you are backing up, copying and restoring not only the software but the hardware too. They really are the way to go when you need a reliable, dependable solution that has to maintain consistency.

Also, you should unbias the first post. All of that stuff can be rebuilt Visionz.

 

DTN....it can be rebuilt but its much more difficult because the .php code that runs the site has been completely changed on the new version. So it would take quit a while to get everything to work again with the new version. I really dont think you have a good understanding of how the software works or whats involved with the .php code. Let alone the different ways multiple files all "talk" to each other to make each part of the forum to run.

I'll keep the poll up for a couple of weeks and see what people think. If the general census is to upgrade, then it will be done. Otherwise if people like the way things are, they will remain the same.

 

No, I understand how it works. I work with databases all the time.

MySQL provides the database for the website, which all the information is stored.
There are several layers of software. including most likely PHP, perl and maybe python.
on top of it all, probly an apache server running the ins and outs.

mythicalLibrarian is my pet project designed to work with databases http://code.google.com/p/mythicallibrarian/updates/list In fact, right now I'm working on redesigning the direct mySQL access to go through abstracted python bindings.

In my other pet project, OBD2ner, I wrote an internal database.

I manage 3 apache servers at my house.

I don't know PHP very well, but I am learning python and I am an expert on bash. In this newest version you can use Linux as the core rather then using Windows. Linux will allow for so much flexability it's rediculous. You can practially say screw the PHP I'm doing what I want, in whatever language I want. Of course PHP would be the most effective, but Python and Bash would allow for easy upgrades to services provided by the site.

When it comes down to it, all the extra bullshit is just bullshit. The core of the site is MYSQL>PHP>Apache>End user. Strip out everything from PHP up for a day, replace it, and slam it back down, add addons. This is the way it was intended.

This upgrade will allow for faster searching and better data access. Would you really choose fashion before functionality? Come on... Sure, the site is a work of art.... It's not the mona-lisa though. This site is not timeless. It's got a few good themes and some addons. The rest is all information in the database and it's a matter of picking a good add-on to replace the old one and use the data in the databse

Do you have a management tool for the database? Do you host your own site? If so, you should look at obtaining a database manger for the MySQL. I use TOra. It's pretty neat because it allows me to copy and modify entire tables with the GUI.


Here is my demo website on the new version if you'd like to get a feel for it. They won't let me download IPB, only host on a cloud.
http://a17110.ipsdemo.ipslink.com