After having spent several weeks to compare the available servers on the market, we payed attention to SUN servers containing AMD processor Opteron M2. These machines are more expensive than the Dell or SUpermicro brands which trust the host market ( about 90 % of the machines at redBus) but these servers are extremely reliable.
Why SUN ?
Because SUN is certainly the best servers brand of the world.
Because the servers consume less electricity than the others and in particular than Dell.
Because they integrate some functions particulary innovative as a Card service. It's an internal computer and independent of the server which allow us to control it even if the machine is turned-off.
Stop the technical informations.
What they will be used ?
We will change all servers of our SQL cluster. Maybe you don't know it but in a interval of one year we went from one Database serves to 4. For that we have to make changes in WM so that several Database servers can work in parallel, it's a Cluster.
The new servers
These machines are twice over powerful than our larger Database current server. Morover they are equipped of 8 GO DDR2 ECC each one, it's huge but also very expensive, it doubles the price of machines :-(
Thus we will be able to use the memory like a hard disk increasing thereby the access speed to base by a factor 10. It allows to use the processor at full blast.
The bottom line ?
We will have a SQL cluster which should be enough to satisfy our needs for the 2 next years.We will also redeploy our servers currently used to reinforce our web frontals which is very solicited in consequence of the very fast growth of the traffic on Wmaker.We always tryed to anticipate the up in load, it's not always easy, we decided to invest on solutions certifying to us 2 years of peace.
Which benefit for you ?
A greater fluidity in the application and even more safety for your data.
The continuation of the events
Octave Klaba, the OVH Director, required of us to move our bay inside its suite because he is shaking up it. Redbus wants to refocus its activity only on top-of-the-range host that's why a part of the OVH clients moved for Global Switch. Indeed the prices of host doubled at 1 October.
We chose to stay at Redbus in spite this increase because we didn't want to change of data center, which would have required a day whole of cut and certainly several disturbances on the network.
The relocation of our bay is not programmed yet but it will be made surely about 15 november.
For the moment we are setting up the memories kits and the disk in the servers, then we will install the OS (Linus Debian) and MySQL 5. When it's finished, we pack up again and reforward it via Fedex ot the Data Center in the OVH suite.
The relocation will require to cut the whole of sites during a few hours. We will make works so far as during the night, we will benefit from it to install the new servers.
Of course you will be informed as soon as we will have the intervention date.
Bonus
Do you known the beautiful idea of SUN illustrated by the article picture, I let you read the details on the SUN site.
