Hello sh.itjust.works community,
Many of you have been eager to get an update about when the sh.itjust.works instance will get it's upgrade to the latest version of lemmy. Here's a update along with a tentative timeline.
In December 2023 I purchased a new server for this community. It took me awhile but I eventually made the time to get it racked at the local datacenter. For the sysadmins lingering and those interested here are the specs:
- Dual Xeon 2.9Ghz CPUs (32 cores total)
- 256GB ram
- 4 x 1TB SSD in raid 10 (with room to add 6 more disks)
- 10gbit networking
While I'm ready to proceed with the upgrade, I've decided to first migrate this instance over to the new hardware. Here are two reasons.
- Those of you who have been around long enough may remember that I've been running this instance on "borrowed" unused resources that were available at the time. There are no more resources available for this instance to grow.
- There are reports that the latest version of lemmy may use more resources. Given we are among the bigger instances, should I end up in a situation where I need to increase resources to keep things fast I'll be restricted.
Here's the tentative timeline:
Task | Date | Expected Downtime |
---|---|---|
Migration to new server | Tuesday February 27 2024 @ 8:00PM ET | 90 Minutes |
Upgrade to V19.3 | Thursday February 29 2024 @ 8:00PM ET | Up to 120 Minutes |
- If anything major goes wrong on the 27th I will revert back the changes and bring the instance back up on the current server.
- If anything major goes wrong on the 29th I will revert back using an earlier snapshot. If that fails, I will restore from a backup.
During these two planned events those who want to provide moral support or who want to get periodic updates are more than welcome to join us on our matrix channel
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Update February 29 2024
We've successfully completed the upgrade to v1.9.3. I'm happy to announce that we did it in an astonishing 27 minutes, a whole 93 minutes under what was expected. The extra leg work that was done over the last few weeks combined with the better hardware definitely played a part. Looking over the processes, it looks like the service responsible for images is still doing some work so it's possible that you will come across some broken images. I'll be keeping on eye on that over the next bit and make adjustments if needed. Thank you all for the support and to all of you who kept me company on our matrix channel. Have a good evening.
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Update February 27 2024
We've successfully completed the migration. I'm happy to announce that this instance is now running on its new hardware dedicated solely to this community! We experienced just under 40 minutes of downtime which is a whole 50 minutes less than expected. Please give this instance a chance to catch up what it missed but we should be good within the next 30 or so minutes. Thank you
![](https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/fe1bc6a3-7873-4c7a-8970-48b7411dd675.png)
Hey,
I'm due to make a post about the instances finances soon. I'll get one posted in the next bit.
I'm still covering costs out of pocket but my goal has been to have this instance fully funded by its members. I want this instance to stay true to its members, the fediverse and be put in a position where it can continue to thrive transparently without me. The admin team has been doing an outstanding job keeping this instance safe and moderated for everyone. I don't thank them enough but they are the true heroes of this instance.
As some may know, I've been working with a local non profit for the past 6 months to have them leveraged in accepting accepting donations for this instance. They have been slow to get things done but its progressing. I may end up doing what I was trying to avoid and create my own non-profit instead if that's what it takes. That direction does have its own challenges and would add additional responsibilities to my plate.
In the meanwhile, while some of the costs of the services have gone up slightly, I get joy knowing that I can continue providing this instance to all of you. I'm OK paying the costs to keeping the lights on until we can transition to donations.