Something we've been working on for quite a while now is planning our next round of hardware upgrades. Right on the cusp of this, we've suffered a hardware outage on the database server that's pulled our performance down. What timing!

But, it'll just make the change all the more noticeable when our new database server comes online. Shiny new 15kRPM drives, 16GB of RAM... this thing makes our current DB server weep with envy.

Everything is ordered, and we're just impatiently waiting for delivery day. It shouldn't be long at all after we get it that it's up and running and pulling performance not just back to the level it was at two weeks ago, but well above it again.

We've also got no less than four new web nodes coming along for the ride - it'll make me busy for a while installing all this kit! We don't have an exact delivery date yet, so...

Just for a bit of fun, the first person who emails me after the new DB server comes online, to tell me that they can see the speed improvement, gets a one-year free CGS membership.

Just to give you some idea, it should happen in April. I'm hoping for early April

(One entry per person, employees of a bunch of companies are not allowed to enter, entries are timed by received time not sent time, etc. etc. etc.)