Behind-the-Scenes Upgrades
May 29, 2011

Behind-the-Scenes Upgrades

A sneek peak at some technical tinkerings happening under the hood.
2m read

Ever since AudioVerse started, we have been using a single dedicated web server to host our websites. While this has had its advantages in simplicity, this has made it difficult because anything that would cause that server to go down would take all of our websites with it at the same time. Server upgrades, repairs, and relocations have all been difficult because it would always mean taking our website offline while we worked on it.

This was seen most vividly in January 2010 when our server-hosting provider was forced to close its doors on very short notice. We were given 24 hours to remove our server from that location, but we didn't have any other place to put it. So we had to quickly find a place and install the server at the new location. This process took about 48 hours, which was very quick for such a move. (And we are grateful for the opening providences of God that guided us through that time and made it much shorter than it could have been.) But our websites were down for that entire time.

No more! Late in 2010, AudioVerse received a large donation targeted toward upgrading our web server infrastructure. The goal is to build a High Availability server network with servers mirroring our websites with all their functionality in several locations across the globe. This way, if a natural disaster, political instability, or any other event were to knock out one of our servers, our websites would continue to function without missing a beat. This also makes the process of relocating, upgrading, or repairing an individual server much easier because we can do it without bringing our websites down.

We are tentatively planning to start with two servers in the USA, one in Europe, and one in Asia. More locations may follow. This upgrade will also make our website and our media downloads faster, particularly for locations outside the USA.

This is a complex upgrade that is taking several months to complete. We have had to re-program some parts of our website to facilitate this change. Those steps are almost finished. At the same time, we are now starting to order the new server hardware and get it set up and shipped to its destination.

We solicit your prayers and your patience as we continue striving to make AudioVerse a lasting beacon of spiritual light and guidance on the Internet. We also want to give special thanks to the donor who provided these funds. Thank you!