Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 21:38:09 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <199809290138.VAA08901@indy.delorie.com>
From: DJ Delorie <dj AT delorie DOT com>
To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
Subject: delorie.com hardware updates
Precedence: bulk


OK, some of you may have noticed that service from delorie.com has
been a little, well, interesting over the last few weeks.  Here's the
scoop.

Basically, two things are happening at the same time.  These would
normally be two separate things, but the nature of one precipitated
the coordination of the other.

Thing Number One - I have a faster Internet connection now.  Instead
of a 56k leased line, I have an ADSL circuit.  What does this mean?
Well, ADSL is a lot faster than 56k, even at its slowest speeds, and
it's currently running at 680Kb/s outgoing (the speed *you* care
about), about 12x faster than the 56k line.  It also, unfortunately,
means that occasionally it's down, as ADSL is sensitive to a lot of
things, including the weather, phase of the moon, and the pollen
factor ;-) I'm working with my ISP to reduce the down time and
increase the reliability of the link, but basically, surfing
delorie.com should be a lot more pleasant for you all.

Thing Number Two - I'm migrating the primary internet services over to
their own box, a P166 Linux box.  Currently, one SGI was doing all the
services *and* my personal work, and now that I work at home, I need
the extra performance for myself.  Switching to Linux also gives me
the opportunity to configure a fully RAID-1 system for added
performance and reliability, and replacement parts are a lot cheaper.
Plus, Linux is faster than IRIX at the stuff I need it to do, even on
the cheaper hardware.  However, since they're completely different
setups, I've been migrating stuff by hand and keeping it in sync until
I can get everything switched over as smoothly as possible.  There
*will* be glitches, so if you notice something that's broken that
wasn't broken before, please send me mail (dj AT delorie DOT com) ASAP!

The net result of all this is a lot better service to all of you.  By
now, you've noticed the banner ads, which are paying for all this
speedy new hardware, so please take a moment to follow up on
interesting ads, and let my sponsors know that you saw them on
delorie.com so that I can continue to provide these services for free!

*After* everything has settled, I'm planning on going full speed for
the new 2.02 release (expect a beta any week now) and adding new
features for djgpp users (post suggestions on the newsgroup if you
want).

Thanks for being patient and understanding,

DJ