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diff --git a/posts/new-server-2016.md b/posts/new-server-2016.md index e599214..a7b7316 100644 --- a/posts/new-server-2016.md +++ b/posts/new-server-2016.md @@ -1,13 +1,71 @@ Title: New Web Server (2016) Author: bnewbold Date: 2016-05-01 +Tags: tech -This is a stub posting to note that i've transitioned this website -(`bnewbold.net`) from a custom dynamic Django setup that I wrote [back in 2007](http://git.bnewbold.net/bnewnet/commit/?id=5b31039d4c581048959dc51436f6918f29fbf9ea) -to a simple [Pelican](http://blog.getpelican.com/) based static site generator. +For the past 9 years or so +([February 2007](https://git.bnewbold.net/bnewnet/commit/?id=5b31039d4c581048959dc51436f6918f29fbf9ea) +through April 2016), this website has run reliably despite being a weird +machine: a custom prototype web application for archiving and sharing digital +"artifacts" of all sorts. I remember a bold and sparkling afternoon at a +coffee house in Santa Cruz agonizing over URL structure and refining categories +to collect all the material that would (aspirationally) accumulate here over my +adult life. All things considered I think this effort wasn't wasted: I have +indeed collected wiki notes, photos, images (distinct!), short links, one-off +pages, and longer form writing over the years. My enthusiasm for maintaining and +interfacing with idiosyncratic administrative and upload panels, however, +declined rapidly. Neither the source code web interface nor the git-backed wiki +were ever completed or used. I gave up on spam moderating the comment system +pretty quickly, never actually posted any blog entries, and only ever pecked in +a couple dozen web links and tweet-like microposts. Even the photo gallery +system became too much of a time sink to deal with after traveling. Over the +years I deployed [gitweb](https://git-scm.com/docs/gitweb) and +[gitit](http://gitit.net/), and after RSS starting going out of favor I even +started using [tumblr](http://journal.bnewbold.net/) for random content posts. +I was still using the Django admin panel's "flatpages" plugin to update my +contact info and project pages right up through this spring though. -This shift co-incides with my transition from hosting on `adelie` (last -upgraded to Ubuntu lucid 10.04!) to `adze` (Debian stable, currently jessie). -Some of this transition was made easier by using -[ansible scripts](http://git.bnewbold.net/infra/) to automate the common basics -of server configuration. +While it's been amazing how simple and low maintenance running everything +(email, repositories, website, etc) has been, the thrill of being on an old and +unmaintained release of GNU/Linux (Ubuntu 10.04) has worn off, and I'm cleaning +house. This website (`bnewbold.net`) is now a simple statically generated +([pelican](http://blog.getpelican.com/)) site. I've kept `gitit`, but moved to +`gitolite` (one of my favorite pieces of software) and `cgit` for repository +hosting. The server runs Debian stable (`jessie` to start with), and SSL/TLS +certificates come gratis via the Let's Encrypt project, for which I'm very +grateful. I've stuck with [linode](https://www.linode.com) hosting for this +server, though [digital ocean](https://digitalocean.com) is comparable and +cheaper for setups with fewer photos and large files. Many of these components +are deployed in an automated fashion using the `ansible` deployment tool; you +could fork and edit my [infrastructure scripts](http://git.bnewbold.net/infra/) +to set up those components in minutes if you like (though it would probably +take an afternoon or longer if you've never done something like this before). +Not everything is settled yet: I haven't moved email, and I'm not sure if I'll +stick with [mediagoblin](http://mediagoblin.org) for photo hosting. + +<br /> +<center> +<div class="centerize" style="font-size: smaller;"> +<a href="http://bnewbold.net/photos/detail/529/"> +<img src="http://media.bnewbold.net/hosted-photos/cache/2008/02/08/IMG_7232.JPG" /> +</a> +<br /> +An adelie penguin (the tiny black spot) wandering off alone over the Ross Sea +ice shelf +</div> +</center> +<br /> + +The name of my old server is `adelie` (named after a small species of penguin +that [I saw a lot of](http://bnewbold.net/photos/detail/527/) in Antarctica), +and it's days are limited. Though the +[`hier`](http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/hier.7.html) (filesystem layout) +of most of my systems are almost identical, I'm particularly comfortable on +this one. It's seen me through a lot, more than any other computer system, and +I'll probably miss it in a weird way. + +The new server is `adze`; here's hoping it lives even longer! + +<br /> +_**Note:** As initially posted this was just a stub; I re-wrote it in June +2016_ |