Guten Tag, From Germany!

[Dallas]

If you're reading this message you are now connecting to our new dedicated server that is based in Germany. It has been a little bit tricky to get it all working after moving 40GB's of data across the internet and onto a completely different server setup, but here we are again. For me it's not as fast as it was before, but that's because I was connecting to the server from much closer, so latency was negligible. I do hope that the browsing speed is now improved for everyone else though. 

 

You may notice that initially the pages may take a little longer to load stored images, but this should improve soon as I am running a background process that is changing the way data is stored. I will continue to tweak things as I go. 

 

Please post a reply to let me know if there has been an improvement in speed from where you are? 

[Hugh_3170]

Seems to be working OK from Australia.  No doubt more tweaks ahead, but well done Dallas on a smooth change from my end - maybe you have had your odd anxious moment, but that can go with the territory. 🙂

[Dallas]

Thanks Hugh, glad to hear it has reached down under.  Oddly I am experiencing the old and the new server simultaneously on my Mac Mini. On Safari I can't get it to load the new one, but it loads fine on Brave browser. Have cleared all the cookies and cache, but no change in Safari. Very odd. 

 

Actually I was pretty relaxed about this move when compared to previous server moves. I have learned a helluva lot about this software and web hosting in general since I started, so it's a lot easier for me to pick up where problems might arise. The biggest issue I had on this occasion was getting the remote FTP backup to land on the new server. I tried it about 3 times before I called for support. Turns out they had not set the partition for the hard drive large enough, so once they did that it went fairly smoothly from there. 

[Greg Drawbaugh]

This is a whole new experience for Fotozones from the US, as the site loads as quick or quicker than any site I have used.  This is a 1000% improvement in speed.  Congrats to you Dallas!

[Dallas]

6 minutes ago, Greg Drawbaugh said:

This is a whole new experience for Fotozones from the US, as the site loads as quick or quicker than any site I have used.  This is a 1000% improvement in speed.  Congrats to you Dallas!

 

Really happy to hear this feedback, Greg! There are still some things that are running in the background that might cause new posts to not appear for the poster immediately, but I also need to do a software update that I have been putting off until after this move was completed. 

[Andrew L (gryphon1911)]

Yes, agree with Greg.  Fast pages loads here in Ohio USA.

[Dallas]

Y'all can't see it but there is a happy dance going on here.  

[Andrew L (gryphon1911)]

Another bonus is the file upload test.  It used to take between 5-10 seconds for me to upload a 1MB or less file to a post.  Now it takes a second or less, so improvements there as well.

[Dallas]

I just realised that I have to sort out a sub-domain for the sending of system emails. That isn't something that the new server allows me to do as easily as the other, but I have got the system admins working on getting that done now. I should have the emails working again shortly. 

[danielm]

Dear Dallas,
Excellent and very speedy experience here in Canada! I hope you and to yours a nice new year 2022 and receive all my deepest appreciation for the fine work you done! 
Daniel M

[Walter Rowe]

This is much snappier for me from East Coast USA.

[crowecg]

😀

wow that’s fast.

[crowecg]

😀

wow that’s fast.

 

At least for browsing, a bit slower saving.

Edited 29 December, 2021 by crowecg

[Dallas]

4 hours ago, crowecg said:

😀

wow that’s fast.

 

At least for browsing, a bit slower saving.

 

I think this saving issue on replies is a software glitch. As soon as I get my email DNS sorted out I will look into the updates that are coming. 

[Dallas]

Still having some problems with the DNS settings for the system. I have managed to get it to use the 3rd party SMTP service I used to use and it works for single mail events such as notifications, but as soon as I try to use the bulk email system from within Fotozones it tells me the DNS isn't set up right. 🙄 

 

So, I shall persevere with this until I get it right, but for now it should be sending notifications of new posts if you are following any posts and/or boards, or if you need to reset your password. Please let me know if this isn't happening for you (but not for anything prior to this post appearing). 

[Dallas]

DNS for the bulk mail has now been sorted out so the email system is working again.  

[Anthony]

Dramatic improvement in speed for me in the UK! Thanks, Dallas!

[Hugh_3170]

Yes speedincrease is clear here too - a refresh of the home page is now really quick.

[Dallas]

Thanks for the positive feedback, all. I have also turned on "lazy loading" so that does improve the initial page load speed as it isn't trying to load every image that is on the page all at once. It loads images as you scroll.