Slicehost

Today, Slicehost is excited to announce that we now support the following full 32-bit images:

• Fedora 12 32-bit
• Gentoo 10.1 32-bit
• CentOS 5.4 32-bit
• Debian 5.0 Lenny 32-bit
• Ubuntu 8.04.2 (Hardy) LTS 32-bit
• Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty) 32-bit
• Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic) 32-bit

The new images are readily available in our STL-B, DFW and ORD data centers.

In order to take advantage of these offerings, you can either rebuild your current slice or opt to use the 'Add A Slice' feature under the 'My Slices' tab in the SliceManager.

We understand there may be some questions regarding these images, so please allow me to answer a few of them:

Q. What's the difference between these new 32-bit images and the the ones we previously provided?

A. Prior to the release of these full 32-bit images, each BETA 32-bit instance ran a 64-bit kernel. This caused the odd amount of confusion with some package managers and other software.

These new instances will allow you to run a full 32-bit Linux image - that is to say, a 32-bit kernel and a 32-bit userland.

Q. What happens if I am already running a slice that uses the previously provided 32-bit instances?

A. Your instances will not be affected by this change. You can continue running your mixed instance for as long as you need to. However, it's recommended you update to the 32-bit kernel that is available via the SliceManager. This will provide you will the full 32-bit experience.

Q. What if I currently have a slices located in STL-A, but would like to take advantage of this offer as well?

A. If you would like to build a 32-bit instance but currently have slices located in STL-A, we would be happy to build a slice for you in one of our other DCs. Simply contact our support team by submitting a request through the SliceManager and we'll get you a new Slice in just a few minutes.

If you experience any issues or have any further questions regarding these images, please visit us in SliceChat, open a ticket or drop us a line at support@slicehost.com.

We've added a couple more articles to our series on munin. The first covers munin monitoring additional slices beyond the master slice, and the second involves enabling munin plug-ins to monitor additional services on a slice. Both links below lead to overview pages that point to distribution-specific instructions.

Installing additional munin nodes

Enabling munin node plug-ins

The next munin article will cover downloading new plug-ins, as well as customizing the hosts list on a munin reports page.

Since there's been a lot of talk about the iPad this week I thought I should mention that I don't plan to buy one, but would happily accept one as a gift. That said, I will be hanging a stocking over my chimney with care, in the hopes that the Vernal Equinox Fairy soon will be there. And will give me a popular gadget to celebrate the coming of spring.

Hey, a fellow can dream. And try to start a new holiday tradition too!

As always, our friendly and knowledgeable support staff are waiting in SliceChat for your questions, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They also accept iPads. Though let's face it, they also accept sandwiches, they aren't picky.

Thanks for reading!

I am delighted to announce that we have expanded our operation into Rackspace's newest state-of-the-art datacenter, ORD1. This datacenter is located in Chicago, Ill. and boasts 34,000 square feet of floor space. We are excited to provide the greater geographic diversity this datacenter allows to our customers when building out their Slice infrastructure.

Security, as with all our facilities, is rigorous―on-site 24/7 staff, alarm system, card key access, CCTV archived video. With fully redundant power supplies, multiple backup generators, hosts of Tier 1 Internet providers, and laser-based early smoke detection, ORD1 has been fitted out to maximize safety and contingency planning.

This brings our total datacenter count, as it stands, to four (STL-A, STL-B, DFW1, and ORD1).

ORD1 is now set as the default facility for all new customers. If you would like to change the default datacenter for an existing account or would like to have a slice built in a different datacenter than your current slices, please submit a ticket through the SliceManager and our support team would be happy to take care of that for you.

We are currently hiring employees in this region. So if you are a budding DC Infrastructure Tech or a Network Engineer, then be sure to check out the Rackspace careers page. Click on the Elk Grove, IL location for specific DC vacancies.

Additionally, as part of Rackspace, we are working towards our international presence. We are working hard to ensure a global offering is available utilizing our own DCs which allows for complete control and expansion for the future.

If you have any questions, please come visit with us in SliceChat

We recently added a new section for security tutorials to our articles repository, and it contains some familiar articles as well as new ones.

A couple security articles were updated:

Scanning for rootkits with chkrootkit
Scanning for rootkits with rkhunter

Because two just isn't enough, an article was added that covers setting up a third rootkit, Rootcheck:

Scanning for rootkits with Rootcheck

And we have the first two installments in an article series on diagnosing a compromised slice:

Security Checks During Possible Compromise - Part 1
Security Checks During Possible Compromise - Part 2

Over on the apache front, we have distribution-specific entries on setting up and interpreting apache's mod_status module:

Enabling and using apache's mod_status (Overview)

And in our forum, a user wrote an excellent post about setting up the latest version of PHP 5 on his CentOS 5.4 slice that may prove useful to others:

CentOS 5.4 and PHP 5.3.2 by wetnun

Matiu wrote a post on a quick-and-dirty caching DNS server setup for applications that make a lot of DNS queries (like Facebook applications):

Speeding up DNS queries (especially for facebook apps) by matiu

Of course, along with the articles and the forums, we have support available in SliceChat twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Pop in with any questions you may have.

Thanks for reading!

We have added support for a new 2.6.32.9 kernel that is now available in the SliceManager. We highly recommend that you upgrade your slice to this version as it does include around 90 total fixes, many of which are security related. All of the updates are included in this rather lengthy changelog.

Additionally, we introduced a new Red Hat kernel, 2.6.18-164.15.1, last Thursday, that is now set as the default for all new RHEL 5.3 and 5.4 slices. The security updates included in this kernel can be found here.

If you are running an older kernel and would like to upgrade your slice to the latest version available, you can do so by following the steps described in this previous blog post.

If you experience any issues regarding these new kernels, we are available in SliceChat to assist you 24 hours a day.

The support staff here at Slicehost work tirelessly to help customers manage their slices and keep things running smoothly. They can be easy to overlook when you don't need their help, so I'll try to regularly highlight some of their more tangible efforts (the bits that are etched in HTML, as it were).

We published some articles to our repository recently that hopefully some folks will find useful.

Using ServerDensity to monitor a slice: How to set up a commercial monitoring service for your slice to try it out.

Installing munin: How to set up a free monitoring solution on your slice.

Barebones postfix install: Installing postfix on a slice with a minimal configuration.

How to use rescue mode: Using rescue mode from the SliceManager to fix a slice that's stubbornly uncooperative.

Speed up resizes: A two-part series on how to minimize downtime when resizing a slice.

Matiu from our support staff wrote a handy forum post last year that listed several server management consoles, and he updated it recently. Given that new slice customers are usually interested in their options on that score, giving the post some extra exposure in the blog seemed like a good idea:

Web Panel Options: Free and commercial administration panels.

Of course, that support staff is lurking in SliceChat twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Be sure and drop in if you have any questions for them.

Adding to last week's announcement, we are happy to introduce a 32-bit image for CentOS 5.4 that is now available in the SliceManager.

This image was created in the same manner as the previous 32-bit images and for this reason, will carry the beta label as well.

I want to thank Major from the RackspaceCloud Operations team in addition to Seth Vidal from the Fedora Project, for working together to make this image available.

If you have any questions or concerns, please visit with us in SliceChat at any time.

Following requests for 32-bit images I am pleased to be able to offer 32-bit images for Ubuntu Hardy, Jaunty and Karmic as well as Debian 5.0 (Lenny).

We had a discussion on our forums surrounding the images and we have labelled them as 'beta'.

The reason for the beta label is we have created a 64-bit Slice and kernel with a 32-bit userland. This means that if you installed apache with an 'aptitude install apache2', the 32-bit version will be pulled from the relevant repository and installed on your Slice. In addition, it also means you are able to natively run 64-bit executables.

Unfortunately, 64-bit versions of RPM-based distributions such as CentOS and Fedora do not have 32-bit ELF support in /sbin/init, so we are unable to offer similar images of these distributions at this time.

To add a 32-bit Slice, head to the Slicemanager and click 'Add a Slice' and select your preferred distro from the image dropdown.

As always, we are available 24/7 in our chatroom should you have any questions.

Cheers, Paul

Edit: I clarified the sentence regarding 32-bit ELF support as it was possibly causing some confusion

Yesterday we introduced the start of the product changes for 2010 and beyond.

One of those items we talked about was called Professional Services.

This is a Rackspace service that allows you to engage with a professional Linux Sysadmin team who will be able to install and configure your Slice in whatever manner you require.

Why?

A common request from the forums as well as emails and tickets, is to ask if we are able to help with the installation of a LAMP stack or if we can build a software based Load Balanced solution and so on.

Although the articles site is a great resource for newcomers as well as experienced sysadmins, this 'hands on' facility is something we are very pleased to offer.

Remember we have excellent members of the community who are also willing and able to assist with your needs. I encourage you to ask on the forums for help but for those that want to take advantage of this service, please let us know and we will be happy to assist.

The cost of the service will vary depending on your requirements but it's based on time rather than complexity of the task. There is an initial commitment of 5 hours but if the task takes an hour, you would only get charged for that hour.

How?

To engage the Professional Services team and to see if they are a good fit for your needs, please submit a ticket via the Slicemanager requesting a call back.

We will pass your details to the team who will contact you and discuss your requirements. There is no obligation and if you feel it is not suitable for your needs then please feel no pressure to utilise the service.

If you have any questions, please submit a ticket and we'll be happy to help.

Cheers, Paul

I am very pleased to announce the start of some major changes and improvements to the Slicehost product.

2010 is going to be a very exciting year for us and I hope you will join us for an amazing year.

New Slice Sizes

Let's start with the new Slice sizes. Although upgrading a Slice is done with a click of a button and is usually complete within a few short minutes, one of the issues was having to double the Slice size. For example, from a 256Slice, the next available option was a 512Slice. This can mean a significant jump in resources and in how much you pay each month.

So to help with a smoother, more consistent upgrade path we are very pleased to offer our new 'Intermediate Slices'. They sit nicely between our most popular Slice sizes. We have introduced a 384Slice, a 768Slice, a 1.5GB Slice and a 3GB Slice.

The prices of the new Slices will also allow for an easier resize path - the new Slices start at just $25.

Bandwidth Increases

As you may know, we have pooled bandwidth across Slices since Sep 2008 but what if you don't have multiple Slices? Well, we agree you shouldn't have to worry about bandwidth overages so we have significantly increased the bandwidth usage for each Slice size.

You can view full details for all of the plans on offer on the main website: http://www.slicehost.com

Professional Services

There are also many requests from customers who would like help in setting up their Slice(s). Although there are many very able techs in the community who have done an outstanding job, we wanted to make this easier by offering another option. As such, we will also be introducing Rackspace Professional Services later this week. This allows you to hire professional, Rackspace Linux Sysadmins and Techs to install whatever you like on your Slice. Want a multi-Slice, load balanced, Nginx setup? No problem. Want a simple LAMP stack? No problem.

I hope you find this start to the Slicehost 2010 useful. Keep an eye out, a lot more is coming!

Cheers, Paul

A new kernel version, 2.6.32, is now available through the SliceManager to install on your slice. Please be aware that the process does require a reboot to complete.

This kernel has been fully tested to work on all of the images we provide. With that said, you will notice one small caveat in regards to the memory reporting of your slice.

As many of you are aware, we do use the kernels provided straight from the developers at Ubuntu. However, it seems there is a bug in the recent kernel that appears to provide your slice with a few more megabytes than you would come to expect. This is a purely cosmetic issue and does not effect the actual performance of the slice itself.

As always, if you run into issues or have any concerns, please visit us in SliceChat or send an email to support@slicehost.com.

You know, email can be a tricky thing to set up and run on a Slice. It does need maintenance and it can be a chore for some people.

I think things should be easy so we teamed up with the very nice people at Rackspace Email (at our parent company, Rackspace) to offer an exclusive promotion code which will reduce the minimum monthly commitment from $10 a month to just $3 a month.

Let me explain:

Without the promotion code, the minimum commitment to have Rackspace host and serve all your email needs is $10 a month. However, I know a lot of Slicehost customers are just like me and only want two or three email boxes.

Using the promotion code means my minimum commitment is just $3 a month. For that, I get 3 Rackspace Email mailboxes. That's suits me fine. If I want more, I can add them, one at a time, as I need them, and pay for my usage.

I think this offer is perfect for many of you who just want two or three mailboxes. I hope you take advantage of the famous Rackspace Fanatical Support that Rackspace Email offers. I personally use them for my email needs (and not just because I work for Rackspace!).

Enough! Where is the code?

Log into the Slicemanager and you will see the promo code in the left hand menu. All you need to do is go to the Rackspace Email website and sign up using the promo code.

To help explain the process, Mark (our wonderful Support Manager) has created a couple of articles:

Email article 1 (Initial sign up process)

Email article 2 (Rackspace Email MX Records)

It is worth noting that the signup process will not show the discount. It will still say $10 a month but rest assured, you will only be charged $3 a month (assuming you only use up to 3 mailboxes of course). If you have any concerns once you have signed up, check with Rackspace Email support and they can confirm you have entered the promo code.

They also have a 14 day trial so if you feel icky and don't want to continue, just cancel before the end of the 14 days.

If you have any questions about Rackspace Email I recommend you chat to the great support staff on their website. If you have questions for us at Slicehost, come and chat!.

Paul

UPDATE:

I forgot to add that there is a very convenient DNS Zone creator you may want to use:

Slicehost and RS Email DNS Zone creator

Note that the site is not officially sponsored by Slicehost so YMMV but I think it will save you time and typing.

Paul

As many of you with Slices in our Rackspace DFW Datacenter are painfully aware, there was a power outage in the early hours of Tue, 3rd Nov.

Firstly, it goes without saying that I personally apologise for the outage and I want to explain what happened. Although this will not change your experience, I hope it will go some way to easing concerns about a repetition of last night.

Secondly, it has taken much of today for me to get accurate information. For those that know me, you know I am a straight talker (to say the least) and I wanted facts before I approached you with details.

So, what happened?

At around 12:29am CST this morning, the DFW data center experienced a power outage during a routine (non impacting) maintenance. Clearly, this non-impacting maintenance became impacting and many Slicehost customers in the DFW DC experienced downtime.

Power was restored within five minutes and most Slices were up and running in a good timeframe. However, some of you did experience lengthy delays while we restored your Slice. We had the Systems team working from the moment we knew something had occurred and they did not stop until everyone was up and running again.

The issue was further complicated by internal DNS issues which were caused by the unexpected power outage.

However, this does bring up a couple of specific points I would like to discuss:

We did not post a notice about this maintenance. Until now, we have restricted notification of maintenance windows to those that might, under normal circumstances, have an impact. We didn't expect this period to be impacting and so we did not post a notice.

This turned out to be very wrong and, as a result of this, I will be posting more routine maintenance warnings on our status blog.

The second point is that I feel our communication lacked in a couple of areas. We did not keep you informed as regularly as we should have done. Even if there was no specific news, I feel regular updates are essential so you know we are dealing with the issue. I have already changed our procedures and there is a clearer, more defined, route for communication.

I make no excuses for what happened. It reflects on us badly and it affected you negatively. This is not something I find acceptable and I will continue to work to provide the best service for you.

I know you will be concerned and if you have any questions then please email us or come to our chatroom.

Paul

Wow. We've had a mad 24 hours but we are very pleased to announce we have a shiny new Ubuntu Karmic Koala Slice image up and running.

If you want to try it, then log into the (Slicemanager) and fire up a new Slice or you could rebuild your current Slice with a fresh Koala image (remember a rebuild will wipe the Slice though!).

The kernel issues we talked about yesterday have been solved by the wonderful Systems Team. If you happen to be in our IRC lounge (Freenode, #slicehost) then do send a wave of thanks to RackerHacker and Ant. They have worked their little socks off on this one and have done a great job.

I think you know we don't recommend upgrading a distro from the command line but, hey, if you want to, then the latest kernel will allow you to do just that.

For those that do decide to go the command line route, then you will want to upgrade the kernel, via the Slicemanager, before you upgrade the distro. Good luck!

Thanks for your patience and support while we sorted out the kernel issues. It goes without saying (although I'll just go ahead and say it anyway) that if you have any issues then let us know. The best ways of getting in touch are to open a ticket via the Slicemanager or to join us in our chatroom 24/7.

Cheers, Paul

IMPORTANT NOTICE - PLEASE READ:

Ubuntu is our most popular distro and we expect a keen uptake once Karmic Koala is released tomorrow (29th Oct 2009).

However, I wanted to take this chance to give you a warning that you should wait to upgrade your Ubuntu Slice, via the command line, until we have a kernel that works with the new release. We are working hard behind the scenes to make sure there will be a working, reliable kernel but it may take us a few days to get this ready.

If you do upgrade via the command line, then your Slice WILL NOT boot!

To recover your data you will need to enter rescue mode and transfer your data.

PLEASE BE WARNED!

We are working hard to get a viable release out as soon as possible and you should wait until we have an official Ubuntu Karmic Koala distro before attempting to upgrade your Slice by hand. As an aside, we never recommend upgrading a Slice via the command line anyway.

If you have any questions or concerns then please do send us an email (support@slicehost.com) or open a ticket via the Slicemanager (under the Help tab) or come and chat to us, 24/7, in our chatroom.

Thanks for your patience and we will get a working Ubuntu Karmic Koala out as soon as we possible can.

Paul.

UPDATE:

Thursday, 29th Oct 2009:

So we have a working kernel and we are going to be abusing it pretty hard over the next 24 hours to make sure it comes up to Slicehost standards!

We hope to get it out tomorrow (Fri, 30th Oct) afternoon, US Central time.

Any changes and I'll let you know.

Cheers, Paul