About

I’ve had a version of this “about the server” page on the website since it was created in 1996. At the time, websites (and, for that matter home Internet connections) were unusual things that required some time and patience to set up, so technical details were interesting.

I’m not sure anyone really cares that much about the technical details of the configuration now, but this page is nonetheless up to date as of February 2014.

The wherry.com domain resides on a Linux server (as of this writing, it’s running the Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS distribution of the operating system). It’s running what’s become known as the “LAMP stack” (Linux + Apache + MySQL + PHP) to provide Web services. I’m using hardware from Silicon Mechanics and have been pleased with its performance.

The system resides in a commercial colocation facility located in Reston, VA.

The wherry.com domain has existed since late 1995. For over ten years the primary server was located at home.

The first server (pictured at left) maintained a connection to the Internet via PPP over a full-time dialup line.

In 1998, the connection was moved to an ISDN-BRI line (128 Kbit/s).

In 2000, the connection was once again migrated to a T1 line, which delivered a blistering 1.5 megabits per second for about $1,200 per month.

In 2006, the mission-critical machines were moved from my home to a data center environment.

This Web site has existed since 1996. Like many such small sites, it hasn’t been updated very frequently. Significant changes were made in May 1997 and April 1999, and August 2002. As of February 2014, the site is being moved to a content management system (in this case, WordPress) in order to facilitate easier and more rapid updates.

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