Hello All:
Just a quick update for everyone on what has been happening behind the scenes with the 500Eboard.
XenForo released version 2.3.0 last week. We have not implemented (nor likely will we, at least in the near term) the new version, despite it having quite a few nice improvements. The reason for this is because there are a number of items on this forum that honestly, need to be updated and changed at the core infrastructure level.
Specifically, these items are as follows:
1) We have been using Apache as the site's web server, since its changeover to XenForo in March, 2019. Apache -- while extremely reliable and robust -- is also a resource hog, and is pretty much overkill for a forum of this size. It's like killing a gnat (the forum's web serving workload) with a sledgehammer (the Apache software). There are better alternatives that exist, such as nginx, or even OpenLitespeed, which the 126board has been using. OpenLitespeed is probably the web server software that we will migrate to, because it is 100% Apache compatible, but is much less resource-intensive and it honestly performs better. Nginx is also an option, and it is EXTREMELY efficient and performant, but it is not compatible with much of the custom scripts that have been created for this site's Apache setup -- specifically redirections for links/URLs for the "old" vBulletin-based forum and pointing them automatically to the correct thread/post on the XenForo forum.
2) We have been using MySQL as this site's database, also since inception in 2019. Again, MySQL is an excellent database, but it is also somewhat resource-intensive and again - is a sledgehammer where only a light mallet is required. So, we will likely be moving to the MariaDB database, which is 100% compatible with MySQL in every way, but has a much smaller footprint and again is more efficient overall. The 126board forum currently utilizes MariaDB and we have had ZERO issues with it, whatsoever.
3) This site is operating using version 20.04.6 LTS (Long-Term Support) of the Ubuntu operating system. This is still 100% a viable operating system, and will be for some years to come. However, it is now two versions out of date (in the meantime, version 22.04 was released in 2022, and version 24.04 was released in April 2024). Realistically, standard security patches and other support for 20.04 will be ending in March, 2025, as indicated in the diagram below. By transitioning to the current 24.04 version, we will be set for security patches and full support through 2029.
4) We are going to experiment with moving this site to a smaller server. The site has been running since 2019 on a very powerful server, and the site at any point in time typically runs on less than 20% of the CPU capacity. This means that there is a lot of excess compute and data transfer capability that we are paying for every month, that is going unused. So, we are investigating going with a server setup with less excess overhead CPU capacity, and that is more fully utilised.
So, in doing this, we have created a new "Test" server using the same size CPU setup that the 126board has been using since we cleaved it off of this forum several years ago. The new server is using the current Ubuntu 24.4 software, and we are in the process of installing the requisite OpenLitespeed and Maria DB software on it.
In the coming weeks, and likely coming months, we will continue to experiment with the new setup, and will run the XenForo 2.3 software in a limited, non-public "test" mode (likely using the more manageable 126board.com database and such) to evaluate everything. We will continue to keep folks updated as to the status of the evaluation process, and also as to any migration plans.
It's pretty likely that nothing will change as to this site - it will still have all the data, images, etc. that we currently have, and will still use both the 500Eboard.co and 500Eboard.com URLs interchangeably. There will be new options available for logging into the site so that you won't have to use a password if you don't want to -- the option to use a "passkey" will be available, or to use Google, Faceplant, AppleID, Oauth or other secure identification mechanism for login will be available. This will make things very nice and less of a hassle in the future. But there are many other good things as part of the new XenForo version, as well.
When the migration is eventually done, we do not expect any site downtime at all. If there was, it would be one hour or less, barring something unforeseen. It will be more likely that this site will be fully up and available, but folks will not be able to post anything for a short period of time while the switch-over is being made, and the DNS system migrates the site's DNS pointer over to the new server. Typically this takes 15-20 minutes, and then propagates from there across the internet.
Anyway, wanted to give folks an update as to what is happening currently, behind the scenes.
xfadmin