X64 repository

[Kalpesh Thaker]

Dear Community members.

i've had a few calls the last few days enquiring on whether our local
repository supports x64 packages.
At the moment, our repository does not support any x64 distros.

However, after much consideration and thought, i have decided to set up our
local repository to serve as both a 32 & 64 bit
update server.

Though, 64 bit OS updates will only be available for ubuntu 9.10
onwards...and will only be available for Ubuntu based distributions...
i.e NOT debian, centos or pre-9.10 ubuntu/kubuntu. This is due to the size
of each repository...

We are talking about upgrading the drives in the machine to two 1.5tb sata2
hdd's...however this may only happen at a later stage.
this is still in discussion though...

The 32/64bit repository should be up and running well before the official
release date of ubuntu 9.10.
I will also try and get the final i386 and x64 9.10 disc images to the
server as well for you to download on release day. Mor info
on this will be posted on our website (www.ubuntu.org.zw) nearer the time.

I know there may be some questions as to why i have not included 8.04 LTS as
a x64 repo........ basicallly, not many people are actually
using 8.04 x64 edition locally..... this is more than enough to justify
internet and hdd space wastage. However, x64 will be available on future LTS
releases.

If you are not sure of the difference between x64 and i386, let me explain
briefly.

the main advantage of using x64 OS, is that it can address more than 4gb of
RAM... i386 will only
see up to 3.5gbs of RAM.. regardless of the OS. Windows also has this issue.
Its just a limitation of the 32 bit architecture.

So if you have 6 gb's of ram in your server, and you are running a i386 OS,
then you will have 2.5gb's of ram sitting spare in your machine.
whereas if you were running 64 bit OS, your machine would 'see' and address
the full 6gb's of RAM.

Also 64 bit code is much more secure when compared to 32 bit code. In a 64
bit environment, 32 bit code cannot execute... so if your 64 bit server has
32 bit
hack/exploit code sitting quietly on it,,a hacker will not be able to
execute it.

On another note....just a few house keeping issues with regards to our local
repository server.

The server was down for approximately a week not too long ago.
Unfortunately, i was out of town, so i could not attend to the issue right
away.
However, users did contact me to inform me about the issue. i then advised a
contact at yoafrica to have a look at the issue....they did take a
while to get back to me, but did attend to the problem. Due to the nature of
the fault, the server repeatedly went offline at random intervals.
And had to be seen to each time it went offline.

During this down time, alot of emails were sent, and calls made to yoafrica
support staff querying about the problem... and in some cases did tend to be
a little rude
about the issue. i would like to send a small reminder to everyone, that
even though we strive to provide you with a flawless local repository,
technical issues
can and will happen from time to time.

Myself, as well as a few un-named yoafrica support staff look after this
server as a service to the community... and in some cases, local repository
server issues will
take second priority to other more important issues, due to the nature of
our duties. Under no circumstances, will any of us be liable for downtime,
or disruptions to
the service. i do understand that it can be an inconvenience, but we do try
and put alot of effort where possible, to keeping things running
smoothly....

if a situation ever arises when something is not working as it should,
please be kind enough to communicate the problem to us in an orderly manner.
In every case,
the issue will be logged, and will be seen to as soon as possible.

For future reference, any repository issues/problems/queries, should be sent
to the email address repo at ubuntu.org.zw ONLY.
If you are having a problem, and you do send us an email, please send us as
much information as possible, so that we can help you quickly,
and effectively.

On another note, recently there has been an explosion of people downloading
disc images and updates from our server....however in this case, alot of
people
are downloading disc images using download managers, which support a
function called multithreaded downloads. What this does is open multiple
threads/connections
which download individual parts of a file, using a different
connection...then once the download is done, will re-assemble the file. This
feature lets you download files super quick.
However, does use up more overhead on the servers connection.

i have seen many times now that some local IP addresses have around 500-1300
open tcp connections at any given time.

Unfortunately when this happens, the apache server is forced to queue
requests until a slot opens up...and can cause disruption for your average
user trying to update his desktop or server.

To prevent this situation from happening again, (and to make it fair for
everyone)... the server will now allow only a maximum
of 30 tcp connections from a single ip address in 30 seconds. if this limit
is exceeded, the connection will be rejected for 1 minute.

if you have any constructive criticism, feedback or suggestions, please do
contact us at repo at ubuntu.org.zw.

kind regards

kalpesh.
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