We Live in Minneapolis Now
If you can read this, then tumbledry has successfully and completely been moved to it’s new home on Justin’s server at the datacenter in Minneapolis. Alternatively, you may have somehow determined the testing IP address we used and then wandered here in search of the freshest tumbledry you could fine. Finally, if you do not speak English, you may be able to see this but not be able to read it. If this last category does apply to you, I am sorry, but I do hope you enjoy these foreign strings of characters snugly nestled in a standards-compliant design.
Right, So …
This new server is quite ideal because we now have complete control over the our box. This, of course, comes with its own set of problems, but if there is anyone I know qualified to run a server, Justin is that person. Thus, I know uptime will be darn near 100%. The added control I mentioned earlier gives me a httpd.conf file, so I can use mod_rewrite, an Apache module I have been babbling about for at least two years.
What Does This Mean For Uou?
Cleaner URLs. Instead of “tumbledry.org/archives.php?year=2004&month=06”, you can visit “tumbledry.org/archives/2004/06/” — this makes far more sense in a semantic context. For example, you can now say tumbledry.org/thispast/week/ rather than the obscure and difficult to remember “tumbledry.org/thispast.php?time=week”. Great, is it not? Want a specific archive section? That would be at “tumbledry.org/archives/issue/xxx/” where xxx is the number of the update. Easy as pie.
Security
Mod_rewrite also offers more security because soon there will be no *.php links on the entire site. What does this mean? Well, nobody will know the syntax of scripts running things. And by nobody, I mean really do mean nobody — does it _look_ like I have any idea what’s going on around here? Anyhow, the chances of malicious users hacking around in my scripts has been slightly lessened by this mod_rewrite.
The End
All in all, the move went suprisingly smoothly; I found out how fast a server to server transfer can be (faster than any connection you’ve ever been on … like, really fast). And by fast I mean like blazing, like the speed at which a bullet flies. Or a locomotive. Or those gas-powered RC cars that go like 2093 scale miles per hour. Or like the beat in those “Happy Hardcore” genre songs. But, in the end, I can only describe it as really really fast. Seriously. Glad I got that off my chest. Anyhow, from this current location, I look forward to continuing the tumbledry dialog with you all for years to come.