Wikimedia servers
Other lanuages: de, eo, es, fr
Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects are run from three servers. The web servers are named "Pliny" and "Larousse" (Note: Wikimedia is not related to Larousse encyclopedia). The new database server has been named "Geoffrin" [1]. The servers are under a lot of strain due to Wikipedia's increasing popularity, and upgrades are needed.
pliny
(Status: UP) Pliny is one of the web servers.
Pliny previously had some apparently defective hardware which caused periodic crashes. The motherboard and CPU were replaced on 14 October 2003 which seems to have solved this. However, as of December 2003, Pliny has been intermittently unresponsive to web requests for a few weeks. On December 22, Pliny failed to reboot following operating system upgrades but was back online nine hours later.
larousse: web
(Status: UP) Larousse is the second web server, currently it handles traffic only for the English-language Wikipedia (this site), about a half million page hits per day.
Larousse is currently running with a slower processor due to problems with its upgrade. Pliny is taking on part of the load from en.wikipedia.org as en2.wikipedia.org.
We hope to get it back on its feet with the faster processors soon.
Geoffrin: database
(Status: Down) Geoffrin is the new database server that went online 3 December 2003 at 0845. (For name, see: Marie Thérèse Rodet Geoffrin)
- A much less powerful back-up server from Bomis is being used right now.
- Additional servers will be added as database servers during the early morning hours of January 13 (UTC). This change requires several downtimes to migrate the data to other servers.
Upgrades
Some new hardware for provisional upgrades has been obtained for the servers. Larousse received some emergency partial upgrades on October 3 but failed again; it's running on the older hardware until this is resolved. Pliny has been upgraded to faster processors and a hopefully less flaky motherboard.
Although Wikipedia is free in both the "free speech" and "no charge" senses of the word, running the web site does cost money. You can help with purchasing new server hardware by donating to the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/fundraising