Re: how to make Debian less fragile (long and philosophical)

[Steve Lamb <morpheus@rpglink.com>]

Tuesday, August 17, 1999, 12:49:02 PM, Justin wrote:

> Why should I bring my httpd down? Why should I bring my named down? Why
> should I bring my database down? Why should I bring anything down?

> What if I am a web retailer and this is my biggest day of the year, and 
> every half hour of traffic counts for about 1% of my annual sales? 

    Then you'd best have a SysAdmin that makes the system as robust as you
need it.  That is the SysAdmin's job.

> I know of at least one company where this is true--30% of their business
> comes on one day of the year, and 50% of that is via the web, in a 16 
> hour period they get 15% of their annual business through their web
> server--you better believe they want it to stay operational, even 
> through various kinds of failures. Having enough static tools lying 
> around to keep the thing limping for another fifteen minutes may buy
> me the time to effect a switchover to some other machine, and copy 
> the all important last couple of hours worth of orders to a tape.

    Then it is up to them.  They are a special case.  Are you really
advocating that Debian cater to special cases to the detriment of the majority
when tools are provided for them to do it themsleves?


-- 
         Steve C. Lamb         | I'm your priest, I'm your shrink, I'm your
         ICQ: 5107343          | main connection to the switchboard of souls.
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