Slicehost

We want to make you aware that beginning in September, due to a change in our underlying subscription arrangements with Red Hat, we can no longer offer a daily pro-rated billing option for RHEL instances. Slicehost customers will be billed for RHEL instances on a monthly rather than pro-rated daily basis.

However, the total cost of service for most RHEL customers will likely go down under the monthly billing model.

Both Rackspace Cloud and Slicehost will begin charging RHEL customers a monthly $20 licensing fee. This license fee won’t be prorated, so every Slice you spin up with RHEL will be subject to a full month’s license fee.

What this means for Slice customers:

• Instead of being billed for your RHEL license on a pro-rated daily basis, customers using Red Hat will be billed on a monthly basis (normal monthly billing cycle).

• The Slice itself will continue to be billed on a pro-rated basis - this only affects the RHEL license.

• The new fee for RHEL has been reduced to $20 per month per Slice.

• Every Slice you spin up with RHEL will be subject to a full month’s license fee, no matter how long you use it. If a Slice with RHEL is running for any portion of a month, then you will be billed for that month’s license fee.

Thank you for your understanding as we shift to monthly billing for RHEL users. If you would like help understanding how this might affect your personal usage please feel free to submit a ticket via the SliceManager, email us (support@slicehost.com) or pop into chat 24/7.

A new kernel, 2.6.35.1, is now available in the SliceManager for all slices located in our STL-B, DFW, and ORD data centers. Additionally, it is now set as the default kernel when rebuilding an existing slice or for any new slices that you may add to your account.

If you would like to upgrade the kernel on your pre-existing slice, you can do so by following the steps described in this blog post. Please keep in mind that this process will require a reboot of your slice in order to fully complete.

If you have any questions or run into any issues, we are available 24/7 in SliceChat. We can also be reached by submitting a ticket through the SliceManager or emailing us directly at support@slicehost.com.

We have added support in the SliceManager for a new kernel, version 2.6.34.1. The kernel is now available in our ORD, DFW, and STL-B data centers as of this blog post. We recommend that you upgrade your slice to this version as it does include quite a few bug fixes and security updates over the previously offered kernels.

I won't go into details in this post as it is rather lengthy, but if you wish to review all of the updates included in this kernel, the full changelog can be found here

Kernel 2.6.34.1 is now set as the default for all new slice builds. However, if you are running an older kernel on a pre-existing slice and would like to upgrade, you can do so by following the steps described in this blog post.

Please be aware that upgrading the kernel on your slice will require a reboot in order to complete.

If you experience any issues or if there is anything we can assist you with, please come visit with us in chat. We are available 24 hours a day and can also be contacted by submitting a ticket through the SliceManager or via email at support@slicehost.com.

Earlier this week, we introduced a new kernel, 2.6.33.5, in the SliceManager. This kernel is currently available for all slices located in our STL-B, DFW, and ORD data centers and is now set as the default when creating any new slices.

In order to upgrade your pre-existing slice to the latest kernel available, we recommend that you follow the steps discussed in this previous blog post.

As always, please remember that this process does require a reboot of your slice.

Additionally, for those who wish to delve into the advanced practice of building kernel headers or compiling a module on their slice, we are pleased to be able to provide you with the following articles that we hope prove useful:

Downloading and using kernel source code

If you have questions or run into any issues, our friendly and knowledgeable support staff is available in SliceChat 24 hours a day. As well, please feel free to email us at support@slicehost.com if there if there is anything we can assist you with.

Arch Linux 2010.05 64-bit is now an available option in the SliceManager when building a new slice as well as rebuilding an existing one.

As always, please note that any existing data on the slice will be erased if you choose to rebuild a slice using this image.

On Tuesday, June 15th, we will be removing the previous Arch Linux image, 2009.02, as an available option. If you wish to continue utilizing this image, you can take a backup of an existing slice in the SliceManager.

If you have any questions or concerns, please come visit with us in SliceChat or via email at support@slicehost.com. We are available 24 hours a day.

We are pleased to announce that 32-bit and 64-bit support for Fedora 13 (Goddard) images are now available in the SliceManager.

In order to take advantage of these images, you can add a new slice to your account or rebuild an existing slice in the SliceManager. Please keep in mind that the rebuild process will erase any existing data on the slice.

We also have a few Fedora 13 specific setup articles to help you in configuring and securing your slice as soon as possible.

Fedora 13 Setup Part 1

Fedora 13 Setup Part 2

Furthermore, please be aware that Fedora will no longer support Fedora 11 (Leonidas) after June 25th, 2010. At this time, we will also remove this image as an available option in the SliceManager. If you wish to retain a Fedora 11 image after June 25th, you can take a backup of an existing slice to do so.

If you have any questions or run into any issues our support staff is available in SliceChat 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We can also be reached via email at support@slicehost.com

A new kernel, 2.6.32.12, is now available for slices in our STL-B, DFW, and ORD data centers. This kernel is not affected by the memory calculation bug that was present in our last two releases.

If you wish to upgrade the kernel on your slice to the latest available, you can do so with just a few clicks in the SliceManager. The following blog post details the steps that are necessary to upgrade your slice's kernel.

Please note that this process does require a reboot of your slice.

As always, we are available 24/7 in SliceChat or via email at support@slicehost.com to assist you with any issues you may have.

CentOS 5.5 was released earlier this afternoon and we are happy to bring you a 32-bit as well as a 64-bit image that are now both available in the SliceManager.

These images are ready to be put to use for any rebuilds or new slice builds. If you do choose to rebuild your slice, please note that any existing data will be erased.

A big thank you to Major from our operations team for his hard work in making these images available.

If you come across any issues or have any questions, please feel free to come see us in SliceChat at any time. We are available 24 hours a day in chat and can be reached via email at support@slicehost.com as well.

Update: We have setup articles for CentOS 5.5 available as well:

CentOS 5.5 Setup - part 1

CentOS 5.5 Setup - part 2

On Monday, May 31st, we will be removing CentOS 5.3 as an available option from the image repository. As always, if you wish to continue utilizing this image, you can take a backup of an existing slice in the SliceManager. The CentOS 5.4 and 5.5 images will still be available.

Canonical released Ubuntu Lucid Lynx earlier today and we are pleased to announce that the 32-bit and 64-bit version are now available for your slice as well.

Something to take notice of is that this release is an LTS (Long Term Support) version. This means that Canonical will continue to provide security updates and bug fixes for the applications available from their repositories for a period of five years, as opposed to 18 months with a normal release.

If you wish to take advantage of this new Ubuntu Lucid image, please login to the SliceManager to create a new slice or you can perform a rebuild of an existing slice. Keep in mind that a rebuild will erase any existing data on the slice.

Our community liaison, Jered, was nice enough to put together a few setup articles to help you get started right away with configuring and securing your Ubuntu Lucid slice.

Ubuntu Lucid Setup Part 1

Ubuntu Lucid Setup Part 2

There is also an Ubuntu Lucid category where you can find other articles that have been tested for this distribution.

On another note, Canonical will end support for Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex tomorrow April 30th, 2010. Therefore, we will be removing this image as an option in two weeks time to avoid any complications. If you wish to preserve a base image of Ubuntu Intrepid, you can do so by creating a backup in the SliceManager.

If you have any questions or would like to speak directly with a member of our support team, we are available 24 hours a day in our official SliceChat room. Additionally, please feel free to email us at support@slicehost.com at any time.

We have added support for a new 2.6.32.9 kernel that is now available in the SliceManager. We highly recommend that you upgrade your slice to this version as it does include around 90 total fixes, many of which are security related. All of the updates are included in this rather lengthy changelog.

Additionally, we introduced a new Red Hat kernel, 2.6.18-164.15.1, last Thursday, that is now set as the default for all new RHEL 5.3 and 5.4 slices. The security updates included in this kernel can be found here.

If you are running an older kernel and would like to upgrade your slice to the latest version available, you can do so by following the steps described in this previous blog post.

If you experience any issues regarding these new kernels, we are available in SliceChat to assist you 24 hours a day.

I am very pleased to announce the start of some major changes and improvements to the Slicehost product.

2010 is going to be a very exciting year for us and I hope you will join us for an amazing year.

New Slice Sizes

Let's start with the new Slice sizes. Although upgrading a Slice is done with a click of a button and is usually complete within a few short minutes, one of the issues was having to double the Slice size. For example, from a 256Slice, the next available option was a 512Slice. This can mean a significant jump in resources and in how much you pay each month.

So to help with a smoother, more consistent upgrade path we are very pleased to offer our new 'Intermediate Slices'. They sit nicely between our most popular Slice sizes. We have introduced a 384Slice, a 768Slice, a 1.5GB Slice and a 3GB Slice.

The prices of the new Slices will also allow for an easier resize path - the new Slices start at just $25.

Bandwidth Increases

As you may know, we have pooled bandwidth across Slices since Sep 2008 but what if you don't have multiple Slices? Well, we agree you shouldn't have to worry about bandwidth overages so we have significantly increased the bandwidth usage for each Slice size.

You can view full details for all of the plans on offer on the main website: http://www.slicehost.com

Professional Services

There are also many requests from customers who would like help in setting up their Slice(s). Although there are many very able techs in the community who have done an outstanding job, we wanted to make this easier by offering another option. As such, we will also be introducing Rackspace Professional Services later this week. This allows you to hire professional, Rackspace Linux Sysadmins and Techs to install whatever you like on your Slice. Want a multi-Slice, load balanced, Nginx setup? No problem. Want a simple LAMP stack? No problem.

I hope you find this start to the Slicehost 2010 useful. Keep an eye out, a lot more is coming!

Cheers, Paul

A new kernel version, 2.6.32, is now available through the SliceManager to install on your slice. Please be aware that the process does require a reboot to complete.

This kernel has been fully tested to work on all of the images we provide. With that said, you will notice one small caveat in regards to the memory reporting of your slice.

As many of you are aware, we do use the kernels provided straight from the developers at Ubuntu. However, it seems there is a bug in the recent kernel that appears to provide your slice with a few more megabytes than you would come to expect. This is a purely cosmetic issue and does not effect the actual performance of the slice itself.

As always, if you run into issues or have any concerns, please visit us in SliceChat or send an email to support@slicehost.com.

As many of you with Slices in our Rackspace DFW Datacenter are painfully aware, there was a power outage in the early hours of Tue, 3rd Nov.

Firstly, it goes without saying that I personally apologise for the outage and I want to explain what happened. Although this will not change your experience, I hope it will go some way to easing concerns about a repetition of last night.

Secondly, it has taken much of today for me to get accurate information. For those that know me, you know I am a straight talker (to say the least) and I wanted facts before I approached you with details.

So, what happened?

At around 12:29am CST this morning, the DFW data center experienced a power outage during a routine (non impacting) maintenance. Clearly, this non-impacting maintenance became impacting and many Slicehost customers in the DFW DC experienced downtime.

Power was restored within five minutes and most Slices were up and running in a good timeframe. However, some of you did experience lengthy delays while we restored your Slice. We had the Systems team working from the moment we knew something had occurred and they did not stop until everyone was up and running again.

The issue was further complicated by internal DNS issues which were caused by the unexpected power outage.

However, this does bring up a couple of specific points I would like to discuss:

We did not post a notice about this maintenance. Until now, we have restricted notification of maintenance windows to those that might, under normal circumstances, have an impact. We didn't expect this period to be impacting and so we did not post a notice.

This turned out to be very wrong and, as a result of this, I will be posting more routine maintenance warnings on our status blog.

The second point is that I feel our communication lacked in a couple of areas. We did not keep you informed as regularly as we should have done. Even if there was no specific news, I feel regular updates are essential so you know we are dealing with the issue. I have already changed our procedures and there is a clearer, more defined, route for communication.

I make no excuses for what happened. It reflects on us badly and it affected you negatively. This is not something I find acceptable and I will continue to work to provide the best service for you.

I know you will be concerned and if you have any questions then please email us or come to our chatroom.

Paul

Wow. We've had a mad 24 hours but we are very pleased to announce we have a shiny new Ubuntu Karmic Koala Slice image up and running.

If you want to try it, then log into the (Slicemanager) and fire up a new Slice or you could rebuild your current Slice with a fresh Koala image (remember a rebuild will wipe the Slice though!).

The kernel issues we talked about yesterday have been solved by the wonderful Systems Team. If you happen to be in our IRC lounge (Freenode, #slicehost) then do send a wave of thanks to RackerHacker and Ant. They have worked their little socks off on this one and have done a great job.

I think you know we don't recommend upgrading a distro from the command line but, hey, if you want to, then the latest kernel will allow you to do just that.

For those that do decide to go the command line route, then you will want to upgrade the kernel, via the Slicemanager, before you upgrade the distro. Good luck!

Thanks for your patience and support while we sorted out the kernel issues. It goes without saying (although I'll just go ahead and say it anyway) that if you have any issues then let us know. The best ways of getting in touch are to open a ticket via the Slicemanager or to join us in our chatroom 24/7.

Cheers, Paul

IMPORTANT NOTICE - PLEASE READ:

Ubuntu is our most popular distro and we expect a keen uptake once Karmic Koala is released tomorrow (29th Oct 2009).

However, I wanted to take this chance to give you a warning that you should wait to upgrade your Ubuntu Slice, via the command line, until we have a kernel that works with the new release. We are working hard behind the scenes to make sure there will be a working, reliable kernel but it may take us a few days to get this ready.

If you do upgrade via the command line, then your Slice WILL NOT boot!

To recover your data you will need to enter rescue mode and transfer your data.

PLEASE BE WARNED!

We are working hard to get a viable release out as soon as possible and you should wait until we have an official Ubuntu Karmic Koala distro before attempting to upgrade your Slice by hand. As an aside, we never recommend upgrading a Slice via the command line anyway.

If you have any questions or concerns then please do send us an email (support@slicehost.com) or open a ticket via the Slicemanager (under the Help tab) or come and chat to us, 24/7, in our chatroom.

Thanks for your patience and we will get a working Ubuntu Karmic Koala out as soon as we possible can.

Paul.

UPDATE:

Thursday, 29th Oct 2009:

So we have a working kernel and we are going to be abusing it pretty hard over the next 24 hours to make sure it comes up to Slicehost standards!

We hope to get it out tomorrow (Fri, 30th Oct) afternoon, US Central time.

Any changes and I'll let you know.

Cheers, Paul