TTD not well.. download strategy to use (UPDATED!)

[Datahound]

As some may have noticed, the site hardware/software is not well. It went down again most of last weekend.

xavier242 has a plan to get moved to a new box, OS, and site software. The domain will remain the same. Details to be announced when they are decided.

He has asked me to limit my peak seeding to reduce server harddrive activity (they're not SSDs).

So queue up your downloads even if no one is seeding them and be patient. I'll activate 7500 torrents twice a night (15000 per day) to see if anyone is trying to download. Any that connect, I'll keep running until they are done, but the rest I'll stop (and rinse, repeat). Hopefully this allows the site to stay up until we transition. With this strategy, it could take 6 days for your download to begin. It is what it is...

There's one TTD member with an awesome script for TTD that can do seeding on demand. I may ask if others could help run the script. I know roughly how it works and with perhaps 5 others running it, it would not put much load on the server IMO. Set up is probably not trivial and you'll need the torrents downloaded already and not renamed (it's like 40TB of data). I'll try to get some more details.

When the cutover date is announced, the new site should be up within a few hours. xavier242 is trying to get the old server hardware as he was not able to make a TTD site backup remotely (all the data). Once he has the drives, the plan is to make the old site available on the new server, probably in a static read-only mode, and accessible either via the new search, or directly (possibly with the same links). He may need some help coding this.

The plan is to keep the TTD high standards and recreate the documents and look of the old site. If he uses a phpBB based site, it could happen. The new box will of course have SSDs (hopefully high endurance database type).

The reddit thread he sent me:
https://www.reddit.com/r/trackers/co...nd_method_for/

He and I are studying this one as a possible replacement:
https://github.com/torrentpier/torrentpier

And xavier242 tells me there's going to be an ongoing fundraiser. U2Lynne has kept the site alive for far too long. It's time we chip in. Details to be announced.

He also said the posting wizard will not be recreated. I hate it. I think most others do too. I strongly believe it's so confusing, it keeps many from posting.

Comments invited.
DH

[WilliamFruntz]

YouTube Video

[78jazz]

I wonder if this will finally straighten out the false firewall display some of us have.

[WilliamFruntz]

Does this mean all threads on here will be permanently closed? Will there be a new forum for shitposting spicy memes?

[Mr. Clumpy]

Thanks to all who are working on this. We appreciate it.

[joujoujou]

Originally Posted by Datahound

[...]

The plan is to keep the TTD high standards and recreate the documents and look of the old site. If he uses a phpBB based site, it could happen. The new box will of course have SSDs (hopefully high endurance database type).

[...]

Begging you, please, don't. While I've no objections to other changes/modifications you mentioned (and fair play to you and all other people involved to keep site and tracker alive), so far there's no more reliable (and configurable) alternative to vBulletin.

[petergoode]

Is this part of the same problem? I cannot access the site with Google Chrome, but Edge works:

This site can’t provide a secure connectionwww.thetradersden.org uses an unsupported protocol.
ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER_MISMATCH

[joujoujou]

Originally Posted by petergoode

[...]
ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER_MISMATCH

More than likely just SSL certificate's out of date.

[petergoode]

Originally Posted by joujoujou

More than likely just SSL certificate's out of date.

I only ran into the issue when using the https prefix...so, will just continue to use the http!

Needless to say, we have no reason to worry about security at TTD!

Thanks for sponsoring a great site...

[Datahound]

Ok, forget what I said about queuing up torrents in your program. I think it's just making the load on the server higher and sometimes crashing it (the tracker is slower to respond too).

xavier242 sent me an email that he's aware the tracker and site is barely alive and that I can't seed the way I used to (with qBittorrent).

From xavier242's messages:
Kudos to U2Lynne for getting the site going if it goes down and the financial support. He has told me he intends to pay her back all hosting costs from Sept 2022 onward.

Please remove torrents older than a month that you have queued. Recent torrents less than 31 days old are ok (he would like the site to remain up if possible).

If you know you can't seed, like no data is ever uploaded, stop those torrents to reduce the load on the tracker.

He's seeking advice on getting a new TTD site created. He wants forums like we currently have, with the ability to attach a torrent file to the first post in a thread. He dislikes posting wizards (most are terrible and/or limiting). The site must not have silly performance issues with modern hardware. He wants it in PHP coded in a traditional manner. vBulletin runs PHP code in database tables from variables. Horrid programming practice IMO.

The tracker must be using a fast compiled language and designed to handle a few million peers at least. High endurance database SSDs will be used for the whole site (hardware RAID1).

As far as hosting, Quickpacket may or may not be the host anymore if he can find a different provider.

He would like to self-host but the prices are still quite high, plus they all have TOS that prohibit torrent sites, even though they are legal per the DMCA/NTD rules. This same paranoia makes it difficult to find a new hosting provider. Outside the USA is not really an option as new laws require sites to be a business or registered non-profit. TTD is neither. Yeah there are a few countries with fewer restrictions, but none of the hosting is affordable.

The old site will still be available, hopefully with the forums fully functional (tracker will be disabled), even if it has to run in a VM. It will be advised to post links to the new TTD site for long running threads.

He's not been posting much, just emails to me. He's been battling serious health issues (from getting COVID19 in Jan 2020) and may have to declare bankruptcy soon. Despite the pain, he still works every day except Sunday and trying to find some solutions. He used to be a proud Engineer in many disciplines and fitness guru and now has a long commute to a Production line job. The heath issues have ruined his body and taken away his love of music. He still cares for the memories of loving music, your appreciation and love of live music, and hopes for a better future.

A friend here has a script to help seed TTD in an alternative manner. I sent a PM and trying to get a copy of it that may give me a head start. If it's doing what I think it's doing, it places not much load on the server. I may be able to adapt it for others to use.

Datahound

[Ted]

YouTube Video

[Mr. Clumpy]

I wonder if it makes sense to put the message about not queuing up older torrents on the site's front page instead of just in this forum to ensure that everyone sees it.

[AlexPhoenix]

Re the "posting wizard", do you mean the form we fill in to upload torrents?
I'd be sad to see that go as it helps keep the titles regulated, unlike DIME which is a mess!

[bluorangefyre]

So if I understand correctly, don't seed torrents more than 31 days old, even if there's not another seeder? I've been doing it that way between here and Dime for over a year now, so that way the torrents aren't pruned automatically.

[xavier242]

Ok folks... I have some news, not good. Yes COVID19 has screwed my finances, but I have far worse issues.

Effective ASAP due to my dire health issues, I'm stepping down from Primary Admin role. U2Lynne is still technically an Admin and she's essentially been running the site the past year. With some help from one or more tech-savvy folks they might get this site proper on some newer hardware and software. See my thread "TTD reimagined research and ideas".