How far can I trust Vserver ?

[Florian Bogeschdorfer]

Hi there!
> 
> 
> Hello all,
> 
> I've been developing a big client-server application for more 
> than 3 years now using RB.
> Today, a dozen of users use this application all day long for 
> their job tasks.
> 
> My number of users is going to jump up to 40 (and maybe more 
> than that) because my software is going to be used in 3 new premises.
> The Server I developed is not made for so many users working 
> simultaneously.
> 
> So I'm now testing Vserver, which is just fine and great 
> according to my first tests.
> 
> But when I read the documentation and some posts on the 
> lists, I ask myself this question "How far can I trust Vserver?".
> 
> Here are the points I'd like hear some feedback from:
> 
> ? MaxClientTimeOut
> There is no reason my application would suddenly disconnect 
> from the server.
> Is the user makes the choice not to quit the application, the 
> application should not disconnect.
> This Vserver parameter sounds important to me, because the 
> manual gives the example of "having a coffee", which is not very long!
> Is is dangerous to keep clients connected all day long?

You can set this to zero, so no timeout occurs. My application is running
sometimes for days, no problems so far.

> 
> ? Threads
> If I understood, this is the max number of clients connected 
> simultaneously.
> The manual says that the recommended values are "5 to 20", 
> which is too few for my needs.
> In another hand, I think I read somewhere that Vserver 
> licence could be bought up to "unlimited connections".
> There must be something I did not understand...

I can not tell you about that, I have been using up to 5 users each in about
15 installations. It has never failed me.

> 
> ? Testing with many connections
> Does anyone has already tested Vserver with many many connections ?
> I'm alone and I can't simulate 20 users working on the 
> database at the same time!
> 
> ? DB corruption and Vserver stability
> My application would make an intensive use of quite complex 
> SQL SELECT statements, and many times some loops would be 
> called to insert, delete or add records using cursors...
> Is that dangerous?
> Does the database get corrupted with the time?
> Does Vserver happen to unexpectedly quit ?

Well Eric, I am running my installations for exactly a year now. Yes there
were bugs and I bet there are still some undiscovered. But I always got very
fast help from Ruslan and Igor. In my applications there may be a 100.000
reads/writes in one night, if it is busy and you may bet that in 20% of all
cases, the computer is not shut down properly but simply turned off.
I NEVER EVER had one single damaged database, infact I did not even have a
backup function till the current update. I was never forced to.
Of course I may not use vServer the way you do. And yes, I took precautions
like flushing my database actually after every record change (since some
data is pretty critical). But these are precautions against instable PCs or
stupid users.

I work with Director, but I can't see a reason why the server itself should
be less stable. I am running vServer as a service by the way. 

I have another app where I use V12 database and I have a corrupted database
almost every day in one of 50 installations! So I personally was very much
surprised HOW stable Valentina really is.

Best regards, Florian