● 08.31.23

Gemini version available ♊︎

●● When a Modern Raspberry Pi is No Longer Enough as a Gemini Server

Posted in GNU/Linux, Hardware at 10:16 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Image: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B from the side.Attribution: Michael H. („Laserlicht“) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Summary: In early 2021 we launched a capsule in Geminispace; it has run on the same Raspberry Pi since then, but now there are growing pains

a capsule in Geminispace

THIS month has been a record month for us across a number of Internet protocols. Gemini is among them. We broke the record for traffic this month, days before the month was even over. But now we have a new problem. The Gemini capsule has always run from a Raspberry Pi at home and it’s struggling to cope with the load at times. Yesterday it served almost 40,000 Gemini requests, about 15,000 of them via the Gemini HTTP/S proxy. It could not cope with the latter (nginx), so there were many timeouts.

a record month for us across a number of Internet protocols

almost 40,000 Gemini requests

the Gemini HTTP/S proxy

> “Yesterday it served almost 40,000 Gemini requests, about 15,000 of them via the Gemini HTTP/S proxy.”

We now have a dilemma; if the capsule is transported to the datacentre (as happened with IPFS) due to insufficient capacity at home (network not fast enough), we’ll have less control over it. The Raspberry Pi is automatically backed up to a large external disk every morning and it can be controlled over the LAN. Thankfully we have a second Raspberry Pi (newer and better one), but it’s a Raspberry Pi 400 and already used as a desktop. We don’t want to turn it into a part-time server as it would harm performance (inherently different functions racing/competing for resources).

> “We don’t want to turn it into a part-time server as it would harm performance (inherently different functions racing/competing for resources).”

No doubt Gemini is growing; the growth is measurable and it has been consistent since Gemini started in 2019. A new site, as noted here earlier this month, is being set up for Gemini. Demand and interest grow, just like Geminispace in general. █

as noted here earlier this month

just like Geminispace in general

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