campus' border router. Connectivity to commodity networks and I2/Abilene
is provided by an OC-48 uplink. iBiblio's traffic load averages about
260Mbits/Sec, with web traffic a substantial part of that load.</para>
<para><emphasis>Q: How come iBiblio hosts TLDP?</emphasis></para>
<para>A: TLDP needed a home, and we
offered our services. iBiblio is very interested in helping projects like
the Linux Documentation Project, they fit our core goals very well. We're
happy to handle the hosting, and let the TLDP folk work on what they do best,
helping the world get access to the documentation that helps people use and
understand Linux. Its really a perfect relationship for us in many ways.</para>
<para>(note: The long history of cooperation between iBiblio and TLDP is documented in <ulinkurl="http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=7433">this article</ulink>.)</para>
<para><emphasis>Q: How much time do you or your colleagues spend on managing TLDP data? </emphasis></para>
<para>A: We don't spend much time nowadays. In the beginning, we did a good amount
of work getting the systems set up, and coordinating with the global
network of volunteers. Now, we simply let the systems run, and assist the
project leads and volunteers with their requests. Things run quite
smoothly, thanks in no small part to the technical expertise of the TLDP
staff.</para>
<para><emphasis>Q: What hardware does TLDP run on?</emphasis></para>
<para>A: TLDP runs on the iBiblio web cluster, which involves dual LVS
directors, a cluster of web nodes, and fileservers. The equipment is IBM
xSeries servers, 345's and 330's. The equipment was donated as part of
the IBM Shared University Research Grant, for which we are very thankful.</para>
<para><emphasis>Q: How is the data backed up?</emphasis></para>
<para>A: The data is backed up nightly by UNC's (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) Enterprise Backup and Recovery
Group. Using Tivoli Storage Manager, the data is incrementally backed up
to tape. Additionally, the global system of mirrors provides another
level of backup to the project. In a time of trouble (one especially
notable episode of data corruption), we were able to repoint LDP to
another site (with the administrator's permission, of course), and users
were unaware of the switch as we restored the corrupted device. It was
quite seamless.</para>
<para><emphasis>Q: What is your strangest experience in relation to TLDP?</emphasis></para>
<para>A: I don't really have many funny anecdotes. But come to mention it, as TLDP
expands into many different languages, sometimes communication becomes a
difficulty. I know there are some pretty bizarre discussion threads out
there that involve me trying to communicate using translation
software...which is probably not to be advised quite yet ;)</para>
<para>Thanks, Fred!</para>
</sect1>
<sect1id="feedback">
<title>HOWTO contribute to TLDP</title>
<para>The Linux Documentation Project (TLDP) is working on developing
free, high quality documentation for the GNU/Linux operating system. If