Rob,
Thanks for the update. I think everybody here agrees that PPRuNe is an awesome place to visit! Sounds like you are definately on top of things, and offer some excellent advice.
If there's anything I can do to help the continued success from my neck of the woods (Equinox Data Center or other OC3 backbone collocation site nearby), I'd be happy to offer up a few hours of free consulting...
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer + Internet (#1296661), Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (#1296661), Microsoft Certified Trainer (#1296661), Citrix Certified Administrator, CompTIA Certified Technical Trainer+ (#COMP10606076), CompTIA A+ Computer Service Technician (#CDADTT5359), Adjunct Professor for George Washington University’s Solution Center, Committee Member for the Department of Defense Health Affairs PKI Initiative (serving in 2000), Voting Member of the Information Technology and Innovations Committee for the City of Gaithersburg (active since 2001). Honor Graduate of the U.S. Army System Administrator Security Course (#07E-F66/531-F21), Honor Graduate of the U.S. Army Network Manager Security Course (#07E-F67/531-F22), and Distinguished Honor Graduate of the DoD DISC4 Information Systems Security Manager’s Course. Currently, I serve as the Director of Network Services for a local training and network integration firm (since 1999).
Just a thought... you may want to consider a web caching device in front of the server (especially for images). They are not too expensive, and it wouldn't require any new soft coding (pretty much plug & play). Without knowing more, my knee-jerk reaction is that a web caching device or appliance will offload a lot of processing and disk reading actions from the main server(s). Even if you are running BGP with failover, some kind of pre-cache aparatus should serve you well.
Please forgive the back seat driving (and my arrogance)!
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Oh, and I'll put in a shameless plug for a job while I'm at it. If anyone works for a medium to large aviation company, I would love to work as your Chief Information Officer or Manager of Information Systems. I like what I'm doing, now; nevertheless, since I'm also a helicopter pilot, I'd rather use some of my limited skills for an aviation company!
