I must say the updates are becoming a pain. More and more regular and more
often than not they break things :(
We all appreciate the work being done, don't think for a minute we don't,
but I do think that there could be some definite improvements to how things
are done atm.
First off don't release updates a absolute PEAK gaming time for the week.
Week after week we get updates released at 10pm on a Friday during peak
gaming hours, by all means prepare a weekly update and release it but
pick a sensible day / time. Tuesday / Wednesday would be much better, it
means people are more likely to be about and if there are any issues
they can be fixed in time for the weekend sessions.
Please please let us know in advance! Is there any harm in getting an
update ready then delaying its release for 24 hours or so during which
time admins can download the updates to prepare for the release. Then
at a pre-published time the client releases, server admins flick the switch
their end and everyone's happy.
The benefits of this:-
1. Admins can prepare
2. Lower load on the Content Servers as admins aren't downloading at the
same time as the Clients
3. Clients are happier as their servers are updated quickly instead of
having to wait while admins struggle to get the servers update.
4. Admins can pre test with their server up and raise issues before
all hell breaks loose.
All in all everyone wins.
Please consider reviewing your release engineering to incorporate some
or all of the ideas above, it will make everyone's life so much easier.
Regards
Steve
----- Original Message -----
From: <e...@ccgaming.com>
To: "Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list"
<hlds@list.valvesoftware.com>
Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2010 1:42 AM
Subject: Re: [hlds] Counter-Strike: Source Update Available
Releasing a required update without the capacity to handle everyone updating at once is a problem -- expecting people to leave
their servers broken to reduce Valve's load isn't an acceptable solution.
Valve should either invest in the infrastructure to handle it or work with a service such as Akamai to handle the load from
updates.
If TF2 is any indication, don't expect advance notification or beta releases (Valve even released an update they knew would
break almost all management plugins without giving notification or a beta for the plugin developers to work with).
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