Thanks! I hadn't noticed before, but when Linux first boots it shows the time as 5 hours slow.  (current time 8:45 pm Central Daylight Time, system time 3:45 pm)  Within about 30 seconds the time is automatically corrected.

I installed Dimension 4 under Windows 7 and it automatically checks the time and corrects. Some of the defaults need to be changed but it can be set to automatically sync and then exit and the maximum number of hours to auto-correct can be set.

Here's something interesting I found out about Ubuntu 32-bit Linux.  There is a standard called Physical Address Extension (PAE) that allows 32-bit operating systems to address much more than 3.2 GB of RAM.  x86 processors have hardware that changes the addressing scheme to 36 bits, allowing use of 64GB of RAM completely transparently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Address_Extension

If you install 32-bit Ubuntu on a system with less than 3.2GB it will install the standard kernel.  If you install it on a system with more than 3.2GB (even one 4GB stick), it automatically installs a kernel version that handles PAE.  The only way you can tell is that when it is booting the kernel name will end with -pae.

We're seeing a few server crashes during the past few weeks. (Server log shows 'Segmentation Fault').

I'm cleaning up some sbasic and purging some old records and it seems to be helping. However, Does anyone suggest upgrading from Ubuntu desktop to Ubuntu Server for more stability?

Mark,

The only changes I can point to are:
1. Increased number of records and data
2. Added new forms and sbasic to existing aps

If there are no obvious advantages to Ubuntu Server in regards to how it manages memory or improves stability over Ubuntu Desktop, then I'll just focus on cleaning up the sbasic and re-organize forms/data to work more efficiently.

Steve_in_Texas wrote on Oct 18^th, 2011 at 1:04am:


There is no difference in that regard.  The difference between Server and Desktop is that Server doesn't include GUI, OpenOffice, etc. Unlike Windows, a Linux distro consists of the Linux kernel and various unrelated programs "cobbled" together, primarily made available under the GNU license.  The "additional" programs include the GUI video system, CUPS (the printing subsystem), and may other things Windows users consider to be an integral part of the basic OS. ("Cobbled together" should not be taken a derogatory here.)

A major problem with Ubuntu Server edition is that it assumes you are a Linux guru because otherwise, why would you be running a server edition? If you would feel comfortable running a heavy-duty Unix system using only the command line and character-based utilities, you will be okay with Ubuntu Server, although it won't improve stability. Otherwise, even if you feel comfortable with Ubuntu Desktop you'll be pretty much lost with Server because for the most part the various GUI programs simply aren't included.

Hold off on updating to Ubuntu 11.10 final release (Desktop). As with a previous release, shutdown doesn't work.  It just returns you to the logon screen.  The only way to shut down without the command line is a hard powerdown.  The change happened somewhere between beta 2, which worked correctly, and the final release version.  (I haven't tried shutdown from the command line but it probably would work.)

We were running 10.10. 64-bit O.S. Last night, (before I read these last 2 posts) I installed Ubuntu 11.10 on a new pc and then copied my sesame folders over to the new machine. (The transition was VERY easy thanks to Sesame's great portability.)

User's made one tiny change to their shortcuts and, so far, things are running well. I'll post an update after we give it a thorough test.

Besides running on new hardware, I am running the 32-bit OS on a 64-bit pc, hoping that this may help with stability.

I see no issues at all with booting/restarting/shutting down on the 11.10 update, but I am grateful for all your input thus far.

PS. With Ray's blessing, I moved one of my largest 'archive' databases to a separate sesame server on the same machine (ports 20022:20023) to help keep some memory free on the main sesame server (default ports).

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Steve

An update: After moving to all new hardware on thursday, we only had 1 Segmentation Fault in 2 days. VERY encouraging.

Saturday, all was good. However, Sunday morning, remote users were constantly being 'kicked off' the server about every 20 minutes. The server showed no signs of trouble, but users could not stay connected. My local connection appeared to be stable, however.

I rebooted the modem and router, and even moved the sesame server back to the old pc, but users were still getting booted.

Monday, we will try the new sesame.exe file that Ray sent me.