The Finishing Post
I mentioned a week or so ago that the Anna Raccoon Archive was finished.
Actually there was one thing I wanted to do but it involved some extremely tricky coding, traversing a strange folder structure to find files which had to be parsed, and then the extracted information placed into several database tables in an area I had never worked on before. In other words, I didn’t think I could do it.
However, needing some distraction from other worries, I set to work.
I did a few test runs producing just text without updating anything and then fired off a live run.
A tiny fraction of the output of a test run
I had managed to restore at least a fair number of the categories!
I now consider the Archive site to be as near complete as is physically possible. I don’t think I can do any more except maybe manually adding the occasional post that may surface in my email Inbox.
I just hope I have done the Great Lady some justice?
She was always keen on justice!
Wonderful job, you have done the Lady proud.
I know I’ve said it before but it bears repeating: it is a crying shame she didn’t live long enough to see her wish come to pass. Worst still is the knowledge that if I had contacted you the day she first asked me to see about The Racconstitution, she would have at least seen it was well in hand.
The greatest pity was that there was no copy of the database. No point in living with regrets though?
Well done, Granddad. I’m sure her fans will be grateful.
Came to this late but enjoy all your blog list.But Raccoon Archive I do enjoy.
Thank you for all your hard work!
Just an idea but would it be worth adding the bits from https://stopsuingthenhs.blogspot.co.uk/
and annaraccoon.blog?
Good job, well done.
Nah, ‘kin wonderful job, done bloody well 🙂
I’ve already had some great reads dipping back in the posts.
Is the hosting secure and are there multiple, portable, backups?
“Is the hosting secure and are there multiple, portable, backups?”
I haven’t actually asked him but I’m pretty sure that Grandad, who hosts the archive himself, will have taken every conceivable measure to ensure the archive will be around forever.
Strictly speaking regular backups aren’t necessary, as it’s basically a static site, where the only changes will be any minor additions or fixes.
However, as a matter of course, all my sites are backed up on a regular basis and stored off-line. The backups consist of two parts – a .tar.gz of the entire site and a .gz of the database dump. The database is automatically backed up every night, and the full site every month [with intermediate backups each week].
The server is as secure as I can make it, with several layers of firewall, intrusion detection and virus detection. The site is constantly monitored and swept for malware. Short of taking it off-line altogether, I think it’s secure!
Thank you Grandad for all your hard work! xx
Good work, Sir.
I spoke to G recently on the phone ,who in the course of our short-by-dint-of-my-deafness conversation said “I have spent the last 3 days reading the archive, only stopping to make something to eat or for a toilet break etc”
I think that says all that needs to be said about what the archive means to him and how much he approves of/appreciates it.
Although he did add some more girly, flowery, emotional stuff about being ‘so grateful’ but i just turned my deaf aid off at that point.
When I get to see him in person again I shall try to explain to him in terms he understands just how much work and effort Grandad has put in…something along the lines of “taking the Mary Rose and making it sea worthy”.