Nyx Linden has sent out an e-mail confirming the Server-side baking load test scheduled for Thursday 21st February, and which I’ve posted about on a couple of occasions recently.
The e-mail reads in full:
Nyx Linden – SSB load test call
Greetings all,
In preparation for rolling out server-side avatar appearance, we’ll be running a short test tomorrow afternoon. If you are available, or know someone who is, please come to the server user group (http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Server_Beta_User_Group) with the latest sunshine viewer (http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Project_Sunshine-Server_Side_Appearance version number 270409). We will run the test after the server meeting, for those able to stick around. You will need several outfits that your avatar can switch between and will do so both on the old system and the new system. Also please clear your cache before attending.
Please use our latest viewer as it has additional statistics gathering code that will allow us to calculate load patterns and measure the improvements expected for later releases.
Let me know if there are any questions!
Nyx Linden
If you are interested in participating, please check my report on the test announcement, which outlines the aim of the test, what is likely to be taking place, and what is required.
You should check your ability to log-into Aditi well in advance of the test, and confirm you have a number of outfits (preferably with multiple layers) in your Aditi inventory.
Update February 25th: As per a comment from Jessica Lyon, Firestorm have now merged the Server-side Baking code and updates to RLVa into one of their private repositories.
On the 13th February, 2013, the Firestorm team hosted a question-and-answer session so they could outline the current status of the Firestorm viewer, the issues the team (and SL) are facing, and outline plans for both the immediate future and longer-term as well as address questions from the audience.
While the meeting was recorded, the Firestorm team are aware that many of their users have hearing difficulties, and / or prefer to read text. It is because of this that this transcript has been provided, otgether with the original recording itself. When reading it, please remember:
This is not a word-for-word transcript of the entire meeting. While all quotes given are as they are spoken in the video, to assist in readability and maintain the flow of conversation, not all asides, jokes, interruptions, etc., have been included in the text presented here
If there are any sizeable gaps in comments from a speaker which resulted from asides, questions to other speakers or requests for images to be displayed, these are indicated by the use of “…”.
Timestamps are provided as guidance should anyone wish to hear the comments in full from any speaker on the video
Questions were asked in chat during the meeting and while speakers were talking. This inevitably meant that replies to questions would lag well behind when they were orginially asked. Therefore, to provide context for both questions and answers, questions have been included in the transcript and timestamped at the point at which each is addressed by a member of the Firestorm team
The meeting proper commences at 16:36 into the video, and this is the point at which the transcript starts.
The deployments scheduled for the week commencing Monday 18th February are detailed below. Please note that due to Monday 18th being a holiday in the United States (Presidents Day), the deployments will be taking place one day later than usual.
Main (Second Life Server / SLS) Channel
The Main channel should receive the following two projects:
The Interest List Improvement project, which has been on the Magnum RC channel for the past few weeks
Server-side support for materials processing.
Note that there is still no publicly available project viewer to take advantage of the materials project code, although there may be news on this later in the week.
This deployment should take place on Wednesday 20th February – release notes.
Bluesteel and LeTigre Release Candidate (RC) Channels
Baker Linden in a change from his usual rooster avatar
Bluesteel should receive Baker Linden’s object rezzing code changes, which were reported here in week 1. These updates have nothing to do with the interest list code changes. Baker describes the aim of the work as, “Hopefully significantly decreasing lag spikes when rezzing large, complex objects. Large does not necessarily imply size, but size of the files being read. When an object is rezzing, we have to parse the object / mesh files and create our in-world objects with that data.”
Until now, reading and parsing of any files related to objects which require rezzing has been on the main thread. When several such objects requiring rezzing at the same time, the simulator stalls. Baker has been moving the reading / parsing operation to a background thread in the expectation that rezzing multiple “large” (again, in terms of file size, not the size of the object itself) objects will not choke the simulator, causing performance issues.
These deployments should take place on Thursday 21st February – release notes (Bluesteel).
Magnum Release Candidate (RC) Channel
Magnum should receive the same maintenance server update deployed in week 7 to LeTigre, intended to fix miscellaneous crash modes.This deployment also includes the following:
An improvement to the rolling restart notifications so that they appear in an alert format (as with manual region restarts) rather than an easily missed notification. This change will only be apparent in restarts following the code deployment restart (as per JIRA SVC-7759)
A fix to an encroachment / return problem: if you’re banned from the neighbour’s parcel, you couldn’t select / return items that encroached on your parcel (see JIRA SVC-496)
Instant messages are now truncated to 1024 bytes to prevent certain types of delivery failure. Currently, the IM database supports larger messages than the delivery system can handle. This change will enforce a limit of 1024 bytes when processing messages coming into the database as well as those being sent out.
This deployment should take place on Thursday 21st February – release notes.
SL Viewer News
The release version of the SL viewer moved to the 3.4.5 code base on the 14th February, with the release of viewer 3.4.5.270263 (release notes). At the same time, the Server-side Baking project viewer received its second update with the release of version 3.4.5.270409, od which more below.
The CHUI viewer received a further update to the development version, reaching 3.4.6.270520 on February 18th. This project is currently the next in line to merged into the viewer-dev code base (development viewer) and then into the beta code base.
Server-side Baking Load Test
Serer-side baking – load test February 21st
A reminder that if all goes according to plan, there should be a special load test for Server-side Baking on Thursday February 21st, and volunteers are being sought to assist.
This will take place on the SSB test regions on the beta grid (Aditi), immediately following the Server Beta User Group meeting which take place at 15:00 SLT on Thursdays in Morris, also on Aditi with the aim of placing the SSB code under a stress test representative of the loads it will face when deployed to the main grid, with people routinely changing outfits, updating their appearance, enter / leave regions running the SSB code (given that the grid will, for a time, be running both the current avatar baking service and SSB as the latter is initially deployed), and so on.
Test Requirements
While final details of the test have yet to be confirmed, key requirements for those wishing to participate in the test are as follows:
Participants must be able to log-in to Aditi and attend the Sunshine test regions from 16:00 SLT onwards (participants can attend the Server Beta UG meeting ahead of the test if they wish)
Participants must be running the latest version Server-side Baking project viewer (version 3.4.5.270409 or later) – this viewer has been specifically configured to report statistics required by LL for the test
Participants should have a number of outfits of system clothing, preferably with multiple layers, which they can swap between during the course of the test. Library outfits are acceptable, but LL are keen for people to use their own outfits to add greater weight to the tests
Clearing the viewer cache prior to the test is suggested, but not an absolute requirement.
“if you have specific failures we’ll ask for your viewer logs, otherwise just running through the test will help us gather data,” Nyx added when explaining what is required by way of feedback from those opting to take part.
This summary is published every Monday and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:
It is based on my Viewer Round-up Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware) and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy
By its nature, this summary will always be in arrears
The Viewer Round-up Page is updated as soon as I’m aware of any releases / changes to viewers & clients, and should be referred to for more up-to-date information as the week progresses
The Viewer Round-up Page also includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
Updates for the week ending: 17 February, 2013
SL Viewer updates:
Current release version updated to 3.4.5.270263 on February 14th – release notes
Development viewer updated to 3.4.6.270268 on February 14th
CHUI development viewer reached release 3.4.6.270520 on February 18th
Sunshine (server-side baking project) project viewer updated to 3.4.5.270409 on February 14th – wiki page
Cool VL updated on the 9th of February and again on the 16th to arrve at:
Lumiya released version 2.4.3 on February 16th – core updates: flexiprim support; teleport to selected avatar; improved notification settings; corrected attachment positions on avatars – release notes
Metabolt updated to 0.9.62.0 (Beta) – February 17th – core updates:creator UUID now displayed for objects in Object Manager; radar now displays all avatars in the region; upgraded to the latest version of libopenmv; optimisations and bug fixes – release notes
Discontinued Viewers
Phoenix officially reached end-of-line for SL on December 31st – read more here
Zen viewer was withdrawn from the SL TPV directory and all repositories shutdown on January 27th, 2013.
the server deployments planned for week 7 all went ahead as scheduled.These comprised:
Main channel: (Second Life Server / SLS): received the maint-server package focused on crashes fixes which was deployed in week 6 to LeTigre – release notes
Bluesteel: retained the materials processing project code and received the same fixes and updates being deployed to the SLS channel (above) – release notes
Magnum: retained the interest list project code and received the same fixes and updates being deployed to the SLS channel (above) – release notes
LeTigre received a new maintenance server update to fix miscellaneous crash modes – release notes. This deployment also included the following:
An improvement to the rolling restart notifications so that they appear in an alert format (as with manual region restarts) rather than an easily missed notification. This change will only be apparent in restarts following the code deployment restart (as per JIRA SVC-7759)
A fix to an encroachment / return problem: if you’re banned from the neighbour’s parcel, you couldn’t select / return items that encroached on your parcel (see JIRA SVC-496)
Instant messages are now truncated to 1024 bytes to prevent certain types of delivery failure. Currently, the IM database supports larger messages than the delivery system can handle. This change will enforce a limit of 1024 bytes when processing messages coming into the database as well as those being sent out.
Feedback on all the deployments has so far been muted, with only a couple of issues having been reported via the forum thread,
There is no news on deployments for week 8 (commencing Monday, 18th February), as the meeting to determine upcoming deployments does not take place at the Lab until Friday of the current week.
Server-side Baking (SSB) Load Test
Serer-side baking – load test February 21st
On Thursday February 21st there will be a special load test for Server-side baking, and LL are looking for volunteers to help.
This will take place on the SSB test regions on the beta grid (Aditi), immediately following the Server Beta User Group meeting which take place at 15:00 SLT on Thursdays in Morris, also on Aditi.
The aim is to place the SSB code under a stress test which is representative of how SSB will be used once it is deployed to the main grid – with people routinely changing outfits, updating their appearance (as SSB handles appearance updates differently to the current service), enter / leave regions running the SSB code (given that the grid will, for a time, be running both the current avatar baking service and SSB as the latter is initially deployed), and so on.
“We have a few other internal stress tests, but wanted to do one with real-world conditions on real connections,” Nyx linden explained when announcing the test opportunity. “The test will run through switching from the old system to the new system, which is a transition where issues may pop up. if enough people are changing outfits simultaneously it should get us some valid data.”
Test Requirements
While final details of the test have yet to be confirmed, key requirements for those wishing to participate in the test are as follows:
Participants must be able to log-in to Aditi and attend the Sunshine test regions from 16:00 SLT onwards (participants can attend the Server Beta UG meeting ahead of the test if they wish)
Participants must be running the latest version Server-side Baking project viewer (version 3.4.5.270409 or later) – this viewer has been specifically configured to report statistics required by LL for the test
Participants should have a number of outfits of system clothing, preferably with multiple layers, which they can swap between during the course of the test. Library outfits are acceptable, but LL are keen for people to use their own outfits to add greater weight to the tests
Clearing the viewer cache prior to the test is suggested, but not an absolute requirement.
“if you have specific failures we’ll ask for your viewer logs, otherwise just running through the test will help us gather data,” Nyx added when explaining what is required by way of feedback from those opting to take part.
Aditi Log-in
As has been reported in this blog on a number of occasions, the Aditi grid is itself subject to a number of issues, both in terms of access and inventory support.
If you have not logged-in to the beta grid at all, or in the last several months and wish to participate in the SSB tests, it is recommended that you test your Aditi log-in (you use the same user name and password as you use to access the main (Agni) grid) sooner rather than later. If you find you are unable to log-in, then you should try changing your password. to refresh your Aditi access (this should also update your beta grid inventory).
HOWEVER, be warned that this process isn’t always successful, due to the issues mentioned above, and that it can take up to 48 hours before you can access Aditi, and even then, your inventory may not be successfully updated.
If you have recently updated your password and have reasonable inventory access on Aditi, the recommendation is that you don’t force any inventory update by running a further password change, as there is a risk you may either lose access to Aditi or that you may become subject to inventory change failures.
Those who wish to participate in the load test, and who encounter either issues with their Aditi inventory or accessing the beta grid can, as a last resort, contact Nyx Linden at least 24 hours ahead of the test. Nyx will then endeavour to see if LL can fix matters.
Other Items
Vanishing Regions
Last updated in SL project news: week 6 (2), wherein diagonally adjacent regions fail to render until such time as the observer moves to a region immediately bordering the “missing” region. This has been an ongoing problem for some time, as reported in SVC-8130, and commenting on it at the Server Beta meeting, Simon Linden indicated that the maint-server code deployed to LeTigre may help with some of the issues being encountered, but also admitted, “There’s been some improvement but it looks like there are still bugs to chase there.”
Missing regions: new Maint-server code may help…?
There is a forum post on the matter – if you are encountering this issue in a reproducible manner, and in lieu of SVC-8130 being open to comment, you might want to note your experiences on the thread.
Update February 25th: As per a comment from Jessica Lyon, Firestorm have now merged the Server-side Baking code and updates to RLVa into one of their private repositories.
Update, 19th February: A transcript of the core part of the meeting, including Jessica’s Firestorm status overview and the Q&A session, complete with the video recording, is now available.
Update, 14th February: The initial video recording of the meeting is now available on YouTube, and an HD version will be available soon.
Wednesday February 13th saw the Firestorm team host an open meeting to discuss what is happening vis-à-vis Firestorm given all the various ongoing viewer-related projects currently underway (CHUI, materials processing, server-side baking, plus Firestorm’s own updates and improvements) – and when the next release is liable to hit the public at large,
Several members of both the Firestorm development and support teams were on-hand to field questions, with Project Lead Jessica Lyon leading things off with a 15-20 minute overview as to what is happening, where the viewer stands at this point in time, what the plans are for the immediate future and what we might expect to see in Firestorm in upcoming releases.
The Short Version
The Good:
Firestorm will be supporting all of the new viewer capabilities coming out of LL, although CHUI will require careful consideration as to what is adopted and how, as Firestorm already offers several similar options to those being added to the viewer by CHUI
Firestorm will be getting a range of new features (although not all at once) which include: further work on re-implementing legacy search capabilities, the ability to save and reload personal settings; more OpenSim support; new windlight settings; new UI skinning; further work on adding v1-style functionality
The Not-so-good:
Serious crash and other issues have also come to light in merging Firestorm with the latest LL 3.4.5 code which the team are endeavouring to resolve
Server-side baking (SSB) is the priority for the Firestorm team at present (as it is with other TPVs), as it has a major impact on how people will see things in-world, and it is the project which LL are emphasising. However, integration of the SSB code into TPVs (particularly those supporting RLVa) is not proving easy
The emphasis on work at the moment is overcoming bugs, issues and problems and trying to get Firestorm to a point where it is running the SSB code.
Taken together, the latter points mean that while a new version of Firestorm is in development, there will be something a further wait before it appears, and when it does, it my not have such a huge range of new features as has been found in previous releases and might suffer from stability issues.
Jessica Lyon (seated centre, at the edge of the stage) with members of the Firestorm development and support teams, discusses Firestorm on Wednesday February 13th
Viewer Status
There are some serious issues within the Firestorm development code which are delaying progress towards a potential release. Firestorm has been merged-up to the Linden Lab 3.4.5 viewer code, and this has given rise to some severe problems for Firestorm (and is actually having an impact on other projects, as I reported earlier this week).
Commenting on the situation, Jessica Lyon pulled no punches, stating:
I’m going to be completely honest with you guys. Right now Firestorm, for us internally, is in pretty bad shape since our merge with Linden Lab’s TIP (3.4.5 code). There are a lot of bugs that we’ve inherited; there’s a lot of regressions which we’ve inherited. Ed [Merryman, lead for Firestorm Support] is crashing about two times a day – and for those of you know Ed, know that Ed never crashes. So if Ed is crashing on our recent builds, we’ve got some problems. We’ve got some log-out crashes, log-out things; log-in crashes … Basically, we’re not in great shape, and we’ve got a lot of fixing-up to do before we’re ready for a release.
As well as inheriting bugs, the merge has also highlighted bugs and issues within the Firestorm code itself which also need to be fixed. All of this adds up to recent builds for the viewer being “way worse” than the current release version in terms of stability and issues, and it is going to be a while before these issues are fully resolved.
Server-side Baking
Server-side baking is perhaps the most prominent viewer project underway at the moment, inasmuch as it is essential that all viewers connecting to Second Life be able to support it in order to avoid in-world experiences from being broken. Simply put, avatar skins and system clothing will not render on viewers which do not support SSB once the code is fully deployed, as shown below. )Things are somewhat more involved than that, and for those unfamiliar with the project, I’ve covered it in-depth in Avatar Baking: “and the clock has started!”. )
The SSB problem in part: I’m standing on an SSB-enabled region. On the left – as I appear to others who are using an SSB-enabled viewer; On the right, as I appear to others who are using a viewer which does not support SSB.
As it stands, Firestorm has yet to be merged with the Lab’s supplied server-side baking code for the viewer, although work has been underway within the team in a separate repository to the 3.4.5 code merge. A major problem here, as I again reported earlier this week, is that SSB has considerable (and negative) impact with RLVa. These problems are compounded by the fact that the test regions for SSB functionality are all on Aditi, which has considerable issues of its own at the moment, which are affecting people’s ability to reliably test code, and all have scripts disabled – which makes testing RLVa fixes alongside SSB somewhat difficult.
Currently, the Lab remains sympathetic to the issues TPVs are facing (and have offered help wherever practicable), and are not currently pushing a date by which TPVs must be ready for SSB to go live. They’ve also acknowledged that some of the problems TPVs are facing are down to delays on the Lab’s part, such as not making any bug fixes to the viewer code available until January 30th, some seven weeks into the planned eight-week window in which it had been hoped TPVs would be able to integrate the code. However, it is clear that TPVs are feeling under pressure to get SSB-capable versions of their viewers sooner rather than later.
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