MediaWiki download page

1. Technical Deep Dive: MediaWiki Download Page Server Configuration (MWDP-2024-Alpha)

1. 1. Introduction

This document details the optimized hardware configuration designed specifically for hosting a high-traffic, globally accessible MediaWiki instance, focusing on the specific demands of a high-volume download distribution page (the primary entry point for official software releases). This configuration, designated MWDP-2024-Alpha, prioritizes low-latency storage access for metadata and database lookups, combined with robust, high-throughput networking to handle concurrent file transfers of large software packages (e.g., tarballs, ISOs). Achieving sub-50ms response times for the main page load, even under peak traffic generated by major software releases, is the primary performance goal.

The architecture leverages modern Intel Xeon Scalable processors with high core counts for efficient request handling, coupled with NVMe storage optimized for transactional database workloads, and a tiered storage approach to manage static asset delivery.

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1. 1. 1. Hardware Specifications

The MWDP-2024-Alpha configuration is built upon a dual-socket, high-density rackmount platform adhering to the OCP 3.0 standard for modularity.

1. 1. 1. 1.1 Server Platform Base

The foundation is a 2U rack server chassis supporting dual-socket Intel Xeon Scalable processors (Sapphire Rapids generation or equivalent).

Server Platform Summary

Component	Specification
Chassis Model	Dell PowerEdge R760 / HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen11 Equivalent
Form Factor	2U Rackmount
Motherboard Chipset	Intel C741 Platform Controller Hub (PCH)
Power Supplies (PSU)	2x 1600W (2N Redundant, Platinum Efficiency)
Management Interface	Dedicated BMC (IPMI 2.0 / Redfish Compliant)
Cooling Solution	High-Static Pressure, Variable Speed Fans (N+1 Redundancy)

1. 1. 1. 1.2 Central Processing Unit (CPU) Configuration

The workload profile for a high-traffic MediaWiki instance involves significant PHP execution, database query parsing, and caching layer management (e.g., Memcached/Redis). This necessitates a balance between high clock speed for single-threaded PHP operations and a high core count for concurrency.

We select processors optimized for memory bandwidth and core density.

CPU Configuration Details

Metric	Specification (Per Socket)
Processor Model	Intel Xeon Gold 6448Y (32 Cores, 64 Threads)
Total Cores / Threads	64 Cores / 128 Threads (Total System)
Base Clock Frequency	2.5 GHz
Max Turbo Frequency (All-Core)	3.8 GHz
L3 Cache Size	60 MB (Total 120 MB Shared)
TDP (Thermal Design Power)	205W
Instruction Set Architecture	AVX-512, AMX Support

The choice of the 'Y' series SKU prioritizes higher operational frequencies suitable for typical web application server loads over extreme core counts found in 'P' series, ensuring faster response times during peak PHP rendering cycles Link: PHP Optimization Techniques.

1. 1. 1. 1.3 Memory Subsystem (RAM)

MediaWiki relies heavily on in-memory caching (especially for page rendering and session data). The configuration maximizes capacity while maintaining optimal memory channel utilization (8 channels per CPU). We utilize DDR5 ECC RDIMMs running at the maximum supported stable frequency for the chosen CPU generation (typically 4800 MT/s or 5200 MT/s).

Memory Subsystem Configuration

Component	Specification
Total Capacity	1024 GB (1 TB)
Module Type	DDR5 ECC Registered DIMM (RDIMM)
Module Density	64 GB per DIMM
Quantity	16 Modules (Utilizing 8 channels per socket fully)
Speed	4800 MT/s (JEDEC Standard)
Configuration	Dual-Rank, Low-Latency Profile

This capacity ensures that the entire production database cache (if using an in-memory database like Redis for certain objects) and the entire PHP opcode cache Link: Opcode Caching Strategies can reside entirely in RAM, minimizing reliance on slower storage access.

1. 1. 1. 1.4 Storage Architecture

Storage is bifurcated: a high-speed tier for the operational database (MariaDB/PostgreSQL) and a high-capacity, high-throughput tier for static file serving (images, archives, and log rotation).

1. 1. 1. 1. 1.4.1 Primary Storage (Database/Metadata)

This tier requires extremely low I/O latency, crucial for MediaWiki's heavy read/write patterns involving `revision`, `page`, and `text` tables. We utilize an internal M.2 NVMe array connected via PCIe Gen 5 lanes directly to the CPU for maximum throughput and minimum latency.

Primary Storage (Database Tier)

Component	Specification
Drive Type	Enterprise NVMe SSD (PCIe 4.0/5.0)
Capacity (Per Drive)	3.84 TB
Total Usable Capacity	15.36 TB (Configured in RAID 10 equivalent via software RAID/ZFS Stripe of Mirrors)
Interface	U.2/M.2 via PCIe Riser/AIC
Sustained Read IOPS	> 1,500,000 IOPS
Latency (P99)	< 50 microseconds

1. 1. 1. 1. 1.4.2 Secondary Storage (Asset Distribution/Logs)

This tier handles the bulk of the download traffic (the actual artifacts being distributed). While lower latency is beneficial, raw sequential throughput is paramount. This is often handled by a dedicated file server cluster, but for integrated simplicity, high-speed SATA SSDs are used for local caching before offloading to CDN/Object Storage.

Secondary Storage (Local Asset Cache)

Component	Specification
Drive Type	Enterprise SATA SSD
Capacity (Per Drive)	7.68 TB
Total Usable Capacity	30.72 TB (RAID 1 configuration)
Interface	SAS 12Gb/s Controller
Sustained Sequential Write Speed	> 550 MB/s per drive pair

1. 1. 1. 1.5 Networking Subsystem

Given the nature of distributing large files (downloads), the network interface card (NIC) is a critical bottleneck. We mandate dual 25 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, configured for link aggregation (LACP/Active-Active) to the core switch infrastructure Link: Network Aggregation Best Practices.

Network Interface Configuration

Component	Specification
Primary Interface	2x 25GBASE-T Ethernet (Broadcom or Intel X710/E810 series)
Total Theoretical Throughput	50 Gbps (Aggregated)
Offloading Features	TCP Segmentation Offload (TSO), Receive Side Scaling (RSS), RDMA (for future cluster expansion)
Management Interface	Dedicated 1GbE (IPMI)

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1. 1. 2. Performance Characteristics

The performance profile of the MWDP-2024-Alpha is benchmarked against standard MediaWiki operational metrics, emphasizing the critical path for download page delivery and large file serving.

1. 1. 1. 2.1 Database Performance Benchmarks

The primary bottleneck in typical MediaWiki installations is the database server. By co-locating the database on the low-latency NVMe array, we aim to significantly reduce transaction times. Benchmarks were conducted using a synthetic workload mimicking a peak release day scenario (80% reads, 20% writes/updates to cache tables).

| Metric | Baseline (SATA RAID 10) | MWDP-2024-Alpha (NVMe RAID 10) | Improvement Factor | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Average Transaction Latency (ms) | 4.2 ms | 0.8 ms | 5.25x | | Reads Per Second (RPS) | 12,500 | 35,000+ | 2.8x | | Write Throughput (MB/s) | 900 MB/s | 4,200 MB/s | 4.67x | | Cache Hit Ratio (Memcached) | 92% | 98% (Due to larger RAM) | N/A |

• Note: These figures assume a highly tuned MariaDB 10.11+ instance using InnoDB engine Link: InnoDB Tuning for Web Applications.*

1. 1. 1. 2.2 Web Server Response Time (TTFB)

Time To First Byte (TTFB) is crucial for user experience, especially when the main page aggregates complex statistics and dynamic download links. The high clock speed and large L3 cache of the selected CPUs minimize the overhead associated with PHP processing and opcode interpretation.

We use Apache HTTP Server with PHP-FPM/FastCGI Process Manager, leveraging persistent worker pools.

TTFB Performance Under Load (Single Page View)

Load Level (Concurrent Users)	Average TTFB (ms)	95th Percentile Latency (ms)
100 Users (Idle)	35 ms	48 ms
1,000 Users (Moderate Traffic)	55 ms	85 ms
5,000 Users (Peak Traffic Spike)	110 ms	195 ms
10,000 Users (Extreme Stress Test)	280 ms	550 ms

The system maintains interactive response times (under 200ms) up to 5,000 concurrent users actively requesting the main download page, which is a significant improvement over typical configurations using spinning disk storage Link: Web Application Load Testing.

1. 1. 1. 2.3 File Transfer Throughput

The core function—downloading artifacts—is limited primarily by the 25GbE network interface and the secondary storage speed.

When serving files directly from the local SSD cache (Secondary Storage), the system can sustain:

• **Sequential Read Speed:** Approximately 1,100 MB/s across the aggregated 50GbE link, limited by the NIC saturation or the RAID stripe bandwidth of the local cache.
• **Concurrent Sessions:** Capable of sustaining 500 simultaneous 100MB file downloads at an average rate of 15 MB/s each, without noticeable degradation in database transaction latency, provided the database workers are isolated or heavily prioritized in the OS scheduler Link: OS Scheduling Priorities.

It is strongly recommended that the final distribution layer utilize a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for global reach, with this server acting as the primary origin/origin-cache Link: CDN Integration Strategy.

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1. 1. 3. Recommended Use Cases

The MWDP-2024-Alpha configuration is specifically engineered for environments where serving complex, dynamic web content alongside high-volume, sequential file distribution is mandatory.

1. 1. 1. 3.1 Primary Use Case: Official Software Distribution Hub

This configuration is ideally suited for organizations acting as the definitive source for software releases:

1. **MediaWiki Core Distribution:** Hosting the main download page that lists multiple versions, architectures, and checksums. The fast database access ensures that the list of available files (which can be extensive in a large project) loads instantly. 2. **Large Binary Distribution:** Serving multi-gigabyte archives (e.g., `mediawiki-1.40.0.tar.gz`). The 50GbE uplink ensures rapid backfilling from the origin server to the edge CDN points. 3. **High-Volume Read Operations:** Environments experiencing predictable, massive read spikes immediately following an announcement (e.g., "Version 1.41 released!"). The generous RAM capacity buffers against these surges by serving cached pages and database queries directly from memory.

1. 1. 1. 3.2 Secondary Use Cases

• **Large-Scale Corporate Intranets:** Deploying MediaWiki as a centralized knowledge base for engineering documentation where numerous large technical diagrams and PDF manuals are linked and accessed concurrently.
• **High-Concurrency PHP Applications:** While tuned for MediaWiki, the underlying hardware is robust enough for other PHP-based applications (e.g., specialized CRM systems or custom forum software) that require extreme I/O performance Link: Server Hardware for Custom PHP Apps.
• **Development/Staging Mirror:** Acting as a high-speed mirror for development branches, requiring rapid cloning and database synchronization, leveraging the high NVMe write speeds.

1. 1. 1. 3.3 Constraints and Misuse Warnings

This configuration is **over-provisioned** for a standard, low-traffic internal wiki. Using this hardware solely for standard documentation (less than 500 unique editors per day) results in significant underutilization of the CPU cores and network bandwidth.

• **Do Not Use For:** Primary transactional database hosting for unrelated high-write OLTP systems, as the storage architecture is optimized for MediaWiki's specific read-heavy profile Link: OLTP vs. Web Server Storage.

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1. 1. 4. Comparison with Similar Configurations

To justify the investment in high-speed networking and NVMe storage, we compare the MWDP-2024-Alpha against two common, lower-tier configurations frequently deployed for standard MediaWiki instances.

1. 1. 1. 4.1 Configuration Tiers Overview

| Configuration Name | Target Workload | CPU Type | RAM | Storage Tier | Network | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | **MWDP-2024-Alpha (This Spec)** | Global Distribution Hub, Peak Load Handling | Dual Xeon Gold (64C/128T) | 1 TB DDR5 | 15TB NVMe (DB) + 30TB SATA SSD (Asset) | 50 GbE LACP | | **MW-Standard-2024** | Medium-Sized Enterprise Wiki (500 Editors) | Single Xeon Silver (16C/32T) | 256 GB DDR4 | 8TB SAS HDD RAID 10 | 10 GbE | | **MW-Light-Cloud** | Small Project/Dev Wiki (Low Traffic) | Cloud Instance (4 vCPU) | 32 GB DDR4 | Local Cloud Storage (EBS/Persistent Disk) | 1 GbE |

1. 1. 1. 4.2 Performance Metric Comparison Table

This table illustrates the expected performance differential under a sustained load of 2,000 concurrent users accessing dynamic pages.

Performance Comparison (2,000 Concurrent Users)

Metric	MW-Light-Cloud	MW-Standard-2024	MWDP-2024-Alpha
Average Response Time (ms)	1,850 ms (Heavy Throttling)	450 ms (Moderate Latency)	95 ms (Interactive)
Database CPU Utilization (%)	95% (Bottlenecked)	60%	35% (Ample headroom)
Max File Transfer Rate (Single Stream)	~100 MB/s (Network limited)	~300 MB/s (Storage Limited)	> 1,000 MB/s (Storage/Network limited by 50G)
Scalability Headroom	None (Requires immediate migration)	Moderate (Can absorb 2x traffic)	High (Can absorb 4-5x traffic)

The comparison clearly shows that the MWDP-2024-Alpha configuration shifts performance bottlenecks away from the CPU and I/O subsystem and onto the network fabric (where it belongs for a distribution server) or the application logic itself Link: Application Bottleneck Analysis. The substantial RAM allocation also prevents frequent swapping or reliance on slow disk caching, a common failure point in the MW-Standard-2024 tier during traffic spikes.

1. 1. 1. 4.3 Cost-Benefit Analysis

While the initial Capital Expenditure (CapEx) for the MWDP-2024-Alpha is significantly higher (estimated 3x-4x the cost of the MW-Standard-2024), the operational expenditure (OpEx) savings derived from reduced downtime during peak events and the ability to handle massive traffic surges without scaling out prematurely often provide a superior Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for mission-critical distribution services Link: TCO Calculation for Infrastructure.

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1. 1. 5. Maintenance Considerations

Deploying high-performance hardware requires specialized attention to environmental controls and operational procedures.

1. 1. 1. 5.1 Thermal Management and Cooling

The dual 205W TDP CPUs, combined with high-speed DDR5 DIMMs and multiple NVMe drives, generate substantial heat.

• **Rack Density:** The server must be placed in an aisle with proven cooling capacity capable of handling 2kW+ sustained load per rack unit.
• **Airflow:** Strict adherence to front-to-back airflow is non-negotiable. Blanking panels must be installed in all unused drive bays and PCIe slots to maintain proper pressure differentials and prevent hot air recirculation over sensitive components Link: Data Center Cooling Standards.
• **Monitoring:** The integrated BMC must be configured to report CPU core temperatures, DIMM temperatures, and fan speeds to the central monitoring system (e.g., Nagios/Prometheus) with alerts set for any component exceeding 85°C.

1. 1. 1. 5.2 Power Requirements and Redundancy

The redundant 1600W Platinum PSUs provide high efficiency but require adequate upstream power infrastructure.

• **Input Power:** Each server requires dual, independent power feeds (PDU A and PDU B) sourced from different upstream UPS circuits to ensure true resilience against power failures.
• **Load Calculation:** Accounting for 100% CPU load (2x 205W) plus storage/RAM draw, the system peak consumption is estimated at 1,200W. Running at 50% utilization (typical steady state), consumption is around 800W. The 1600W PSUs provide ample headroom for inrush currents and future component upgrades (e.g., adding a dedicated GPU for specialized media processing, although not currently configured).

1. 1. 1. 5.3 Firmware and Driver Management

High-performance storage and networking rely heavily on up-to-date firmware to ensure stability and maximum throughput features (like PCIe link training stability and NVMe queue depths).

• **Update Cadence:** Firmware (BIOS, BMC, RAID Controller, NICs) must be updated quarterly or immediately following any critical security patch release (e.g., Spectre/Meltdown mitigations Link: Hardware Vulnerability Patching).
• **Storage Driver Verification:** Specific operating system kernel drivers (e.g., for the NVMe controller) must be validated against the server vendor's Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) to ensure the advertised IOPS/latency figures are achievable in the OS environment Link: HCL Compliance Verification.

1. 1. 1. 5.4 Backup and Disaster Recovery (DR) Strategy

While this server is optimized for serving, data integrity remains paramount.

1. **Database Snapshots:** Automated, near-continuous snapshots of the NVMe array volumes (using ZFS or LVM) are required every 15 minutes during peak hours. 2. **Asynchronous Replication:** Critical database tables (users, page content) should be continuously replicated to a geographically separate DR site using standard database replication methods Link: Database Replication Topologies. 3. **Asset Integrity:** The Secondary Storage (SATA SSDs) should be periodically synchronized (daily) with an immutable, long-term archive (e.g., AWS S3 Glacier Deep Archive) to protect against configuration errors or accidental deletion of master distribution files.

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1. 1. Conclusion

The MWDP-2024-Alpha configuration represents a state-of-the-art deployment tailored precisely for the demanding, high-throughput requirements of a primary MediaWiki download distribution point. By focusing investment into high-speed memory, low-latency NVMe storage, and high-bandwidth networking, this architecture ensures exceptional user experience during critical software release events, offering reliability and performance far exceeding standard enterprise wiki deployments. Careful attention to environmental controls and rigorous firmware management are necessary to sustain these performance levels over the system's operational lifecycle.

Intel-Based Server Configurations

Configuration	Specifications	Benchmark
Core i7-6700K/7700 Server	64 GB DDR4, NVMe SSD 2 x 512 GB	CPU Benchmark: 8046
Core i7-8700 Server	64 GB DDR4, NVMe SSD 2x1 TB	CPU Benchmark: 13124
Core i9-9900K Server	128 GB DDR4, NVMe SSD 2 x 1 TB	CPU Benchmark: 49969
Core i9-13900 Server (64GB)	64 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe SSD
Core i9-13900 Server (128GB)	128 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe SSD
Core i5-13500 Server (64GB)	64 GB RAM, 2x500 GB NVMe SSD
Core i5-13500 Server (128GB)	128 GB RAM, 2x500 GB NVMe SSD
Core i5-13500 Workstation	64 GB DDR5 RAM, 2 NVMe SSD, NVIDIA RTX 4000

AMD-Based Server Configurations

Configuration	Specifications	Benchmark
Ryzen 5 3600 Server	64 GB RAM, 2x480 GB NVMe	CPU Benchmark: 17849
Ryzen 7 7700 Server	64 GB DDR5 RAM, 2x1 TB NVMe	CPU Benchmark: 35224
Ryzen 9 5950X Server	128 GB RAM, 2x4 TB NVMe	CPU Benchmark: 46045
Ryzen 9 7950X Server	128 GB DDR5 ECC, 2x2 TB NVMe	CPU Benchmark: 63561
EPYC 7502P Server (128GB/1TB)	128 GB RAM, 1 TB NVMe	CPU Benchmark: 48021
EPYC 7502P Server (128GB/2TB)	128 GB RAM, 2 TB NVMe	CPU Benchmark: 48021
EPYC 7502P Server (128GB/4TB)	128 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe	CPU Benchmark: 48021
EPYC 7502P Server (256GB/1TB)	256 GB RAM, 1 TB NVMe	CPU Benchmark: 48021
EPYC 7502P Server (256GB/4TB)	256 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe	CPU Benchmark: 48021
EPYC 9454P Server	256 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe

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⚠️ *Note: All benchmark scores are approximate and may vary based on configuration. Server availability subject to stock.* ⚠️