recent changes in DMOZ

Since yesterday, a couple of pages that I am familiar with in the directory seem to have reverted to an earlier version (judging from the "last edited" date and the disappearance of recent additions). I am surprised that this has not been mentioned here yet...
At the same time, I also noticed a great improvement in the speed at which DMOZ pages load. New hardware?
What is happening? Thanks for letting us know.

a couple of pages that I am familiar with in the directory

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You do not give URI's but I would imagine the pages may have had to have been restored from a backup for some reason.

At the same time, I also noticed a great improvement in the speed at which DMOZ pages load. New hardware?
What is happening? Thanks for letting us know.

Click to expand...

Yes. New and faster servers are in the process of being installed ATM as has been noted in several RZ threads.

The static HTML pages of the ODP (ie. the public pages) were put onto a new server yesterday, which has sped things up considerably. The scripts (eg. Add_URL, Update_URL, editor application) are all still on the old machine, so we expect the current trend of 500 errors for some time yet. <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" alt="" />

It seems that the data on the new machines wasn't completely up to date, and so some categories have gone back about a week. This is expected to be corrected once the new editor hardware is commissioned, which won't be for at least two weeks yet.

I know it's frustrating to have all these problems, and you can be assured that we editors feel them too. We're going to be feeling particularly bad from Wednesday when the editor-side machines are shut down for an entire week. Sorry for all the problems, but the fact that they are happening is reassurance that the hardware upgrade is progressing, and that it will one day improve dramatically. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thank you for the quick answers. The increased speed is GREAT! Hopefully, it will be all rosy on your side soon too.

<img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

Although I have not looked extensively, I do not see a punchlist of items that will be worked on during the one week of downtime. This seems to be a long time - perhaps including a few days of troubleshooting just to be sure everything is working?
Where can an editor find more details on the activities taking place?

Look at the top of your dashboard.