Seeing Double
May 12th, 2008 | 
Author: Posted by: Jeff Leget, Director of Operations
At home I never want to run out of the daily necessities. There is spare orange juice, in case the first runs out. There should always be spare dog food, in case the first runs out. We need 2 gallons of milk, 2 boxes of cereal, and extra chicken in the freezer…just in case. Yes, the pantry and freezer are usually crowded, but we rarely run completely out.
I’m not sure whether work imitates life or the other way around, but I have the same challenge at ClickBank. As the Director of Operations, I oversee the purchase, installation, and management of our technology. Particularly in the last 2 years, ClickBank has added a lot to the pantry. Today we operate out of 2 geographically separated data center facilities. Each of those has redundant network, power, and cooling. The power and network into each facility enters via 2 different routes. So, if a backhoe operator makes a mistake, power and network keep functioning. If the power goes completely out from the utility company, battery backup systems and generators that are routinely tested automatically kick in, and we keep operating.
We continue this model of equipment redundancy within our computer equipment. We have at least 2 DNS servers within each facility. These systems tell people on the Internet how to locate different ClickBank components (Hoplinks, orders form, web site) by name. We can divert traffic between systems and facilities by manipulating the configuration on these systems. Below that layer we operate on at least 2 load-balancing, cache servers within each facility that provide mostly static content (images, text, etc). Again, we can divert traffic between systems and facilities by altering the configuration of these systems. Below that layer we have 2 or more systems within each facility that answer Internet requests and provide dynamic content (account information, order form content, etc). Below that layer we have a constellation of database systems that store and organize all of the account, product, and price data and synchronize that information across systems and facilities.
A single Hoplink or order form request touches at least 4 different computer systems and countless networking devices before any information is actually returned to a web browser. ClickBank has spent a lot of time designing and maintaining this complex redundant architecture to provide you with the most reliable service available. There will always be incidents outside of our control or complex functionality changes that necessitate short-term outages. Whenever possible, we will notify the ClickBank community in advance. When that isn’t possible, we will always update the ClickBank System Status page at http://www.clickbank.com.xohost.com/status.php. This page is hosted in yet another facility completely separated from the ClickBank service network.
Our goal is to maintain the highest uptime possible to support your business. To that end, we’ll work to make sure the lights are always on, the network is always up, and there is extra orange juice in the fridge.
Posted in Technology
Nice. Is there an RSS feed for the status page ?
Hi Roger, that’s a great idea. We’ll look into it. Thanks.
As a publisher with more than xx products on various networks, It is important to me to read things like this. Looking after xxxx affiliates and their various needs is time consuming with networks. I will note that with ClickBank it is getting better and the orange lights save me time as other networks do not provide that.
If there is one thing that hurts us all - it is ‘fluctuation’. Various forums and communities scream ‘cb is down or … fill in the blank’ - When I try to explain fluctuation in sales trends/markets/products… they are far fetched to believe publishers sometimes. Their only response is ‘Someone is stealing!’ lol.
I’ve always wondered this question though. Why don’t you have ‘first name’ then ‘last name’ broken into 2 separate fields on the payout page? I find this potentially causes people to close the page upon an error - or specify in small type ‘first & last name i.e. john smith’ or ‘full name’… before the error . << Sorry for the little rant.
I could write in with these ideas as well however while observing and playing with many networks, I think it would be wise to give some thought to:
a) Allowing internal communication to affs/vendors.
b) Allow an option for manual approval/denial of affiliates for premium programs.
c) Allow second tiers (or more) as an option.
d) I know it would be a huge undertaking however having at least the ability to allow publishers (or perhaps at an upsell) to upload and host their creatives/resources for a centralized library for all aff’s. Right now hosting my own forums, recruitment pages, resources, startup guides etc. is not ideal however must be done…
e) Allow multiple accounts to be tied together (I’m sure many publishers would love being able to see all their accounts under a master account instead of logging in/out of all them x times a day).
Keep up the great work guys. Truly appreciate the wonderful advantages your operations offer someone like myself.
Yours in success,
Norb Czufis.
NCMedia
NicheChoppers
Thanks Jeff,
For your pragmatic thinking and pedantic action. Bottom line adding your “Status” link, now which I have “Added” to Favorites.
It sounds we both have met “Murphy’s Law”, when there is problem I like to identify, so I can adjust my sails to the wind, or adjust my flight path with little crab to the wind and fly right.
Thnx,
Dean