MWW Moves to the Cloud

Montague WebWorks will be moving its servers to a cloud environment in March

After five years of hosting our websites on a single server (or even a shared server, back in the old days) Mik Muller of Montague WebWorks decided it was time to take the next step in the evolution of Montague WebWorks -- to move up to the cloud.

The big move will start Friday morning, March 15th, and continue through Sunday evening, March 17th. Every website and email we host will move from our existing servers to our new Cloud Servers. There should be no interruption of service, though we ask you to bear with us.

What are Cloud Servers?

Cloud Servers are the same as regular servers, except that a very large number of them are tied together through networking and software to act as a larger, faster single server, that you can then take a "slice" of as a virtual single server.

The main benefit of this is that upgrading to more processing power and storage is literally a mouse-click away, rather than physically cracking a server case open and adding resources to a single box.

This means that, for Montague WebWorks, we will be moving from ONE server that hosts all our websites, our databases, our email server, to TWO cloud servers that will each actually be multiple processors spread across many machines. One of the servers will now be dedicated to only hosting the websites, and the other server will host the databases and the email server.

The plan is to further expand, by the end of the year, to a third cloud server so we can split our databases and email server onto separate machines.

And while we're moving up to two cloud servers, we're also upgrading all the software. Our web hosting server software will get a double upgrade -- from IIS 7 to IIS 8, and from ColdFusion 8 to ColdFusion 10 -- and our email server software will upgrade from SmarterMail 8 to Smartermail 11, which has major improvements for mobile devices.

What's the Bottom Line

The bottom line is that everything will become faster. This website will load faster, and if we also host your email, your email will send and arrive faster, and the webmail interface will run faster, and on all your mobile devices.

Montague WebWorks is moving up, and expanding. By the end of April we should have around 150 RocketFusion websites, with a goal of 200 by the end of the year.

If you're ready to switch your website over to Montague WebWorks, please call Mik at (413) 320-5336. We can get started early next week.

http://www.MontagueWebWorks.com
 

Chauvette comments on the “Big Box Store and Virtual School”

Lee Chauvette, of Athol a Democratic candidate for State Representative has issued his opinion on two issues that he has been asked about most frequently besides the proposed biomass project for Greenfield. Chauvette stated that over the past couple of weeks the issues of the proposed “big box store” and the Greenfield Public School’s “K12 Virtual School” have been on the minds of the voters.

“First on the issue of the “K12 Virtual School, I as an immediate past member of a regional school committee have concerns about leaping so quickly into a contract with a single source bidder of something as important as the delivery of education to students. In the business we are all are used to single source bids on matters such as bus transportation from local companies that bid more frequently then out of the area providers. The other issue here of concern is the fact that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Massachusetts has been delaying formulating regulations for such virtual school approaches. The DESE is still researching and reviewing the overall issues with virtual schools. Hopefully the system did not act hastily.”

“I am supportive of alternate ways of delivering quality education to students and I am a strong supporter of trying to combat the tides of school choice and making local districts attractive once again to enhance the return of students that have left. The “virtual school” is definitely a policy issue and must be monitored to ensure that the education offered is in the best interest of the students and that the overall process benefits the Greenfield Public Schools.”

“On the subject of the proposed plan for a “big box” retail store for the community of Greenfield, I have spoken with opponents, supporters and middle of the road voters on this issue. I do state that I have seen more "middle of the road" people on this store. The “middle of the road” voters are those who have signed a petition to ask the Planning Board to conduct an unbiased Community Impact Assessment. This assessment would look at impacts on traffic, business, neighborhoods etc. This assessment could look at what size store would provide the least negative impact on the community. This study would show the positives and negatives up front.”


“I personally believe that the route of the Community Impact Assessment makes the most sense and hope that the Planning Board and the local government of Greenfield will seriously consider this action as part of their decision making process. There is room to debate and look at what fits the needs of Greenfield, local businesses and the residents prior to making decisions on this store. This upfront study and working together may alleviate the stress and tense situations that were seen throughout the biomass process during local governmental meetings.”




 

Lee Chauvette of Athol a Democratic candidate for State Representative for the 2nd Franklin District that includes Greenfield and Gill two towns directly affected by the proposed 47 megawatt biomass plant suggests that Greenfield officials check with the state Executive Office of Environmental Affairs to review the processes used in conjunction with the progression of the plant thus far.

“The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has a strict policy entitled the Environmental Justice Policy which mandates enhanced public participation as well as enhanced review of such projects by the Executive Office for communities that fall under this particular program. Greenfield does in fact according to the policy website have a neighborhood that is an Environmental Justice Policy neighborhood. Montague also has a qualified neighborhood. Gill does not.” says Chauvette.

“In Greenfield beginning with the area of I-91 from Conway Street and Sullivan Lane down to Woodlawn Road across the neighborhood over to Hope Street to James Street then to High Street back to Beacon Street and Pierce Street back over to Conway Street forms this Environmental Justice neighborhood. This neighborhood meets the criteria according the policy website due to it’s having a median annual household income at or below 65 percent of the statewide median income for Massachusetts.”

“Section 14 of the policy clearly states that any project that exceeds ENF (Environmental Notification Form) thresholds for Air and it is within 5 miles of a policy neighborhood then enhanced public participation is required during the review. The proposed project is a new source of Air Emissions. Certainly one can ask if the locality and Executive Office offer this enhanced public participation.” states Chauvette.”

“Of more concern and possibly causing an additional review process is that Section 15 of the policy states that projects under going a MEPA review requires enhanced analysis towards an EIR (Environmental Impact Report) if again the project triggers a threshold for an Air project within 5 miles of the policy defined neighborhood. It is certainly worth the time for local officials on behalf of its residents to check to see if the review of project materials by the Executive Office that resulted in no filings of an Environmental Impact Report on this project is aligned with the Environmental Justice Policy”

“The Environmental Justice Program is designed to give residents enhanced participation in projects that may cause harm to their neighborhoods. As an Environmental Manager, I think it would be prudent to look at this issue and review if the biomass plant project has been aligned properly under this policy and if in fact the Executive Office should have moved towards requesting the enhanced analysis for an Environmental Impact Report. I urge local officials to review this issue.” Chauvette added.
 

Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts Endorse Chauvette for State Representative in 2nd Franklin District

BOSTON -- The Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts are pleased to announce their endorsement of Lee Chauvette, candidate for State Representative of the 2nd Franklin district.

“Lee Chauvette has strong roots in the district, having grown up in Athol and having dedicated his professional career to the area. He has a strong record of public service, having served as a firefighter, School Committee Chairman and small business owner. In these tough economic times we need a fighter who understands the role public safety plays in keeping residents safe but also helping local cities and towns prosper.
The Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts’ 12,000 strong membership is proud to endorse Lee’s candidacy,” PFFM President Robert B. McCarthy said.The 2nd Franklin district includes parts of Athol, Erving, Gill, Greenfield, Orange and Warwick.

“I’m grateful and humbled by the endorsement of my fellow firefighters. My colleagues represent the kind of hard-working, selfless, courageous and bedrock citizens we all need to be in this time of economic uncertainty and political cynicism. I promise them and the voters of the 2nd Franklin district to work tirelessly during the election campaign and, once elected, during my tenure in office,” Lee Chauvette said.

“Firefighters will never call one of our own heroes, but we know firsthand the fearless courage and integrity we bring to the job each and every day to keep residents safe. Lee will bring that same courage and integrity to the State Capitol and residents in his district should rest assured that they will be well served with Lee as their State Representative,” McCarthy continued.

Chauvette was born and raised in Athol, where he resides today with his wife and two sons. Chauvette has more than 25 years of serving the Athol area. He rose to the rank of Deputy Chief with the Athol Fire Department before being laid-off in 2003.

He served for nine years as an elected member of the Athol-Royalston Regional School Committee, where he helped to save the local high school from non-accreditation status. In 2008, he used his life-savings skills learned as a firefighter to help rescue a local family that fell through the ice.

He currently serves as an Environmental Manager in Fitchburg.The Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts represent more than 12,000 professional fire fighters from across the Commonwealth. More information about the PFFM can be found at www.pffm.org.

 

ATHOL-- Lee Chauvette of Athol, who is seeking the office of State Representative for the Second Franklin District, recently attended a meeting at the Greenfield Veterans Resource and Referral Center to hear Veterans' concerns first hand and observe conversations with Veterans and Governor Deval Patrick. Chauvette said that while he is a candidate for office the long line of Veterans in his family makes him genuinely concerned for all Veterans past and present.

" In my family my Grandfather the late John Abbott of Orange was in World War I. My Father, Lionel Chauvette served in the Army during the Korean War as a personal chef to General Douglas MacArthur. Three of my uncles served, one during World War II and two during the Vietnam Conflict. Extended members of my family currently are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan along with family friends. Veterans are a very important part of my life."

Chauvette stated that he was moved to hear the plight of a young female Veteran who returned home from service and found it difficult to access services during the off hours of local Veterans Services offices. " She made it quite clear to Governor Patrick that more needs to be done to assist the new generation of disabled Veterans who return home."

Another woman the mother of a son who had served abroad talked about how the state needs to support the families of sons and daughters that fight for our country especially regarding suicide prevention. Chauvette said that one Veteran stood before the crowd and talked about himself as an alcoholic and how Veteran services said his life.

Chauvette stated that he did feel that Governor Patrick truly listened to the Veterans who spoke and that he took notes and informed Veterans he would have his staff look into their concerns. "A lot is said about our current administration and the state budget etc. but I personally witnessed Governor Patrick's commitment to the Veterans that were there and I witnessed him caring about what they had to say."

Chauvette feels that the Veterans Resource and Referral Center in Greenfield is a tool for Veterans that needs to be replicated in other communities.

Chauvette said, "My commitment to helping the Veterans of the Second Franklin District extends beyond campaign rhetoric. I truly care that our past and current Veterans get the help they and their families need to assist them back into the main stream. They have fought hard for us now we need to fight the fight for them."