Opera 8.0: How to put a server out of its misery.

We had expected more traffic than usual for the release of Opera 8.0, so we prepared plenty of bandwidth for people downloading the new version. Everything was ready. Our servers would be able to handle the load.

We thought.

It turns out that we got several times the amount of traffic we had expected. We thought that this release would generate a lot of interest, but we soon found that no matter how good the preparations were, it still wasn't enough. The mirrors held up, but our Web servers were completely devastated by the flood of people rushing to download the new version.

Some brave men worked throughout the night to keep the servers running, and to try to handle the traffic.

The total download numbers are somewhat unclear to me, especially since our servers were down for a while, but what I've heard so far is simply amazing. And that was before we got the numbers from other major download sites distributing Opera... Unfortunately, I cannot reveal these numbers. However, they indicate that the nay-sayers who have been predicting Opera's demise for ten years may have been wrong. Again.

I would like to thank everyone who has participated in the beta testing of Opera 8. Those who have provided us with valuable feedback, reported bugs, kept nagging us to fix things... You are all making a difference, and you are helping us make Opera a better program. Keep an eye on the My Opera Community front page for interesting reads and opportunities! And don't forget that the new My Opera site is coming in the (hopefully) near future. I think you will like it.

Now it's back to work to see what needs to be fixed for the next upgrade...