Migrating Kernl Analytics from Batch-Driven to Realtime

When we first started capturing realtime analytics data for Kernl it was a simple affair: 1 table N columns (id, date, product_uuid, domain, product_version, php_version,….) This worked well for the first few weeks, but eventually we started to see serious performance degradation as the table size grew. The first step we took was to normalize… Continue reading Migrating Kernl Analytics from Batch-Driven to Realtime

What’s New With Kernl? November 2021

Happy (nearly) December! We haven’t done one of these in awhile, so let’s dive in and check out all the great updates. Features & Updates Kernl Analytics Filterable Domains – You can now filter the domain list by product, WordPress, and PHP version. This is useful if you want to find something like “all domains with… Continue reading What’s New With Kernl? November 2021

What’s New With Kernl – April 2021

April was huge month for Kernl with regards to infrastructure! We also fixed a handful of bugs and started work on a new analytics feature. Let’s dig in. Features, bugs, & infrastructure RoboSwarm, the Kernl product that powers our load testing product, has been migrated to Heroku. This is part of a broader effort to… Continue reading What’s New With Kernl – April 2021

Running WordPress on Azure B1ls Virtual Machines

Have you ever wondered “How bad is it to run a WordPress site on a $3.80/month virtual machine in Azure?”. I haven’t either. But as I was browsing Azure virtual machine options the other day I came across the B1ls machines and figured I would give it a go. If for no reason other than… Continue reading Running WordPress on Azure B1ls Virtual Machines

What’s New With Kernl – March 2021

It was an eventful March at Kernl, so without further ado let’s dive in! Features, Infrastructure, & Bug Fixes All application servers have been upgraded to use AMD Premium droplets on DigitalOcean. These have better performance characteristics than the regular droplets and should make Kernl’s performance more consistent. The licensing /validate-with-domain endpoint now includes the… Continue reading What’s New With Kernl – March 2021

Are DigitalOcean Premium Droplets Better for WordPress?

Back on February 23, 2021 DigitalOcean announced the launch of their “premium” droplets. These Droplets are in the same tier as their shared-resource counterparts, but running on next generation Intel or AMD hardware. As soon as these were released, my first thought was “I wonder if WordPress runs better on these premium droplets?”. I ran… Continue reading Are DigitalOcean Premium Droplets Better for WordPress?

WordPress Plugin Banners Now Supported

As of March 1, 2021 Kernl now supports WordPress plugin banners! As you can see, the plugin detail screen rendered without a banner is OK, but the screen looks a lot cleaner with banner support. Much better! You can add your own banners by going to -> Edit Plugin -> Icon & Banners while inside… Continue reading WordPress Plugin Banners Now Supported

What’s New With Kernl – February 2021

February was a busy month for Kernl that focused on fixing some long-standing bugs, infrastructure upgrades, and a few behavior changes. Let’s dive in! Bugs, Performance, and Infrastructure RoboSwarm & Kernl Load Testing Upgrades – RoboSwarm and Kernl WordPress load testing have been updated to use the latest version of Locust, Python, and Ubuntu when… Continue reading What’s New With Kernl – February 2021