HighLoad ++ 2016: how it was

Hi, Habr! We are glad to inform you that the broadcasts from Hayload have already been posted on Habr's Youtube channel. We remind you that this is the fruit of the special project Habra and Hayload. November 7, text translation, several hundred posts (available here ). November 8, text translation - here . Surely not everyone had the opportunity to watch it online, so we hasten to inform you that the recording of the conference is now available, which you can watch at any time convenient for you on the Habr YouTube channel . The special project page was viewed more than 25,000 times, more than 9,000 people read the text broadcast, and 10,000 people have watched the YouTube video at the moment. Well, we hope that this helped Habr's readers to dive a little into the new or beloved, expand their horizons and find for themselves something useful in the thick of highly concentrated reports on high loads.

On November 7 and 8, the tenth conference for the developers of high-loaded systems HighLoad ++ 2016 was held in Skolkovo. HighLoad ++ is more than 200 top-class experts with reports on high-load services, problems working with them, and administration issues. 16 rooms, tight schedule, honest and useful experience of the speakers - HighLoad ++ can collect cool topics, set the tone for the discussion, and all in one breath. Thanks to everyone who did, watched, read, commented. First, about the organization and site. Everything went at the highest level, as the organizers were very well prepared. Even on the threshold of Skolkovo, it was worthwhile to hang up a poster: “Beware, wow-effect!” Even such trifles were thought out that you wouldn’t even think about, for example, a flat cyclical waterfall with an inscription HL in a diamond or a badge with a schedule, card, free pages, etc. Of course, the main thing among all this was the speakers and listeners, who sometimes ask questions for the whole discussion. But the devil is in the details - and in this respect it was a truly demonically cool conference.

Just look at the instructions for the participants:
')



On Sunday, on the training day of the conference, we arrived to equip the studio - our booth met all the conference participants right at the entrance.

About the conference through the eyes of the mobile studio Habra

This time at the conference, TechMedia mobile studio, a live studio from HighLoad ++, worked for you. We prepared live broadcasts from blitz-interviews with live speakers. And our reporters conducted a text translation from all key areas of the conference, so as not to miss anything interesting.

Oleg Bunin talks about HighLoad ++ in Habr's mobile studio:



After each report, which took place in the main hall, the mobile studio Habrakhabr went on the air and conducted blitz-interviews with the speakers. The speakers answered the questions of the presenter, told about the vision of the future of high-loaded systems and about their projects. In total, we talked with more than 20 speakers in 2 days.

The first to look at the studio was Dmitry Kalugin-Balashov.



It was a positive experience - we were pleased to ask, the experts were pleased to answer. We managed to achieve this effect by an individual approach to each conversation. Of course, work in this mode is a huge stress test for the leader and the whole team, because in the intervals between interviews the work did not stop for a second. It was necessary to reconfigure the equipment, once again get in touch with the speaker and continuously prepare for the report in the hall to be shorter or longer, the questions drag on - and the time will have to be shifted.

I do not know exactly how many times the radios were charged, the light and the camera were re-exposed, but it seemed that the equipment was heated with people. By the way, it must be said that it was clear from the outside that the speakers of the interview felt absolutely comfortable and the attractiveness of the presenter and the profile and professional issues played a significant role here. The man did not sit in anticipation of a dirty trick or a contrived "hot issue edge", and talked comfortably on professional topics.



Separately, it should be said that all the speaker’s places were painted; in the case of overlays, it was possible to find an equally interesting candidate - there were no problems with IT experts at the site.


Conference leader Anna Trunina spoke with speakers

If you think that the full main hall is the whole of HighLoad ++, then you are mistaken. At the same time, there was work in 16 halls - and all of them were literally jam, sometimes even too much. Speakers had a great time - capacious reports were necessarily supplemented with not less capacious questions. If to listen from the side, Habr came to life: the comments are as valuable as the abstracts themselves. Life was in full swing not only in the main hall.



The remaining 15 rooms were not covered by the video broadcast of the special project Habr, so our editors cruised them and conducted text online from the hottest points of HighLoad. And on the first day it was quite difficult. It is worth staying and talking about the geography of Skolkovo - geography in the truest sense of the word. The territory of the complex is divided into zones named after countries: China, Russia, India, Africa, Brazil, etc. Inside the “countries” there are halls named after cities: Moscow, Kaliningrad, Rio de Janeiro, Delhi, Shanghai, etc. All this is connected by corridors, corridors, stairs and walkways. On the first day, the text online presenters wound 10,000 steps for each, on the second day, the combat orientation course on the terrain was mastered and the case cost 6,000 steps.

But long transitions and wanderings were not the most important challenge - there were so many listeners in the halls that the broadcasters could barely get somewhere on the side with a laptop on their knees. On some presentations (on databases, neural networks, audio VKontakte) there was a record number of participants in the conference - the moderators barely had time to get everyone seated.



Text online is a specific matter. It is necessary to catch the speaker's words, digest them and give to readers in such a way that online will be interesting for everyone, not just for those who love and practice highload technology. Well, to provide all this with photographs - because such an atmosphere needs to be transmitted, it is unique. The hardcore work of the brain and the bright stands of companies perfectly convey life to IT - a tense, with a special sense of humor and the ability to relax. Some speakers spoke very well, some spoke with great speed. But it was oh what impressions. For example, the speaker was telling unique things about neurosis at the speed of a machine gun, hypnotized the hall and suddenly said: “Well, these are elementary things, now deeper”. Imagine the reaction of the listeners? Everyone exhaled nervously and giggled. Of course, I wanted to have time to broadcast everything, but it was impossible - not for nothing all the reports were written on camera, some of them can be real textbooks and manuals.



In the intervals between presentations, participants could walk between the stands of the exhibition, participate in activities, solve problems for prizes (and maybe for the future job offer?), Talk with guys from companies. The stands were not simple bedside tables, they were eye-catching corners of companies. The companies themselves didn’t limit themselves to creativity - pin-up-style drawings, plush toys, especially popular stickers and icons fit into the hard world of high-load services and applications next to the servers.



Everything could be considered, touched, questioned. However, some of the stands did not let attentive participants without games, souvenirs and lemonade.



We found Facebook servers. But seriously, here in such small rooms continuous meetings were held - meetings on various topics: from recruiting and HR PR to working with MySQL.



Those who had a brain boil had a break or lunch, could have some fun, for example, playing sea battle on an old-school gaming machine. I even remembered this process from my childhood, but I didn’t manage to come up and try it - firstly, the broadcast didn’t let go, and secondly, the machine was constantly busy.



In general, the territory of Skolkovo itself is very convenient for short respite after you finish a cool report - and many have used it.



Lunch was literally on the fly, and even at this time, participants gathered in groups and discussed reports, work, their work finds and packagings.



Oddly enough, there were no communication difficulties at all. Significant role in this played plates with the technologies indicated on them, placed on the tables in the lunch zones. Accordingly, the conversation originated around the specified technology or language, and then it went on its own course, no longer important, working or not, most importantly, networking was all right. This is important - after all, the coolest decisions are discussed on the sidelines, face to face.



Yes, with networking, there was complete order - at the end, even those who had been disturbed for two days even joined together.



Thanks to the coordinated team of moderators and volunteers of HighLoad ++:



Thanks to Oleg Bunin for the thoroughness of everything, not to the smallest detail, but almost to the atoms.



The change of lovers of high-loaded services and applications is growing. They already know what it is like when around a very HighLoad. And it seems delighted.





Thank you for being with us! Your Habrahabr.