As Joe Biden might say, this is a big f***ing deal. We’ve been cruising along on Michelle’s server since the Salem acquisition in February, but as of this morning our tech wizard (and new dad!) Mark Jaquith has the virtual U-Haul packed and ready to roll. The good news? Salem’s servers should make the site load twice as fast and will guarantee stability as traffic gets heavy in the fall. The bad news? In order to shift us over to Salem HQ, Mark has to unplug parts of the site tonight — including comments. Things should be fine until 9 or 9:30 ET, but after that everyone’s posting privileges will shut down (including mine and Ed’s). So don’t get nervous when you see the “you are not permitted to leave comments” message. You haven’t been banned; that just means that Mark has the U-Haul on the road.

We’ve also got a minor redesign in the works which should be visible soon. Everything will be in its familiar place — Headlines, Top Picks, the Blog, the Greenroom — but things should look a bit tidier on the front page. Stay tuned.

Update: A word to the wise from techies who are e-mailing: If you find yourself still unable to leave comments tomorrow morning, try clearing your cache. And please be patient. For some readers, it could take a full day before the migration is complete and you’re able to see new content on the site.