Sorry about that: service interruption, Tuesday, around noon

David_Snowball

Dear friends,

The board was unavailable from about 12:15 - 3:15 EDT on Tuesday. If you tried accessing the board during that time, you'd have encountered an endlessly reloading blank template. Chip sent a distress call to our host. While we waited for a response from them, Chip and her guys tried diagnosing the problem (Hans kept repeating "that's not good") and preparing to restore the board from a back-up. At around 3:15 the system suddenly stabilized, previously empty directories were full and the hosting company sent some sort of smiley face note that didn't actual 'fess up to anything.

And yes, we're now looking to move to a dedicated (rather than shared) server.

Special thanks to Ted for raising the alarm by email, which allowed us to respond a lot more quickly than we might otherwise have.

We'll keep working on it.

David

Old_Joe

Not at all sure that having your own server will make all that much difference. Today it's the NY Times, which presumably does have it's own server(s):

Yes, 'The New York Times' Knows Its Site And Apps Are Down

Maybe "they" were practicing on MFO before the main event.

David_Snowball

Reply to @Old_Joe: Yuh, that has been part of my hesitancy. Getting a dedicated server is a bit costly, solves some but not all of the challenges we face, and adds a few of its own. Still, we'll keep at it. David

Ted

Reply to @David_Snowball: As I have stated in the past, the more control you have over the MFO website the better it is. I'd go the dedicated server route if MFO can afford it.
Regards,
Ted

Old_Joe

Reply to @Ted: No argument, Ted. Merely pointing out that a dedicated server is no guarantee of better performance, but certainly can't hurt.

Old_Joe

Also, we would need to know a bit more re a "dedicated" server: where is this server actually located? If you envision it being stuck under Chip's desk, now there's a whole long list of major issues regarding hardware, software, maintenance, internet access, backup, etc.

If it's just a "dedicated" server located at the Internet Service Provider, then it's still going to be subject to whatever major problems affect that ISP- power interruptions, access difficulties, etc. Just because it's a separate box in the ISP's rackroom doesn't mean a whole lot.

chip

Reply to @Old_Joe: Under my desk is really not an option. There's no room under there, and I'm certainly not capable of maintaining the up-time of an ISP without a major cash outlay for hardware.

However, a dedicated server at the ISP does buy us some increased stability. We wouldn't have to worry about another site on the server going haywire -- or getting wildly popular -- and hogging all the resources. We'd have our own dedicated IP address, which would make us less likely to be targeted by botnets. And, we'd be at a higher level on the customer service priority list when there is a problem.

At some point, we'll completely outgrow our current setup and definitely need a dedicated server. The question is whether we've reached that point, yet.

Old_Joe

Reply to @chip: 10-4, boss! Hope all is well at your end. No room under my desk either... and rerouting all of those wires... good grief!

Never mind the hardware outlay: I'd expect a VERY significant increase in your compensation, as well. Of course, 600% of not much is still really not much...