Author Topic: News - Server Move (Read 4258 times)

Jim · « **on:** Jun 05, 2008, 12:03:59 PM »

Sometime tonight, the forum will be placed in maintenance mode and moved to another server by our host. This is an effort to eliminate the downtime that we have experienced during the past month. Please be patient during this time as you can be assured that every effort is being made to minimize the time that the forum is unavailable.

Time to make the move should be 2 hours max.

Triss · « **Reply #1 on:** Jun 05, 2008, 05:13:53 PM »

Hope the move goes well Jim. And with any luck we will come out on the flip side and have no more problems.

Jim · « **Reply #2 on:** Jun 05, 2008, 11:53:40 PM »

UPDATE - the server move will not happen tonight. It will most likely take place tomorrow night (Friday). I'll update everyone when I hear more.

Jim · « **Reply #3 on:** Jun 17, 2008, 06:39:17 PM »

We experienced some more downtime today. My email served to remind our host of the move. Anyway sometime late tonight you will see the board in maintenance mode. That is the move taking place. Some files have already been moved but the database must be taken offline in order to move it. More info when I know more!

Jim · « **Reply #4 on:** Jun 19, 2008, 02:14:09 PM »

Hell, we may be moving host soon if this keeps up. I'm tired of the down time and I keep getting the same answer. The move still hasn't taken place. Can you tell my frustration level is about to peak?

Tina · « **Reply #5 on:** Jun 19, 2008, 02:26:34 PM »

I am glad it wasn't me. I figured the down time today was the move.

Jim · « **Reply #6 on:** Jun 19, 2008, 02:38:26 PM »

I was told today, moving us will be the priority now. We are on a shared server. That means there are about 12 sites on the same server and we share resources. It is the host responsibility to screen the sites and make sure one is not causing undue problems to the others. There are some times that things could become slow but for the most part 12 sites is not a lot. Having said that if one of the sites does something to use all the resources of the server, we all suffer. It's up to the host to make sure that doesn't happen.

By the end of this month, if things haven't been fixed, I will move the site. I've had enough. This host has the best rep out there but if he don't get things fixed soon, he can count me as one unhappy previous customer. And I'll probably not keep my mouth shut about it either!

Jim · « **Reply #7 on:** Oct 06, 2008, 12:32:23 PM »

We are experiencing some long load times again and as of right now the server move that was scheduled in July is going to happen at 11:00PM EDT tonight. You may experience long load times and sluggish operation of the forum until this move is completed. Bear with us today and this evening and hopefully everything will be back to normal tomorrow. The move shouldn't take more than a couple of hours at the most. Sorry for the inconvenience but our host thinks this is the best way to resolve the problem. They are the experts.

Triss · « **Reply #8 on:** Oct 06, 2008, 02:43:48 PM »

This too will pass Jim. Thanks for the heads up. I was wondering what was going on when I was getting a loading error.

Jim · « **Reply #9 on:** Oct 07, 2008, 10:02:00 AM »

The move seems to be complete. There may be a few directory paths that I will have to fight with but it shouldn't be anything major. The domain has to update so until then you will see a redirect address in you address bar. Additionally the nameservers had to be updated. All of those are what allows folks to find us using the search engines. Everything should be back to normal later today.

I sure hope this fixes our long load time problem. It is pretty zippy this morning.

Thanks for your patience.

sunsoaker · « **Reply #10 on:** Oct 07, 2008, 07:58:31 PM »

I actually couldn't log on, it was either late last night or early this morning. I didn't recognize my log in. But I'm here now so all is good. And it does seem to be a bit quicker for me.

Jim · « **Reply #11 on:** Oct 07, 2008, 08:59:53 PM »

I wanted to post a explanation of what is going on so maybe everyone will understand. If you aren't familiar with some of the things I say here, feel free to ask questions. I'll try to be as descriptive as possible.

First off we were on a shared server. That means that there are anywhere from 8 to 12 other websites with the exact same IP. The way the server is configured, each account or website is allowed a determined amount of storage space and a specific amount of bandwidth useage. The server management software keeps everything separate. Our host is responsible for all that because we are on a managed server. The host is responsible for all server software updates and security.

One problem with shared plans are that one site can, if allowed to, suck up all the resources of the server. The host attempts to put sites that use predictable amounts of bandwidth and server resources on the same server in the hopes that one site won't affect the other. Sometimes that doesn't work out because sites our grow the shared environment. We haven't done that but one of the other sites on the server had. They could have been doing a mass email mailing or something of that sort and that could also eat up all the resources and cause a degradation of the quality of service to the other sites. The server load numbers should never go about 75% and in the case of our server yesterday, the load was over 100%. The numbers are expressed in a decimal like .75 for 75% and at one time it was 18.6. That's the reason we were seeing timeouts and long load times.

Our host moved the site sometime last night to the server we are on now. By doing that, it caused some things to not work just right this morning. The first thing you probably noticed was not being able to sign in. I had the same problem. Because of the move, the directory paths to the files that it takes to run the forum had changed. No problem, the host ran a script that reset the paths to the main items and after he did that, I was able to get in. Once I logged in, I could then fix all the other directory paths. That took till about 10 this morning.

By moving us to a different server, the nameservers have to be updated and the domain has to propagate. Before the move, when you type www.southernspirithunters.com, or used your bookmark, the domain servers throughout the internet knew exactly where that was and took you there. It takes about 24 hours for the domain propagation. That is what may be causing some of you to think you are not logged in. If you come to the forum using a bookmark that worked yesterday, you may think you are on the forum but in fact you are at the old server. The best thing to do is click the home button and that will take you to the temporary URL that will go away once the domain is propagated. Until sometime tomorrow, you should see http://pegasus.montecarlohosting.net/~ghostjim/smf/index.php in your address bar if you are at the right place. The nameservers have both been changed but it takes time for the new address to propagate across the internet.

I hope this explains a bit about what is going on. Feel free to reply to this topic if you have any further questions.

Triss · « **Reply #12 on:** Oct 07, 2008, 09:34:28 PM »

It explains it well Jim. I am sure that you will get all of the bugs out of the system soon.

Jim · « **Reply #13 on:** Oct 08, 2008, 12:50:13 PM »

An additional positive aspect of this move is that the forum (server) time is much closer than it was on the other server. I used to have to set the offset to 2.19 hours because it was close to 2hours and 7minutes off. This server is only 1 hour difference. If you had an offset set in your profile you will need to redo it.

Is anyone still having problems logging in? From what I can see, the propagation is pretty much done. It was suggested that I wait a day or so to make sure before changing the forum settings back to southernspirithunters.com.

Triss · « **Reply #14 on:** Oct 08, 2008, 03:51:24 PM »

No problems logging in for me but when I click on unread topics and the list is empty even though this is my first visit today.

sunsoaker · « **Reply #15 on:** Oct 08, 2008, 08:20:02 PM »

Ditto that for me.

Jim · « **Reply #16 on:** Oct 08, 2008, 09:42:43 PM »

That was because of the rediredt URL that was being used. I tested to see if the domain had propagated today and it seems to be complete. You should now see our normal URL in your address bar and most everything should be back to normal. Let me know if you experience any other problems.

kratz7 · « **Reply #17 on:** Oct 09, 2008, 07:15:48 AM »

Thanks Jim... for doing such a great job on the site. And for explaining things so well. I did have a hiccup with logging in the other night, but things seem to be fine this morning.

Thanks again,

Kratz7

duh · « **Reply #18 on:** Oct 09, 2008, 07:30:54 AM »

I was gone for a couple of days before I could post. I'm glad it is all fixed now.

Jim · « **Reply #19 on:** Oct 10, 2008, 11:46:35 AM »

This is complete so I guess I will lock this topic. I have no errors in the log and things are running along pretty smooth. I'm wishing we had made this move sooner.

News:

Author Topic: News - Server Move (Read 4258 times)

kratz7