Migrating PF to New Host: Minimal Downtime Expected

[Greg Bernhardt]

Executive Summary:
PF is moving to a new host with better hardware and prices. The move will happen sometime this week. Expect a few hours downtime.

More Detail:
Our current host has told me the datacenter that holds PF's server is closing within the next couple months. Instead of moving to a new datacenter with the same host we're going to move to a new host with better hardware and better pricing. A win-win! Because the busy school season is right around the corner we've decided to expedite this process to this coming week and as soon as Tuesday. The process hasn't been fully mapped yet, but the switch could happen either Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. I'll of course update this thread once that is figured out. We're going to hop on a zippy professional DNS server so the downtime should be only a few hours compared to the usual 24hrs wait on propagation. So expect this week that you may receive an error when visiting PF, but don't panic. Try again in a few hours.

Disclaimer:
I've always been correct about downtimes in the past. It's never been more than I've said.

 

[jedishrfu]

Oh and you have a distant Irish relative named Murphy...

 

[Evo]

AAAAARGH

 

[phinds]

I've always been correct about downtimes in the past. It's never been more than I've said.

Is this one of those "alternate facts" I've been hearing about ?

 

[Dr Transport]

Oh and you have a distant Irish relative named Murphy...

I was having a beer with Murphy the other day...Fine fellow

 

[fresh_42]

Disclaimer:
I've always been correct about downtimes in the past. It's never been more than I've said.

Does this new confidence in your predictions mean our new home will be in Vegas?

 

[jim hardy]

Murphy is an incurable optimist.

Good Luck !

 

[Klystron]

Out of curiosity, which datacenter?

Murphy's banned from datacenters after that last all-nighter. They now fall under Finagle's Constant:
" The perversity of the Universe tends toward a maximum." (Larry Niven).

 

[Krushnaraj Pandya]

Oh and you have a distant Irish relative named Murphy...

Then there's Muphry to take care of the misspells.

 

[e-pie]

For several days when I tried opening the site, it wouldn't load properly. Also my posts were duplicating due to low response time.

Was this the cause? The server was down?

 

[Sorcerer]

For several days when I tried opening the site, it wouldn't load properly. Also my posts were duplicating due to low response time.

Was this the cause? The server was down?

Unlikely friend e-pie, as Greg said the change would happen “as soon as Tuesday.” The data center that the host of this site uses is shutting down in a couple of months, he said, so I’d bet your problem is coming from your end/your ISP.

Data centers are fun, by the way. They’re like giant, cold rooms that look like the inside of a computer. ;)

 

[jedishrfu]

No the duplicate post issue had hit us some time ago and recently reappeared for many of us once again so it has to be more central to PF as a whole.

 

[jedishrfu]

No mention of Murphy should forget to include this song from the Flogging Mollies

 

[Sorcerer]

No the duplicate post issue had hit us some time ago and recently reappeared for many of us once again so it has to be more central to PF as a whole.

Huh. I never noticed.

 

[Klystron]

Unlikely friend e-pie, as Greg said the change would happen “as soon as Tuesday.” The data center that the host of this site uses is shutting down in a couple of months, he said, so I’d bet your problem is coming from your end/your ISP.

Data centers are fun, by the way. They’re like giant, cold rooms that look like the inside of a computer. ;)

Yep, data centers are more fun than a basket of kittens; noisier too. Have to wear heavy clothing like the folks who stock the freezer section of the local supermarket. I once helped build a data center in a refurbished supermarket building that had since hosted a fitness club. Air conditioning was fine. We put the automatic transfer switch (municipal power to UPS to generators) and fire suppression system in what was originally the butcher shop then spa. Talk about progress...

Without additional information, duplicate posts sounds like a software -- specifically a queuing -- problem. Traceroute or similar hacks should tell which side's responsible for slow response times, nyet?

Greg, changing data center contracts could be a good opportunity to request duplicate physically remote data sites. Used to call them 'ghost sites' but I've been out of the biz a few years. Duplicate severs and DB mirrors seem expensive at first blush, though only the primary requires real-time backups, until you overlay the best connected locations with maps of natural hazards such as 'quakes, floods, fires; not to mention the laughable physical security at many commercial hosts.

--Norm

 

[jim hardy]

Duplicate posts ? Only duplicate? I used to get five or six at a time...

 

[pBrane]

I was having a beer with Murphy the other day...Fine fellow

hmmph, burp, what? someone mention beer?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

New server has been ordered. Plan on tomorrow into Wednesday CST -6GMT. You should only experience 2-3 hours downtime.

 

[jim hardy]

Maybe @ will autocomplete !

 

[Tom.G]

Dreamer! Even when I click a selection on the list it only works sometimes. Often, but not always, even when that fails everything is cool in the Preview.

As you say @jim hardy, "Never trust a computer with anything important." (It worked this time! But I'm on the server that does not show the menu banner until I scroll once. Maybe a case of "You pays yo' money and takes yo' choice.")

 

[jim hardy]

Thanks @Tom.
@Tom.G

worked the second time but not first

it's not just me?

old jim

 

[Tom.G]

First one worked, sort of, probably as designed. It got a different Tom.

 

[Bystander]

it's not just me?

Never has been, never will be.

 

[jim hardy]

First one worked, sort of, probably as designed. It got a different Tom.

Actually it wasn't blue when i first posted. Now it points to a Tom from California - my apologies Tom - old jim

 

[Tom.G]

(a rhetorical)Why? There is no apology needed.

 

[Ibix]

I think he's apologising to the other Tom he atted by accident. Rousing an account from a near-fourteen year slumber is always risky.

Edit: <Puts on coffee, just in case>.

 

[Tom.G]

You have a point, clearly risking a severe case of the morning grumpies!

 

[Charles Link]

It looks like we're back on the air. The PF was down for a while. Thank you @Greg Bernhardt for all of your efforts.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

It looks like we're back on the air. The PF was down for a while. Thank you @Greg Bernhardt for all of your efforts.

How long was your downtime? For most people it should have been very quick. We switched around 6:30am this morning.

 

[Charles Link]

How long was your downtime? For most people it should have been very quick. We switched around 6:30am this morning.

I wasn't able to get on until about 4:30 P.M. I first tried about 8:00 A.M. this morning and it was down.

 

[Bystander]

Astro & Astro, and Cosmology HAD (PAST TENSE) slowed down to a crawl for me, and 'tis no longer the case. Dunno if "The Move" gets the credit or not, but ain't complaining.

 

[Stavros Kiri]

Did I miss something?

 

[Charles Link]

I wasn't able to get on until about 4:30 P.M. I first tried about 8:00 A.M. this morning and it was down.

Hi @Greg Bernhardt I just sent you an e-mail, and now I am back on again. (I was off again for about an hour from 4:45 to 5:45). Thank you

 

[Dr Transport]

I wasn't able to get on until ~9 pm, although I was getting emails about alerts...

 

[Tom.G]

No problems here in Southern California. Got on for a bit around (local times) 2pm, 5pm, 9:30pm. (UTC-7)

 

[symbolipoint]

How long was your downtime? For most people it should have been very quick. We switched around 6:30am this morning.

Less than 1 full day;
Maybe not more than 12 hours.

 

[Vanadium 50]

We're going to hop on a zippy professional DNS server so the downtime should be only a few hours compared to the usual 24hrs wait on propagation.

What was the TTL setting? Verizon's DNS was giving me the old IP until just a few minutes ago.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

What was the TTL setting? Verizon's DNS was giving me the old IP until just a few minutes ago.

Yesterday it was 60 for much of the day, but it's apparent some ISPs cache for much longer. Hopefully everyone is over now because I put into cancel the old server tomorrow.

 

[fresh_42]

What was the TTL setting? Verizon's DNS was giving me the old IP until just a few minutes ago.

I landed already yesterday in the middle of hurricane seasons ...

 

[devadmin]

Yesterday it was 60 for much of the day, but it's apparent some ISPs cache for much longer. Hopefully everyone is over now because I put into cancel the old server tomorrow.

I've been looking at the usage on the old server, and it's completely dropped off now, so it would appear everyone is now on the new server.

 

[Borg]

How long was your downtime? For most people it should have been very quick. We switched around 6:30am this morning.

It was more than 24 hours before I was able to get back on.

 

[michael1978]

Executive Summary:
PF is moving to a new host with better hardware and prices. The move will happen sometime this week. Expect a few hours downtime.

More Detail:
Our current host has told me the datacenter that holds PF's server is closing within the next couple months. Instead of moving to a new datacenter with the same host we're going to move to a new host with better hardware and better pricing. A win-win! Because the busy school season is right around the corner we've decided to expedite this process to this coming week and as soon as Tuesday. The process hasn't been fully mapped yet, but the switch could happen either Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. I'll of course update this thread once that is figured out. We're going to hop on a zippy professional DNS server so the downtime should be only a few hours compared to the usual 24hrs wait on propagation. So expect this week that you may receive an error when visiting PF, but don't panic. Try again in a few hours.

Disclaimer:
I've always been correct about downtimes in the past. It's never been more than I've said.

Thanks sir...…..i hope son i get answer, have a nice day……...

 

[Stavros Kiri]

I landed already yesterday in the middle of hurricane seasons ...

For me things were really simple. No "hurricanes", no take-off, no landing either. It seems "I slept" thoughout the whole thing! ...

I've been looking at the usage on the old server, and it's completely dropped off now, so it would appear everyone is now on the new server.

Looks the same to me (so far) ...
And so far so good.
By the way, I didn't know there was another Staff Administrator other than @Greg Bernhardt !? ...

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

For me things were really simple. No "hurricanes", no take-off, no landing either. It seems "I slept" thoughout the whole thing! ...

Looks the same to me (so far) ...
And so far so good.
By the way, I didn't know there was another Staff Administrator other than @Greg Bernhardt !? ...

Let me introduce you to Matt. He helps with some of the highly technical aspects of the server.

 

[Stavros Kiri]

Let me introduce you to Matt. He helps with some of the highly technical aspects of the server.

Hi Matt! Seems you guys have been doing quite a work. Our congratulations and admiration! ...

 

[jim hardy]

@Greg

@ still doesn't autocomplete on first try
but it did on second and third
@Greg Bernhardt
@Greg Bernhardt

computers are just that way.

Congratulations on swapover ! old jim

 

[dlgoff]

@Greg Bernhardt
Has the time zone changed for the day shown on post? e.g. https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/random-thoughts-part-6.875108/page-209#post-6042044

It's Wednesday here Central standard time zone. Wasn't the old server located in this time zone?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

@Greg Bernhardt
Has the time zone changed for the day shown on post? e.g. https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/random-thoughts-part-6.875108/page-209#post-6042044
View attachment 229689
It's Wednesday here Central standard time zone. Wasn't the old server located in this time zone?

Server is on the east coast now

 

[dlgoff]

Server is on the east coast now

That explains it. Thanks Greg.

 

[mfb]

You can set the time zone in your profile, by the way.