Data loss from service outage

[BigDaddy]

Well, without the official report from the webmaster, don't take this as 100% rock solid

However, it would appear that the hardware failure in question has caused some data loss.  It appears that there is at least a good 2 hour time span of posts and other content that didn't survive the disruption.

If you are missing a post, this is likely the reason why.

[darkdep]

All,

Here's the story.  The physical server that OVAS is hosted on had a hard drive failure this afternoon.  Luckily Bluehost is actually pretty good with live backups, and although we lost some data it was only a few hours worth.  Our data was transferred to a new box, and then it took several hours for our DNS records to update to point to the new server (we use DNS servers outside of bluehost for redundancy).

This issue had nothing to do with our plan to move to a new High-CPU Server; it was just bad timing.  Our provider has proven to be quite good with regards to backups, although their communication skills during a crisis leave something to be desired

If none of that meant any sense to you, don't worry.  The issue should be resolved completely by now (although there may be the odd person who will still be unable to get on for up to 24 hours after the server changed) and it is not expected to recur.

We are still planning a more permanent server move but it will be a planned outage.

[babblefish1960]

Sounds like you had a lovely afternoon with the telephone, at least it is working again, looking forward to the next outing, planned you say? That sounds like it could be a hoot too.

[Iceman]

Did PMs get lost as well?

[babblefish1960]

If you check your outbox of your messages, and if the pm you are sure you sent is not there, than yes, they may have been lost as well. If it is there, it means it was sent and the recipient should also have a copy.

[beowulf]

Could this also be causing the slow speed on the site today?

[darkdep]

No.  The site speed is just due to high load on our host's server.

We are slated to have the OVAS Site transferred to a higher capacity server next week.

[babblefish1960]

Oh yes, that is going to be a red letter day in the annals of OVAS history. Like when the Vulcans discovered humans had finally grasped warp drive. We should be zooming like the Jetsons come next week. Yippee!

p.s. this is the third try to post, ovas just keeps disappearing

[bitterman]

I'm have this site just dissapear for hours on end. Took about 1 hour to conenct and be able to respond to a purchaser pm.

Bruce