If you tried accessing the site in the past two or three hours, chances are you probably couldn't. We had some downtime. I'm not 100% sure what caused it. It's possibly it'll happen again.

The site will be moving to a VPS in the next few days so this should solve any downtime or slow loading problems. While the server isn't setup yet, i anticipate it being ready sometime tomorrow. The plan is to move the site to the new server sometime Friday evening: I'm going to aim for 6:00 PM Central Standard Time. This may not have any effect on the site, but I do anticipate a few hours of downtime. I could be up to 24 hours, though I think it will be much less.

This is just to keep you in the loop. Unless I state otherwise in this thread, the server move will take place Friday evening at 6:00 PM CST.

I had wondered if it was just my computer...

Thanks for the update Daniel, I hope it goes smoothly.

Agreed! The RPG board I participate on changed servers about 8-10 months ago. It was a long ordeal which took a lot of getting used to.

I haven't had any problems with downtime yet, but thanks for the heads up ^^

The relief at reading this is almost overwhelming. I thought it was my computer telling me to go to bed. I'd been having difficulty staying here all day yesterday and for a few days leading up.

Thanks for letting us know. Now I know it wasn't me I can put up with any down time.

We know you're working hard behind the scenes and I, for one, appreciate the hard work you do to keep this forum going.

I had wondered why it was telling me the server couldn't be found. I only experienced it for about 10 minutes, though :)

Good luck with the move.

Thanks for the heads up LP

No problem.

It's very possible we'll be down for 24 hours for some people, but no more than 48 maximum.

If for some reason I cannot do the move Friday night it will take place Sunday afternoon around 1 PM CST.

Here's hoping it goes smoothly.

Good luck with the move :) It probably won't affect me as i'll have no internet all weekend :(

It will affect me, because I'll have no Kit, and no site :( I'll go crazy....er...

After attempting the move and discussing it with my host for several hours I've only had partial success. It'll take several hours for the site to move. So they'll continue to be doing stuff on their end. The forum is still on the old server - I'll move it late tomorrow or midday sunday. It should be much easier by then.

Sorry for the downtime. :redface:

I totally forgot about the server move and was devastated when I tried to log in this morning :p

Good to know it's underway :)

I never expected it to go without a hitch. Good to know that there has been substantial progress. :)

I had withdrawls :(

just jokin

I had withdrawals... And I'm not joking :(

I found time to do this today. The server move will take place in about an hour. It shouldn't have much affect. It can take up to 24 hours for you to see the site on the new server but should be instant for most people.

Well on that note I'm off to watch the New Transformers movie with the kids.

Does that mean most of the rehosting work will take place without the site being unavailable?

How will the new server change things? :confused:

Cogito - yes. They'll move everything and configure and such. Then I'll move the database to this site and configure the domain name.

Unfortunately, when attempting this I had a problem with disk space and am not getting a response from my host. So the server move is not taking place at the moment. It's been backed up (again) until late this evening or sunday.

Banzai - most of what it'll change is on the backend. We were using up a lot of the serve resources and memory. Basically it took a lot of juice to run the site. Moving to a new server should fix that by giving us more resources to use. It should also increase the speed of the site and prevent slow loading.

For one thing, there should be fewer page hangs, where you click on something and the browser just waits... and waits...

Essentially, the traffic on this site had increased to the point that it was saturating the hosting service's servers. They didn't have the bandwidth to keep up.

Okay, the server has been officially moved. It's possible, though unlikely, that something may have gone wrong with them move, so if you notice anything odd please tell me ASAP.

I'm sorry it took so long. The database files for the forum were so big that it took a long time to download it from the old server, upload it to the new one, and restore.

We should be set for now though.

The forums live!!!! :D

Hooray for the end of withdrawal symptoms! (It's good to be home :))

I so agree Banzai/
I had double withdrawal symptoms.
My computer died Friday and was being worked on all sat. got it back today.
needs a battery for something in its innards. But it works.
Don was also able to save all my stuff on the hard drive which we figured was fried.
I was heartbroken at that thought since I have all my stories in word. They were saved and so is the hard drive.
I do not understand computers but I do know I sure missed it when it was gone. The old slow one Don set up just was not the same.
I am so glad this site came back to life.

I'm back! I had a little trouble with the DNS servers my own DNS server forwards to, but after shuffling the order I was able to get here.

Woo Hoo!! We are back and live. Who would have thought that having been banned for a week I would struggle with a few hours. :p

lol now thats devotion. ;)

Lol... I didn't even notice the move 'coz I wasn't home... stupid work.

Yeah, but as soon as you came online, the forums came back up :D You fixed them with magic :D

I think someone needs to fix your head...

Many have tried...
None have succeeded...

Hmmph. How hard did they try? ;)

Meds

Something has to be done...he is becoming rather worrying to be honest! :p

Glad that the forum is back though.

Thats why we need his Meds. :p

I actually got some sleep last night.

I blame you, Daniel :p

I actually got some sleep last night.

I blame you, Daniel :p

Yeah, i checked the site every half hour to see if it had been moved to the new server, but in the end, i had to admit defeat.