New Server, Scheduled Downtime, & Fundraiser

Hello everybody!

I hope everyone is doing well. As part of the effort to reduce the monthly server cost and as a prerequisite for upgrading our software to XF2, we are going to be moving forward with a newer, slightly more affordable server from a different web host.

The new server features a newer, but somewhat slower processor and significantly more RAM. My hope is that there is no observable change in website performance.

I’ve gone ahead and purchased the first month of hosting myself for $142. Going forward, our server expenses should be around that price, instead of the normal $192.

We were short on our February fundraiser by approximately $35. If anyone is willing to help cover this current remainder on our bill that would be greatly appreciated. I’ve updated the fundraiser to reflect this information. If we exceed the current fundraiser it will go to help offset the new server setup (this is not a requirement for the upgrade but is appreciated).

I’m currently waiting for access to our new server. As long as it’s available, I will start the migration process this weekend. This could take several hours.

Theoretically, propagating our DNS (URL/domain name) to the new server could take 24-48 hours, though it will be much quicker for most users. Generally, I’m anticipating downtime lasting 4-6 hours.

Currently, our target migration date (scheduled downtime) is this Friday, 4-10pm.

Our backup migration date (scheduled downtime) will be this Sunday, 5-11pm.

If there are any changes or issues regarding our server migration I will make updates here and our social media.

 

Thank you, indeed it is MST.

I am running behind schedule so we might not start at 4 pm exactly, but may start at 5/6pm, shifted, within the same window.

 

I encountered issues with file transfers several times when downloading from old server and uploading to new server. It would take hours and then timeout.

I've reopened the board for now; the transfer has not yet taken place. I will make another attempt Sunday with a fresh backup then. Thanks for your patience.

 

How exactly are you trying to transfer the board? That many terabytes may be a bit difficult to transfer online if the right fiber optics aren't in place for 10 or more gigabit connections.

You may have to hand carry transfer it on large externals.

 

If it’s web hosting, I presume he took last night’s backup, sent it via SFTP from one web host to another (might be Russia to Mexico for all anyone knows), loaded that, then during the downtime window will take a delta snapshot that has whatever database changes happened during the day up to the shutdown time, sent that file (much smaller) via SFTP, loaded that, then fired it up again.

For all the past-tense verbs, presume I’m making this prediction from the future.

 

Has it actually happened yet?

 

Hi guys,

My sincere apologies for not posting an update sooner.

After the first migration failed I instead used our second date to test migrate. I should’ve shared an update with you.

Currently I need to complete more testing before I feel comfortable with the migration. This basically involves me taking an old database backup (which I already have) and attempting to complete the upload to the new sever, then making sure nothing broke - nothing fancy.

March has been a busy month for me; I’m involved in the production of a short film and I spent all last week moving. I’m finished moving as of today and Tuesday is the last day of production, so I will be around shortly thereafter. I’ll try to keep though guys better informed going forward.

Presently my goal is to complete another test upgrade this Tuesday/Wednesday. Since I have what I need already this shouldn’t impact uptime.

If the test on Wednesday is successful we will migrate the server this Thursday at 4 p.m. MST.

Thank you for your patience.

 

I’m getting set up with behind-the-scenes stuff and some final testing now. We will probably go offline temporarily sometime in the next hour.

 

Encountered some errors with our nameserver setup. We're back for now, but will have more downtime, likely Saturday evening.

 

I'm glad someone knows how to deal with this stuff. To me, it's like black magic.

 

It is. @NWOPD stands for New Wizard Of Preternatural Divination.

 

I had trouble accessing the site from my desktop PC earlier but a reboot fixed it. Dunno why, tablet and phone were fine.

 

That's fine. We'll all be watching basketball anyway.

 

It might be a few more days on my end, I’ve been unable to exactly pinpoint the problem.

 

Apologies for the late notice on this. We will make another attempt shortly this evening in approximately 1 hour, at 8 PM MST.

We will be down for 6-8 hours.

 

Also note that I just posted a new server fundraiser here. This is for our current web host that we will be leaving soon. Anyone who can help cover this is greatly appreciated (last month I covered the old and new server expenses myself).

Fingers crossed, by tomorrow we should have our old server shuttered and be on a slightly updated, more affordable server.

 

57 minutes ago, good thing I checked.

 

We are currently live on the new server. I came across some issues along the way but was able to solve them.

Please report any issues, errors, or broken features in this thread and I will investigate them ASAP.

 

Yay. Congratulations. Hope this improves things.

 

Nevermind. Restarted my phone and all is good

 

Woo-hoo!

 

I’m hoping this update fixes the book ad rotator issue, but there’s no evidence that anything has changed (yet). Any insight to that?

 

I’m hoping this update fixes the book ad rotator issue, but there’s no evidence that anything has changed (yet). Any insight to that?