ATTENTION: Imminent Server Move <===========================, Important Information For All Forum Dwellers Options

[stargelman]

Hello my dear forum dwellers,

as you may have noticed, we have had absolutely no problems with the web server in these last few years. Despite that, circumstances have forced my hand on short notice to jump ship and get a new server at a different hosting company. The move will have to be made within a few days.

What does this mean for you?

I will try to minimize the downtime of this website and the forums, but it's possible that, despite my best effords, the site will be unreachable for some or all of you for a short time, or that the forums appear locked down when the move is started and your PC still tries to talk to the old server.



Don't panic, everything will be fine!


Thank you for your attention!

[Uleni Athram]

*gasps so hard, he chokes*

Oh well. Its not so bad, I guess.

[Colonel Mustard]

Egad!

Eh, that sounds fine. Hardly a world-shaking disaster, I daresay.

[Grits]

Thank you for the warning!

[King Of Beasts]

Thanks for the warning:

How long can the downtime last though?

[Acadian]

Yes, thanks so much for the warning.

[stargelman]

Worst case: an hour.

[King Coin]

Thanks for the heads up!

[mALX]

Thank you for the heads-up, it is greatly appreciated. When the Official forums changed servers, all our links were changed and broken. Will this happen here?

[SubRosa]

Thanks for the warning. As a network tech myself who works in a data center, I fully understand the realities of servers, not the least of the financial issues associated with them.

[stargelman]

Thank you for the heads-up, it is greatly appreciated. When the Official forums changed servers, all our links were changed and broken. Will this happen here?

No. Everything is transfered as-is to a new server. IP changes, but everything else will appear the same.

[mALX]

Thank you for the heads-up, it is greatly appreciated. When the Official forums changed servers, all our links were changed and broken. Will this happen here?

No. Everything is transfered as-is to a new server. IP changes, but everything else will appear the same.

That is good news, thank you!

[mALX]

Also, SubRosa mentioned the financial end. I joined the Nexus forum for a lifetime membership fee of $65.00 and would be willing to do something like that here as well if the fee was reasonable. If that is the issue and offering paid memberships would help, let us know. I'm sure more people than just myself would be willing to contribute a reasonable amount for the pleasure this site brings us each day.

[stargelman]

That's really very sweet of you

But there's really no need. The move wasn't triggered by any financial reasons but the result of a major annoyance with the old host. Their inability or unwillingless to update their pricing only made the decision easier.

[King Coin]

That's really very sweet of you

But there's really no need. The move wasn't triggered by any financial reasons but the result of a major annoyance with the old host. Their inability or unwillingless to update their pricing only made the decision easier.

As mALX said, many of us really enjoy this site and probably would be willing to contribute if need be. Thanks for keeping our little corner of the net going all these years.

[mALX]

That's really very sweet of you

But there's really no need. The move wasn't triggered by any financial reasons but the result of a major annoyance with the old host. Their inability or unwillingless to update their pricing only made the decision easier.

As mALX said, many of us really enjoy this site and probably would be willing to contribute if need be. Thanks for keeping our little corner of the net going all these years.

Yes, thank you very much for this site. What few times this site has been down have driven home how important and integral a priority it is to us.

[Elisabeth Hollow]

MOVING SERVERS?!

-dramatic faint-

I'm sure it will be painless on OUR end, lol. I hope things run smoother for you when the change comes :]

[stargelman]

Well, that was that. Smooth as a baby's bottom, I'd say.

[mALX]

No down time? Wonderful!

[stargelman]

Theoretically a few minutes. I downloaded the forum's SQL database (a whopping 1.1 GB if you can believe that), switched the forums on the old server off, changed the DNS entry and then it was just a matter of time for the cached DNS names to time out

I did have some problems with the code for the site itself: I currently don't have access to the source code of the CGI that runs the site, and since the new server is 64 bit and the program was compiled for 32 bit and whoever set up that box forgot to install the compatibility libraries.. and then there was some trouble with a database I forgot to move... but now all is working again.

Again, if you find any problems, please let me know and I will try to fix them ASAP. Thanks.