Who tripped over the power cord...

[rooboy]

...and then took 6 hours to plug it back in

I almost got some work done in this time - too close for comfort

[gstark]

The problem was (is) a database issue at Dreamhost.

They were advised of an issue basicalkly as soon as it happenned, and I have logged several fault tickets since then.

Nothing happenned though.

When I got home, we analised and discussed the problem, and Leigh came up with a suggestion: if it's an internal connection issue with the database, which is what it seemed to be, why not just grab a backup copy of the database and recreate it on another host?

Great idea, took about ten minutes to create the new host, grab the data and restore it, and then reconfigure the system to talk with the new host and database.

So we're back, despite DH's best efforts to not provide timely answers.

[Cre8tivepixels]

LMAO at the tittle......lol

[Nnnnsic]

Don't laugh that hard, Dan.

A couple of years ago when the forum went down, it was a result of me accidentally unplugging the server.

As such, it's a running joke.

[Laurie]

Don't laugh that hard, Dan.

A couple of years ago when the forum went down, it was a result of me accidentally unplugging the server.

As such, it's a running joke.

the server for this site was located at your house/work???

[rooboy]

Don't laugh that hard, Dan.

A couple of years ago when the forum went down, it was a result of me accidentally unplugging the server.

As such, it's a running joke.

I didn't know that...now I'm glad I named the thread this way Crazy fluke heh

[macka]

When I got home, we analised and discussed the problem,

That sounds quite uncomfortable.

[bwhinnen]

I was getting error code 28, which in Mysql / Unix speak is device full. To me looked like /tmp was full on the original host.

Brett PS glad to see you back online

[sheepie]

Don't laugh that hard, Dan.

A couple of years ago when the forum went down, it was a result of me accidentally unplugging the server.

As such, it's a running joke.

I didn't know that...now I'm glad I named the thread this way Crazy fluke heh

That's why us 'older' members sat back and waited for the sparks to fly when you said that - Leigh had threatened us with all sorts of nasties if we brought 'that episode' up again

[rooboy]

That's why us 'older' members sat back and waited for the sparks to fly when you said that - Leigh had threatened us with all sorts of nasties if we brought 'that episode' up again

Well I'm not banned yet....I might have to mention it at the next mini-meet

[Kyle]

Time for me to keep backups of my dreamhost database info I think

[shakey]

When I got home, we analised and discussed the problem,

That sounds quite uncomfortable.

Bad girl...

[oli]

Time for me to keep backups of my dreamhost database info I think

I am continuously wondering why so many people continue to use and recommend Dreamhost when they have so many problems?

[hart]

Time for me to keep backups of my dreamhost database info I think

I am continuously wondering why so many people continue to use and recommend Dreamhost when they have so many problems?

I think you'll find they're one of the better hosting providers out there - I joined just after their major power work a few weeks ago and my only complaint is related to the ticket based support - it just takes too long to get a hold of anyone (as Gary has experienced first hand here).

I tried aplus.net for a while before switching to dreamhost - I'm glad I did, performance and reliability have been much better IMHO. I will say one thing for aplus, their support people are contactable *live* 24x7, without delay. That said, none of them are admins, they're just level 1 support - which, if you're a newbie, is still a valuable and useful thing. Pity their service wasn't up to scratch.

Honestly, for the money, dreamhost are amazing value IMHO (and I work for an ISP, I know what's involved in providing stable hosting and it isn't an easy job).

As for keeping backups, pardon my frankness here, but you're a fool if you don't backup your data, regardless of where it is stored.

Cheers

Leigh

[oli]

Honestly, for the money, dreamhost are amazing value IMHO

I guess that is it at the end of the day...

I just had a look at their prices and I guess if your site isn't critical then those prices are certainly excellent value.

[Nnnnsic]

the server for this site was located at your house/work???

Yup. It wasn't 'till about into the 2nd year I think it was that we migrated to an external host, but for a while there we were running off of a 512k symmetrical on our own server.

And when special events were on, even if we were on either a GoDaddy or Dreamhost server, the Flash Video feeds I'd rigged up of events were running through our server and home connection.

[gstark]

DH do provide exceptional value, and when they do get back to you on a support ticket, it is always a live person, not a robot. In the main, they also don't talk down to you, which I find to be a very refreshing change.

On the subject of backups, this is another area where DH really do shine, and especially so compared with their opposition.

A while back we did need to restore our database from a backup: we were hosted at GoDaddy at the time. To do the restore cost around US$125, and they quoted about a five day turnaround for the job.

That was enough to say to me look elsewhere.

At DH, they take regular and frequent snapshots of your system, and provide fully documented help for you to show you how to go about grabbing any of thos snapshots and restoring (yourself) from one.

And with shell access and cron jobs, it's too easy to just schedule your own daily backups as and when you deem appropriate. I have a rolling weekly backup happening on several of the databases that I hold at DH.

And then, of course, there's today's effort. Took less than 15 minutes once I realised that we may have had a workable solution we could implement.

FYI, the backup of the database this evening occupied 228,285,352 bytes, as noted above we have several daily iterations of that backup (plus several other databases), and we're still only using about 5% of our storage allocation.

As I said, it's good value.

And yes ... when the site started, Laurie, it was running off a RH8 box in our living room. lasted about 8 months like that, before we went offsite.

[gstark]

I was getting error code 28, which in Mysql / Unix speak is device full. To me looked like /tmp was full on the original host.

Spot on, Brett.

That explains first of all why we were able to just move the database to a different server and bring the system back up.

DH have confirmed that a user was doing something they shouldn't have been doing, which filled up a partition on the server and brought us down. Ouch!

[MATT]

Don't laugh that hard, Dan.

A couple of years ago when the forum went down, it was a result of me accidentally unplugging the server.

As such, it's a running joke.

Thats what I thought when it was down

MATT