Downtime, again

[NFG]

If it's not one thing it's another.  The clock was off by two years.  Some posts are...  lost.  Only the last few, my apologies.

My mainboard cratered late last night, for no apparent reason. There was no data loss but a new motherboard was applied to appease the server gods, and the new system's 2.5x faster than the old one.

XP fought me all f**king day, but I busted ass for you people, and it's now (apparently) 100% operational. The only thing in question now is the SQL server powering the forums; with luck it'll stand up to a reboot and all will be well.

Condolences and bug reports should go in this thread, please.

Aidan: Still having trouble?

[D-Lite]

Lawrence, you are the best.

[atom]

Yes, i give you condolences as i can not even find my server motherboard after moving. Yes everything has been unpacked.

[Aidan]

Aidan: Still having trouble?

All good now! Thanks for your hard work on this one. Do I take it the clock being off was what was causing the issue?

[NFG]

Yeah, that was your problem, for sure.  Surprised to find the clock was off, but I haven't used this mobo since I bought it, probably was never set.

Everything seems to be functioning perfectly.  I'm plotting the RAID solution to keep this from being an issue in the future.

[Aidan]

Just remember that if the OS or another program decides it wants to corrupt the data, RAID is no help! It also doesn't stop motherboards dying!

On the issue of clocks: If you can set up NTP (Network Time Protocol) on your machine, it helps to keep the clock tightly in sync. Windows 2000 and XP both come with a built in NTP client, so you just have to configure it. This is what I do with AOA (although AOA is UNIX based) to ensure that the clock doesn't drift more than a few seconds! You can do this on any machine to help keep the time on track, but make sure your locale is set to the correct time zone, and that your clock is within a few minutes of the real time first.

For 2000/XP, you have to set this on the command line. The command is net time /setsntp: <ServerAddress>.  You will need to replace <ServerAddress> with one of the following, depending on which continental zone you are in:

europe.pool.ntp.org
north-america.pool.ntp.org
oceania.pool.ntp.org
asia.pool.ntp.org

On UNIX (linux/solaris/BSD), you can use the ntpdate command: ntpdate <ServerAddress>. Putting this in a cron job is a reasonable idea.

[NFG]

I've never had trouble with the clock before and I don't really expect I'll have trouble now.  Even a badly made digital clock won't lose more than a minute or three in a year, it would be three years before anyone would notice or care, and it won't affect the forum overmuch I imagine.

If however it is drastically out of whack I will certainly beat it with a large stick until it is back in whack.

---

So not only did I rebuild the server I completely redesigned the NFG Games page.  Who da man?

[Aidan]

Computers are much worse than badly made digital clocks... I've found that rather too many computers can't keep good time, without some outside assistance.

I'll have to go take a look at NFG Games page then! Sounds like you've been rather busy!

[NFG]

If anyone noticed, there was about an hour of spur-of-the-moment downtime tonight while I shunted the server to a new, smaller case.  I have an HP Pavilion here, and I tell ya what:  If I ever meet the fuckers responsible for making this thing I'mo kick 'em in the nuts.

Stupid HP.

[D-Lite]

Lawrence, what was the "other" link from the nfg.2y.net front page?  Meaning, not /games/, but.....  ?  It was there a few days ago, now it's gone.

And BTW, my mother-in-law was at HP for about 30 years and just retired about 2 years ago.  She pretty much thinks that everyone there is a bunch of meatheads and that HP is one of the poorest run companies on this planet.

[Martin]

Off topic, but on the subject of computer's being b*tches.

Once I was testing out the calculator in Windows, I keyed in 1+2 and it gave me 24 as an answer.... :blink:  

[NFG]

D-Lite: Originally nfg.2y.net was to be my personal page, a sort of blog, but it became more and more a games page so I shut down the 'main' page, since I never updated it.  The only difference between it and the games page for the last six months was the naked girl in the background.

As for HP, I know it.  I was given this computer as part of a trade, I'd never have bought the fucker on my own.  Everything I've ever owned from HP has been garbage.

[D-Lite]

.....The only difference between it and the games page for the last six months was the naked girl in the background........

That's what it was!  Saw that briefly then the site changed.

[NFG]

You can see it still here:

http://nfg.2y.net/index2.shtm

Tho it's now a bit broken...

[benzaldehyde]

Though a bit late: Lawrence saves the day again.

And, I like the naked girl. Best personal site... ever.

[D-Lite]

You can see it still here:

http://nfg.2y.net/index2.shtm

Tho it's now a bit broken...

And now it's gone!

[atom]

Well I signed up for hosting and didnt have it set up till half a month later, I had to file a claim with paypal before they did it. Its finally set up and the dns registered ok but now the host is having their first downtime in like a year. Just great.

[atom]

*Update* Well it is now the 22nd and this host has made me so pissed. The site has been down half the time, and hellishly SLOW the other half. When I checked their site everyday to see if my account was set up I never noticed any lag, in fact they had a link to alexa.com showing that it was faster then 98% of all websites. I hinted at them many times to give me a free month because of all the trouble they went through, i signed up on the 2nd and it wasnt set up till the 17th. That was half the month, and the other half i fear will be consumed by lag, or perhaps all eternity of hosting with this company will be this way. Do you guys think I should file a claim with paypal again to get my money back?  

[Aidan]

Who's the hosting company? I note the domain was registered with frandt.com, but don't know if they are the people who are hosting it.

[atom]

Yeah, its frandt.com. I wish i hand't had them register the domain cuz they fricken own it now.

[Aidan]

I've not been able to get through to their DNS, so I've no idea what they're doing. Take a look at http://www.freewebspace.net/forums/showthread.php?t=59220 for more comments on their service.

Given that just about any DNS downtime is unacceptable, I'd ask for your money back and ensure that you cancel the lot. You will probably lose the domain name however.

Instead, when you want to register a domain, try a proper registrar like Gandi. That way you retain control of your domain, which is critically important if you are trying to build a brand. Gandi can do basic DNS services for you as well, or you can get your hosting company to do DNS too.

If you're happy using paypal, then I may be able to offer you some hosting space, depending on how much you're looking to pay for it. This would include basic DNS if you require. Obviously this would be something best discussed in private than in the forum.