Date: 2013-03-19 12:25 Subject: Sorry, everyone Security: Public

My alerts didn't pick up the outage and so I hadn't noticed we were down. i was even poking around yesterday before the outage apparently kicked in, and everything seemed to be running fine. Grr.

The good news though, is that I've found a hardware replacement/upgrade option for us and we'll be getting upgraded soon. I'm still just trying to figure out the best way to get the software upgraded, too. I don't think we'll be more than a month getting resettled either way, though.

Thanks!
Robin

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Date: 2012-07-27 22:38 Subject: Will work faster Security: Public

OK, guys. I'll try to step things up (as much as I actually can) to get us upgraded. I know it's irritating to have such frequent and random outages. No guarantees or specific timetable right now, but I'm working on it and I'll get it done as soon as I can manage.

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Date: 2012-07-26 23:00 Subject: Upgrades when we can Security: Public

So we had another weird outage earlier. This was a different issue than we'd had previously, but it tells me we're going to just keep having problems unless/until we upgrade the hardware and possibly the software. I'm going to do my best to keep a close eye out for weird outages until I can manage the upgrade. I'm honestly not sure when that will be. I have to be careful about stuff like that so I can avoid double-payments for server hardware as much as possible. But I promise I'm planning for it and looking at all potential options. I'll post here when I have more details about when upgrading will happen and what that will entail.

Thanks!

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Date: 2012-07-20 20:20 Subject: Hardware issue resolved Security: Public

I'm still watching things in case the server that failed today has further issues. Turned out we had a failing ethernet port on one of the servers (and yes, when one goes down, the whole JF service goes splat). The data center fixed the failed server, and we're back up and running. If it looks as though that server has further issues, I'll get a replacement for it. My plan now is to keep an eye out and try to determine if the issues we've been having periodically over the last couple weeks are because of the failing ethernet port, or if indeed there are other issues and we need to go through with the replacement.

Thanks, everyone!

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Date: 2012-07-11 10:53 Subject: Sorry, everyone! Security: Public

One of the html servers went offline, and that knocked the other offline with it, hence no access until I got the original downed one fixed. I have some ideas for fixing some of the services that are wacky, too, and I will finally have some more time in the next few weeks to give those a try.

Thanks, everyone!

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Date: 2011-05-30 01:03 Subject: Um. Well, huh! Security: Public

So I guess you guys noticed that some of the notifications that were generated during the upgrade but didn't get delivered.. got delivered. I'd thought those were gone, but, well, whattayaknow! If you happened to get flooded, you have my apologies. And FYI, I'm still working on lots of other little things, as promised, while I have a lighter workload.

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Date: 2011-05-23 16:30 Subject: Notification issue update Security: Public

I haven't tested a lot of the email notifications yet, but it looks as though we have many of them back now. Comment notifications seem to be back and I'll be testing others in the days to come. Thanks, everyone!

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Date: 2011-05-19 20:08 Subject: Minor Maintenance Tonight 5-19 Security: Public

Just so everyone has a heads-up: I might need to restart services on a couple of the servers during some of the work I'll be doing a little later tonight (Thurs. 5-19). Things shouldn't be down long, a minute or two perhaps, just a couple of times, to try to keep disruptions to a minimum.

Thanks!

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Date: 2011-05-16 19:09 Subject: Upgrade/notifications update Security: Public

Okay, so the notification problem is more complicated than I thought. The good news is that I have something of a lull in my workload over the next couple of weeks, so I can dedicate much more time to dig in and fix things. So that's the plan. Thanks for your patience!

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Date: 2011-05-14 19:38 Subject: Notification issues Security: Public

We're having issues with notification mail going out, and I'm working on it.

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Date: 2011-05-14 18:42 Subject: I think we're done! Security: Public

Okay, I think that's it, all done with the database server upgrade. If you notice anything *new* weird, hop over to guineapig to let me know. Pre-existing weirdness I'm working on (and I hope the new database server will help), but by new, I mean if there's something obviously wrong since today's upgrade, please do give a shout over in guineapig and I'll see what I can do.

Thanks!

(And yes, I had to come back and edit this for my horrific typos. My brain is fried at this point. So I'm really hoping it went as smoothly as it seems to have gone from my view so far)

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Date: 2011-05-13 21:42 Subject: Maintenance notice: Saturday 5-14-11 Security: Public

I have a brief window of opportunity to upgrade our database server tomorrow, Saturday the 14th, so heads-up everyone! I'll try to be as brief as I can, but it could take a couple/few hours beginning to end. Also expect a little weirdness when it first comes back up as I iron out the database wrinkles and get everything online again. By evening, we should be good to go again.

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Date: 2010-07-31 20:36 Subject: Data Center Outage Security: Public

Hello. I understand we had an outage earlier, and I wanted to let everyone know that the issue was with a router at the data center. The JF servers themselves are stable, however, and are running smoothly. The data center appears to have resolved the issue with the routing hardware, as well.

Thanks!

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Date: 2010-07-28 02:22 Subject: Posting access Security: Public

Still finishing up testing, but I think the last of the posting issues have been resolved. So if you've specifically been looking for news about this, go ahead and give it a try. And feel free, as always, to head over to the guineapig journal to report any other weirdness for me to put on the to-do list. Thanks!

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Date: 2010-07-23 04:29 Subject: Posting update Security: Public

Progress! If you're one of those having trouble with posting from a newer journal, try clearing your cache/temporary internet files now, and then logging back in and trying to post. It's worked with some test journals, and so I'd like for those having problems with the text entry box to try it.

Posting is occasionally slow, too, I know, and I'm also working on that. Posts are going through, but sometimes it takes a minute for the confirmation page to appear. If you hang on, it does come up, though. You can test it by checking quickly in a separate tab, where you will likely see your post waiting already. That's on my fix-list too, of course, along with making sure posting access is reliable for all journals.

And as always, if you have specific weirdness to report, I'm happy to check it out if you post to our guineapig journal. The reports I've had thus far are really helpful, and I promise to get to everything as soon as I can.

Thanks much!

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Date: 2010-07-23 03:01 Subject: Getting closer... Security: Public

I'm getting closer to sorting out this weird posting problem, but as some of you have noticed, it's not fixed yet. I can tell you it's a javascript problem, and that I've noticed alternate browsers, that handle javascript differently, can post new entries without difficulty. Google Chrome works well for me, and I've had success with it directly on the JF domain, without having to use the development domain. I've also had success with my Atomic browser on my iPad. When using one of those browsers to post to an account that had difficulty in Firefox, I was also able to edit those posts without issue in my usual Firefox browser again.

I know it's far from ideal, to have to futz with the development domain now and then, or to dig up other browsers to try. But I thought I'd at least share the ideas and progress in the meantime.

Thanks!

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Date: 2010-07-21 00:47 Subject: Posting issues update Security: Public

For those of you having problems with new entries, with the text box for the post content being unavailable, it's a bigger pain in the butt than I first thought, but there are a couple of workarounds I've gotten to work.

First thing to try, is logging in as a journal you haven't had problems posting new entries to. And from there, go to make a new entry, but use the Switch link, and then use that to enter the username and password for the journal you want to post to, and make your post from there.

The other option, which is uglier, but will work for the time being, is to go to http://www.newjfdev.net/update.bml and enter your post there-- and the www is actually necessary in this case. It's best to try not to use this workaround unless you really need to, and it's best to not actually login there-- just use the posting form if you need it. It's the domain name I use for JF development and testing, and what was the original primary domain for the new server we added. The domain uses our live JF database, so when you use it to post, the content shows up at journalfen.net, too. Just try not to use it unless you really need to, to make a post, as once I have the quirks of the new server addition worked out, the development domain probably won't resolve properly to the JF service.

So... you have those two workaround possibilities to use while I work on getting the quirks on the new server all fixed.

Thanks!

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Date: 2010-07-20 18:26 Subject: Posting issues Security: Public

I'm seeing more widespread issues with posting of brand new entries, and I am working on it!

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Date: 2010-07-20 04:00 Subject: Quirks I'm working on Security: Public

Okay, it seems the caching on the new server conflicted a little with the existing html server, so some of the posts are reflected in odd orders. I don't know if there's anything I can do about those that already came through, but I'll be watching from here on out to see what might be done.

The biggest issue I'm seeing is a posting problem with brand new journals-- new posts don't have the entry box available to post content into. I'm working on it! I'm also planning to get us a brand new database server next month, too. That should help speed and clean things up, too.

In the meantime, thanks for dropping notes about other weirdness at the guineapig journal. That helps me a lot.

Thanks again!

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Date: 2010-07-16 21:41 Subject: Upgrading Saturday 7-16 Security: Public

I'll be adding the new upgraded server to JournalFen's services tomorrow, Saturday 7-16, starting around 2 p.m. Eastern. And as is to be expected, things might be weird for a little while as I get it all done. So just hang on, and the dust will settle hopefully by Saturday evening or Sunday morning. I'll have an entry at the guineapig journal for reporting weirdness for me to test out, too.

Thanks, everyone!

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