No access to site all day yesterday?
- Thread starter Fraser
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There were problems at the data centre yesterday, as far as we know at the moment there was a router/switch going through extended death-throes.
The situation appears to be resolved now, but we're waiting for confirmation from the server-urchins...
Thanks and regards,
Rob.
The situation appears to be resolved now, but we're waiting for confirmation from the server-urchins...
Thanks and regards,
Rob.
That'll do nicely, lol, damn imagine the threads started from that comment, was it a modded Henry, has it got 4wd & coilovers, has it been Dyson Remapped, lmao
Funnily enough, we used to have a network connection to a college annexe go down for an hour or so every week, and by the time we got there to investigate it was always back up and running.
After a few weeks of investigation, we found that one of the staff was unplugging the switch, and plugging in the hover mower to cut the grass...
Cheers,
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It is getting a tad silly now IMHO, is it a case of money for a decent host & backup systems as in synchronise database with a backup server incase of primary goes down, I'm sure people would contribute towards if asked for donations or even a membership fee with an honoury mug or tshirt if you get my drift to keep site running more reliably.
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I know I'm kinda new round here, but isn't that what sponsorship is for? Why should the members have to "donate" or pay a membership fee to fund additional server capacity when the sponsorship money is supposed to take care of that?
how many sponsors are there here? a dozen or so? assuming each of them are paying between 250 and 500 quid a year (the going rate based on the membership numbers) there is between three and six grand in the kitty. unless the admin team are keeping all that for the champagne and truffles at the christmas party I would assume there is plenty in the pot already. Server hosting for the year shouldn't come to more that a couple of hundred quid, maybe a grand max for one that isn't down one day a week and slow for 5 of the remaining 6.
It can't be that difficult to find decent hosting services out there. I don't know any other large forum where you can do an oil change between pages loading up.
I'm not having a go at the admin guys here, or suggesting that funds are being misappropriated. I'm merely trying to explain why there is no need to ask for "donations" from members to resolve what does not appear to be a financial issue.
how many sponsors are there here? a dozen or so? assuming each of them are paying between 250 and 500 quid a year (the going rate based on the membership numbers) there is between three and six grand in the kitty. unless the admin team are keeping all that for the champagne and truffles at the christmas party I would assume there is plenty in the pot already. Server hosting for the year shouldn't come to more that a couple of hundred quid, maybe a grand max for one that isn't down one day a week and slow for 5 of the remaining 6.
It can't be that difficult to find decent hosting services out there. I don't know any other large forum where you can do an oil change between pages loading up.
I'm not having a go at the admin guys here, or suggesting that funds are being misappropriated. I'm merely trying to explain why there is no need to ask for "donations" from members to resolve what does not appear to be a financial issue.
I didnt say they should or have to donate, the actual word donate also means to give freely or did you miss that part, it was a suggestion aswell if there was an issue with funding.
But I do agree, with that kinda funding from sponsors it does beg the question, why has there been an almost constant number of site issues since last august/september, with that sponsorship fundage, even with events that are not exactly in the double figures to cost so much from what I read, that you should have plenty in the kitty to use a reliable system, come on guys its really letting the site down now, the speed is nowhere near as good as it was last year before aug/sept & constant days offline is ridiculous tbh.
But I do agree, with that kinda funding from sponsors it does beg the question, why has there been an almost constant number of site issues since last august/september, with that sponsorship fundage, even with events that are not exactly in the double figures to cost so much from what I read, that you should have plenty in the kitty to use a reliable system, come on guys its really letting the site down now, the speed is nowhere near as good as it was last year before aug/sept & constant days offline is ridiculous tbh.
i'm surprised that you hadn't worked out the amount in the kitty from sponsors norman. the 250-500 figure I used was just an estimate, but if you had taken the fee you pay to advertise your VCDS leads and multiplied it by 12 you would get a fairly accurate figure for the amount taken in.
donations should not be requested as it would take away from the feel of the site. if people feel there is an expectation to pay for a service (real or implied) then they will go elsewhere and get it for free.
donations should not be requested as it would take away from the feel of the site. if people feel there is an expectation to pay for a service (real or implied) then they will go elsewhere and get it for free.
speaking of sponsorship norman, why don't you threaten to pull your sponsorship if the service doesn't improve?
does that mean that you are not paying for your advertising of leads?
in that case why don't you put your money where your mouth is and put some funds in the kitty instead of volunteering everybody else to make donations to improve the service.
other members have been told to remove links to sites and services they are making money from, so I don't see how you get away with it and then have the cheek to criticise ASN. I'm nearly sure there is something in the forum rules about advertising your wares on ASN. Maybe one of the mods can answer that for the rest of us so we know where we stand.
I have a source at a distributor for springs and spacers but have never posted about it so as not to contravene the forum's advertising rules, but if it is ok to flout them then I'll add a line to my signature.
in that case why don't you put your money where your mouth is and put some funds in the kitty instead of volunteering everybody else to make donations to improve the service.
other members have been told to remove links to sites and services they are making money from, so I don't see how you get away with it and then have the cheek to criticise ASN. I'm nearly sure there is something in the forum rules about advertising your wares on ASN. Maybe one of the mods can answer that for the rest of us so we know where we stand.
I have a source at a distributor for springs and spacers but have never posted about it so as not to contravene the forum's advertising rules, but if it is ok to flout them then I'll add a line to my signature.
To be fair, what i get out of the forum and what ive saved since joining up, i wouldnt mind paying a donation, cant imagine many of the regulars on here minding either, lets face it everyone on here is here for the same reasons, help, money saving and chatting to others with simular interests, could see an issue, with the amount of members on here the amount wouldnt have to be excesive anyway
well I don't agree with that view. why should the members pay for a service that is funded by advertising? the same way your TV licence fee doesn't go to ITV because they are funded by advertising.
I think if you start asking for money from the members they will go elsewhere. why pay for half a service when you can get full service for free elsewhere.
if 6 grand a year can't fix the problems on here how is 16 grand more (each member paying a quid) going to solve anything?
my point still stands - if nigel (sorry for getting your name wrong. I was on the phone to someone called norman earlier and got confused) is so concerned about people paying to improve the service let him contribute by sponsoring the site instead of getting other people to drop subtle hints that he can supply leads in every thread where somebody asks a question about VCDS.
I think if you start asking for money from the members they will go elsewhere. why pay for half a service when you can get full service for free elsewhere.
if 6 grand a year can't fix the problems on here how is 16 grand more (each member paying a quid) going to solve anything?
my point still stands - if nigel (sorry for getting your name wrong. I was on the phone to someone called norman earlier and got confused) is so concerned about people paying to improve the service let him contribute by sponsoring the site instead of getting other people to drop subtle hints that he can supply leads in every thread where somebody asks a question about VCDS.
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I think I should make it clear that no one in this thread has asked for any donations of any sort to support the forum.
Nigel just made a suggestion, and one I personally think won't happen any time soon.
So can we now get back onto topic now please gents.
Nigel just made a suggestion, and one I personally think won't happen any time soon.
So can we now get back onto topic now please gents.
If I may just stray off-topic briefly once more!
Whats a 'Modmetractor'? NHN has always been one, but now Professor Doom is too!
Whats a 'Modmetractor'? NHN has always been one, but now Professor Doom is too!
Get your specs out, as a mod has clearly pointed out already, there's no adverts in my sig, avatar or profile, all there is, is a sticky that is to help members save some money on something thats nearly £20 more from retailers, I make no profit overall, few beers at that for my time, tape, packaging & fuel, do you or anyone begrudge me for that, I mean wtf really, ask anyone who I have helped & I'm sure they are very appreciative of what I've done for them.
I happen to think VCDS is a fantastic program & I use it alot & cant stand counterfeits not because I make hundreds from supplying but because fedup people whingeing about there crap leads not working, so I like to help others as my sig clearly shows a link to members who would check your car, so whats your problem
Also if I was asked to donate some funds, economics permitting as I certainly am not profiteering from this little thing, then I would.
I am commenting as per others with some contructive criticism, what constructive are you spirting, at least I suggested possibly a donation system which again I state would happily put some money into the kitty, another forum I know has done this to help with site & events.
Sorry, asking others to drop subtle hints, may I ask who told you I did this & when, facts not assumptions would help, people do as they see fit, they know I can save them few bucks, so I guess this is why they mention my name, I also mention DPM when anyone asks about suspension, why you ask, because the service is brilliant & he's a great guy who helps you untold & fair prices, but I get nothing out of it, as you're new then maybe you dont understand thats how forums work, to help others out & to save money aswell if possible.
When someone is on the forum alot helping out & can save a few bucks word spreads quickly, thats why my name maybe gets mentioned alot around vcds threads, plus I get fairly involved in the site interms of helping where I can on threads, or didnt that maybe spring to mind before posting, I know many people on the fourm who specilaise in things, look at Andymac for one, I always mention his name for audio visual issues given thats his speciality & he's ****** good at it afterall, so does that make him the same as he benefits from the talk of his subs etc, he doesnt advertise, but I dont see any issues with that as it helps members alot, he does it for free as do I every single day almost, do you add any advice or worth to the site on a daily basis that actually does help someone with a problem or suggest where to go for a product etc, cause from your posts doesnt appear so.
I'm not looking to start a problem here, but you're concentrating on one thing thats irrelevant tbh, given I'd already offered to donate a long long time ago before you even signed up to the site under this username anyway & I was asking the mods if funds were an issue for site reliability, then maybe asking for help would make the site more stable, I havnt once said site members should or have to pay to use the site, you've said this not me.
Personally I dont think you're that new, I detect a double account holder here, where's staz when you need him.
I happen to think VCDS is a fantastic program & I use it alot & cant stand counterfeits not because I make hundreds from supplying but because fedup people whingeing about there crap leads not working, so I like to help others as my sig clearly shows a link to members who would check your car, so whats your problem
Also if I was asked to donate some funds, economics permitting as I certainly am not profiteering from this little thing, then I would.
I am commenting as per others with some contructive criticism, what constructive are you spirting, at least I suggested possibly a donation system which again I state would happily put some money into the kitty, another forum I know has done this to help with site & events.
Sorry, asking others to drop subtle hints, may I ask who told you I did this & when, facts not assumptions would help, people do as they see fit, they know I can save them few bucks, so I guess this is why they mention my name, I also mention DPM when anyone asks about suspension, why you ask, because the service is brilliant & he's a great guy who helps you untold & fair prices, but I get nothing out of it, as you're new then maybe you dont understand thats how forums work, to help others out & to save money aswell if possible.
When someone is on the forum alot helping out & can save a few bucks word spreads quickly, thats why my name maybe gets mentioned alot around vcds threads, plus I get fairly involved in the site interms of helping where I can on threads, or didnt that maybe spring to mind before posting, I know many people on the fourm who specilaise in things, look at Andymac for one, I always mention his name for audio visual issues given thats his speciality & he's ****** good at it afterall, so does that make him the same as he benefits from the talk of his subs etc, he doesnt advertise, but I dont see any issues with that as it helps members alot, he does it for free as do I every single day almost, do you add any advice or worth to the site on a daily basis that actually does help someone with a problem or suggest where to go for a product etc, cause from your posts doesnt appear so.
I'm not looking to start a problem here, but you're concentrating on one thing thats irrelevant tbh, given I'd already offered to donate a long long time ago before you even signed up to the site under this username anyway & I was asking the mods if funds were an issue for site reliability, then maybe asking for help would make the site more stable, I havnt once said site members should or have to pay to use the site, you've said this not me.
Personally I dont think you're that new, I detect a double account holder here, where's staz when you need him.
Exactly, thanks, I merely made a suggestion to assist the site if money was an issue & yes JoJo happily back on topic, but thought was only right to reply to the guy as he seemed to be disillusioned about myself & vcds cables.
If I may just stray off-topic briefly once more!
Whats a 'Modmetractor'? NHN has always been one, but now Professor Doom is too!
Pass James, I detect a double account holder tbh looking to pick a fight, its not patented name so who cares, lol
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i might not contribute a lot, because I don't feel I have anything to say that would benefit somebody looking to stick a V8 into their S3 or add a whizzbang turbo as I have no experience in that. What I do have experience in is reading forums and I am expressing my opinion based on that.
you may post a lot every day, but that doesn't make your opinion right. everybody is entitled to their own opinion and deserves to be heard equeally and not just shot down because they don't agree with somebody who thinks they know everything. isn't that what this forum is about, a frank and open discussion of ideas rather than a who agrees with nigel site?
say what you will, but you did start off by saying that people would be happy to donate money, even though it was not asked for and you don't speak for everybody else.
you may post a lot every day, but that doesn't make your opinion right. everybody is entitled to their own opinion and deserves to be heard equeally and not just shot down because they don't agree with somebody who thinks they know everything. isn't that what this forum is about, a frank and open discussion of ideas rather than a who agrees with nigel site?
say what you will, but you did start off by saying that people would be happy to donate money, even though it was not asked for and you don't speak for everybody else.
what should the topic of the poll be?
* should ASN ask for voluntary donations to improve the site
* should ASN charge a membership fee
* should nigel sponsor the site
* should everybody get to express an opinion even if they are wrong
* should ASN ask for voluntary donations to improve the site
* should ASN charge a membership fee
* should nigel sponsor the site
* should everybody get to express an opinion even if they are wrong
heliflyer
Registered User
Then maybe this site isnt for you if you have no interest in modding cars, afterall its a car forum or didnt that click, your choice of course & just expressing my opinion.
You seem to be taking these comments about donations way to personally when it was merely a suggestion to admin if money was the issue for site reliability.
& donation again means give freely, as it seems you dont hear to well on this note
I never said once in any thread I knew everything, infact if you read threads I have been involved with, I have said many times I have just learnt some things from doing & many people on this form are very knowledgable about cars & alot more than me, so where you get this info from does astonish me & where have I said you cant be heard on this forum, for a start I'm a mere user as are yourself, so I have no right to shout you down or stop you from posting, again astonishes me your points you're making & whats this nigel site crap, give it a rest pleaseeeeeeeeeee, its far from my site at all given my run ins with heirarchy for sure over the few years been on the site, lol.
I suggested the members would probably be happy to donate based on comments made in posts by others & to me personally long before you ever under this username joined the site, last year when the site was experiencing problems at 1st, aug/sept as I already mentioned & I didnt say you had to, I merely suggested this as an idea for donations meaning freewill to give anything to help the site.
Anyway you seem hell bent on picking a fight about something irrelevant, so continue as you see fit, cause for me its been explained to you by 2 mods & myself & if you cant understand plain english then waste of time.
& I actually agreed with you tbh about the sponsorship fees if those figures were about right, that they should cover hosting etc.
& as for sponsoiring the site, yeah if I sell many cables at way above retail to pay the fees, but thats the point of making them available cheaper isnt it, to save members money, certainly not to profit.
You seem to be taking these comments about donations way to personally when it was merely a suggestion to admin if money was the issue for site reliability.
& donation again means give freely, as it seems you dont hear to well on this note
I never said once in any thread I knew everything, infact if you read threads I have been involved with, I have said many times I have just learnt some things from doing & many people on this form are very knowledgable about cars & alot more than me, so where you get this info from does astonish me & where have I said you cant be heard on this forum, for a start I'm a mere user as are yourself, so I have no right to shout you down or stop you from posting, again astonishes me your points you're making & whats this nigel site crap, give it a rest pleaseeeeeeeeeee, its far from my site at all given my run ins with heirarchy for sure over the few years been on the site, lol.
I suggested the members would probably be happy to donate based on comments made in posts by others & to me personally long before you ever under this username joined the site, last year when the site was experiencing problems at 1st, aug/sept as I already mentioned & I didnt say you had to, I merely suggested this as an idea for donations meaning freewill to give anything to help the site.
Anyway you seem hell bent on picking a fight about something irrelevant, so continue as you see fit, cause for me its been explained to you by 2 mods & myself & if you cant understand plain english then waste of time.
& I actually agreed with you tbh about the sponsorship fees if those figures were about right, that they should cover hosting etc.
& as for sponsoiring the site, yeah if I sell many cables at way above retail to pay the fees, but thats the point of making them available cheaper isnt it, to save members money, certainly not to profit.
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Right ladies, that's enough thanks. Lets get all emotional somewhere other than this thread.
Professor Doom - Come out from behind your proxy and behave.
Nigel - Stop biting. Didn't anyone ever teach you the way to stop someone winding you up?
I've just come back from a long day at the office (and hanging on to a cliff face, but that's another story), and I've absolutely no interest at all in having to wade through all this tit-for-tat ******** to read the stuff which is relevant, valid, and grown-up.
...And that brings me neatly around to the topic. First of all, apologies for the outage. I think this is the third in about a fortnight - while I'm certainly the least happy about the fact we've had these problems, I'm also quite keen to make sure we've got some perspective... ASN crippled its last server, and a few months ago we moved; there were some horrible teething troubles but since then until about two weeks ago it had been running pretty well (certainly better than it had for the preceeding 12 months).
Anyway, we're still investigating what went on today; but I think it's related to the last outage, which was due to memory problems on the server. We added more and reallocated things, but obviously there's still an underlying issue - that will be resolved as soon as humanly possible.
I'll come back to this thread with more news and updates as the facts come to light...
Thanks, regards, and apologies again...
Rob.
Professor Doom - Come out from behind your proxy and behave.
Nigel - Stop biting. Didn't anyone ever teach you the way to stop someone winding you up?
I've just come back from a long day at the office (and hanging on to a cliff face, but that's another story), and I've absolutely no interest at all in having to wade through all this tit-for-tat ******** to read the stuff which is relevant, valid, and grown-up.
...And that brings me neatly around to the topic. First of all, apologies for the outage. I think this is the third in about a fortnight - while I'm certainly the least happy about the fact we've had these problems, I'm also quite keen to make sure we've got some perspective... ASN crippled its last server, and a few months ago we moved; there were some horrible teething troubles but since then until about two weeks ago it had been running pretty well (certainly better than it had for the preceeding 12 months).
Anyway, we're still investigating what went on today; but I think it's related to the last outage, which was due to memory problems on the server. We added more and reallocated things, but obviously there's still an underlying issue - that will be resolved as soon as humanly possible.
I'll come back to this thread with more news and updates as the facts come to light...
Thanks, regards, and apologies again...
Rob.
Thanks for the update & yeah you're right should have left him to himself.
Proxy huh, double account member as I thought, I recognise the tone aswell, but guess I should read the rules closer, but are 2 accounts allowed on the site & if found to have a 2nd account causing problems then whats the penalty & does this cover all members including moderators, just curious.
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Not that it has any direct effect on how the commodities markets think about fish, but multiple user accounts are not permitted (becuase usually people have multiple accounts for the sole purpose of behaving like children). If a moderator has a second account, and a good reason for it, I'm less concerned.
Regards,
Rob.
Regards,
Rob.
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Instead of all this cloak and dagger crap with the server specs and vauge mentions of "moving stuff around" and "optimising" why not actually put some facts up here?
What CPU and RAM is the server running?
What OS?
Is it a VM or a real box, and if its a VM, do YOU own the real box or are you just paying some colo provider for it.
To put things into context, i do some consulting for a firm in scotland who last year wanted me to arrange a dedicated box for them. For £60 a month i sorted them out with a dedicated box (real, not a VM) which has a Core2Duo E8400 CPU, 4GB of ram and a pair of 500gb disks in raid1
That box has never been down once in the time its been running. Bar reboots for updates and suchlike its been completely solid, which is exactly what you expect from a dedicated machine.
I have to wonder what exactly is going on here. I understand the site uses lots of resources, but if a 3ghz dualcore and 4gb of ram isnt enough resources then somethings seriously wrong with the forum software or the database engine... Unless ofcourse its not actually got 4gb of ram and a tasty CPU, and people have either skimped on the box to line their own pockets, or have lumped this site onto the same box as is running other sites...
Its also ****** rediculous that only one person actually has sufficient access to fix anything when it goes wrong. Thats the number 1 rule in sysadmin. What if he gets hit by a bus tomorrow? Proper monitoring software should mean that if the site drops offline, you get an email within 5 minutes and can poke it back to life there and then. Even if it means just rebooting it and doing the investigation later because your busy, it still keeps everything running.
Regards
Kev
What CPU and RAM is the server running?
What OS?
Is it a VM or a real box, and if its a VM, do YOU own the real box or are you just paying some colo provider for it.
To put things into context, i do some consulting for a firm in scotland who last year wanted me to arrange a dedicated box for them. For £60 a month i sorted them out with a dedicated box (real, not a VM) which has a Core2Duo E8400 CPU, 4GB of ram and a pair of 500gb disks in raid1
That box has never been down once in the time its been running. Bar reboots for updates and suchlike its been completely solid, which is exactly what you expect from a dedicated machine.
I have to wonder what exactly is going on here. I understand the site uses lots of resources, but if a 3ghz dualcore and 4gb of ram isnt enough resources then somethings seriously wrong with the forum software or the database engine... Unless ofcourse its not actually got 4gb of ram and a tasty CPU, and people have either skimped on the box to line their own pockets, or have lumped this site onto the same box as is running other sites...
Its also ****** rediculous that only one person actually has sufficient access to fix anything when it goes wrong. Thats the number 1 rule in sysadmin. What if he gets hit by a bus tomorrow? Proper monitoring software should mean that if the site drops offline, you get an email within 5 minutes and can poke it back to life there and then. Even if it means just rebooting it and doing the investigation later because your busy, it still keeps everything running.
Regards
Kev
devonmikeyboy
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