FQuest Alert: Downtime

[Terra]

These are almost as difficult to write, as 'Dear John' letters are to read...

At 4:25am, the system crashed due to nightly log resolving...

Down: 37 minutes
Problem: New resolving method crashed
Solution: Revert to prior resolving method

I have written new methods to handle the sheer mass of 'reverse resolving' the logs, in order to provide full Country statistics, as well as other info in your stats reports...

The new method had been running rock-solid for 4 days, until tonight where it began to fork-bomb out of control... I could not catch it in time as it had already consumed every byte of memory the server had left...

The new method was returning over 400% speed increase while using much less system resources... With the giant 4 steps I took forward - I now have to take 2 steps back and rethink/rewrite sections of the code to make sure this does not happen again...

The old method = 4 hours of nightly maintenance time
The new method = 1 hour of time for same run

I apologize for any inconvenience that this has caused... I will do my best to ensure this does not happen again...

--
Andrew Gillespie
Systems Administrator
FutureQuest.net

--Progress did not want to be my friend tonight-- http://www.aota.net/ubb/frown.gif

[MikeA]

Look at the bright side. A brand new server's been running for about 2 weeks, without any major hitches. Not bad. I work in the NS department at a hospital and you wouldn't believe all the problems we have. We installed ATM and the entire network went down for an entire day. Not a good thing. All in all, I'd say your doing a pretty good job. I'd give myself a pat on the back, that is if I were you.

[Sandy]

ditto what Mike said http://www.aota.net/ubb/smile.gif

[Terra]

Wow!!!

You guys and gals are the best!!!!!

Thank you for the encouragement, it really helps when the pressure/stress is to have everything done 'day before yesterday'...

I love the challenges this server brings to me - but at times I do get bitten hard, and do my best to learn from the mistakes and excel to capitalize on that experience to build a more solid foundation...

We are working steadfast, incorporating ***many*** new capabilities into the FutureQuest realm (PHP3, MySQL, ApacheSSL, etc...) - but as with progress - there are bumps in the road from time to time... My job is to smooth and pave those roads from a 2 lane today - to the 8 lane of tomorrow... http://www.aota.net/ubb/wink.gif

Actually -- why reinvent the wheel -- can't I just build a Virtual version of the AutoBahn? http://www.aota.net/ubb/wink.gif

--
Andrew Gillespie
Systems Adminstrator
FutureQuest.net

[This message has been edited by ccTech (edited 12-12-98).]

[Sandy]

http://www.aota.net/ubb/smile.gif
You do have a way with words!
I wish the Calif. drivers thought the same way LOL
(if 1 more person does 40 in the fast lane I'm gonna lose it!)

btw..your hard work is very appreciated! I have heard so many stories about other hosting companies that don't even offer tech support much less try & improve it the way you do (& yours doesn't even need improving! http://www.aota.net/ubb/smile.gif )

------------------
Sandy
The Free Mall
www.thefreemall.net (http://www.thefreemall.net)

[Del]

I agree that y'all are doing wonderfully and deserve multiple pats on the back. This is the _only_ host I've had that I get tech support replies at 3am. I've paid for hosting at Prohosting, Hypermart, Intrahost, and Yunet, and had developed quite a distrust for hosting companies. I'm happy to say I have complete trust in your services.

Even when stuff does go wrong, y'all are right there. I've been on hosts that deny there's a problem, even when there's 20 or more people complaining of the same difficulties... So far I've never had a problem with FutureQuest that wasn't resolved within a few minutes (literally), while other places I've kept my domains have taken upwards of three days to reply. I've also never met any hosting company as eager to produce as technologically advanced box as you. I see you working hard to incorporate php, mysql, ssl, java servlets, wml, eperl, etc... while already offering support for many of the other nifties.

I really appreciate all that you put into this service, and am quite proud to say to anyone that I keep my stuff here. Come January I'll be moving at least one more domain over here, maybe two.

Del
http://www.downinit.com/

[Rich]

bummer...but congrats on having excellent backout plans. I have seen many scramble for hours trying to figure what to do in situations like this...

And...see, if you just had a few of them 1G ram chips you might just of had time to catch the monster http://www.aota.net/ubb/smile.gif

------------------
Rich

"What time is it in _____?"
www.timezoneconverter.com (http://www.timezoneconverter.com)