ForumGarden Moving to a New Server!

ForumGarden · Post by **ForumGarden** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:27 am

Hi Everyone,

As most of you have experienced, the FG server has had an increasing number of "bad days" this last month. After tweaking, reconfiguring, and even recompiling, our load spikes continue into the stratosphere.

After almost 4 years of loyal service, our dedicated server is reaching its end of life for us. It's time for an upgrade in power!

If all goes as planned, I will be temporarily shutting down FG around noon PST, doing a final backup of the database and will be migrating all files to a new/bigger/better/faster/flexible server.

I expect the downtime to be around 2 hours. Also during this time, we will be switching over the dns. So...some of you who use an ISP that doesn't update their dns frequently may experience a longer timeout period.

Wish us luck!

P.S. As with any new server, once FG is back online, we'll be chasing bug reports and modifying the configuration files to make everything run smoothly.

FG-administator · Post by **FG-administator** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:42 am

An exciting announcement - we'll meet you at the far end of the tunnel.

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 12:22 pm

Wow, that is going to be great!

along-for-the-ride · Post by **along-for-the-ride** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 12:31 pm

Awesome! May the force be with you!

Post by **LarsMac** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 12:41 pm

Hope things go according to plan.

Snowfire · Post by **Snowfire** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 12:47 pm

It must of happened. Suddenly FG has stopped hanging and is faster off the blocks than Usain Bolt

Post by **spot** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 1:03 pm

Snowfire;1350031 wrote: It must of happened. Suddenly FG has stopped hanging and is faster off the blocks than Usain Bolt

That's just nerves, I reckon.

Tombstone · Post by **Tombstone** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 8:55 pm

We are back! What an interesting afternoon. Our little forum which once took an hour or two to backup and restore has grown into a monster. The restore started around 12:30 - and finished about half hour ago. (7:15'ish)

I'm looking around the site now for things to fix. BTW! Credits are temporarily disabled. This program was causing massive db errors when I tried to fire FG back up. I'll work on getting it back online soon.

Tombstone · Post by **Tombstone** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:26 pm

Tombstone;1350034 wrote: We are back! What an interesting afternoon. Our little forum which once took an hour or two to backup and restore has grown into a monster. The restore started around 12:30 - and finished about half hour ago. (7:15'ish)

I'm looking around the site now for things to fix. BTW! Credits are temporarily disabled. This program was causing massive db errors when I tried to fire FG back up. I'll work on getting it back online soon.

Hopefully just a few more major items to fix and she'll be back online.

FG-administator · Post by **FG-administator** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:36 pm

This is the original site, I'm just seeing whether it still takes posts.

ForumGarden · Post by **ForumGarden** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:41 pm

Yes, this is the new server.

ForumGarden · Post by **ForumGarden** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:24 am

FG;1350048 wrote: This is the original site, I'm just seeing whether it still takes posts.

Just a ton of deprecated tables and the like. FG is getting an early spring cleaning.

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 3:07 am

I can't post yet.

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 3:13 am

Well I just did, didn't I ? LOL However, I tried to C & P a notice that comes on each of the arcade games when I try to play them, but I'm unable to do this as I keep getting an error report instead, so I've typed this instead. Good luck and thank you for all your hard work TS !

along-for-the-ride · Post by **along-for-the-ride** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 6:53 am

:wah:

Since the upgrade, I've seen some of my old posts and threads from way back (2005). What a hoot! :wah: What are you guyz seeing from your profile page today? Let's take a trip down memory lane and enjoy the ride while it lasts.

Post by **spot** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 10:49 am

Well well. We have a new home. I hope that's an end to the slow response times we've had over the last fortnight.

I reckon members will straggle in over the next few hours, it takes a day for the new location to get picked up by every ISP.

Well done Tombstone, you can have the Techie of the Month Cup for your den.

Patsy Warnick · Post by **Patsy Warnick** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 11:40 am

Arcade still indicates error on all games.

This inconvenience allows G#Gill , Mustang, Flop to be leaders for toooooooo long.!!

and we can't have that.

Work your magic

Thanks

Patsy

Post by **spot** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 11:45 am

There are several bits which have still to be activated and the Arcade is one of them. Our Glorious Leader is resting from last night's exertions. Installing server applications should be a recognized Olympic event.

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 11:53 am

I bet it was alot of hard work!

ForumGarden · Post by **ForumGarden** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:00 pm

Spot, I appreciate your comments. ha!

Check the games...should be working now.

*And! The system is still re-indexing all of the threads for our search function. Probably has about 10 hours to go! By the time it is finished, we'll have a brand-spanking new FG. (Knock on wood!)

Post by **spot** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:02 pm

I'll be interested to see whether the new index presents searches in reverse date order, it used to on vB3 but not since. It makes a difference to using the results. The vB4 search results were unordered as best I could tell.

ForumGarden · Post by **ForumGarden** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:12 pm

You know, that's a good point. Let's be sure to re-visit this. It's something that maybe we can change.

---

addendum

----

Do you mean you like oldest to newest?

or

Newest to oldest?

theia · Post by **theia** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:19 pm

A HUGE thank you, FG...the Arcade is indeed working again :-6

Post by **spot** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:58 pm

ForumGarden;1350097 wrote: Newest to oldest?Newest to oldest is good. Oldest to newest is usable. Random is frustrating.

Patsy Warnick · Post by **Patsy Warnick** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 1:31 pm

I know this is a hectic transaction - the arcade allows you to play

but goes to Journals instead of "newscore"..

Now, how can I beat the gang's scores if my score isn't kept..?

Just a heads up

Thanks

Patsy

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 1:47 pm

I played a game in the ARCADE to see what it is doing. Played fine but when you go to post a score it take you the the main "FORUM" page.

The speed of the site is a great deal faster then before the move this is a good thing.

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 1:54 pm

It is letting us in to play a game, but the score is not being saved, and the player is sent to the 'forum' ! At least it is not showing those error notices now.

ForumGarden · Post by **ForumGarden** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 2:38 pm

theia;1350100 wrote: A HUGE thank you, FG...the Arcade is indeed working again :-6

my pleasure!

ForumGarden · Post by **ForumGarden** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 2:39 pm

G#Gill;1350117 wrote: It is letting us in to play a game, but the score is not being saved, and the player is sent to the 'forum' ! At least it is not showing those error notices now.

I'll look at that now. Annoying how this arcade setup keeps doing that...as though it has its own mind!

ForumGarden · Post by **ForumGarden** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 2:58 pm

CARLA;1350115 wrote: I played a game in the ARCADE to see what it is doing. Played fine but when you go to post a score it take you the the main "FORUM" page.

The speed of the site is a great deal faster then before the move this is a good thing.

Truly a Ghost in the Machine. I just made some final changes. Tested it, and it seems to be a.o.k.

Patsy Warnick · Post by **Patsy Warnick** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 3:17 pm

Thank You

Your a Genius..!!

Patsy

theia · Post by **theia** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 3:44 pm

Arcade is still not saving my scores

ForumGarden · Post by **ForumGarden** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 4:01 pm

Patsy Warnick;1350131 wrote: Thank You

Your a Genius..!!

Patsy

Far from it! But, you are welcome!

ForumGarden · Post by **ForumGarden** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 4:02 pm

theia;1350134 wrote: Arcade is still not saving my scores

What happens (where do you end up) after you "submit" your score?

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 4:28 pm

In my case - I've just had a quick go on Billards and when I pressed 'send' to save my score - it threw up an error notice which filled the page!

I've just tried a couple more games, and the result is the same - a white background with an error notice ! Sorry

Mustang · Post by **Mustang** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 4:34 pm

Same as Gill, an SQL error occurs and tells you to contact administration.

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 4:58 pm

When I tried to submit my score it took me to the "forum" front page.

ForumGarden News · Post by **ForumGarden News** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 5:38 pm

Ahh! Thank you. It looks like it is game dependent. I just tested on Springfield Cemetary and all is working fine. I just made a db change ... Try billiards again. I just did...but I think my score is too low to submit.

Post by **spot** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 5:42 pm

It does occur to me that since only highest scores are set to be recorded, some people not getting their score to record is legitimate. But I do know I'm abysmally ignorant.

ForumGarden News · Post by **ForumGarden News** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 5:48 pm

ForumGarden News;1350148 wrote: Ahh! Thank you. It looks like it is game dependent. I just tested on Springfield Cemetary and all is working fine. I just made a db change ... Try billiards again. I just did...but I think my score is too low to submit.

I'll have to research this one more. I'm getting sporadic errors. My changes to the db are not having an effect. Sorry! For now, play Billiards for practice! (And any other game that is causing trouble.)

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 5:49 pm

there is an SQL error that I keep trying to send to either of you but it create an error when I send it. LOL

Tombstone · Post by **Tombstone** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 5:59 pm

CARLA;1350152 wrote: there is an SQL error that I keep trying to send to either of you but it create an error when I send it. LOL

oh my!

Peg · Post by **Peg** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 6:02 pm

CARLA;1350152 wrote: there is an SQL error that I keep trying to send to either of you but it create an error when I send it. LOL

Same thing happened to me. lol Great minds think alike!

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 6:33 pm

OK I went back to the game I played and it had posted my score as the highest which is strange since when I tried to send the score I got the SQL error. So this is telling me there is duplication somewhere in the code that causes the error when it posts the score

G#Gill · Post by **G#Gill** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 7:42 pm

The same thing happens to me. At least I can play a game, but it isn't straight forward score sending like it used to be and I don't feel confident that my score will be noted each time. It is very strange.

along-for-the-ride · Post by **along-for-the-ride** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 4:33 pm

I have been having problems uploading photos to my posts in the last couple days. There's a tiny red circle with an exclamation point in it that pops up.

winter_solstice.JPG53.1 KBX

Just saying.........

Post by **spot** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 4:38 pm

along-for-the-ride;1350211 wrote: Just saying.........I haven't tried. Let's give it a go...

Attached files

Post by **spot** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 4:39 pm

Did I do something different?

littleCJelkton · Post by **littleCJelkton** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:43 pm

I am not sure if this has to do with the server move but before the move the threads I had posts on moved on to "my subscriptions" list now they do not.

Post by **spot** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:15 pm

littleCJelkton;1350268 wrote: I am not sure if this has to do with the server move but before the move the threads I had posts on moved on to "my subscriptions" list now they do not.

Have you checked your current setting for Default Thread Subscription Mode under Settings / General Settings?