Server Upgrade - Please All Read

Hardware upgrade - THIS WEEK!

Due to the rapid recent growth of the Forums and the Wiki (and their databases) it has become necessary to upgrade our hosting facilities and hardware BEFORE we encounter any problems. Preventative maintenance!

Our server will remain in Denver (US) but the major hardware upgrade will require that the Forum and Wiki will be offline for about 24 hours (sometime this week).

Apologies for the interruption, but necessary for a more robust and secure website allowing for large future growth.

Admin.

[Lighthouse]

Good news! We may not have to go offline at all.

[JeanneP]

I once tried to log onto a website (not this one) and was locked out. I thought they didn't like me anymore , but it was just closed down for this type of upgrade.

Thanks for the warning, just in case.

THe new server is set up and all tests OK. The move of the live website to the new server will be undertaken in the next 24 hours. We MAY be offline for a very short period - apologies for any inconvenience.

[Lighthouse]

The server move/upgrade is scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday) somewhere between 0700hrs and 1000hrs UTC (Zulu). The new server is set up, tested and running so the "move" may only necessitate that the website is offline for about 30 minutes - if all goes well.

Hold thumbs!

[Lighthouse]

Server move is complete - just a couple of "tweaks" to do (i.e. loading pics).

[Lighthouse]

Gallery & forum images are back now. Please report any problems found.

[Lighthouse]

Today the server switched off everything (backups, etc.) that was running on the "old" machine as all is running well on the "new" machine now.

The Forum and Wiki was "down" for about two hours.

Wrong! The database was still connecting (pointing) to the "old" machine!

We have returned the database to the "old" settings pointing to the "old" server. BUT, in the meantime, we have lost posts for the last 24 hours - restored to the last backup. HUGE APOLOGIES!

The techies are looking into the configuration settings and will correct everything overnight. We will not however lose any data again.

This is all towards a more stable, secure forum/Wiki with huge growth capacity.

Thank you for your patience.

[Lighthouse]

The Forums and Wiki will be offline for about 30 mins tomorrow (Thursday) at 0700hrs zulu for maintenance. Sorry for any inconvenience.