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Thread: Hardware failure... again
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05-18-2005, 03:29 PM #1Retired Moderator
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Hardware failure... again
Hi,
I just went to update my site... and found PHP errors all over the place. I logged into my sites support panel and found that my server had failed... again. I am on shared webhosting.
The company says that their Dell server had a manufactoring defect. This is the second server I have had die. The server before it was a "brand new dell poweredge" (their words), and now I'm on another "brand new dell poweredge" that shouldn't fail.
Should I be concerned about this? How many servers have other hosters had fail?
Thanks,
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05-18-2005, 03:35 PM #2Web Hosting Master
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Well hardware does fail. It could be they are unlucky. What is the time period between them?
RusRuss Foster - Industry Curmudgeon
Freelance Sysadmin for Hire - email vaserv@gmail.com
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05-18-2005, 03:44 PM #3WHT Addict
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While hardware can fail, it doesn't happen too often. Like vaserv asked, what is the time frame between the two failures. If it is something like a few weeks then I would be concerned. Also did they say exactly what failed in the servers? Hard drives and generic power supplies are the most common thing to fail in a server (at least in my experience as a computer technician).
~ Nick
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05-18-2005, 03:45 PM #4Retired Moderator
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It's been about a month and a half. The first server failed before I had even moved a site on it (maybe a week after I registered). I have also been hacked once on their servers.
I never had a problem with my old host... no hardware failures, no hacking, nothing.
But for what I was paying at my old host I could've had a VPS...
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05-18-2005, 03:48 PM #5Web Hosting Master
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Taking what you are saying I would say prehaps you should look to pay a bit more and fine a new host...Just the way I'm seeing is that you are getting what you pay for
RusRuss Foster - Industry Curmudgeon
Freelance Sysadmin for Hire - email vaserv@gmail.com
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05-18-2005, 03:54 PM #6Blue, Furry and Comfortable
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That certainly seems like a string of bad luck. Not sure why it happened but it is possible to happen to anyone.
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05-18-2005, 03:55 PM #7WHT Addict
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I would definatly switch to a different host. There are very few reasons that two servers should fail within 2 months. When you say that you got hacked, that isn't necessarily the companies fault as they could harden their servers as much as possible, but if you are running an insecure script, you can still get hacked.
~ Nick
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05-18-2005, 04:13 PM #8Retired Moderator
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A message from support when I asked:
We're experiencing the File System of the primary master HDD.I don't know what was the problem a month ago, I'm still new here.
On the plus side, I got a response within 5 minutes, thumbs up for their tech support!
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05-18-2005, 04:16 PM #9Web Hosting Master
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Originally posted by neb1211
While hardware can fail, it doesn't happen too often.Clustered Hosting With Continuous Data Protection (CDP)
http://www.solidinternet.com
8 Years of hosting excellence!
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05-18-2005, 04:18 PM #10Web Hosting Master
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Originally posted by adb22791
A message from support when I asked:
What does that mean? How can you experience the file system... someone please clarify.
On the plus side, I got a response within 5 minutes, thumbs up for their tech support!Clustered Hosting With Continuous Data Protection (CDP)
http://www.solidinternet.com
8 Years of hosting excellence!
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05-18-2005, 04:49 PM #11Web Hosting Master
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That's a pretty crummy tech support answer - "I'm new here and I'm relaying a message about something I don't understand..."
Seems like they could get you a much better answer than one that makes no sense.
I think a reliable host should have some redundancy so that if one system fails you don't lose your site until the hardware is back up.Rich
Husband, Father, Retired Marine, Geek
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05-18-2005, 04:56 PM #12Retired Moderator
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Update!
From my web host:
I would like to make a follow-up on today's [edited for privacy] server failure.
During a scheduled kernel upgrade the server suffered an unforeseen software failure caused by faulty hardware. We immediately contacted our datacenter who failed to recover the server.
It is [removed for privacy] policy at the occurrence of such failures to start our backup server. Untill a shortwhile ago your page was loaded from the backup machine. In the process of recovering the backup we have found that some customers have corrupted MYSQL databases and their databases could not be recovered from our backup. Fortunately, every month [removed for privacy] does special tape backups and we were able to recover databases, but these are about 20 days old.
At the moment your page is loading from the [removed for privacy] server. It took us quite a while to fix the server because we had to wait for several hours for the datacenter technicians to recover the server and get it back online.
The [removed for privacy] staff is doing our best to fix the problem and recover the data in order to have your account fully operational. We will work overtime to make sure your site is fully operational and you are not experiencing any trouble. I understand that problems like today's one are absolutely undesirable. I can assure you that the [removed for privacy] staff will not have a rest until every single site has been fixed and until all customers from the server are moved to a new, safer and more reliable server.
The employee before does not usually answer support tickets, but because other employees were busy with the server and with the backup server, he answered my question.
Seems like it will all end well... I will update when my site is fully functional.
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05-18-2005, 04:58 PM #13Aspiring Evangelist
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It seems to be just some bad luck. I would suggest giving it another chance.
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05-18-2005, 06:29 PM #14Web Hosting Master
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This story brings up an interesting issue -- your web host had to wait for datacenter technicians to do something. Of course, some (a minority) web hosts ARE themselves datacenter technicians, and would have their hands on a hardware failure by running upstairs, or opening the server room door, or driving across town. Not sure if it's a big consideration when shopping for hosting, but it's something.
John Masterson
Former Hosting Company Owner
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05-21-2005, 06:31 PM #15Retired Moderator
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Turns out my hosts server is located in The Planet datacenter...
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05-21-2005, 07:50 PM #16Newbie
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Odd I would think they would put in like mirroring or data protection or any of the sort. Probably bad hardware or just bad luck.
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05-21-2005, 07:56 PM #17Web Hosting Master
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But what happens if you are running RAID1, your main hard drive decided times up!
Fails slowly over a few minutes all data is mirrored over to the second drive.
So you then have two drives which are pretty useless.
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05-21-2005, 08:03 PM #18Newbie
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Hmm I think the best way then would be to probably use high-availability or deploy something of that sort. Either way, I would think mirroring would be better.
Ealuco Inc.
http://www.ealuco.com
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05-21-2005, 08:27 PM #19Backup Guru
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Originally posted by Duport
But what happens if you are running RAID1, your main hard drive decided times up!
Fails slowly over a few minutes all data is mirrored over to the second drive.
So you then have two drives which are pretty useless.Scott Burns, President
BQ Internet Corporation
Remote Rsync and FTP backup solutions
*** http://www.bqbackup.com/ ***
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05-22-2005, 01:08 PM #20Aspiring Evangelist
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This is one of the disadvantages of most web hosts. They have one server handling all requests. If a hardware or software failure brings the server down, your site will also go down. Although rare, there are some web hosts that offer a higher level of redundancy.
The quality of hardware and whether or not the server was stress tested before deployment plays a key role in reducing hardware failure rates. “Dell PowerEdge” is a wide line of servers that could range anywhere from a $349 tower server to a $1299+ rack mount. We prefer to “burn-in” all servers for at least two weeks before bringing them into production.
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05-22-2005, 01:11 PM #21Retired Moderator
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According to my host, they have a two server system. There is always a backup server (which has all the accounts backed up to it daily). I am happy with the host and support, but sometimes the site is very slow. I believe they are renting a dedicated from The Planet, and not colocating. Has anyone else had problems with hardware at The Planet (specifically when doing kernel upgrades?)
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05-22-2005, 11:27 PM #22Web Hosting Master
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Originally posted by bqinternet
What? If you're running a RAID1 mirror and one of the drives fails, it won't affect the other drive."Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property... Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them." - Thomas Paine