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  1. #26
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
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    Swellyville
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    Good to see a great review.

    Also nice to see a web hosting provider that doesn't have HOST in their name

    <<< Please see Forum Guidelines for signature setup. >>>

  2. #27
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    EU - east side
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    21,920
    Good to see a great review.
    Not such a perfect picture once you get to read the whole thread.

  3. #28
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Denmark
    Posts
    277
    Received this 19 hours ago

    We are continuing work to get service restored to all users on Srv1 at this time. We expect service to be back online and operational within 4-6 hours. We are relocating the data from the old drive to the new drive at this time, after which service will be restored immediately.

    We understand that this incident was unacceptable and for your trouble, we will be providing you a 1 month hosting credit on any accounts affected by this outage. This credit will automatically be applied and will be visible on your billing account within the next 72 hours. In addition to the 1 month credit, you may request a relocation to a new shared server if you do not wish to remain on Srv1. We have full confidence in Srv1 at this time, and during the downtime we also upgraded its memory, however we would like you to have the opportunity to transfer to a different server if you desire to do so.Unfortunately, when dealing with technology, sometimes it will fail. We are very sorry for the trouble we have caused you and your website during this downtime. We understand that you went geek to experience superior web hosting and, in the last two days, we have failed you. It’s hard for geeks to face a defeat, but we’ll overcome this hurdle and will continue building the best internet playground there is.Over the last two days this server experienced a primary hard drive failure and a corrupted superblock on the drive containing account data. Normally, in our past experience, an uncomplicated restore of a failed drive is handled within only a couple of hours and service downtime is kept to a minimal. Unfortunately, nothing about this restore was normal or uncomplicated. Every time we saw progress, we also saw a setback, which was disheartening when we thought of all of the geeks affected by this. The biggest delay you’ve seen in restoration of service is waiting on us to safely recover the data from a corrupted drive. At this time, Geek Support has successfully recovered the data and is in the process of restoring your accounts and files to the server. We had to take our time with some of this delicate work because we wanted to ensure 100% restoration and we are sorry for the delay caused by this. In any incident such as this, there are always lessons to be learned… even by the most experienced of Geek Support system administrators. We take this incident very seriously and we’ve already implemented some changes to the way we manage account data and we’ll be implementing more to ensure the best possible safe haven for you and your website.If you wish to discontinue your service with Geek Storage, please email billing@geekstorage.com and we’ll issue you a full refund of your hosting service. We hope that you’ll stay, but we understand if you need to leave. In the end, we only want what is best for you and your website.In closing, we would like to extend our thanks for the patience and understanding you have had through this very trying time.Regards,Head GeeksGeekStorage.com“Web Hosting For Geeks, By Geeks”

    Nice they sent us information so that we know what is happening. Not all hosts do that.

    My sites have now been down 48+ hours - Is it normal that it takes so long time??

  4. #29
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Detroit, MI
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    1,962
    Quote Originally Posted by Xana View Post


    My sites have now been down 48+ hours - Is it normal that it takes so long time??
    No. Most providers will simply restore the data to a different server, or provision a new one. I can't speak how each provider does it, but we have a number of Hot-spares in case something like this happens; a part of good architecture design and planning.



    Kind Regards,

  5. #30
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Six Degrees From You
    Posts
    1,079
    Have they had 2 different servers go down? Or is srv1 a VPS located on Node1?

    Node1, the node I was on, has been down since about 5am Tuesday morning so close to 60 hours now.

    Paul

  6. #31
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    294
    Are you really happy? Their website looks pretty good and clean. I like their illustrations.
    My sites have now been down 48+ hours - Is it normal that it takes so long time??
    It's not normal, but at least they have written to you sincere words explaining everything. If it were other hosts like Dreamhost, they would probably just ignore everyone.

  7. #32
    can we get a title change? this thread has me rofling.

  8. #33
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Posts
    9,264
    Quote Originally Posted by DephNet[Paul] View Post
    Have they had 2 different servers go down? Or is srv1 a VPS located on Node1?

    Node1, the node I was on, has been down since about 5am Tuesday morning so close to 60 hours now.

    Paul
    Now that's quite interesting to hear... I'd like to see what the explanation for that one is, sounds like precisely what's going on.

  9. #34
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Denmark
    Posts
    277
    They have been back a couple of hours now

  10. #35
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    New York, NY
    Posts
    10,710
    Quote Originally Posted by ak7861 View Post
    If it were other hosts like Dreamhost, they would probably just ignore everyone.
    So, when has Dreamhost done such a thing in the entire history of their company?

  11. #36
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Your Screen
    Posts
    3,999
    No, such a lengthy downtime is not normal.

    Didn't they have RAID?

    Didn't they have spares?

    Didn't they have full backups they could have quickly restored?

    I don't understand why they chose to try to recover data from a bad drive when it would have been faster, and resulted in considerably less downtime, to restore from backup.

    Just to offer a frame of reference, our longest outage due to drive failure (from failure to the last site being restored) has been 18.5 hours... and over 11 of those hours were spent waiting for LayeredTech to pick their noses through the world's longest OS reload.

    Part of setting up a system is considering how long it will take to recover your system in the worst-case scenario. Ideally there should be multiple levels. So OK, let's say RAID failed and the corruption was somehow mirrored and all drives had to be wiped... then just pop a fresh drive in and start restoring from backup.

    The clock is ticking, IMO providers really need to be more responsive to clients' uptime needs. This is one thing that has always bothered me big-time... I don't understand how techs can look themselves in the mirror after dragging their feet through reloads and restores. People feed and clothe their kids, put roofs over their heads with these websites. It's about more than your (the tech's) $12/hour job. Wiggle your *** and get the job done already!!

    </rant>

    Bailey

  12. #37
    During such an event, what happens to emails that are sent to the domain that's down? Do they bounce back as undeliverable or do they still get forwarded to your email account?

    I am trying to decide between GeekStorage and Hostgator to move several of my sites. GeekStorage's price is better but if they are weak technically and don't have good contingency plans, then the business I will lose when my sites are down is a thousand times what I would save by going with GeekStorage. What do you guys think?
    Last edited by jimsmithIII; 02-08-2008 at 04:51 AM.

  13. #38
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
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    Your Screen
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    You will have to ask the people going through the downtime, what happened to their emails.

    Usually, if it is ordinary shared hosting, the emails are bounced back. This is because the receiving server is unreachable, therefore the sending server can't find it.... that means bounce.

    the business I will lose when my sites are down is a thousand times what I would save by going with GeekStorage
    Great job Jim, you've nailed it! Cheap is cheap, no matter how much lipstick ya' put on it.


    Bailey
    Let's Connect on Twitter! @thatsmsgeek2u || Fighting mediocrity one thread at a time.

  14. #39
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Posts
    326
    Quote Originally Posted by jimsmithIII View Post
    During such an event, what happens to emails that are sent to the domain that's down? Do they bounce back as undeliverable or do they still get forwarded to your email account?

    I am trying to decide between GeekStorage and Hostgator to move several of my sites. GeekStorage's price is better but if they are weak technically and don't have good contingency plans, then the business I will lose when my sites are down is a thousand times what I would save by going with GeekStorage. What do you guys think?
    I have an email provider. Now granted I am using my web host DNS servers to set the MX record.
    The Web Server and DNS Server are on the same server. What I could do(and should do) is use a third party DNS Service like DNSMadeEasy(I think that is correct) and set the MX record there. Tthat way if the server goes down I can still receive email.
    Charles

  15. #40
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    58
    I bought a reseller account with them Sunday and they have yet to move my accounts off my old reseller and to make a correction to my account. I just put in a support ticket asking for a refund. I just can't go from bad to worse as far as a reseller account goes. I was so wishing geekstorage was the answer to my dilema I have with my current reseller. Atleast I found out before hand huh??
    Techbydesign : Low cost basic webdesign and webhosting http://www.techbydesign.org .

    Proceeds from Techbybydesign helps to fund my free animal placement service and private animal rescue. All animal rescues gets a discount off our already LOW prices.

  16. #41
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    294
    Quote Originally Posted by layer0 View Post
    So, when has Dreamhost done such a thing in the entire history of their company?
    No one said they have. I'm referring to their hosting mentality.

  17. #42
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Detroit, MI
    Posts
    1,962
    Quote Originally Posted by techbydesign View Post
    I bought a reseller account with them Sunday and they have yet to move my accounts off my old reseller and to make a correction to my account. I just put in a support ticket asking for a refund. I just can't go from bad to worse as far as a reseller account goes. I was so wishing geekstorage was the answer to my dilema I have with my current reseller. Atleast I found out before hand huh??
    Agreed. Best of luck with your future move.



    Kind Regards,

  18. #43
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    58
    Quote Originally Posted by utropicmedia-karl View Post
    Agreed. Best of luck with your future move.



    Kind Regards,
    They assured me that they would have it done today...so I decided to wait and see . They are installing a new server that will be running in a RAID drive configuration so this won't happen any more. So I am keeping my fingers crossed.
    Techbydesign : Low cost basic webdesign and webhosting http://www.techbydesign.org .

    Proceeds from Techbybydesign helps to fund my free animal placement service and private animal rescue. All animal rescues gets a discount off our already LOW prices.

  19. #44
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Detroit, MI
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    Quote Originally Posted by techbydesign View Post
    They assured me that they would have it done today...so I decided to wait and see . They are installing a new server that will be running in a RAID drive configuration so this won't happen any more. So I am keeping my fingers crossed.

    Understandable, but the problem is that should have been done from day 1 - it's as basic to use RAID in a production environment as it is to plug the server into the power outlet. I would be asking questions to see what else has/hasn't been done....



    Kind Regards,

  20. #45
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    58
    Quote Originally Posted by utropicmedia-karl View Post
    Understandable, but the problem is that should have been done from day 1 - it's as basic to use RAID in a production environment as it is to plug the server into the power outlet. I would be asking questions to see what else has/hasn't been done....



    Kind Regards,
    Yes I agree!
    Techbydesign : Low cost basic webdesign and webhosting http://www.techbydesign.org .

    Proceeds from Techbybydesign helps to fund my free animal placement service and private animal rescue. All animal rescues gets a discount off our already LOW prices.

  21. #46
    Charles,

    I've never had to set the MX record. Can you elaborate? Let's say I have a Yahoo email account and I want all emails sent to mydomain.com to be forwarded to my Yahoo email account, without being vulnerable to problems with my hosting provider. Could you please give me a step by step description of what to do? Thanks!

    Would HostGator be a good choice from a reliability point of view? If not, then who?

  22. #47
    Charles,

    I've never had to set the MX record. Can you elaborate? Let's say I have a Yahoo email account and I want all emails sent to mydomain.com to be forwarded to my Yahoo email account, without being vulnerable to problems with my hosting provider. Could you please give me a step by step description of what to do? Thanks!

    Would HostGator be a good choice from a reliability point of view? If not, then who?

  23. #48
    Quote Originally Posted by jimsmithIII View Post
    Charles,

    I've never had to set the MX record. Can you elaborate? Let's say I have a Yahoo email account and I want all emails sent to mydomain.com to be forwarded to my Yahoo email account, without being vulnerable to problems with my hosting provider. Could you please give me a step by step description of what to do? Thanks!

    Would HostGator be a good choice from a reliability point of view? If not, then who?
    Do a google search for "hostgator sucks." Want a great webhost?

    ICDSoft.com has excellent customer service and in the four years that I've been with them I don't recall the last time my website being down. They have their own webmail client and control panel -- both were just right, IMO. (I have a strong dislike for SquirrelMail and other webmail interfaces I have come across. CPanel seems too busy.) The only downside to ICDSoft is that they do not allow add-on domains. However, hey do provide discounts for multiple sites -- in effect, I think I was paying $50 bucks per year (as opposed to $72) for some of my websites. But even $50 was too much for websites that were not making me any money. As a result, I'm now hosting some of my sites with GeekStorage, but leaving the more important ones with ICDSoft. I'm confident that GeekStorage will work out for me in the long run, but I won't risk having my "biz" sites there just yet.

  24. #49
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    1,479
    i just wanted to be the guy who used the word 'geek' for the thousandth time in this thread.

    sooooooooo...

    this geek will now geek along somewhere else to be geeky and geek out on some geeks geekier than i.









    geek.
    Last edited by db09; 02-08-2008 at 11:47 PM.

  25. #50
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
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    Your Screen
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    Quote Originally Posted by jimsmithIII View Post
    Charles,

    I've never had to set the MX record. Can you elaborate? Let's say I have a Yahoo email account and I want all emails sent to mydomain.com to be forwarded to my Yahoo email account, without being vulnerable to problems with my hosting provider. Could you please give me a step by step description of what to do? Thanks!
    Do not forward domain emails from your hosting account to Yahoo.

    Do - Not.

    Reason: Yahoo uses a non-standard system which quickly blacklists any server that forwards domain email to them.

    If a spam addressed to you@yourdomain.com is automatically forwarded to you@yahoo.com, Yahoo thinks that the server running yourdomain.com is an open relay, and spewing out spam willy-nilly. Even though you requested it and set it up on purpose -- Yahoo doesn't realize that, and there's no way to assure them that the email is OK.

    As a result, your website hosting server is blacklisted by Yahoo within just a few hours. And it is nearly impossible for us web hosts to get those blocks removed.

    The same thing happens at Hotmail and AOL. Do not forward your domain's email to Hotmail or AOL, either.

    Your hosting account comes with real email accounts. Use these real live email accounts... they have way more features and capabilities, and work better, than your Yahoo/Hotmail account. I promise. Use a real email account whenever you can.

    Bailey
    Let's Connect on Twitter! @thatsmsgeek2u || Fighting mediocrity one thread at a time.

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