Many of you have surely noticed that the forum has been offline more than usual lately. The initial problem was just our web host, Micfo, moving the
forum to another machine within their data center and associated DNS update delays afterward.
Unfortunately, it appears that the machine we have been moved to is much less powerful than the one we were hosted on before. It is frequently under
high load. The shared MySQL instance appears to suffer more frequent errors under these high-load conditions. When there is a MySQL problem the forum
is down until I or a Micfo technician can manually fix the problem. In the last couple of outages I have discovered the problem in the morning after
waking up, which meant several hours of frustration for members in other time zones.
There are a few options open. I can just keep fixing problems as they arise. I can ask Micfo to move the forum back to a more powerful machine. I
don't know if that request would be honored, and if it were honored it would mean yet another interruption of service during the migration. I can
start looking for a new web host, but it is very difficult to distinguish good and bad hosts before you actually become a customer. Jumping to another
host might not actually fix the problem, unless I paid for a virtual dedicated server or some other more expensive hosting solution that would grant
me more control over the software/hardware environment.Sauron - 30-4-2009 at 12:06
As it is we are getting daily interruptions of service lasting from half an hour to several hours, most usually in the wee hours of the morning to
late morning EST which is afternoon and evening for me.
If this is self inflicted gratuitously by the host, I would complain if I were you but I do not know what sort of relations you have with them.
The main site and livrary are unaffected, just the forum. HTTP 500 Server error is the norm. Sometimes a mesage says config.php is invalid,hissingnoise - 30-4-2009 at 13:06
Yes, it's mildly disconcerting but I'm sure you'll soon have things back to normal.
The E+W forum seems to suffer a lot of outages. . .Nicodem - 4-5-2009 at 03:32
I got the same error message as was given in these times when the server was down when I tried to upload an 1.2MB attachment today. Two times before I
gave up and posted without the attachment.ssdd - 7-5-2009 at 12:27
OK so I am having some issues accessing the site, they don't seem DNS related.
When ever I try to visit the page I get a '404 not found' error, yet when I use a proxy (using one now) I can get to the page. If it is of any use I'm
in NY state and the proxy that worked for me is in canada...
The screenshot shows an effect of DNS problems. Since the site you are being sent to is not actually the server running sciencemadness.org, there is
no "/talk/" directory on it.
The DNS problem we had today is the 3rd spontaneous DNS screwup we have had this year. We also had one more excusable screwup when the site was being
moved between servers in Micfo's data center.
While I was getting a technician to fix today's DNS issue, I also asked about moving SM back to a more powerful server inside Micfo's data center. I
was informed that I am now a "lifetime customer" and all lifetime customers have been pushed to the less-powerful server we are now on. It appears
that Micfo is no longer offering the package that I previously used to host Sciencemadness. Their current paid plans are either too expensive or too
stingy of resources for Sciencemadness. The good news is that I apparently get nearly-free hosting indefinitely, should I choose to use it. The bad
news is that the quality of service is so poor that I don't think we can stay here. Even if I were willing to pay the higher new Micfo prices to
return to a more powerful machine, the DNS problems that have plagued the site started before we were tossed into the "lifetime customer" rubbish
heap.
Sciencemadness outgrew its first web host and it looks like we have outgrown the second too. I will be looking for a new host. Please be patient. My
job takes up most of my days and finding a reliable, affordable web host is not easy.
If you think you know a good hosting company, you might want to post about it in this thread. The host should run Linux, offer ssh access, have recent
versions of PHP and MySQL, and offer at least 10 GB of disk space and 100 GB of data transfer per month. We will need a dedicated IP address in order
to offer SSL. Apart from these bare stats the host should also not overcrowd their servers so that there is constant sluggishness from
disk/cpu/bandwidth contention. I have received a suggestion already from undead_alchemist to investigate iweb.com.
I am comfortable being my own sysadmin if there's a good VPS package available, but those arrangements were a bit expensive the last time I looked.
When I last got a package through Micfo I believe it was $20/month for 12 GB disk and 500 GB monthly data transfer, but I had to pay up-front for 2
years.
[Edited on 5-7-2009 by Polverone]
What About Donations?
bigbigbeaker - 7-5-2009 at 15:47
Why not ask for some donations? I wouldn't hesitate to give $10. I have been reading this board everyday for the past three or four years. It is
one of the big bargains in my life. I am a 60 year old CPA. I felt like I was getting old so I was looking for a new horizon in my life. I found it
when I stumbled onto SM. What a find! This place has opened up my mind. I bought a scale, a bunch of glassware on Ebay and put a lab in the
basement. I scoured drug stores, hardware stores and the net for chems. With instructions here and elsewhere, I made many on my own. I learned how
to distill, separate, crystallize, sublime, titrate and all sorts of wonderful things. As far as I am concerned, chemistry is magic. I can mix a few
chemicals, add a bit of heat, give it an acid environment and actually move electrons around and create new compounds. Take a scrap of silver, some
nitric acid and some alcohol and get an explosive. Wow. A little aspirin, methanol, H2SO4 and I get wintergreen. Double Wow. I started with the
inorganic chems, plating, crystals, etc. Then I moved onto organic with alkanes, enes, ines and then rings and all sort of interesting things. I
read the Lab Survival Manual at night in bed. I have made diethyl ether, P, Na, chloroform to name a few. I am now reading Organic by Morrison and
Boyd. If a good host costs $30 per month or $360 per year, I am in for $18 or 5% of the total. Let's get real about this. SM is a wonderful resource
to have. I enjoy it every single day. I take my wife to see a crummy movie and I spend $30 with popcorn. If you are worried about the implications
of accepting donations, register as a 501(c)3 and file a postcard with the IRS each year as long as you receive $25,000 or less. If you want, I will
prepare an application for recognition as a non-profit organiztion, gratis. Or if the forum stays unreliable, it's still one of the most enjoyable,
interesting things in my life.Polverone - 7-5-2009 at 16:31
Oh, people certainly have donated before, and it has enabled me to run the site for the past few years with relatively small out-of-pocket expenses.
There is actually a thread about donations in this same subforum... unfortunately, this latest version of XMB causes the Paypal donation form to
render wrongly and I have not yet put a workaround in place.
But the most immediate concern is one of time, not money. I need to find an affordable shared web host with reasonably accommodating policies. I
contacted iWeb earlier and their shared hosting plans have very stringent limits on CPU usage, which they refused to clarify further citing "security
concerns," and they do not offer ssh access for shared hosting either.
I suppose you could say this is an issue of money, since if I were able to get (e.g.) managed VPS from a well-established company this could
be resolved without much more time spent. But I fear that the expense to go the "gold plated" route is too great to raise from donations, and even if
I could get it all from donations I do not know if it would be a wise use of funds. I do not want the site to be persistently unstable but neither do
I want to overpay because I am in a rush to find an alternative.Fleaker - 7-5-2009 at 17:39
Polverone,
Do you have any idea what the costs would be to upgrade the forum hosting?
Polverone - 7-5-2009 at 20:41
It looks like it may be possible to get an adequate VPS for about the same price as Micfo cost, 19.95/month. I am looking at linode.com. I could maybe
go to $30/month but that's about the limit of my comfort zone. There are cheaper offers also, both shared hosting and VPS, but you can get burned
trying to go too cheap.
I have pretty much ruled out going to another shared host. Too many have restrictions that aren't obvious up-front, and many pack so many customers to
a box that the site suffers (like we're currently suffering on the overcrowded Micfo machine). I don't relish handling more sysadmin type tasks, but
just about every problem I've had with shared hosts has been because of some mistake on the host's end. I don't think I will get into too much trouble
if I have to manage more functionality myself.froot - 8-5-2009 at 00:38
I'm hosting with these guys and they're very reliable, no downtime for over a year now and I'm currently on an offshore server somewhere in the USA (I
think). They no longer offer the package I'm on which is comparatively dirt cheap but as yet I havn't been tossed aside like you have.
Not sure if they're allowed to host non-SA sites but maybe they could taylor a package for you if you contact them.starman - 8-5-2009 at 03:30
Well Polverone- if it comes down to dollars I'm sure many members are prepared to help out.Basically I've been here to learn,without much substantial
to contribute to academic debate,but I'm certainly prepared to chip in a few bucks for reliable/better service.
$360.00 per year isn't much spread out amongst us.Perhaps a new thread with a targeted amount to see us through the next year or two.Magpie - 8-5-2009 at 07:48
I agree with starman and will be glad to contribute to a fund. My goal is to minimize the time that Polverone has to spend on system administration
and get him back in the lab.Ramiel - 8-5-2009 at 21:05
So are you saying that the host changed the terms of your plan whilst you were on it, without the option of cancelling? In Australia at least, we have
recourse in the Telecommunications Ombudsman, who would visit upon them great vengeance and furious anger etc.Polverone - 11-5-2009 at 08:57
They changed the terms of service, but stopped charging for (most of) the service. I still have to pay separately for the dedicated IP address but not
the basic hosting. I have not suffered any financial damages and I am not locked into any contracts. The forum has just become unreliable and made me
think of moving elsewhere.dann2 - 11-5-2009 at 16:43
O be the lord,
When I made some posts in Modles and ........section I was promptly taken back to the Sci.Mad screen with the picture of the 'Pestle and Morter on
fire' page
Very very very annoying (not for me though as I have developed the habit of selecting and copying my posts just before I hit the 'post' button so I
was able to save my (not inconsiderable inate ramblings) into a text file for future prosterity).
When I made some posts in Modles and ........section I was promptly taken back to the Sci.Mad screen with the picture of the 'Pestle and Morter on
fire' page
This just happened to me. After a bit of testing, it appears to be triggered by putting invalid
markup (BBCode or HTML, I can't tell yet) into the message box.dann2 - 12-5-2009 at 15:25
Your right.
I cannot put in an equation with sup's and sub's (in angle brackets). This is what was causing my problem.
Dann2Nicodem - 14-5-2009 at 13:34
Be careful to avoid the use of HTML codes not only in the posts but also in the U2U messages. Seems like since the software upgrade, these otherwise
useful codes to which many got accustomed to, cause the messages to be lost and the front page of the site to be shown instead. This happened a few
times to me before I learned to copy the text prior to clicking either Send or Preview.Fleaker - 26-5-2009 at 06:58
Tried reaching the forum earlier and it was unavailable. Anyone notice any downtime around 10 AM EST?Phosphor-ing - 26-5-2009 at 07:30
It was down When I checked it about 7:15 EST. All's well now though.User - 26-5-2009 at 07:38
Yep i couldn't reach sci either.
It thought it was my browser, but after deleting cookies and such still nothing.
I got an error which i cant recall exactly.Gruson - 26-5-2009 at 13:29
I got a database connection error around 11 AM GMT+1.
Be careful to avoid the use of HTML codes not only in the posts but also in the U2U messages. Seems like since the software upgrade, these otherwise
useful codes to which many got accustomed to, cause the messages to be lost and the front page of the site to be shown instead. This happened a few
times to me before I learned to copy the text prior to clicking either Send or Preview.
HTML code seems to work OK if you use square brackets instead of angle brackets to inclose the commands (is that the proper term?)
angle-bracket-here strike angle-bracket-here stuff to be striked out angle-bracket-here /strike angle-bracket-here
This sends you back to the front page of sci Madness with the post lost.
Using square brackets works nicely like this cross this out please
have not tried other html delights
Dann2
DerAlte - 30-9-2009 at 09:16
I have been experiencing the difficulties Dann2 and Nicoderm mention. I often write the text offline before posting, especially if it's long. I used
to do this in Word to catch typos and merely export the .doc. I've also tried .txt. If I write directly in the box no problem.
One cannot switch off HTML code can one? What's the work around?
Regards, Der Alye watson.fawkes - 30-9-2009 at 10:00
H2O. Doesn't work for subscripts, unfortunately.12AX7 - 30-9-2009 at 10:46
Square brackets are bbcode. It says HTML is on, but any angle brackets, let alone properly formatted HTML, always takes you back to the index. Since
angle brackets are useful in ordinary conversation, THIS IS A BUG AND MUST BE FIXED.
For the time being, HTML entities will have to be used: "<" is written "&lt;".
[Edited on 9-30-2009 by 12AX7]12AX7 - 1-10-2009 at 14:23
Another bug: the HTTPS server has a crap security certificate (self signed, or not even for the correct address: https://www.sciencemadness.org and https://sciencemadness.org are different addresses but use the same certificate). I'm also not staying connected to it; I'm not sure what the
difference is, but all the links on the index (https://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/) point to the nonsecured address. I'm not sure how, because the link is relative and it should keep the
https part.
TimDerAlte - 14-10-2009 at 16:27
As 12AX7 et al point out above, any 'greater than' or 'less than' sign (angle bracket) causes the problem. Since these are commonly used - I even use
them to fake a chemical equation 'goes to' symbol - I find this very highly restrictive.
The BB codes using square brackets are AOK and work. After removing all offending angle brackets I managed to post something after about ten tries.
I have another post but it would look like nonsense without using these symbols. ('more so than the usual Der Alte post?' did I hear someone mutter?)
Is there a workaround?
Regards, Der Alte Polverone - 14-10-2009 at 16:38
You can use html codes, like (remove spaces) & l t
or
& g t
It becomes < >12AX7 - 14-10-2009 at 18:48
Hmm, in a recent thread I typed
==>
and it absent-mindedly went through.
Looks like anything not immediately obvious as HTML (opposing angle brackets) might possibly get through. It still won't let you type it in general.
Tim
[Edited on 10-15-2009 by 12AX7]Polverone - 28-11-2009 at 18:47
Now we can use more > or less than < symbols in messages without difficulty.
Since I migrated the board to a new host, the software is under better control and the weird redirect-to-the-front-page posting bug no longer
manifests.watson.fawkes - 29-11-2009 at 07:41
Do <sub>subscripts</sub> and <sup>superscripts</sup> work again? Apparently so.MagicJigPipe - 29-11-2009 at 14:04
How do you use sub and superscripts? I wish there was a quick and easy way to do that on this forum (like on Microsoft Word 2007) seeing as though it
is a chemistry/science forum.
Eh?
[Edited on 11-29-2009 by MagicJigPipe]Lambda-Eyde - 29-11-2009 at 16:09
Do <sub>subscripts</sub> and <sup>superscripts</sup> work again? Apparently so.
By the Twelve Gods! I've been so extremely frustrated when I've been redirected to the main page all those times - Thank you, whoever made this
possible again! watson.fawkes - 29-11-2009 at 19:54
First, press the "quote" button on a post with superscripts and
subscripts in it. You'll see examples.
Then figure out how to put the '<' left angle bracket in a posting.
slow and unreliable site today
Polverone - 3-12-2009 at 16:03
This afternoon I found that the site was extremely slow, sometimes to the point that my browser timed out before a page could load. After some digging
I found that this was because a couple of IP addresses, probably using web spiders, each had hundreds of connections open to download documents from
the site. It took some time and a few server restarts to find an appropriate solution, but their requests are now blocked.
I do not mind it when users spider the site. Limit your connections, though. I am adding a script that will automatically block IP addresses that have
more than 20 connections open to the site, and leave those IP addresses blocked for up to 24 hours. I doubt the out-of-control spiders that were
running today came from members here, but keep this limit in mind if you want your own local copy of the library or the LANL documents.
site outage
Polverone - 21-11-2010 at 12:14
About 8 hours ago the site came back up after being down for almost 6 hours. The problem was an extended power outage at the data center where the
machine that hosts the site is located. I believe that this is the first time we've had unplanned site downtime since migrating to Linode.psychokinetic - 21-11-2010 at 14:02
Oh. I thought that was just me.Polverone - 28-11-2010 at 14:06
The SSL certificate has expired. I will create a new one later but you can expect shrill browser warnings in the mean time.Polverone - 28-11-2010 at 16:41
I have updated the SSL cert. It is still self-signed, so your browser will complain until you permit an exception for it.Polverone - 17-12-2010 at 11:34
The forum was unavailable for a while because a database table had crashed. It has now been repaired.
The forum was unavailable for a while because a database table had crashed. It has now been repaired.
I am having problem that might be related to that incident? Accessing the "Library" and Los Alamos Technical Reports fails and has done so repeatedly
during at least a day or so.
It was possible to access the index page of Library trough google cached page, but most of the publications seems unavailable even when i have the
direct link. (A few external hosted books seem unaffected)
I also experience problem with The Los Alamos Technical Reports Collection. Index page is available but link to DVD1 and DVD2 seems to suffer from the
same problem as the Library.
[Edited on 18-12-2010 by turbosnigel]Polverone - 17-12-2010 at 16:36
I noticed that problem today too. It is actually unrelated. The problem was a faulty DNS entry. I have corrected the entry, and you should be able to
access those links again after the DNS updates are fully propagated.
