Roll back the server or pass the baton

[ocean1]

I got the PM about moving servers, thanks! This is rediculous though. Unless its a full moon, leap year and the sun is shining on my dogs ass we cant get on anymore. If you do a search on sdreefs the value has went from almost 5k to under 2k because of traffic and issues. You are killing this site. PLEASE restore it before enough get tired of the issues trying to get on and just move to other forums. I had to use Kproxy to get on. Those not so savy will just give up. What was wrong with the way it was ?
Look at your daily traffic its got to be getting killed. The crawlers cant even get on.
Sorry had to vent.. Just bummed love to read the posts for local reefers.

[Nick_Kun]

It should be back to normal soon. We just need to be patient, we still have sdmas.com and socalireefs.com to keep you occupied for a while.

- Nick

[socalaly]

nick...how come some can get on and some can't? I HAVE to use the proxy.... stan can just get on as normal...as can lance and aud etc...

[RussM]

nick...how come some can get on and some can't? I HAVE to use the proxy.... stan can just get on as normal...as can lance and aud etc...

Try this... open a command prompt, then type ipconfig /flushdns then ENTER, and try sdreefs again.

[Live Water Aquariums]

Ok, computer challenged here, how do you open a command prompt. This kproxy thing is really anoying with all the pop ups. I don't understand why the site works through kproxy but not without. My computer could log on once in the past few days, otherwise its not available. I'm afraid people will stop checking the site if it goes on too long.

[RussM]

Ok, computer challenged here, how do you open a command prompt.

Start, Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt.

If it's not there: Start, Run, type CMD, the press Enter

[BigAir]

Clear out the cookies related to SDR, the history and emp internet files. No more problem.
I have been able to get on w/ NO probs for the last few days.

[Live Water Aquariums]

Start, Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt.

If it's not there: Start, Run, type CMD, the press Enter

Ok I tried it and it said "operation requested requires elevation".

I know how to eat cookies, but I don't know how to deliet them. :rolleyes:
I'm only 31 years old but I feel like an old man when it comes to computer stuff.

[socalaly]

I agree I got the same thing... as kevin.

[RussM]

Aly and Kevin: you're running Vista which I can't help with. I refuse to allow it on any of my computers!

[ocean1]

Flushing the DNS got me back on at least for the moment =) I found that if you have Windows Vista you need to go to accessories, Cmd prompt, right click open as administrator.. from there as above flush the DNS.
I can figure out how to clear selected cookies having to deal with Sdreefs in Firefox. I dont want to delete them all. Any one know how to get to the folder?
I think the ADMIN of this site should be/ have a thread about the issues and how to resolve them like we are doing here. Quite odd....
Maybe someone can sticky some info on how to flush DNS and clear cookies temp etc.. Someone has got to care right????

[socalaly]

HAHAHA.... I use xp at work...ill try it there too... LOL...but yes my lap top is vista...haha

[socalaly]

okay I did the flush...well it didn't work.........errrrrrrrrrrrr

EDIT: And I erased all my sdreefs cookies and nothing...

[ocean1]

You can use a proxy server to get in like Kproxy or one of the others. Search Proxy server or DNS. The only problem with Kproxy is all the darn adds and pop ups you have to go through. But it will get you to the site...

[socalaly]

ocean..thats how im getting in now...

[DaveMorris]

I can not speak for Techno, but you obviously have no idea what the purchase price was/is or the monthly cost involved in running it. Think about it folks...Why would the admin not want people to get on here? I believe he has been trying to make it a lot better and the current situation is a little out of his control. If he moved the site to a different hosting company, he can't simply "roll it back". Show a little patience. He wouldn't have spent the money on it to just let it die.

[Technoviking]

Thanks Dave.

Wow are you people serious? You think I like having my site down? If you think this is bad, you were obviously not here before I owned this site.

If you would have actually read the PM I sent everyone, you would know that it is out of my control and just takes time. There is nothing I can do to speed up a DNS update. I have done so much for this site, spent countless hours updating it and bringing it back to what it was. You exprience a week of on/off downtime and you're talking about how the site has gone to hell? Get a grip.

Oh and BTW ocean1, you should really know what's going on before you go onto other sites and slander my name and say that I am doing nothing to fix it.

[temec_lover]

i havnt had any problems at all.. getting on or off or anything...

[Technoviking]

Not everyone will have problems, it is completely dependant on your ISP.

[CBlanks]

Time Warner seems to be doing well for me getting on and off. Techno thanks for the hard work. SDreefs is my #1 source for reefing advice, and also the only site I use to set up trades. I wouldn't have either of my tanks without it!

[Titan]

Mr. Morris,

With all due respect, you have no room to speak on one's background experience on the back-end issues of this site. You nipped it in the but when you mentioned you can't vouch for the owner of this site. Your nearly speculating like the others who have commented.

NOT starting a debate here

[Technoviking]

Oddly enough, he was the only person who everything he said was true...

[DaveMorris]

Because I have read the information that Techno has posted, and because I have talked to him before, and because I have other, outside knowledge of what a site like this costs to run/maintain, I am not speculating. I said that I wasn't speaking for Techno because he is a big boy and can speak for himself. I just don't understand why people will complain at the first sign of trouble and automatically assume that the owner of this site is too busy or doesn't care.

[Titan]

Mr. Morris,

You should have just said you were the subject matter expert, and I wouldn't have made any mention.

Ps i keep my words soft and sweet in case i need to eat them... lol

Sorry

[ocean1]

Im sorry Techno, it has just been very frustrating. I like the hundreds others that use this site on a daily basis are going through withdraws of a sort lol. I want to come on like I used to any time of day or night read posts surf and post. I dont frequent many other sites as much because I enjoy the San Diego connection that is exclusive to this site. I have been on not as long maybe three years and its funny we used to complain about the absence of the previous owner and updates. Its got to be hard being you lol. Anyway please accept my apology and keep up the work and could you make a sticky after deleting this thread about things that would help these issues? Such as above the DNS flush (which helped me) clearing cache and cookies and anything else you can think of. A sticky letting us know the status and things we can do ourselves would help. I just really do NOT want this site to go away and people to find a new regular site. We can always browse other forums but Sdreefs is home for many. I just can tell being in the LC in this forum and others people are confused and frustrated. Sticky a help thread and delete this thread so it doesnt cause any more problems.
Thank you and GL!
Jeff

[dbrooks]

You exprience a week of on/off downtime and you're talking about how the site has gone to hell? Get a grip.



+1

Mellow out people. It is a FISH GEEK FORUM!! How about some priorities?

And "Titan", I think you need to go back to New York.

[seahorse_man]

jeez,ppl come on!!!If you don't have enough patience for a little site repair,well I hate to break it to you but.............YOU ARE IN THE WRONG HOBBY:crazy:

I would like to see you guys go and start up a site from scratch(thats pretty much what it was like,before Blake got to it),but only ppl that have been a member for more than 2-3 months would know.So just BE F'ING PATIENT,I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY THIS THREAD WAS STARTED.

Good job Blake,I know its hard to do what you are doing(running a site,switching servers,etc.)

not to mention at x-mas time when you want to do other things I'm sure than help ppl that b*tching AT YOU.

Respectfully,
Jordan

[jrod11]

Alright Blake I gotta give my support to you on this one.

Aside from being into fish, my main job is a web designer for a large web design firm. I KNOW FIRST HAND WHAT IS GOING ON AND DEAL WITH IT ALL THE TIME.

DNS Changes can be a huge pain in the butt and take some time to transfer over. In an ideal situation, you could have another server running the same site that could make up for the lag of the DNS. However, this takes lots money and tools that would not be cost effective for SD Reefs.

It appears that more and more people the last few days have been finding their way to the site, so hopefully the server is resolving.

Thanks again to everyone who helps maintain the site and make this a great community.

[Technoviking]

Thanks for the support guys, I appreciate it.

Yeah it seems that the down-time is dying down, should be close to being over.

[Redeye]

maybe the people complaining should cough up the money to support the site, if it means so much to them:p

I know I'm not orange, but I'm not *****ing either:D

[nahtanoj]

i want to complain! sorry, i'm tired and i couldn't think of any great smart rearend things to say.

[DaveMorris]

maybe the people complaining should cough up the money to support the site, if it means so much to them:p

I know I'm not orange, but I'm not *****ing either:D

AMEN to that! Especially at a mere $25 a year.

[alex4angela]

over 24 hour and I have not been able to log on until now. Is there any othert way of being able to log on? I finally log on and notice others have posted, how do they do it?

[seahorse_man]

over 24 hour and I have not been able to log on until now. Is there any othert way of being able to log on? I finally log on and notice others have posted, how do they do it?

I have been doing it through www.kproxy.com,then I just type ''www.sdreefs.com'' in the search bar and you should be good;)

One thing I would recommend is turning on your popup blocker to ''high'',b/c man does that site have popups.........

HTH,
Jordan

[MichaelRyanSD]

notice how the people who paid up some real cash aren't complaining.....take a hint...

[nahtanoj]

i want to complain! sorry, i'm tired and i couldn't think of any great smart rearend things to say.

what about this jerk?

[Technoviking]

Ah no one cares about that jerk... ;)

[ocean1]

maybe the people complaining should cough up the money to support the site, if it means so much to them:p

I know I'm not orange, but I'm not *****ing either:D
My god almost 4000 posts you have done and you havent ponied up yet lol. Wow I would keep my head down lol. I was a Premium member for a while. I felt as much as I was using the boards I should contribute and I was only at 200 or less posts lol. I stopped the Prem membership after a while I was off and RL stuff. I was going to re up because I am back active again. Dude you should right a book if you have the knowledge to post 4 thousand times or do you have a store or something lol. And Im not being sarcastic, you must be very knowledgeable / bow :) or a big biz ? Site sponser maybe? Anyway, its all good If you read the apology post. I felt bad and Tech is trying to make the site better for all of us. Its like Dave said I need to treat this like a reef with patience. I did not know what was going on all I knew was the LC here and other sites were saying they couldnt get on still and peps had set up temp homes at other forums. It worried me we would loose some nice locals to other sites. This is home and I missed it as did soo many others. Its gonna just get better! But grats on the 4 thousand posts guess you had to get a couple in this thread to lol. They ever charge by the post you in trouble lol :p

[brbbb]

For stats: Verizon is our host. Couldn't log on once several days ago but it has been fine the last couple of days. Take a jog around the block. Talk to your spouse and kids, if applicable. Watch the fish. Whatever gives you stress relief - that's one reason I got a tank. Do a water change. Donate a backup web server. It sounds like that would give a lot of people stress relief. He's doing well with what he's got. You're doing a great job, Techno. Hang in there, all!

[mazilla]

AWWWW, I sharpened my pitchfork for nothing. :(

[h20poloman]

I have been doing it through www.kproxy.com,then I just type ''www.sdreefs.com'' in the search bar and you should be good;)

One thing I would recommend is turning on your popup blocker to ''high'',b/c man does that site have popups.........

HTH,
Jordan


Thanks for finally get this info over to SDMAS...I haven't been able to log in for days and for the whole ponying up thing, I was a paying member of this site and haven't decided to renew at this point. I'm a paying member for multiple sites and I'm pretty sure have contributed to this community in more ways than one. It definitely has been frustrating and I would suggest emails be sent out to members on how to resolve current issues. While the kproxy site seems to be a temp fix, it has it's series of annoyances with pop ups and ads. I would sure hope the hosting company has received an ear full. I understand this is just a bb but there is a fair share of commerce exchanged here and in my opinion it's crazy that it's not been resolved for this long.

[socalaly]

here is the think I just don't understand... some say that it will take my computer 41 days for the server to recognize the new site... however a few days ago I was able to sign on at 11pm and then this morning at 745 am... but now I can't? this site is dead lately because no one can get it...please tell us if there are alternate ways for us to do this besides kproxy...some say fixing your host files? however I have vista and I can't seem to fix it.

[ajn81]

You can modify your the hosts file on your computer and will then have no problems logging on to sdreefs. The only thing is that if you modify this file you will have problems logging on to sdreefs if at some further time they change ip addresses again.

On windows the file is located:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

On mac and linux the file is located:
/etc/hosts

You can just add:
70.84.14.194 sdreefs.com www.sdreefs.com (http://www.sdreefs.com/forums/../)
to the end of the hosts file and voila, no more trouble getting onto sdreefs.

This thread has some more info on how to do this:
http://www.sdmas.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3743&posted=1#post3743

[keepergale]

Thanks but you might as well have typed that in chinese. If I had already donated to this site I would be angry. As it is I am just sad. Some of the sites (motorcycle) I donate to have switched servers without major disruption. If Googleing sdreefs can't get you in there will be an end to new users. What I am saying is there is nothing wrong with my computer that needs fixing. There is something wrong with the new host for this site.
Rant over.

[socalaly]

I have vista.... fix doesn't work...no one can figure it out.

[ajn81]

Thanks but you might as well have typed that in chinese. If I had already donated to this site I would be angry. As it is I am just sad. Some of the sites (motorcycle) I donate to have switched servers without major disruption. If Googleing sdreefs can't get you in there will be an end to new users. What I am saying is there is nothing wrong with my computer that needs fixing. There is something wrong with the new host for this site.
Rant over.

Yeah, I think we are all a little bit angry, but it's obvious that something went very screwy with the DNS when sdreefs changed servers. Not something you can really blame on anyone, just something that we can all hope works it self out in time.


I have vista.... fix doesn't work...no one can figure it out

You added that line to the host file, rebooted your computer, and it still is not working??? I don't believe you ;). Well I guess that's vista for you.

[ReefinIt619]

If you modify your host like ajn81 mentions in Post #43 it works perfect. I have Vista and it works perfect. Thanks For that info!!!

[dbrooks]

Yeah, I think we are all a little bit angry...
Not me! I get in every time, no problem.

Never had a problem.

Site is awesome.

Blake is the best.

I'm doubling down on my subscription!

[Techknowledgy]

Still iiffy on the desktop but works on the laptop. Wierd.

[alex4angela]

man it sure sucks not to be able to log on when I want:( I am still having problems logging on. I hope this gets fixed soon Sdreef is the $#!t and my home to reefing and refuse to go somewhere else :)

[LarryM]

If you are using a favorite link to log in with you may wish to delete it and make a new one.

[99sf]

I also have Vista and am still barely able to access the site ... when I tried to save the new information onto my host file, I get an error message, telling me I cannot create the file C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.

[RussM]

Open Notepad with Administrative privileges by clicking Start, All Programs, Accessories, and then right-click Notepad and select to open as Administrator.
Now that Notepad is open with Administrative privileges browse to (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc) in Notepad and open the hosts file.
Copy & paste this: 70.84.14.194 www.sdreefs.com
immediately below the line that reads:

127.0.0.1 localhost
There may be other entries in there as well. Anti-virus and anti-spyware programs may prevent you from saving the edited file unless you disable the protection.

[socalaly]

Russ I tried that and it didn't work with vista...however i might add that I go on using the normal site just now....???

[seahorse_man]

Russ I tried that and it didn't work with vista...however i might add that I go on using the normal site just now....???

aly,what about it didn't work?I did it on mine and I have vista.........

[socalaly]

I get error can't save...or error can create new host....gotten both.

[seahorse_man]

Aly,give me a call,I can walk you through it in like 2min.

858-487-3460

I had the same problem

[h20poloman]

Thanks Russ, that did the trick

[ocean1]

Open Notepad with Administrative privileges by clicking Start, All Programs, Accessories, and then right-click Notepad and select to open as Administrator.
Now that Notepad is open with Administrative privileges browse to (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc) in Notepad and open the hosts file.
Copy & paste this: 70.84.14.194 www.sdreefs.com
immediately below the line that reads:

127.0.0.1 localhost
There may be other entries in there as well. Anti-virus and anti-spyware programs may prevent you from saving the edited file unless you disable the protection.

What a pain in the arse lol. In all my years of webbing never had to do this lol.
Its not working... Did it like you said tried to save says cannot something about making sure path is correct..
Thank tried another way closed said this is a read only file...
First time all week I have been able to get on.
Russ what am I doing wrong sorry
Thanks!

[RussM]

What a pain in the arse lol. In all my years of webbing never had to do this lol.
Its not working... Did it like you said tried to save says cannot something about making sure path is correct..
Thank tried another way closed said this is a read only file...
First time all week I have been able to get on.
Russ what am I doing wrong sorry
Thanks!

Dunno... I just tried it on the only Vista system in the house, and it worked fine. I'm an IT geek, but my focus is networking; I'm fairly good with XP and older, but haven't had much need to dig deep into Vista... maybe someone else can help you (and Aly, who can't get it to work with Vista either).

[RussM]

As mentioned in my previous post, I am a network engineer/consultant; one of my specialties is Internet security and connectivity. I have done as much diagnostic work as I can, and the problem many of us have been having is not with the sdreefs.com server itself, but with the Domain Name System (aka DNS).

DNS is the service which translates server/domain name like www.sdreefs.com (http://www.sdreefs.com) into an Internet Protocol (IP) address (sdreefs' IP address is 70.84.14.194) which is then in turn used for your ISP to route the traffic to the proper destination. The heart of the DNS system is a group of servers called root servers which are operated by various companies like Verisign and Cogent, some universities, and federal entities like NASA and the DoD.

Hosting companies like minidedicated.com (which hosts sdreefs) run DNS servers for the domain names they host. On a periodic basis (usually daily), such DNS servers execute a data transfer, which is an exchange of DNS records for the applicable domains. Ultimately, all of the root servers know which specific DNS server(s) contain the specific records for a given domain (like sdreefs.com).

When you fire up your favorite Internet browser, and type in a URL (http://www.somewhere.com), your computer sends a query to your ISP's DNS server. If your ISP's DNS server doesn't have the information already cached (stored temporarily), it sends a query to another DNS server up the line so on and so forth until it gets a response that tells it which DNS server hosts the records for somewhere.com. That DNS server, when queried, responds with a message that says "www.somewhere.com's IP adress is 55.248.24.119"; this info is sent back to your computer, and your computer then sends the request for the default web page for www.somewhere.com (http://www.somewhere.com) to 55.248.24.119.

Although this whole process may sound complex, normally this process takes place in milliseconds. Something is awry with the records for SDReefs, or the proper exchange thereof. As far as I can tell, both of the DNS servers for sdreefs.com are correct. Some ISPs are getting the right info (seems like TWC is good); some are getting it sporadically (Cox), and some don't seem to be getting it at all (like ATT, based on the reports here and other forums).

As of the last communications from Blake, he was working with the hosting company (and the DNS provider for the sdreefs.com domain) to resolve the issue. That, however, was some time ago.

As a networking professional, I know that sometimes problems like this can be a real PITA to resolve, and I can be patient. But I would like to see some sort of status update from Blake.

[Technoviking]

Should be all done now, just got off the phone with our host.

[RussM]

Should be all done now, just got off the phone with our host.

Cool... I'll remove my host entry in the AM and see how it goes.

[socalaly]

woooo wait a min I need to remove that file I put in the hosts now?

[RussM]

woooo wait a min I need to remove that file I put in the hosts now?

Eventually, yes, you will want to. Just leave it there for the time being. Let someone else on AT&T be the guinea pig :D If reports are good in a couple days, then take it out.

[RussM]

Doh! I left out one of the most important points in my DNS explaination... the reason the hosts file trick works is because your computer always checks to see if there is an entry in the hosts file for a given computer or domain name before it sends out a DNS query. If you added the info for sdreefs.com in the hosts file, your computer does not even have to send a query to your ISP.

And as I told Aly, anyone who did make an entry in their hosts file should remove it (just delete the whole line) after it looks like everything is in fact resolved.

[99sf]

Thanks, Techno & RussM. Finally have access! Not sure if it was updating my secret file as an administrator, or the site host fully integrating the changes, but I'm happy!

[alex4angela]

sweet! able to log on this morning with no problem. Now if I could only get my home computer back to how it was before I tweaked it. It won't show any pictures on any site, LOL

[Yolo]

Somethings not kosher as I have not been able to access the site from Home (Yahoo/ATT) for days/weeks...has to hurt traffic value.

Was even dead this AM from work but hit a link provided by an email all.

I would suggest an email to all again specific to end users trying tricks. Also include new bookmarks or links in the email to use.

m

[dnraiders]

still not working for me during the day...

[Yolo]

Edit : 3PM, Did not work yesterday...Works fine...

Everyone have a great Holiday.


Thanks

mike