Vatsim website, others down?

Harrison Waltman · « **on:** July 28, 2013, 03:15:12 PM »

So I just tried to check VATspy and it gave me an error saying the server timed out. I also checked Vataware, which says the data server is down. I can't access vatsim.net in Firefox, and the request times out after I ping it. Anyone know what is going on?

Stephen O'Hara · « **Reply #1 on:** July 28, 2013, 03:36:55 PM »

This was posted in Facebook

The data server that hosts stats, vatsim.net among others suffered a hard drive failure last night, at 1915Z we will be shutting down this server in order to perform essential maintenance. We expect about a 30-45 minute downtime if all goes smooth. Thanks for your understanding and patience.

Harrison Waltman · « **Reply #2 on:** July 28, 2013, 03:38:34 PM »

Quote from: Stephen O Hara

This was posted in Facebook

The data server that hosts stats, vatsim.net among others suffered a hard drive failure last night, at 1915Z we will be shutting down this server in order to perform essential maintenance. We expect about a 30-45 minute downtime if all goes smooth. Thanks for your understanding and patience.

Thanks. Is it normal then that it is still down? Why is the main website down?
EDIT: disregard that last part

Don Desfosse · « **Reply #3 on:** July 28, 2013, 03:45:36 PM »

Back up now.

Harrison Waltman · « **Reply #4 on:** July 28, 2013, 04:01:11 PM »

And the data server is still down I'm getting tired of this.

Don Desfosse · « **Reply #5 on:** July 28, 2013, 08:56:41 PM »

Please remember how lucky you are that others pay for the network and its infrastructure that you enjoy for free. Someone else's hard drive, that they let you use free of charge with no other stipulation than to enjoy and try to improve the network, went down and they have to pay for it to be replaced, invest the time on a weekend to resolve the problem, etc. Speaking of being "tired of" things, I imagine our benefactors may be "tired of" hearing others complain that they didn't spend enough of their own money and have a good enough crystal ball to replace a drive before it failed. A little patience and appreciation for something you get for free goes a long way.

Kris Kendrick · « **Reply #6 on:** July 28, 2013, 11:32:23 PM »

Very well stated Don. I was thinking earlier that if I had to deal with the recent attacks and headaches that the VATSIM folks have had to deal with, I would've thrown my hands up long ago and said to heck with it. I am very thankful that they have put forth so much time and effort into this hobby so that we can all enjoy it... at no charge!

David Macfarlane · « **Reply #7 on:** July 29, 2013, 10:56:12 AM »

While I am not involved in the 'structure' of VATSIM, VATUSA or any of the system's servers and access points, I am very pleased there are many who help make the on-line experience incredibly realistic as well as a great deal of fun for both learning and cameraderie. While I imagine it has been said before, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to the 'unknown' owners and operators for their dedication, and hope there might be some way we can learn about their financial needs and contribute in some way from time to time. In my work, I know it is really hard to predict a failure of hardware and I am sure all these guys and gals are hearbroken when things fail. THANKS FOR NOT THROWING IN THE TOWEL at every whimper and whine.

Harrison Waltman · « **Reply #8 on:** July 29, 2013, 11:23:03 AM »

Quote from: DAVID MACFARLANE

While I am not involved in the 'structure' of VATSIM, VATUSA or any of the system's servers and access points, I am very pleased there are many who help make the on-line experience incredibly realistic as well as a great deal of fun for both learning and cameraderie. While I imagine it has been said before, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to the 'unknown' owners and operators for their dedication, and hope there might be some way we can learn about their financial needs and contribute in some way from time to time. In my work, I know it is really hard to predict a failure of hardware and I am sure all these guys and gals are hearbroken when things fail. THANKS FOR NOT THROWING IN THE TOWEL at every whimper and whine.

I too have an appreciation for the effort of vatsim administrators and what they do for our continued enjoyment of the network. I am sorry if my previous comment offended anyone, the frustration overwhelmed my thoughts for a time to a point of irrational thought Again, I congratulate admins on their work and had no intention of appearing ignorant.

Richard Jenkins · « **Reply #9 on:** July 29, 2013, 03:06:53 PM »

Quote from: Harrison Waltman

I too have an appreciation for the effort of vatsim administrators and what they do for our continued enjoyment of the network. I am sorry if my previous comment offended anyone, the frustration overwhelmed my thoughts for a time to a point of irrational thought Again, I congratulate admins on their work and had no intention of appearing ignorant.

I cannot tell you how bad the last week at VATSIM has sucked! Sifting through endless server logs from the various webpages and the FSD network, looking for the person that destroyed the the forums and a few other things. On the phone with 3 different law enforcement agencies. On the phone and email with the worm that did all this; listening to how he was "setup" to make it look like he did it all.

Then get everything back together and the damn second hard drive on the core server fails! Ughhh....

Adam Smith · « **Reply #10 on:** July 29, 2013, 03:16:06 PM »

Quote from: Richard Jenkins

I cannot tell you how bad the last week at VATSIM has sucked! Sifting through endless server logs from the various webpages and the FSD network, looking for the person that destroyed the the forums and a few other things. On the phone with 3 different law enforcement agencies. On the phone and email with the worm that did all this; listening to how he was "setup" to make it look like he did it all.

Then get everything back together and the damn second hard drive on the core server fails! Ughhh....

I can't even imagine. Thanks Richard and everyone at the top for all the hard work, time, and money you devote so that will all can enjoy this hobby.

Don Desfosse · « **Reply #11 on:** July 29, 2013, 06:12:30 PM »

Richard, I'm sure that I speak for all of us when I say thank you, thank you, thank you, for all that you and the team do. In the face of tremendous adversity, when many would say say, "Screw this, it ain't worth it!", you and the rest of the team just keep plugging away selflessly so the rest of us can enjoy this amazing network. Thank you, a million times over.

David Macfarlane · « **Reply #12 on:** July 30, 2013, 10:51:37 AM »

Ok, so a virtual High Five is nowhere near enough. How's about a virtual High Five Hundred to Richard and the others who suffer on our behalf. Thanks is not enough, but it's what we can offer most sincerely. Please email me info on where I can contribute a little bit more tangibly.

Richard Jenkins · « **Reply #13 on:** July 30, 2013, 05:35:54 PM »

Quote from: DAVID MACFARLANE

Ok, so a virtual High Five is nowhere near enough. How's about a virtual High Five Hundred to Richard and the others who suffer on our behalf. Thanks is not enough, but it's what we can offer most sincerely. Please email me info on where I can contribute a little bit more tangibly.

I was thinking the other night about where we are and where we have come from. I remember when SATCO was run off a 56k modem in some guy's basement only on the weekends. Multi-player and vox were a dream. Full duplex sound cards had not been invented yet. Multi-player was us basically telling each other where we were on text.

What a journey! And it really comes down to everyone showing up and contributing in their own way. I'm not nearly as active as I was 7 or 8 years ago, but when I login, on the rare occasion, I still feel the intensity of making that first call on the radio. I think it comes from people bringing their "A" game to the environment and pushing others to do the same.

RJ

Charan Kumar · « **Reply #14 on:** July 31, 2013, 07:03:21 PM »

Richard and team, while a mere thanks doesn't nearly cut it, still a huge THANK YOU from us.