It's been a trying couple of weeks

How to explain all of this. The ES Designs Manila server was down for all of last week. I was out of town and unable to fix the problem remotely. I was able to fix the problem last Saturday and the Manila server has been running well since then. With the change in IP addresses, a large number of hosted sites went offline. Since I do not control the DNS records for those sites, I was not able to get them running even after I got the Manila server running. It appears that the DNS records for those sites have been updated now. So they should be coming back online shortly. I appologize for the inconvience, but I am happy to report that the server is running better than ever and our base network is more robust than ever. I am also able to host weblogs using WordPress in addition to Manila. So if you are interested in moving your site from Manila to WordPress, let me know. Posted by Tom Clifton on 12/13/07; 6:06:46 PM from the dept.  # Comment [0]

Impending Server Outage

All ES Designs hosted sites will be offline tomorrow starting at 9:00 AM PST (5:00 PM GMT) as we change the IP address of the server. I will be working as quickly as possible to update the DNS records for domains served on the site, and I will probably start early. So some sites may go offline before 9:00 AM. The earliest the outage would start is 7:00 AM PST (3:00 PM GMT). The downtime on a particular site depends on how quickly the DNS record gets updated and how fast that update gets propagated through the internet. I am hoping for less than 6 hours. Posted by Tom Clifton on 11/28/07; 7:24:33 PM from the dept.  # Comment [0]

Impending Server Outage

All ES Designs hosted sites will be offline tomorrow starting at 9:00 AM PST (5:00 PM GMT) as we change the IP address of the server. I will be working as quickly as possible to update the DNS records for domains served on the site, and I will probably start early. So some sites may go offline before 9:00 AM. The earliest the outage would start is 7:00 AM PST (3:00 PM GMT). The downtime on a particular site depends on how quickly the DNS record gets updated and how fast that update gets propagated through the internet. I am hoping for less than 6 hours. Posted by Tom Clifton on 11/28/07; 11:36:26 AM from the dept.  # Comment [0]

Simpli.biz Notice - Problems with SBC networks

PENDING: SBC problems — we’re trying to route around them: " It appears that SBC is having problems to Global Crossing links in San Jose and LA, thus causing some issues for those of you on SBC networks trying to connect to our 208.69.x.x or 64.34.x.x IP range. We are actively looking into the problem. Even though the problem is on SBC’s end, we’re seeing if we can route around it by quickly switching upstream providers. We will keep you posted as this issue progresses. Thank you, -Erica " (Via The official Simpli Hosting blog.) This probably won't help if you are trying to check the news site and are on an SBC network, but it's worth a try. Posted by Tom Clifton on 5/4/07; 1:56:10 PM from the Hosting dept.  # Comment [0]

Yesterday's unplanned server outage

AboveNet outage and resolution: " Hi all, AboveNet (208.185 IP addresses) crashed earlier today for approximately 40 minutes. All Peer1 IP addresses (69.90) and Simpli IP addresses (208.69) remained online. The official cause was on AboveNet’s end — a loose fiber cable on their switch port. " (Via The official Simpli Hosting blog.) A note from our co-location host. This is the second network crash caused by AboveNet. According to Simpli.biz ES Designs will be off of AboveNet's network by the end of June. After that, I will only have to worry about crashes from my equipment. Posted by Tom Clifton on 4/25/07; 1:40:33 PM from the dept.  # Comment [0]

IP Migration News

Migrating ns2.simpli.biz — and more information about the IP Migration: " First of all, we are migrating ns2.simpli.biz from its current IP of 69.90.210.8 to its new IP of 208.69.176.250 today. Until May 1st, ns2 will work on both 69.90.210.8 AND 208.69.176.250. As of May 1st, it will only work on 208.69.176.250. That means, if you have a server using this IP address for name resolution (if this IP address is in your /etc/resolv.conf file for Linux, or in your DNS server IP addresses for Windows), you will need to change this IP address in your server settings to 208.69.176.250 by May 1st. Please go ahead and make this change immediately. By the way, for those of you on AboveNet (208.185.x.x) IP addresses, your migration starts in May, so watch for emails from us in the beginning of May. " (Via The official Simpli Hosting blog.) This news comes from ES Designs co-location host. They are migrating to a new suite of IP addresses to provide better service. ES Designs is currently on the AboveNet IP addresses, so our migration will begin in May. If ES Designs manages your domain registration, then you don't have to do anything. I will make the necessary changes to keep your site up and running. If you manage your domain registration, then you will need to update your registration to point to the new address. When I get the necessary information, I will pass it on to you. Posted by Tom Clifton on 4/12/07; 10:18:49 AM from the Hosting dept.  # Comment [0]

More on Comments and Comment Spam

The ES Designs Manila server continues to get bombarded by requests to post comment spam to sites on the server. Fortunately, measures that I have taken to block these comment posts appear to be working. Very few new spam comments have been added since they were implemented. At the same time, removing spam comments from the server has greatly improved its speed and reliability. Here is a brief rundown on the changes that I have made to deal with comment spam. I have removed spam comments on a number of sites. In one extreme case there were over 24,000 spam comments on one site. The large number of spam comments was the primary source of slowdowns and server crashes. I modified the server code to actually delete comments, rather than just flag them as deleted. I implemented a "Check All Comments" feature, to streamline comment deletion for managing editors. I modified the comment code to implement a comment blocker. The comment blocker checks for certain oft used phrases and does not allow comments with them to be posted. In some cases the comment blocker applies to a specific message, so no new comments can be added to that message (applied to active sites with old messages that were getting comment spam). In other cases, the blocker applies to all new comments to the site (applied to inactive sites where there have been no new posts in a couple of years). And finally, I implemented a challenge question that should stop automated comment spam posts. It asks a user to answer an arithmetic question before a comment can be posted. Depending on how well the challenge question works, I may be able to relax the comment blocker. How can you help in this effort. Monitor the sites that you are managing editor on and remove comment spam as it shows up. Also, Let me know about inactive sites that can be disabled or deleted (these are often the targets of comment spam, since no one other than search engine bots actually looks at them). Thank you for your assistance in this effort. I am confident that with the comment spam problem under control, the server will perform much better than it has in recent months. Posted by Tom Clifton on 11/29/06; 11:10:16 AM from the Hosting dept.  # Comment [0]

The Ongoing Server Problems

As you may have noticed, the ES Designs Manila server became extremely flaky last week. The server was hanging in a way that defied all my server monitoring and restarting processes. Towards the end of the week, the server was hanging without crashing at seemingly random intervals (that averaged around 30 minutes). I was getting alerts at this frequency 24/7, which made sleep difficult. After working on the server for two days, I think that I have it back to normal. The problems that I was having were the result of an influx of comment spam on a system that was already bloated with it. I have managed to remove a large amount of the spam from the system and implemented some changes to the server that should make it more difficult for it to accumulate and easier to remove completely when it does get through. During the process, I turned off Manila's ability to send out email. Handling the comment spam and sending out email confirmation with every new post was too much a burden on the servers resources. I will turn the mail back on tomorrow if the server continues to run smoothly (and allows me to get some sleep). I apologize for the problems and hope that the steps I am taking will limit the impact of comment spam in the future. Posted by Tom Clifton on 11/15/06; 11:34:21 AM from the Hosting dept.  # Comment [0]

Unplanned Server Outage

The ES Designs Manila server was down for about 1 hour this morning between 2:44 and 3:50 AM PDT. Manila stopped responding and the server monitor failed to alert me of the problem. Obviously there are still a few bugs to work out. I apologize for any inconvenience Posted by Tom Clifton on 10/22/06; 3:56:02 AM from the Hosting dept.  # Comment [0]