IMPORTANT: Server downtime, 10pm tonight - **COMPLETED**

[Minda]

Just got back on after changing the dns settings

[Sanj]

I didn't get on til 7pm onwards - deleted cache as instructed but still could not get on. Suddenly, I'm on????

No idea why, have 2 PC's and 2 iPhones to try and all were restricted.

[ITBarbie]

Hi

I've just managed to get on as it been down most of the day. I tried my PC, iPhone and android phone and all talked about migrating and clearing cache.

I didn't do any of these today (did it yesterday) but have got in now. No idea why just though the server was down.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MJim]

Well I don't know what you're all talking about - looks like a different language! Many many thanks to sp3ctre though for all the hard work keeping this brilliant site operational!

[X5Sport]

If you need something to put you to sleep but clear the fog, then read this.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System

In simple terms, DNS stands for Domain Name System. We work by domain names - like xdrivers.co.uk - and turnes into computer language which equals its IP (Internet Protocol) address, read telephone number. DNS servers are the computer's internet directory enquiries that tell them the IP address of xdrivers.co.uk, and every other 'named' domain, and therefore where to route the traffic. Simples.

If sp3ctre migrated the site to a new server with a new IP address it takes a while for the new details to get out to all the DNS databases around the world. Some have been quick, others really slow.

If you want to know what your IP address is at present then open a command window and type ipconfig /all and voila......

Asleep yet.....

[pvr]

Or if you don't want to go to command prompts, go to www.whatismyip.com

[X5Sport]

Just checked my normal DNS and it's still showing the site as being migrated. Very odd

[sp3ctre]

[quote=""X5Sport""]Just checked my normal DNS and it's still showing the site as being migrated. Very odd [/quote]

Unfortunately not so "odd" as "irritating".

Thing is (in a nutshell), this is how DNS works...

1. You enter the forum address into your browser
2. Your browser checks if it knows the IP
3. If it doesn't, it asks your ISP (your internet provider)
4. If your ISP doesn't know the IP, it asks for it from the name server (we control our nameserver, so it is up to date)
5. If the ISP asked for it from our name server, it keeps this on record for some time (sometimes too long, this is the problem!).
6. If you (or someone else) asks the ISP for the same address it doesn't ask again as it already thinks it knows the IP (wrong in this case)

The problem is with point 5 and 6. The ISP keeps the record too long before asking again. Until it deems it necessary to ask again it will always give the wrong answer. This is what you guys are seeing. I made changes so that when the ISP asks for the IP it is told to ask again if 15 mins has passed by, but unfortunately a lot of servers simply ignore this and keep the record for longer, sometimes 48-72 hours!

I hope this goes a little way to explaining the frustration of migrating live sites. This isn't a problem with static sites, as during the migration people will see either the old or the new site (they are the same), but with forums this is not quite so simple, as you have to shut down the old site so peoples posts are not lost.

[Jalf]

My iPad has been the same all day, and oddly the safari on my Mac has been unable to keep me signed in between visits

[pvr]

My Safari NEVER keeps me signed in between visits, but this has always been the case. Sometimes it remembers me, but most of the times I have to sign in.

Sometimes it even forgets between reading a post and responding.

[MJim]

Thanks for the explanations. Fascinating stuff!