Our forums down for over 8 hours, home page partly up, Admins replied after 5 hours!

[lalex49]

... and only after threatening to go and make the situation public! Their support claims that there are "on going" problems with the server we're hosted on and that they are working to fix it.

Well, since there are "on going" problems then why not fix them or at least move our site to a different server which does not experience "on-going" problems? Their chat support staff answer to this question is, and I quote:

"We do not move users from server to server, ... No matter what the issue is."

Pretty drastic don't you think? I mean, if an account other than your own is creating "on-going" troubles, then why other accounts have to bear the consequences?

For the record, we had similar poor support form iPowerWeb 6 months ago and we did not hesitate to leave them - for Hostgator. Now it seems that we're back at the same "game" again, this time with Hostgator. Will put a more detailed report on Hostjury.com which at the time recommended Hostgator as an alternative to iPowerweb. I suggest you do the same if your site is affected. Maybe this will get support going at a more reasonable speed. BTW, Hostjury.com lists the Hostgator accounts availability to 88% = significantly less that the self-claimed 99.9%! same goes for support.

See it for yourself here: http://hostjury.com/reviews/hostgator

Finally an Admin answered our ticket and they apologize saying that they are aware about the problem and that "There should be an announcement within 24 hours in the forums about the issue.".

24 HOURS? So we'll be off line for another 24 hours - during a weekend?

We are currently incurring direct damages as a result and we're considering our next move (out of Hostgator).

[GatorNate]

Lalex49,

We had some very serious disk I/O issues with a single server last night. 9 times out of 10 those are caused by a single user doing something they are not supposed to. But they can also be caused by a disk in the RAID array having trouble, or the RAID card itself going bad.

I came on shift as one of our senior Level3 admins and our CTO were working on this server. Those issues were resolved and when I checked the server just 10 minutes ago, I did not see any evidence of the issues that had been plaguing when your ticket was replied to.

We have had a lot of tickets tonight, so I did not get any downtime to discuss the problem and its resolution with them, they are asleep right now, but I have notified them of this thread and asked them to update this thread when they wake up with the details of the resolution.

I checked your forums and you have a message stating you have taken the forums offline while waiting for an update. Can you enable the forums again so we can work with you to get them back online asap? As my shift is near its end, I have assigned your ticket to another senior, level3 admin who will be coming on shortly. If you have any further issues, please feel free to reply to that ticket and he will take care of you.

Nate C.
Level2 Admin
Hostgator.com

[lalex49]

I've just did, and the forum is still down. I got the usual SQL DB access error:

Can't find file: './xxxxxxxx_SMF/smf_SMFsettings.frm'

In addition, the front page cannot run the SWF trailer. Situation is without change.

I decided to return the "forum maintenance" message.

Still no-go on any of our issues.

[GatorFord]

I've corrected the issue in it's entirety and this was due to a crashed sessions table in your database. There should be no further issues and the forums are working for me without any issue now. Please update your ticket if you have any further questions or concerns. Thanks.

[lalex49]

Hi,

Yes, I confirm that the forum is up, and that the home page FLV trailer is playing correctly now.

This was a close call as we've already made preparations to migrate to a different host. We've lost almost 24 hours of forum service - a critical component of our business at www.space-shuttle-mission.com . We are NOT looking forward to a repeat of this episode.

I can confirm that most of us at this end have added several white streaks to our already gray hair.

/Admin

[GatorBrent]

Hello,


Could you let me know your ticket number on this issue? I'd love to review the ticket. thanks!

[GatorBrent]

Thread being moved until a ticket number is provided. thanks!