Recent Updates Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:39:59 +0000 en vz03 Reboot - Complete Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:30:24 +0000 We are currently rebooting vz03 to perform some unplanned maintenance. The expected downtime is less than 10 minutes. We will update this post when the process is complete. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Update: The downtime was longer than expected due to some consistency checks being run. The server is now running normally.

]]> Plesk Network Upgrades Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:30:50 +0000 This week, we are beginning upgrades to the network connection on our Plesk servers to facilitate faster connections and lower latency. This change requires reassignment of the IP addresses for these servers, which will take approximately 30 minutes or less to complete (per server). Once this process is done, users of this server should not notice any difference in their web hosting or email service. If you currently have an IP address specified in your email client or FTP client for connecting, please replace this with your domain name so that the IP reassignment can be completed without any further interaction on your part. Please note that most customers will require no changes at all. Thank you for your patience during this capacity upgrade.

If you do experience any type of connectivity issue, especially when checking email or making FTP connections, please verify that you do not have any IP addresses (numbers in the format 216.222.xxx.xxx) specified in your software settings. Any use of the IP address should be replaced by your domain name.

Progress Updates:
Server ps09 completed all updates as of 11:30am on 11/17
Servers ps10, ps11, and ps12 are completed as of 11:50am on 11/18

]]> Upstream Provider Network Maintenance Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:12:57 +0000 Between approximately 3am and 6am this morning, 11/15/08, our upstream provider performed scheduled network maintenance on the backbone connections that service our Plesk and Sphera hosting customers. The purpose of this maintenance, which was successful, was to install upgraded network equipment. Portions of our Plesk and Sphera hosting networks may have been unavailable for a very brief period (approximately 5 minutes) during this window, but at this time no further maintenance is required and all customer website and email services are online and functioning properly.

]]> ps06 Drive Replacement - Completed Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:01:41 +0000 At this time, our engineers are performing emergency maintenance on server ps06 in response to a hardware sensor that has detected possible problems with the primary hard disk. No data has been lost, and this maintenance is to replace the drive prior to any problems. We expect this process to take approximately one hour, and will work to restore service to this machine as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.

Update 8:00pm: This server is now back on-line and the drive replacement was completed successfully.

]]> ps05 Drive Replacement - Completed Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:50:32 +0000 Server ps05 is currently undergoing a replacement of the drive which handles email access to prevent an possible problems. We received an early warning alarm from the drive’s hardware sensors, and are currently replacing it. No issues are expected, but customers may not be able to check email for a short time. Any incoming mail will be queued on the senders server and redelivered shortly. Thanks for your patience during this important emergency maintenance.

Update 6:45pm: This server is now back on-line and the drive replacement was completed successfully.

]]> Server ps02 Drive Replacement Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:30:43 +0000 At this time, the replacement drives have been installed in Plesk server ps02 and the server is now coming back online. Over the next few hours, customers on this server will receive any mail that has been queued for redelivery on the senders server. No further issues are expected, and we appreciate your patience.

]]> Server sd51 rebooted Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:05:54 +0000 At this time, we are rebooting server sd51 as it has become unresponsive; it is currently coming back online all services should be back up shortly. Thank you for your patience.

Update 1:15pm: This server is now back up and no further issues are expected. Thank you!

]]> Backbone Connectivity Issues Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:15:46 +0000 Regarding the Plesk and Sphera hosting platforms:

At approximately 7pm on Thursday, October 30th, a large “backbone” provider, Sprint, stopped routing traffic from Sprint-connected customers to our upstream provider, Cogent, who is the largest provider of internet connectivity in the USA. This is due to a business disagreement between Sprint and Cogent, and it means that customers who are connected via ISP’s that partner exclusively with Sprint may not be able to access their sites hosted with us. Fortunately, most internet providers do not connect to the internet via only one provider, so connections can be routed via other links; however, smaller ISP’s (especially regional internet providers) that connect to the internet via only a single Sprint connection are being affected by this issue. Cogent has offered all Sprint-only customers a free temporary connection while Sprint and Cogent negotiate a more permanent peering agreement.

Please understand that this issue is not directly under our control, and we are confident that Sprint will re-activate the connections that they have disabled in the very near future. If you are unable to access your website at this time, it is possible that your ISP is only using Sprint (and has not yet activated a temporary connection with Cogent), or that your ISP is experiencing other routing issues where connections to Cogent are not being routed around the issues with Sprint. Also, please note that this problem affects all customers of Cogent, not only our customers — so you may not be able to access other major websites that are connected via Cogent. Cogent has assured us that the rapid resolution of this issue, and quick deployment of temporary connections to ISP’s who have been abandoned by Sprint, is their top priority.

Thank you for your patience during this issue, and we will continue to monitor this situation. If you continue to experience connectivity issues, you may wish to contact your ISP for further guidance. The following links are to news articles regarding this situation:
http://tinyurl.com/connectivity-issues
http://tinyurl.com/connectivity-issues2
http://tinyurl.com/connectivity-issues3

To assist our technicians in investigating this issue, please perform the following steps to trace your internet connect to your website if possible:

  • Click the “Start” button in the bottom left corner of your computer
  • Click “Run”
  • Type the following command, then click OK: cmd
  • At the prompt, type the following command then press Enter. Be sure to replace ‘yoursitedomain.com’ with your domain name: tracert yoursitedomain.com
  • Once the test completes and you are returned to the command prompt, right click on the command window and choose “Mark”
  • Use the mouse cursor to click and select the results of the tracert test, then right click again to have the selection automatically copied to your clipboard
  • Open a support ticket and paste the results of your tracert test into the support ticket by right-clicking in the support ticket text area and choosing “Paste”

    • Update: As of November 2nd, Cogent has notified us that Sprint has re-activated these connections and traffic is now being routed normally. We will continue to monitor this situation and provide updates as they are available.

    Update: More information is now available online regarding the reconnection of Sprint and Cogent:
    http://tinyurl.com/sprint-cogent-reconnected

    ]]>         Intermittent Network Connectivity Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:47:11 +0000 Regarding the cPanel, Virtuozzo, and H-Sphere hosting platforms:

    At this time, we are experiencing routing issues with our upstream provider regarding routes to Level3, a backbone provider for many ISP’s in the USA. While most customers are able to access all servers without any issues, a small number of customers who are being routed through Level3 may experiencing intermittent connectivity to their websites or email. All servers are online and functioning properly, and all other connections are unaffected by this problem. We thank you for your patience while we continue to work on resolution of this issue as our top priority.

    Update October, 31st 8:55pm EDT This issue has been resolved. All websites should be resolving at this time.

    ]]>         Scheduled Network Upgrades Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:12:20 +0000 Beginning at approximately 11pm EDT on Wednesday, October 29th, and lasting until 11am EDT on Thursday October 30th, we will be performing a series of network, power, and facility upgrades on our H-Sphere and Virtuozzo hosting cluster. During this maintenance window, websites and email access may be unavailable; our engineers are preparing to finish the required upgrades as quickly and efficiently as possible. The purpose of this one-time maintenance event is to increase reliability and connectivity for the benefit of all customers in these environments. We thank you for your patience during this maintenance period, and we do not have any further maintenance planned beyond this period.

    Update: This upgrade is now complete. Thank you for your patience.

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