Server Maintenance

[Bob Connor]

Hi Everyone

You've probably noticed the forum has been up and down the last week.

I have a failing hard disk in the esxi server that is hosting the forum and it needs to be replaced.

I'm trying to get it done asap so if the forum is offline you'll know why.

Regards

[kiwigeo]

Ya need to sack that cleaning lady Bob....thats twice in a week shes unplugged the server to plug in her vacuum cleaner.

[J.F. Custom]

I have a failing hard disk in the esxi server that is hosting the forum and it needs to be replaced.

Let us all know if you need some money thrown your way to help out with the expense involved Bob.

Your efforts are appreciated.

Jeremy.

[Bob Connor]

The forum is now running on another computer while I replace the hard disk in the server.

While I was at it I took the opportunity to upgrade to the latest version of the software 3.1.5 because of the enhanced security features.

You'll find it easier to navigate in mobile devices like your phone.

It looks a bit different but I'm sure you will get used to it.

Apologies to anyone who lost posts this afternoon while I was doing the changeover but there's not much I could do about it as I had to keep the old forum live to get all of the pics and avatars from it before the hard disk finally dies.

Regards

[Allen]

The new interface is a nice upgrade. Very clean and easy to use. More forums that I'm on should be going down this path.

[colburge]

Thanks for maintaining the site Bob, the new interface is much better too.

Col

[Trevor Gore]

Great work Bob! Much appreciated.

[Nick]

Great work Bob! Much appreciated.

+1 on that.
Thanks for all your efforts that go into running this forum Bob (and keeping it running like clockwork). Love the new 'clean' look. Another forum I visit has migrated to this newer version and navigation is much better.

[Bob Connor]

It's still causing me some grief with lock ups and the forum goes offline but I think this'll fix itself when I migrate it back to the server with the new hard disk. (tomorrow perhaps)

Regards

[Bob Connor]

I hope you blokes got a lot of work done the last couple of days while the server's been down.

Trying to upgrade has been a pain in the arse.

For the technically minded.

I attempted to load the latest version of VMware esxi (6.0) on to the server with the new hard disk.

Version six doesn't like Realtek network cards so I scoured the town for some enterprise level Intel NIC's to no avail.

So I bought an Intel motherboard which has onboard Intel Network cards. Thought this'd be a good idea to implement Raid 1 on the drives to mitigate against future Hard Disk failures. So I bought a couple of 2 TB Western Digital Reds to go with it

However it is incompatible with the CPU I had in the old server so I had to order a Xeon CPU which won't be here until Thursday.

So the forum is still running on my PC and I've done some tweaks to see if it'll stop locking up so I'll be interested to see if it's still up when I get up in the morning.

Regards

[charangohabsburg]

I hope you blokes got a lot of work done the last couple of days while the server's been down.

How do you imagine I could get some work done at all while constantly trying to access the ANZLF?

Thanks a lot for all your time you put into keeping this place running!

[Dave M]

I did indeed miss the forum the last couple of nights. Not having noticed this topic I wondered if you had decided to cast us northerners adrift.

Being a relative newcomer I have no idea how this thing is financed but as someone else has said I would be more than happy to make a contribution. This is a great place to be and I would hate to lose it.

Thanks for all your efforts Bob.

Cheers Dave

[Jeremy D]

Hi Bob,

I know you have your reasons for keeping the hosting of this site in house, but just in case you were considering moving it to the cloud I can recommend a VPS with these guys https://www.linode.com/ (or if you prefer to have your sever physically located in Australia these guys https://www.vultr.com/)

It is very cost effective and they have some nice management tools like console access etc. I run my own mail server on vultr and it works great. You can take snapshot backups so if there ever were problems you could move it back onto your own hardware.

Anyway something to consider. Thanks for all your great work, I love this place.

[Bob Connor]

It's essentially financed by me Dave.

The server lives next to the desk in my home office and I get to pay the electricity bills and any upgrades that need to be done to the server.

I have asked for contributions once before when we needed an upgrade and I'll probably do it again this time as I've just forked out about $1000 to do more upgrades.

I could get the forum hosted by an ISP but we're looking at around $2000 a year and I'd be chasing funding all the time (which I have neither the time nor inclination to do)

Regards

[Steve.Toscano]

Hi Bob.
My business has several VPS's and dedicated boxes, some with spare 'room', most are in Global Switch data centre others on teh vocus network. Let me know if you want us to put it up on one of these.

will pm phone number.
Cheers
Steve

[Mark McLean]

The new layout looks great Bob.
It is times like this that remind us of the great effort that you put in to keep the forum running - and it is an essential part of my daily routine! I, for one, will be very happy to kick in to cover the costs. Just let us know the best way to shoot you some cash.
Mark

[Nick]

Ooooooooo! Just logged on this arvo & another new look! Very swish Bob, loving the up to date look, great work thank you

[Allen]

I had to look twice to see if I was in the right place. Very easy to read for old farts eyes.

[jeffhigh]

Lookin Good Bob

[kiwigeo]

Still the same ruthless cranky old Moderators/Admins

[Nick]

Still the same ruthless cranky old Moderators/Admins

There's always a downside to anything

[Nick]

Just experiencing some of the emoticons not displaying correctly at my end ( still showing as their code rather than the emoticon) Bob, not sure if anybody is getting the same?

[Bob Connor]

I've noticed it too Nick. I'll get around to it soon.

Regards

[Jeremy D]

Love the new look also.

[Nick]

I've noticed it too Nick. I'll get around to it soon.

Regards

Definitely no rush, just thought I'd raise it as a possible bug. How do the boys in blue put it? "File an incident report"