We've Moved!

[ApexL8]

We've Moved!

The PCA Cayman Register just moved all of their forum software to a different web server yesterday, Wednesday, June 13th, 2012.

The move seems to have gone smoothly, but please report any difficulties, and we'll try to get them addressed.

[caymanken]

And the countdown begins!

Congrat's on the move - always good to hear of improvements to the site!

[Croc'ed]

I'll be biting my fingernails until 8 pm...

Thanks to PCA, and the entire CR team, for their dedication to keep this community growing.

[CrocZilla]

Originally Posted by ApexL8

... enjoy the increased horsepower when we return.

In IT as in racing, it's always a hardware problem usually solved by throwing $$$ at it

Thanks for maintaining & improving the site!

[ApexL8]

This move has been under consideration, then shoved into the pipeline ever since all the PCA web sites, all of them, crashed hard last February. This ain't NORAD, it was more of a nuisance than a national security issue, but it doesn't look very professional when your web site can't be pulled up. Better, more reliable service has been sought, and I'm pretty sure those smart guys and gals at National HQ will deliver.

The crash caused Mike/Gator Bite to regrettably lose a lot of code he had been working on, but most of the CR forum posts were recovered.

Anyways, the plan is to move all of the PCA sites during this down time, so we're estimating the 5 to 8 p.m. blackout. It may be back up a bit earlier with any luck.

I've got some stuff to watch on my DVR, and if all else fails I could read a book!
Chuck

[Ed Merry]

THanks for the heads up. Good luck with your move to a better sever.

You do need to be up by the weekend so we can post Le mans comments. I understand TV coverage will be on the Speed channel starting at 8:30 on Saturday the 16th. Go Porsche. Ed

[ApexL8]

Originally Posted by Ed Merry

Good luck with your move to a better sever.

I think we're there Ed, the move seems to have been successful! Go Porsche!
Chuck

[ApexL8]

Update: This thread has been renamed from "We're Moving!" to "We've Moved!".

Hopefully the move didn't cause too many inconveniences for our membership. Please report here if you find any odd side effects from the move, pages displaying incorrectly, or whatever.
Thanks,
Your Cayman Register Volunteer Team
Mike, Brad, Chuck, Mark, & Doug

[Gator Bite]

Originally Posted by ApexL8

I think we're there Ed, the move seems to have been successful! Go Porsche!
Chuck

We're almost there. Let me explain.

The move was successful. Our website and database are now on a server that performs like a Cayman. It's got a Quad 64 bit and, 12 GB of Ram and and Internet pipeline that you could drive a terabyte through. This thing absolutely smokes our old server and sets us up for the future.

So why do I say "almost there"? Well, when you call up a website up on your Internet browser, you have to type in a URL or follow a favorite. This is something we all know how to do. What we don't know is that when you ask for a URL, there are some behind the scenes steps that your Internet Provider has to do for you. The first step is that the Internet provider must execute a DNS query. A DNS query (Domain Name Service query) translates the textual URL that you typed in into a numeric IP address, the actual address of the website you're looking for. That IP address is given to your browser and so it call pull up and deliver the website to you.

When you create or move a website, you must register the location (IP address) of that website with a DNS company (like GoDaddy, Tucows, etc....) We've changed our address with our registration company, but it may take a day or two for all of the DNS companies out there to update their database with our new address. There is no way for us to know which database your ISP is pulling from. So, it is possible that some members around the country are still being directed to our old website.

So here's what we've done. The old website is still there, and still on. But, I've turned off the ability to post over there, because the last thing we want is two places where posts are taking place. Allowign this would result in data loss. If you are reading this post, then welcome to the new site (your ISP is up to date). If you're ISP is using an out of date DNS service, then you wouldn't be here. Insteadn, you'd be directed to the old site, which is in Read Only Mode and has a big announcement at the top telling folks that they are at the old site.

It is possible that you may be at the new site, and may click a link and inadvertently get directed over to the old site. (This keeps happening to me.) You will know this by seeing the announcement at the top of the page. If this happens to you, please be patient. This behavior will resolve itself over the next day or two as the DNS companies catch up with our new address.

I am very excited about this, as I was unhappy with the performance of our old / temporary server. This new server should be strong and rock solid. Please accept my thanks and apologies for your patience, understanding and any inconvenience this change my bring your way. It's all for the best.

Sincerely,

Michael Souza, aka

[Speedy]

Thanks for the all the hard work, folks. It is appreciated!

[Yancy]

I've done more than a few of these moves myself. Looks like its all here.

Its snappy too!

Thanks!

[Ed Merry]

Thanks Mike for the explanation. I knew a lot was going on behind the scenes but not specifically what. Thanks. Ed

[Gator Bite]

Folks,

It's very likely that this server move may unearth a few flaws or malfunctions. I've already heard that picture uploads are not working. The same may be true for file uploads. If you notcie any malfunctions, please report them here and I'll get our IT team on them ASAP.

Thanks for your patience,

Mike, aka

[beez]

Originally Posted by Gator Bite

Folks,

It's very likely that this server move may unearth a few flaws or malfunctions. I've already heard that picture uploads are not working. The same may be true for file uploads. If you notcie any malfunctions, please report them here and I'll get our IT team on them ASAP.

Thanks for your patience,

Mike, aka

Picture uploads are fixed...

[ApexL8]

Originally Posted by Gator Bite

The same may be true for file uploads.

Just uploaded a test file, flawless, and FAST!