IMPORTANT: The present and the future of UC

[rousselle]

Hi, all.

We've been running into some server issues lately, and the fix is in progress.

THE PRESENT: Please limit the size and amount of your image uploads for the time being. Most of what we are facing involves space limitations.

THE FUTURE: In the very near future, we will be moving UC to a new server. Once we are ready to shift from this server to that, we'll post further details. Be advised that our URL may change.

This move is happening Very Soon Now. Thank you for your patience!

[Honeybee]

I notice that although I am NOT getting the 'too many requests' message, we do have over 10,000 online and I figure that is probably causing the site to be working a little slower than usual. NOT complaining - just wanting to provide feedback. Keep up the good work.

[kevork]

I wonder if our new provider has better measures against that sort of traffic.

[vasta41]

Be advised that our URL may change.

May I suggest www.vasta41rulz.com?

[rousselle]

Be advised that our URL may change.

May I suggest www.vasta41rulz.com?

Yes, you may suggest that.

It won't happen, but you may suggest it.

UPDATE:

The move will happen within the next 24 hours, most likely. If you try to connect and there's a little bit of a "I can't let you do that" response, fear not: the process is, we lock y'all out of being able to make changes while the entire site is backed up and then restored at our new server, and then the settings are adjusted to point from here to there. The process won't take super long, but it will involve a temporary interruption. If a super recent post or two get lost in the back-and-forth, that should be the limit of our inconvenience.

Oh, and you'll likely have to log in again.

Once we're on the new server, we'll monitor performance for a bit and make sure all is smooth sailing. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Montenzi and I will also make sure we've got an excellent off-site back-up process in place, and we'll be doing a little bit of clean up to the system as a whole. As mentioned earlier, don't be shocked if you see a notice encouraging you to update your links to the site, but that's a tomorrow problem. For now... stay frosty, and let us know if you spot any issues out of the ordinary. Posting them here will be fine.

More news to follow!

[bdawg923]

How will we know it's done? Will it be .org? Or a banner announcing it's done or something

[rousselle]

How will we know it's done? Will it be .org? Or a banner announcing it's done or something

So, by some freak coincidence, the server for UC.com was rebooted shortly before the move was to take place. Montenzi was nonetheless able to make the backup and perform the move while the .com site was up but not resolving the domain name properly. Once the domain name is resolving properly again, he will set up the ability for the old site to forward directly to the new site.

But yes, the new site is at .org. So, if you have links saved somewhere, change the .com to .org, and you'll stay current. We have no idea how long .com will remain active.

[montenzi]

It would probably be a good idea for the community to come up with a plan so the forum isn’t dependent on just one person. Shared access and proper backups would make things much safer in the long run.

[montenzi]

Side note. To be honest, I’m a bit puzzled by how everything was originally set up. For example, no one ever removed my full access — neither Mike, who gave it to me, nor Alex. Maybe it was some kind of hidden genius, or maybe just carelessness. But without that access, it would have been impossible to get any of this done.

Hosting is provided by @rousselle, and I’ve also added my SSH key as a trusted key on his server ... just in case. You can remove it anytime you like.

[Honeybee]

It seems Good men

[BaconWise]

Fantastic work to make the switch seamless.

Is there any way for other UC members to donate a little to help with hosting costs?

[Adamthinks]

Thabk you guys so much for making this hapoen. Im curious though, what does this mean for the issues this site was facing with Alex off the map. Does he still own this site? Is access to the service provider still an issue?

[kevork]

Is there something that can be done with the URLs to remove the "sid=" tag in there? It seems to be there sometimes, and sometimes not.

[rousselle]

Here’s the short version to answer questions posed so far:

1) Per Montenzi’s excellent observation, we need for the UC to have more people who can address issues as they come up. I will be running some ideas by our current set of mods (including hsbc, GandalfPC, vasta41, PrincessTrouble, et al) and admins (Tom & myself), but my intention is to streamline the current roster of mods, add a mod or two, and add an admin or two. Admins will have full access to the front end of the server (the forum admin control panel, the server control panel) and to the extent he remains willing, Montenzi will retain keys to the backend. In this way, we should be able to respond faster when trouble arises and without relying solely upon one or two people to keep the site alive.

2) For the next couple of weeks, we’ll need to keep a close eye on performance and on bots swarming the system. Tweaks to our settings should be all that’s necessary to get things under control.

3) Effective immediately, we now have complete control of the server, so we can increase storage space or throttle unwanted traffic at our own discretion. We will also maintain control of billing, so there won't be any surprises there once the new steering committee is set up appropriately.

4) Some of you have offered to contribute to the cause financially. Your offer is gratefully accepted! We’ll figure out how best to set this up soon. But in the meantime, thank you so much for the offers! They will absolutely help!

5) If and when Alex re-appears, we will work with him at that time to determine a path forward that honors his contributions (he has been underwriting the hosting and domain registration costs even though he has otherwise been MIA) while at the same time preserves the UC’s ability to manage itself. In the meantime, consider yours truly to be the current curator of the community, just as Alex Chin, Mike R., Mike F., and Alex K. were before.

6) Alex Chin currently still owns our .com domain, while I have personally registered and own our .org domain (where the community is now hosted.) As long as Alex’s registrar and hosting accounts remain in good standing, the .com addresses will redirect to .org. If and when we can, we’ll try to recover ownership of .com. But until the, we need for search engines and individuals’ links to be switched to .org.

Thank you all for your patience! Please report any issues as soon as you notice them, and we’ll address as best we can.

Cheers!

[drboone]

Is there something that can be done with the URLs to remove the "sid=" tag in there? It seems to be there sometimes, and sometimes not.

Perhaps more importantly, sessions are being opened for anonymous users. That probably adds load to the system, and could make bot storms and DDoS attacks more costly.