Technical Lessons

[mtnman]

So are there any lessons that can be learned/passed down from this whole technical difficulty thing? Some of us net newbies are a little green as to what's going on.

I'm anticipating a response from MJ similar to 'don't use POS hosting companies.' LOL


But other than the obvious, for anyone hosting websites or websites, are there things in particular to look out for?

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Funny you ask, I was going to write something to that effect.

I come from a dedicated server environment. In the past, all my sites had dedicated boxes. 1 server = 1 website. I did this for volume and control.

When I started this forum, I had no volume and a dedicated server wasn't necessary. A managed box could run $100's per month to run and for a board with less than 1000 users and no page views, it did not make sense.

So, I hosted the forum in a shared-environment and decided to use a local company here in Phoenix. (1 box = 50 websites.)

I never had so many problems with the main problem being "CONTROL". In a dedicated environment, you have root level access -- you login, isolate the problem, and fix it.

In a hosting environment, you need to deal with the hosting company's tech support. They move slowly. They don't respond. They like to blame you for errors ("Did you change anything? Its your code, not us"). So instead of working to *fix* the problem, you spend the entire day fighting with the hosting company, trying to "get them to see the light" that you did nothing, at its their hardware, their software configuration, and not your code.

For weeks, the board has been latent. (Their claim? Application pools are bogging down and need to be cleared)

Last nite, they claim a disk drive failed and their restore process was corrupted.

After the restore, the board returned with a slew of errors.

They claim "Its your code". How could it be? I've been asleep all night and changed nothing! I woke up to this mess!!!

I ran 2 websites with close to 500,000 users PER MONTH. I never had these issues. I try to run a board with a few 1,000 and these retards can't do anything right.

I was venting to my girlfriend last nite about what I big jackass I must look like -- here I try to represent myself as an Ebusiness expert and can't even run a board without it vomiting errors. It is very frustrating when your customer service image is reflected by the actions, or lack of action, by someone other than yourself. That happens when you run websites with hosting companies that have less then stellar tech support. (BTW, the hosting company came highly recommended via business associate here in Phx).

Now, I am stuck in a BIG QUANDARY:

I need to move this board to a more controlled environment.

I either

1) Wait until I get back to Phx (I'm going to Vegas for a week) and risk the board regurgitating these errors (they WILL return without notice)

or

2) Start migrating the board to another server which would take me about 36 hours. The DB transfer isn't much the problem but the customization's ive done is extensive.
The problem there is I don't have 36 hours because of Saturday's B&P meeting. On Sunday I leave.

Either way is not acceptable to me. If I leave for Vegas and the board starts to choke again, I don't have easy access to the tools to get it fixed and it could be screwed up for days.

 

[offroadaz]

I heard aptohosting does a good job with their dedicated servers :smxB:

 

[mtnman]

I was venting to my girlfriend last nite about what I big jackass I must look like -- here I try to represent myself as an Ebusiness expert and can't even run a board without it vomiting errors. It is very frustrating when your customer service image is reflected by the actions, or lack of action, by someone other than yourself. That happens when you run websites with hosting companies that have less then stellar tech support. (BTW, the hosting company came highly recommended via business associate here in Phx).

I don't think anyone thinks 'jackass' when there are problems. LOL I think you and the mods do a great job with this place. I (I'm sure everyone) appreciative you actually have future concerns for when you're away. Most people would just say, eh, it'll be alright till I get back. I don't think either choice will be an issue, especially if you let everyone know in advance. Thanks for putting in the hard work to keep the board up!

 

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[CarrieW]

I cant speak for anyone else but thats not what I think either.

I am just glad that all wasnt lost. it may be a pita right now but everything is still here and will be fine sooner then later.

I say go to the b&p and to vegas and have a great time.

Hopefully the poltergeists will stay away.

 

[aptohosting]

MJ,

We can easily fix ALL of your hosting issues, we give SHELL access to our trusted clients!

Shoot me a PM if you are interested!