Did We Go Down Yesterday?

[promethuem5]

Hey all,

did the forum go down yesterday, or does my computer just hate me?

[Hoptimus]

Something was definatley toast. I couldnt get in to the forums or the main site.

[JsARCLIGHT]

I'm not sure MW is totally "back up and running". I'm still getting reports from some people that they can't get in still. Also just by looking at the small number of people online this morning either others may be having the same problem or they just aren't aware the site is back up yet.

[1 VF-1 2NV]

I had problems a few hours ago. First, I would be able to check the forums then all of a sudden I couldn't. NOw, I have no problems whatsoever..for now anyways.

[Sumdumgai]

Last night *boom* no more Macross World.

This morning *boop* Macross World back.

I'm happy.

[Hurin]

It looks like MW's server has been moved to a different IP address.

Someone who can still not reach it is getting an IP address of:

66.87.66.196

Which, I assume is MW's old IP. But those of us currently connecting successfully are getting an IP of:

66.98.160.20

So, if the site has been moved, its provider's network has been moved, or the hosting company has changed, things will most likely continue to shake themselves out for everyone as the new DNS record propogates. These sorta things usually take 24 hours from the point where accurate DNS entries for the domain are first created on the domain's primary DNS holder.

In the meantime, those who are feeling impatient can try the following (it's unlikely to help, but might save an hour or two if your ISP's DNS server has an updated record but your computer has an inaccurate local DNS cache). . . of course, they'll only get these instructions via IM or a copy of this post on the various "MW is down" threads across the web:

Go to Windows (XP) Command prompt and type:

ipconfig /flushdns

Then type:

nslookup www.macrossworld.com

Unfortunatley, I don't know of a way to force an ISP's DNS server to abandon its cached entry for a host and "re-check" earlier than planned to see if it has changed. So, if you're still getting the bad IP, the only solution is to wait. Each DNS record has a "TTL" (Time To Live) at which point its record will be checked and refreshed.

Sometimes, I think that just doing repeated nslookups can "jog" a DNS server into refreshing its record. But I've never been sure that it was actually happening that way, or I just got lucky and the record timed out and was refreshed.

Okay, enough rambling. The good news is that MW should start working eventually for everyone soon if things are as they appear.

Best,

H

Edit: Based on some further sleuthing (the details of which are not appropriate to post here), it does indeed appear that MW has been moved between providers and we are now on a new server. Oddly, I always got the impression that MW wasn't on a vhost ("virtual host") before. Though, I suppose it's possible (despite some fuzzy evidence to the contrary) that this new server is also a dedicated server and we're not on a vhost at the new hosting company as well.

Edited April 27, 2006 by Hurin

[azrael]

I think I can explain the IP change. Rackshack.net (MW's hosting service) seems to have entered into a trademark issue with someone else a while back. They have changed their name to EV1servers.net. A whois seems to reflect that:

Registrant:

macrossworld.com

****************

****************

US

Domain Name: MACROSSWORLD.COM

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:

Klueck, Shawn ss455@AOL.COM

macrossworld.com

*************

*************

*************

*************

Record expires on 20-Sep-2006.

Record created on 20-Sep-1999.

Bulk whois optout: Y

Database last updated on 27-Apr-2006 20:40:55 EDT.

Domain servers in listed order:

NS5.EV1SERVERS.NET 207.218.223.151

NS6.EV1SERVERS.NET 216.40.207.235

This may explain earlier outages. In any case, welcome to EV1Servers.net...formally Rackshack.net.

Some light reading for you:

http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=...&entry=78177155

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.www.web...d36c03e6b49f004

[EXO]

In... just right now... been trying all day! I got in yesterday though, there were seven users.

[Hurin]

Though, it's odd that the hosting service would have to (apparently) change their IP address pool just to change their company name. . .

[do not disturb]

i only had a problem for the one day, but everythings been kosher since then.

BTW, animepunch is down too. maybe one of the mods could contact pogo or SR?

[fulcy]

i only had a problem for the one day, but everythings been kosher since then.

BTW, animepunch is down too.  maybe one of the mods could contact pogo or SR?

394801[/snapback]

AP isn't down.

[Veritas]

I've been down for two days myself. It's good to see that i can get back in. Let's hope everyone starts trickling back again soon enough.

[Sdf-1]

I couldn't access here in about two days.

[JB0]

Sometimes, I think that just doing repeated nslookups can "jog" a DNS server into refreshing its record.  But I've never been sure that it was actually happening that way, or I just got lucky and the record timed out and was refreshed.

I doubt it.

What you COULD do, though, is edit your HOSTS file so that calls to MacrossWorld.com are translated to the appropriate IP on your computer, and DNS servers never enter into the equation.

[Hurin]

Sometimes, I think that just doing repeated nslookups can "jog" a DNS server into refreshing its record.  But I've never been sure that it was actually happening that way, or I just got lucky and the record timed out and was refreshed.

I doubt it.

What you COULD do, though, is edit your HOSTS file so that calls to MacrossWorld.com are translated to the appropriate IP on your computer, and DNS servers never enter into the equation.

395633[/snapback]

Oooo! Good one! Never thought of that. Haven't used a HOSTS file in Windows for eons!

H