Server Move - Update - Will Be Friday, May 2, 2008

[Karen]

We will be moving Pet Talk to a new, faster server the night of Friday April 25th. We are letting you all know now, so you have advanced warning, and need not panic if you cannot log on then. The process will take at least several hours, and is a lot of work - for Paul. Miss Hoppy and I simply "supervise" from another room.

[Randi]

Great, I'll be in England at that time. Karen, you better stay well away and don't give Paul any "smart" comments - except you may superwise the colors and layout. ;) Are you going to align Dog, Cat and Pet with the rest? Give miss Hoppy some noserubs!

Best wishes that it all goes smoothly! :D

[Cinder & Smoke]

Are you going to align Dog, Cat and Pet with the rest?

Eh ?? :confused:

How'z dat again?

Is sumpin *crooked* now?

:confused:

[Randi]

LOL! I knew you were gonna ask! :p

This is what PT looks like on my browser:

[Cinder & Smoke]

LOL! I knew you were gonna ask! :p

This is what PT looks like on my browser:

:p
<smirk>

I hate to disappoint the fans!

Are you questioning tha the lil Mousie's photo is "too far to the right"
and doesn't "line up" with the right side vertical border of the text boxes?

:eek: MY lil Mousie pix is 2 inches to the left (inside) of the text boxes!

But I've now got a "WIDE-screen" monitor ('kuz the sales guy said it was the *latest kraze* :rolleyes: ) ...
Some things look kinda *strange* if they spread out to cover the whole thing.

Takes some getting used to when three paragraphs on the old narrow screen now fit on
ONE LINE of this monster! :eek: Gott pack a lunch for the trip across the screen!
And I get a sore neck too - like watchin a tennie ball game sitting too close to the end of the net!

Sooo ... I guess I dunno WHY the lil Mousie doesn't line up ...
But neither does mine!

Ask Fister ---
He might have *scared* the Mousie and he's trying to run off the screen.

:p

[Randi]

Are you questioning that the lil Mousie's photo is "too far to the right"
and doesn't "line up" with the right side vertical border of the text boxes?
Yes, I am! ;)


:eek: MY lil Mousie pix is 2 inches to the left (inside) of the text boxes!
I see what you mean, and the reason is that you're using widescreen - I'm not, because I can't stand that blue color - or to put it nicely, it's not good on my eyes. ;)


Ask Fister ---
He might have *scared* the Mousie and he's trying to run off the screen.

:p
That'd be the day! :D Lazy bugger is laying right here under his own little sun, relaxing and asking for tummy rubs the best he's learned.

[Cinder & Smoke]

I can't stand that blue color. ;)

BLUE ? :eek:

OMG!
And all these years I thunk it was kinda GREEN-ish.

:o
:p

[Randi]

Yes, that blue! :eek: Phred, we may be out of line here, hogging this thread - but I thought it was only red/green you have problems with?

[Cinder & Smoke]

I thought it was only red/green you have problems with?

Well ... my "primary" shortcoming is with RED and GREEN ...
BUT ... I don't do too swiftly with ANY colors! :rolleyes:

And if the color choice thingy didn't have pop-up Labels ---
I'd be hopeless coloring in the labels above! I have to SEARCH for the greenie!

BLUE stands out pretty well and I can "recognize" BLUE by itself ...
anything else - I usually can't determine what the color is - without something to
compare it with. I really sweat the driver's license renewals --- I *guess* at the
color test with the lil colored dots that are "supposed" to show a number ...
Ole Mr. Ishihara didn't do me any favour with his darn Dot Test!
See >>>>
http://www.toledo-bend.com/colorblind/Ishihara.html

And yes, I ALWAYS pull over in the car to let SNOWplows and Tow Trucks go by ...
till the the angry horn honks behind me make me look at the shape of the vehicle that I
was positive had RED emergency lights, stedda the YELLOW I always pull over for, too.
(Note: that "yellow" I used is almost IMPOSSIBLE for me to actually *see* against the white background!)

:p
/s/ One of the Three Blind Mice :D

[Randi]

Phred, don't you worry about the yellow, I can hardly read it myself. I suppose you see all dark and bright colors better. I hope you pass your test with flying colors!! :D

An interesting test... I must admit, I had a bit of a problem with the left bottom one, but I could make out what is was.

The SNOWplows and Tow Trucks people must think you're REAL gentleman! :cool:

[Freedom]

Karen, better stock up on some coffee, tea, Tab, or whatever it is that is Paul's fav. Sounds like he has a long night ahead of him that night!

(Oh oh, did I just show my age? Do they still MAKE Tab?)

[Bengalz]

Karen, better stock up on some coffee, tea, Tab, or whatever it is that is Paul's fav. Sounds like he has a long night ahead of him that night!



and .... maybe some of those amazing cookies .... just to give him some extra energy ;)

Thank you again Paul and Karen for doing so much to make this forum a great place to come home to :)

[Scooter's Mom]

Karen, better stock up on some coffee, tea, Tab, or whatever it is that is Paul's fav. Sounds like he has a long night ahead of him that night!

(Oh oh, did I just show my age? Do they still MAKE Tab?)


They do! A young girl (23'ish?) at my office drinks nothing BUT Tab.

*shudder*

[Hellow]

Karen, better stock up on some coffee, tea, Tab, or whatever it is that is Paul's fav. Sounds like he has a long night ahead of him that night!

(Oh oh, did I just show my age? Do they still MAKE Tab?)

Yea, because it is a serious pain in the rear end to move the enitre contents of a server, much less a populated forum with 1,900,492 posts and 131,966 Threads to move too. Trust me, i know :).

[Jessika]

Yea, because it is a serious pain in the rear end to move the enitre contents of a server, much less a populated forum with 1,900,492 posts and 131,966 Threads to move too. Trust me, i know :).
Yes and no; it depends. I recently transferred another forum I frequent from their original server to my own reseller. The entire process took maybe two hours. It just depends. Transferring isn't necessarily what might take awhile.. it's restoring the backup that CAN cause you problems. I just asked my host to do it for me hehe took 'em twenty minutes!

Now if you are transferring the files over one by one... that would be tedious. But with domains you just make one massive "backup" compressed file that includes the files and database information and "restore" it on the new server. Much easier than some think... unless you have other complications, like the new server has a different version of PHP or whatnot (the problem I ran into and the forum was down for a MONTH while we sorted database problems out...).

Anywho, it can be a lot of work, but if things go smoothly it should only take a few hours to transfer and restore... now, the domain propogation to "redirect" you to the new server... that can take up to 72 hours :o

Good luck, Karen and Paul!!!

Oooh and PS: more than one domain can be hosted on a server ;)

[Karen]

Trust me, Jessika, we know what moving a forum to a new server involves, and have done so in the past. It's not as simple as just one massive file to copy over, there's lots to back up, move, then reconfigure. It is a lot of work, and it is all on Paul's shoulder's, while I try not to hover or bug him too much. It *should* be easier this time than last, because of software changes, but there's never any guarantee.

[Jessika]

Trust me, Jessika, we know what moving a forum to a new server involves, and have done so in the past. It's not as simple as just one massive file to copy over, there's lots to back up, move, then reconfigure. It is a lot of work, and it is all on Paul's shoulder's, while I try not to hover or bug him too much. It *should* be easier this time than last, because of software changes, but there's never any guarantee.
No no, I understand, and it wasn't necessarily directed to you nor Paul but in response to Reggie. I know you have to restore the backup, that can be the complicated part, that's what I said :P

In my experiences the hardest part was after you restore the backup if your login name was not the same, you had issues with scripts and accessing the databases. That and if script versions on one server were not the same as versions on the previous server, which was my most recent troubles, such a pain the butt, too.

But I do hope it goes smoothly and only takes a few hours and you don't run into any serious complications; I'm confident he knows what he's doing hehe I was just throwing in my two cents speaking from experience as well

[chocolatepuppy]

Thanks for the warning Karen. Not being able to get on PT and not knowing why can cause serious side effects. ;) Thanks in advance to Paul for all the hard work he'll be doing to get PT up and running. :)

[Pam]

Thanks for the warning Karen. Not being able to get on PT and not knowing why can cause serious side effects. ;) Thanks in advance to Paul for all the hard work he'll be doing to get PT up and running. :)

Exactly what I was thinking. :) Of course we have been warned but I am sure several of us will try and get onto PT and get a quick feeling of panic until our memories kick in. Please tell Paul thank you for all of the hard work he does behind the scenes and, of course, that goes for you too! ;)

[Pawsitive Thinking]

Good luck with it Paul! Good job you have such an excellent supervisory team ;)

[lizbud]

Just now reading this notice & wanted to wish best of luck with the move.
Hope all runs smoothly for Paul. :)

[Taz_Zoee]

I just happened to notice this, since I do not frequent the Town Hall often.
Well, it's a good thing I am busy that night. Because I would be one of the ones that *panic* when I couldn't get on PT. So now I know, just in case I do have a minute to try. :D
Thank you Paul and Karen for all that you do here. :)

[smokey the elder]

Thanks for doing this! Maybe you should put a disclaimer on the front page: "Pet Talk may be habit-forming!" :D

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Uh, oh! I'll need to see if I can remember where I wrote my password down. Can't rely on my poor brain to remember it!!! ;)

Thanks for all your hard work Paul and Karen and Miss Hoppy. Surpervising can be hard work too! :D

[anna_66]

Good luck Paul. Hope everything goes smoothly.

One question...will you be doing it early Friday morning or late Friday night? Just wondering:)

[Pawsitive Thinking]

What am I going to do with my Friday now :eek:

[Karen]

What am I going to do with my Friday now :eek:

Um, see a movie? Clean something you've been putting off doing? Yard work?

[Felicia's Mom]

Good luck this Friday, Karen and Paul.

[Logan]

Hope everything goes smoothly! I've finally figured out what was happening on our home computer, got rid of the program that was slowing things down, so I hope to be around more often now. Boy did I miss a lot!!

[lvpets2002]

:) Thanks for the heads up Karen.. I will mark the calendar for tomorrow night.. Thank you for all the hard work that Paul is going to do.. I noticed you said you & Miss Hoppy would help from the next room.. :D

[Cinder & Smoke]

Mayor Karen musta *missed* this ... an Excellent Question!




One question ...

Will you be doing it early Friday morning

or

late Friday night?
http://petoftheday.com/i/our_smilies/confused.gif

[Karen]

Late Friday night, perhaps into the wee hours of Saturday.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

You and Miss Hoppy will have to man the coffee pot!!! ;)

[Karen]

You and Miss Hoppy will have to man the coffee pot!!! ;)

Hee hee - we don't even own a coffee pot - but Miss Hoppy and I can deliver more iced tea, and we are well-stocked with such!

[momoffuzzyfaces]

:D Sounds like you and Miss Hoppy have things under control. I agree! I'm a tea drinker too! :D

[Kirsten]

Thanks for letting us know! And a big thank you to Paul for the hard work (and to you and Miss Hoppy for supervising! ;)).

I was having many problems with Pet Talk again the last weeks, sometimes I couldn't even open the threads or post; the connection was slow or there was no connection at all. Hope things will be back to normal with the new server! :)

Kirsten

[Karen]

Ten o'clock tonight - 10 PM Eastern Standard time - we will be closing Pet Talk to move it to the new server.

Panic not!

[Pam]

Panic not!

OK fellow PTers, we have been warned! ;)

[Pawsitive Thinking]

Um, see a movie? Clean something you've been putting off doing? Yard work?


Having considered all the above I think I will schedule in a few more games of fetch with the boys!

[tikeyas_mom]

Thanks for the heads up Karen :)

[pitc9]

Uh, oh! I'll need to see if I can remember where I wrote my password down.

Ahhhh... password... YIKES!! :eek:
Guess I'll find out if I remember it!

Thanks for all you and Paul do Karen!!!

[Moesha]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Karen
Um, see a movie? Clean something you've been putting off doing? Yard work?



Ten o'clock tonight - 10 PM Eastern Standard time - we will be closing Pet Talk to move it to the new server.

Hmm What kind of yard work at 10 pm could I do? :D

[Reachoutrescue]

Thank you for the heads up Karen. Please tell Paul I said good luck on his long night ahead!!

[Karen]

Hmm What kind of yard work at 10 pm could I do? :D

I know Brody's Mom is in the UK, so very late Friday night here will be the wee hours of Saturday for her, and so I figured it might be early Saturday morning, and light out, and she'd not be able to log in if Paul's still working!

[slick]

With everyone around the world, there really is no good time to do any server upgrades. My job experience confirms that. You just have to pick the time when it's going to effect the least amount of users and cross your fingers that's it's not going to tick anyone off.

Thanks Karen and Paul for all your hard work in keeping this site available for those of us who are obsessive compulsive with PT (hmmm, is that the right expression??).:confused:

My hats off to you two.....which reminds me, I only have two more hours until shutdown.

EEEEEKKK!!!

[Catty1]

Paul....bless you, I hope all goes well!

Seems you and the Mayor got enough funds to get going on this. :)

Fifty minutes left...OMG!

I might have to catch up on my overdue letters or something!

Paul - you're a gem. THANK YOU.

[Cinder & Smoke]

Here's wishing BEST WISHES to Mr. Paul
for a quick & painless server swap!

I've gott run up to Cali & Molly's Ranch to "Do da Kat" with his evening pill ...
you'll all be :eek: *GONE* when I get back! :(

Ya'll Hurry rite back ... See ya by morning!!

:D

/s/ Phred & the FurKids

[Moesha]

I know Brody's Mom is in the UK, so very late Friday night here will be the wee hours of Saturday for her, and so I figured it might be early Saturday morning, and light out, and she'd not be able to log in if Paul's still working!

I understood that. I was just trying to figure out what *I* was going to be doing! ;)

Hope all goes well and we see everyone again really soon!

[Cincy'sMom]

Just a few mintues to shut down! See you all on the other side!

Good luck Paul, and thank you!

[Karen]

Well, folks, we are back up and running, but still on the old server for now. After 9 hours, things still were not working. We will try again next Friday night, May 2, 2008. It will take at least 7 hours then.

Our goal is to not only move Pet Talk to the new, faster server, but to update it to the latest version of the vBulletin software as well. Thank you for your patience.

So next Friday, May 2, at 10 PM Eastern Standard Time, we will try again.

[Kirsten]

Karen, I'm sorry things did not work the way you planned - for now! Hope next Friday will be better!!

Thanks for all the hard work!

Kirsten

[chocolatepuppy]

Aw sorry, all that work. :( Pawsitive thoughts that next weekend goes smoother. :)

[Freedom]

Goodness, does Paul have any hair or fingernails left? I hate when a plan sags. Thanks for all the work you are doing for us!

[Cinder & Smoke]

Well, folks, we are back up and running, but still on the old server for now. :(

After 9 hours, things still were not working. :mad:

We will try again next Friday night, May 2, 2008. It will take at least 7 hours then.

Oh, NUTZ!

Poor Mr. Paul ... :( ... It's a durty, rottin, SHAME when a Gud Plan falls apart
with a dose of Reality!

Any idea what the major *Bug* in the process is/was?
Do the V-Bulletin Folks offer any live assistance to help out?

We'll say Stronger Purrayers next Friday!

;)

[gini]

It doesn't sound like you had much phun! I hope it goes well next Friday.

[Karen]

Oh, NUTZ!

Poor Mr. Paul ... :( ... It's a durty, rottin, SHAME when a Gud Plan falls apart
with a dose of Reality!

Any idea what the major *Bug* in the process is/was?
Do the V-Bulletin Folks offer any live assistance to help out?

We'll say Stronger Purrayers next Friday!

;)

Paul was able to identify several of the things that went wrong, and has plans to avoid the same problems next time. It's just a tremendously complicated process, so any "bug" can have a domino effect on the whole thing.

And, Sandy, he always has his nails trimmed down tight, so there wouldn't be anything to bite even if he was intending to, and he still has all his hair!

[cyber-sibes]

I just now saw this - no wonder I didn't get any PT messages in my e-mail - I wondered where everybody'd gone on a Fri/Sat! I'll mark my calander for next weekend so I don't wonder "where's PT?" again. And a big huge thanks to Paul for all his hard work, and to Karen & Miss Hoppy for all their outstanding supervision & support to our master computer geek (I mean that in the nicest way :) )

[Paul]

&#160;&#160;&#160;The first problem occurred while importing the Pet Talk's 84th table of 84 tables into the database mysql. As I am unfamiliar with the basic layout of the database, it took a while to compare the old with the new and to come to the conclusion that everything was probably ok except for the search index table which should be rebuilt anyway because the current search engine will not find certain posts.

&#160;&#160;&#160;Reading the vBulletin support forum at four in the morning, I mislead myself when I read the fix to a similar but unrelated problem.

&#160;&#160;&#160;When there were several errors upgrading to the current version of vBulletin, I gave up, especially because I did not want Pet Talk to be down all day.

&#160;&#160;&#160;Now that I have a copy of Pet Talk on the new server that I can practice importing while also being awake, I am reasonably confident that I will be able to transfer Pet Talk on Friday without too much trouble.

&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Paul

[Cinder & Smoke]

Reading the vBulletin support forum at four in the morning,
I mislead myself when I read the fix to a similar but unrelated problem.

I gave up, especially because I did not want Pet Talk to be down all day.

Now that I have a copy of Pet Talk on the new server that
I can practice importing while also being awake, I am reasonably confident ...
Paul

Your Dedication is without equal!! :D

Glad you got the PlayPen set up to "practice" in.

Ya know, "we" could prolly all agree to *let your have* Pet Talk a lil **earlier*
than 10:00 pm on Friday ... might make things go a little easier if you weren't being forced
to work into the wee hours.

;)

[DJFyrewolf36]

Having done this exact same thing (with the added bonus of being PAID to beat my head against it lol) I understand what a huge pain in the butt this is! Vbulitin while a great program is a little iffy on the help department (at least it used to be!)

Good luck with the new server transfer! If there was a way I could do some remote assistance, Id voulunteer :D Its the least I can do for such a wonderful community!

[Pawsitive Thinking]

The first problem occurred while importing the Pet Talk's 84th table of 84 tables into the database mysql

Isn't that a pain when that happens??? (like I know what it means :rolleyes: )

[Karen]

Tonight's the night, folks!

10 pm tonight we will be shutting down Pet Talk to move it to the new server, so be prepared!

[cyber-sibes]

Got all our fingers & paws crossed it's seamless this time! :) Good luck, Paul!

[Kirsten]

Good luck for tonight, Paul, fingers and paws are crossed here! :D

Kirsten

[Randi]

Paul, I wish you all the best with the server move! :) You should do it when you feel up to it, not when you're sleepy. I hope it will go smoothly.

Thanks for all you and Karen do! PT is the best Forum on the web!!

[anna_66]

Good Luck! Hoping for a smooth move this time:)

[catmandu]

GOOD LUCK FOR YOU AND JJJ3.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/catmandu/cat%20angels/cats1012208.jpg

[chocolatepuppy]

Good thing I'm tired tonight, maybe I'll just go to bed at 10:00. ;) Good luck Paul! :)

[Cinder & Smoke]

:eek:

Well, it's now 15 minutes till Plug-Pullin Tyme! :(

Here's some BEST WISHES for Mr. Paul and his trusty Side-Kickers Miz Mayor an
Mascot Miz Hoppy to have a successful *move* to the New Server.

We'll pray it won't be an All-Niter this time.

GOOD Luck, Gang!!

See ya'll in the Morning!

:D

[Catty1]

Good luck, Paul! And thanks!

(just realized I have FIVE MINUTES LEFT!)

[Karen]

Time for everyone to finish up any messages ... it's almost 10 ...