Maintenance - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Maintenance

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
gregt_314
Jun 18, 2009 3:19:24 Can I ask a question - and I wish I'd mentioned this in the survey but the questions just didn't lead me to think of it - :

Why on earth do the forums need to come down for maintenance each and every day?

I mean, I'm sure there are other forum communities out there that do this, but on the other hand there are a great many companies who have forums with vastly more traffic, vastly fewer community leads, and more complicated technical back-ends that do maintenance once a week or less. A forum's not a technically complex thing, as web applications go.

Just, y'know, it's a bit annoying to know that any post I start formulating between about 3.50 pm and 4.50 pm Australian East Coast time might get arbitrarily wiped by the servers going down.
#2
zeratulcraft
Jun 18, 2009 3:52:51 You have an...interesting point, actually. Yeah now that I think about it, I'm a bit confused too.

Do they have to reset the NPCs or something? I hear Doom Lord Kazzak got pulled accross the world again!
#3
rambaldi
Jun 18, 2009 3:58:19 Always copy and paste your post just incase I guess?

It has been like this for a while, I think it stopped for a time though and came back recently? Part of the reason they have to do it is their policy on how long posts are kept live and then archived after that. Most forums, that I am aware of at least, don't leave threads lieing around for as long and then put them in an archive afterwards.
#4
subsistcyber
Jun 18, 2009 4:02:11 It's annoying to say the least...
#5
Zherog
Jun 18, 2009 7:10:20 It's my understanding that two things happen during the nightly maintenance:

A backup is made
Old threads are archived and removed from the database
#6
RUMPLESTIX
Jun 18, 2009 8:57:57 I didn't realize it shut down every night?

Is there a set time that this occurs?
Does the Thursday shutdown still happen? I am off today but the Naval Internet recently changed 'filteres' and anything considered to be 'game' connected gets filtered out and I can't view the site on my luch break anymore.
#7
Zherog
Jun 18, 2009 12:23:37 Yes, the Thursday morning maintenance still happens, and lasts for about an hour or so.
#8
CCS
Jun 26, 2009 1:43:12
Yes, the Thursday morning maintenance still happens, and lasts for about an hour or so.

You'd think this could be shifted to some more wee hour. As it is, it hits US Eastern time right around 10am or so & continues on through lunch time.....
#9
Zherog
Jun 26, 2009 7:10:52 From a selfish POV, I agree. It interferes with my surfing. ;)

But... with a system that has members from around the globe, what's wee hours of the night for you is middle of the day for somebody else.
#10
CCS
Jun 26, 2009 10:23:41
From a selfish POV, I agree. It interferes with my surfing. ;)

But... with a system that has members from around the globe, what's wee hours of the night for you is middle of the day for somebody else.

Yes, it'll always be inconvenient for someone.
But when you log onto a site not based in your own country then you should expect that it's planned maintenance etc would be set up so as to be conveniant for its homeland.
Or whenever records show traffic to be the lowest.
Or at the worst, conveniant to whatever time zone the most profit comes from.

I suspect though that none of these thoughts is involved. Instead the Thur. downtime is likely just whatevers conveniant for the team doing the work.
So sure, Pacific time works just fine for them....
Ex; Dealt with a trucking co. once where everyday the entire system went off-line starting at 5pm. This made it quite difficult for the terminals (wich closed at 8pm) to process their billing/manifests from the drivers retuning from the daily routes. Led to alot of needless over-time.
Turns out that the techs had no idea how they were affecting the rest of the company. They'd chosen 5pm simply because everybody was out of the main offices (where the system was based) by 4pm, no other reason.... They were easily able to shift the schedule around.

Thus a question. If WoTC has nightly maintenance, why can't the Thur. morning maintenance simply be an extension of that?
#11
Zherog
Jun 27, 2009 9:40:31
I suspect though that none of these thoughts is involved. Instead the Thur. downtime is likely just whatevers conveniant for the team doing the work.

Yep, that's the most likely way the decision was made; it's probably the time when the IT gets into the office and can begin the work.

Thus a question. If WoTC has nightly maintenance, why can't the Thur. morning maintenance simply be an extension of that?

I believe the overnight daily maintenance is automated, and includes such tasks as moving old threads from the active board to the archive and taking a "cold" backup of the forum.

The Thursday morning maintenance, on the other hand, includes "interactive" type stuff, such as applying patching to the servers, swapping out or adding new hardware, changing code for the forums or DDI or Magic Online, and so on.
#12
hothead
Jun 27, 2009 10:03:47 How long is it down for nightly?
#13
subsistcyber
Jun 27, 2009 11:02:05 I find it funny that no matter what time it goes down, it'll always say it is down for 9am maintenance. I guess somewhere in the world it's 9am...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 gregt_314 Jun 18, 2009 3:19:24	Can I ask a question - and I wish I'd mentioned this in the survey but the questions just didn't lead me to think of it - : Why on earth do the forums need to come down for maintenance each and every day? I mean, I'm sure there are other forum communities out there that do this, but on the other hand there are a great many companies who have forums with vastly more traffic, vastly fewer community leads, and more complicated technical back-ends that do maintenance once a week or less. A forum's not a technically complex thing, as web applications go. Just, y'know, it's a bit annoying to know that any post I start formulating between about 3.50 pm and 4.50 pm Australian East Coast time might get arbitrarily wiped by the servers going down.
#2 zeratulcraft Jun 18, 2009 3:52:51	You have an...interesting point, actually. Yeah now that I think about it, I'm a bit confused too. Do they have to reset the NPCs or something? I hear Doom Lord Kazzak got pulled accross the world again!
#3 rambaldi Jun 18, 2009 3:58:19	Always copy and paste your post just incase I guess? It has been like this for a while, I think it stopped for a time though and came back recently? Part of the reason they have to do it is their policy on how long posts are kept live and then archived after that. Most forums, that I am aware of at least, don't leave threads lieing around for as long and then put them in an archive afterwards.
#4 subsistcyber Jun 18, 2009 4:02:11	It's annoying to say the least...
#5 Zherog Jun 18, 2009 7:10:20	It's my understanding that two things happen during the nightly maintenance: A backup is made Old threads are archived and removed from the database
#6 RUMPLESTIX Jun 18, 2009 8:57:57	I didn't realize it shut down every night? Is there a set time that this occurs? Does the Thursday shutdown still happen? I am off today but the Naval Internet recently changed 'filteres' and anything considered to be 'game' connected gets filtered out and I can't view the site on my luch break anymore.
#7 Zherog Jun 18, 2009 12:23:37	Yes, the Thursday morning maintenance still happens, and lasts for about an hour or so.
#8 CCS Jun 26, 2009 1:43:12	Yes, the Thursday morning maintenance still happens, and lasts for about an hour or so. You'd think this could be shifted to some more wee hour. As it is, it hits US Eastern time right around 10am or so & continues on through lunch time.....
#9 Zherog Jun 26, 2009 7:10:52	From a selfish POV, I agree. It interferes with my surfing. ;) But... with a system that has members from around the globe, what's wee hours of the night for you is middle of the day for somebody else.
#10 CCS Jun 26, 2009 10:23:41	From a selfish POV, I agree. It interferes with my surfing. ;) But... with a system that has members from around the globe, what's wee hours of the night for you is middle of the day for somebody else. Yes, it'll always be inconvenient for someone. But when you log onto a site not based in your own country then you should expect that it's planned maintenance etc would be set up so as to be conveniant for its homeland. Or whenever records show traffic to be the lowest. Or at the worst, conveniant to whatever time zone the most profit comes from. I suspect though that none of these thoughts is involved. Instead the Thur. downtime is likely just whatevers conveniant for the team doing the work. So sure, Pacific time works just fine for them.... Ex; Dealt with a trucking co. once where everyday the entire system went off-line starting at 5pm. This made it quite difficult for the terminals (wich closed at 8pm) to process their billing/manifests from the drivers retuning from the daily routes. Led to alot of needless over-time. Turns out that the techs had no idea how they were affecting the rest of the company. They'd chosen 5pm simply because everybody was out of the main offices (where the system was based) by 4pm, no other reason.... They were easily able to shift the schedule around. Thus a question. If WoTC has nightly maintenance, why can't the Thur. morning maintenance simply be an extension of that?
#11 Zherog Jun 27, 2009 9:40:31	I suspect though that none of these thoughts is involved. Instead the Thur. downtime is likely just whatevers conveniant for the team doing the work. Yep, that's the most likely way the decision was made; it's probably the time when the IT gets into the office and can begin the work. Thus a question. If WoTC has nightly maintenance, why can't the Thur. morning maintenance simply be an extension of that? I believe the overnight daily maintenance is automated, and includes such tasks as moving old threads from the active board to the archive and taking a "cold" backup of the forum. The Thursday morning maintenance, on the other hand, includes "interactive" type stuff, such as applying patching to the servers, swapping out or adding new hardware, changing code for the forums or DDI or Magic Online, and so on.
#12 hothead Jun 27, 2009 10:03:47	How long is it down for nightly?
#13 subsistcyber Jun 27, 2009 11:02:05	I find it funny that no matter what time it goes down, it'll always say it is down for 9am maintenance. I guess somewhere in the world it's 9am...