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Unexpected Slashdot Downtime 219

Posted by CmdrTaco from the zomg-what-a-night dept.
Netcraft confirmed it ... Slashdot was dying for several hours (along with SourceForge, which shares a corporate overlord and router). Some planned downtime from our provider apparently didn't come back up quite as planned. Sorry for the inconvenience. On the upside, we're moving to a new network and hardware soon, so the site should be much faster and more stable rsn.
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Unexpected Slashdot Downtime More

Unexpected Slashdot Downtime

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  • It Was a Bad Morning (Score:5, Funny)

    by eldavojohn ( 898314 ) * <eldavojohn@gSTRAWmail.com minus berry> on Wednesday April 30, 2008 @10:33AM (#23251360) Journal

    Slashdot was dying for several hours
    Like a heroin addict, I stumbled out of bed over to my desk and shook the mouse to wake up the monitor. Ah, the bathing goodness of #006666. I hit refresh only to find it taking an unusually long time. Was my internet connection down? No, Pidgin is still up ... wait a second, Slashdot is down! SLASHDOT IS DOWN!

    I started to shake uncontrollably and found breathing difficult. My roommate heard a strange moan and poked his head in through my door "Are you ok, dude?" I grabbed the closest thing to me, my Limited Edition Ceramic Invader Zim figurine and flung it at him. It shattered into a million pieces.

    I wrenched the monitor to face the corner of my room and set the drinking bird to hit F5 repeatedly. I grabbed my torn and tattered copy of this quarter's 2600 and curled up in the fetus position sucking my thumb and sobbing quietly. I picked up my cell phone to call work, I would not be coming in today ...

  • I thought it was a wider net outage (Score:4, Informative)

    by suso ( 153703 ) * on Wednesday April 30, 2008 @10:34AM (#23251374) Journal
    At first, I was thinking there was a wider internet outage because Google was having problems this morning and so was MSN.. But I guess not.

    If you look at this website [internetpulse.net] it shows that there is some issue between SBC and Cogent.

  • Fool us once... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Aeonite ( 263338 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2008 @10:35AM (#23251386) Homepage
    How convenient. I suppose now you are mysteriously missing five million posts that can't ever be recovered due to this "upgrade"?

    • Re:Fool us once... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 30, 2008 @10:44AM (#23251484)
      How convenient. I suppose now you are mysteriously missing five million posts that can't ever be recovered due to this "upgrade"?

      What else would you expect when your data centre is run by Scientologists...

    • How convenient. I suppose now you are mysteriously missing five million posts that can't ever be recovered due to this "upgrade"?
      On the bright side, this does technically solve the dupe problem...

  • Feds installing user tracking software on /. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Reality Master 201 ( 578873 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2008 @10:36AM (#23251398) Journal
    I hear the FBI was installing software to track Slashdot posters. Is that true?
  • That reminds me, yesterday I was configuring my new ubuntu install for the net, and I just couln't connect: none of my queries (typed in the firefox address bar) worked, and pinging google also didn't work.

    And then, after testing pretty much every other possible cause I could think of, I tried an other server. And, it was google that was down :)

    I guess we always get surprised when that big a site goes dead, even for ten minutes.
  • The quality of stories on /. has been down for the past few years.
    Things I hate about /.(No particular order)
    1. Goddam CSS design
    2. dupes
    3. slashadvertisement
    4. bad summaries
    5. lazy editors

  • We'll all remember the day... (Score:4, Funny)

    by neokushan ( 932374 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2008 @10:42AM (#23251450)
    That slash got dotted.
  • If you eliminate the "Web 2.x" junk and embrace a spartan layout/format you won't need to upgrade your network.

    I have my preferences set to 'low-bandwidth', no icons, etc.. but the formatting goes to shit when I hit "Reply". It re-renders the entire /. page.

    And yes, I miss the BBS 'offline-mail-reader' C=64 styles that Renegade and C-Net allowed.

    I would stick to using lynx but tab-browsing is a killer-feature.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Barny ( 103770 )

      I would stick to using lynx but tab-browsing is a killer-feature.


      Virtual consoles are your friend.

      On the whole though, I don't mind it, except there is no button to disable karma bonus for just one post, guess I will just have to whore it out all over the place.
      • Ctrl-f[n], right?
      • Or "screen -D -RR" - brilliant software.

        (For those not in the know - Ctrl-A C = new; Ctrl-A D = leave ; Ctrl-A N = next)
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Screen [wikipedia.org]
      • Um do you even read the reply page?

        right next to the post Anonymously check box there is a No Karma Bonus Check box.

        You have to read it to get to the submit button.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by psmears ( 629712 )

          right next to the post Anonymously check box there is a No Karma Bonus Check box.
          I can assure you there isn't—and you don't! I suspect you're not using the new AJAX posting method. The No-karma-bonus button has gone—though I suspect it comes back if you follow the link to use the old form.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by spun ( 1352 )

      If you eliminate the "Web 2.x" junk and embrace a spartan layout/format...
      That's madness!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )
      Welcome to the 21st Century.
  • You know... like Cheney's love letters to Satan, Bush's collection of Nigerian chain letters.....

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by eln ( 21727 )
      That would be a disaster. I hear sending out Nigerian scam letters is the administration's new plan to cut the deficit.

  • I had to spend several hours slacking on BoingBoing and Digg instead. I even laughed heartily at a joke that involved a guy giving himself "deadfecesguy" as a nickname. Who do I sue for mental distress?

  • My bad (Score:5, Funny)

    by sm62704 ( 957197 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2008 @10:45AM (#23251508) Journal
    I slashdotted slashdot by linking to a slashdot article on slashdot.

    Sorry.
  • but no, apparently now downtime is an upgrade!

    So, just how is being down getting on?

  • I will be suing! (Score:4, Funny)

    by PinkyDead ( 862370 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2008 @10:47AM (#23251534) Journal
    I nearly did some work this morning. If it wasn't for LifeHacker and xkcd, I don't know what kind of a mess I would be in.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Amouth ( 879122 )
      xkcd was to the point today.. and very real considering i fell down my stairs this morning
  • I thought slashdot got slashdotted!
  • 'les nessmen hitting his chest to do chopper noises'

    IT's a RAID on /. HQ !

    Run for your Lives !!!!!

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by spun ( 1352 )

      'les nessmen hitting his chest to do chopper noises'
      IT's a RAID on /. HQ !
      Run for your Lives !!!!!
      With God as my witness, I thought servers could fly.
  • ... why wouldn't you just post a story about it? That way we don't all panic when Slashdot won't load (and hit the site nonstop when it comes back).

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Pharmboy ( 216950 )
      If it was planned downtime....why wouldn't you just post a story about it? That way we don't all panic when Slashdot won't load (and hit the site nonstop when it comes back).

      And exactly HOW were we to read this story that was posted on the website, while that website was down? You have suggested yourself into a circular argument. Most normal people (which includes /. readers) don't check the site every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day, so the vast majority wouldn't have seen it.
      • uh

        this is slashdot. Most people (or at least a significant minority do check every 15 minutes, or have their RSS reader page them
      • You're new here, aren't you?

        Hahahaaaaa haha.
        ROFL..

        Thanks for the laugh, I needed that :-)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by the_tsi ( 19767 )
      It wasn't *our* planned downtime, it was the upstream provider's. Their announcement said there would be short blips of downtime; the part that didn't grab our attention was that they would also be upgrading router software and "streamlining configurations".

      What this ended up meaning was that when they finished rebooting routers, IP stopped flowing since their side and our side weren't on the same page anymore. We had to roll a person to the datacenter at 4am.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Thing 1 ( 178996 )
        So does this teach a lesson? Did other sites under those routers experience the same downtime? Is there anything Slashdot can do to prevent this from happening the next time they "streamline configurations"? I'm not being sarcastic, I'm hoping that the answers to these questions will help make Slashdot stronger.

  • Earlier today... (Score:2, Funny)

    by GBC ( 981160 ) *
    "I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of nerds suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened."

    Glad to know I wasn't the only one suffering withdrawal symptoms. Out of curiousity, what are the stats for Slashdot's uptime? It must be pretty damn good as this is the first outage I can remember for a long time...

  • Admit it... (Score:2, Funny)

    by micahfk ( 913465 )
    ... Slashdot got Slashdotted.
  • Without /., I've gotten so much done. I might just have to go home early today. No sense in setting a bad precedent.

  • Woot (Score:2)

    by RandoX ( 828285 )
    Yeah, woot's been down all day too.
  • I had just read Groklaw's coverage on the SCO saga and was heading to Slashdot. No luck. I suspected some SCO-work, or some SCO-attack, or some major skunky SCO-headlines in general. No, I wouldn't have guessed a self-goal - "Slashdot slashdots itself!". ;)
  • I just assumed some boat had anchored off the coast somewhere.

  • so the site should be much faster and more stable rsn.

    What does "rsn" mean?

  • Please update the FAQ, too! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by martyb ( 196687 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2008 @11:35AM (#23252242)

    Hey, CmdrTaco!

    Great to hear the news that you're going to be upgrading the tech that supports this site. /. has been a daily part of my life for well-nigh 10 years. Having seen many changes over the years, I'm especially interested in what will be supporting the site when you finish with the upgrade... so, PLEASE update the FAQ - Tech [slashdot.org] page? ("Last Modified: 6/13/00")

    Thanks in advance and please accept my gratitude for (the often thankless job of) keeping this site running so well.

  • (yeah, there's always an ISR joke) ...we Slashdot Slashdot!
  • "MS Beta Software To Manage Unix/Linux Systems" and doing Upgrades that result in deletion of of incriminating e-mail.
  • Slashdot,er, slashdots you?
  • Netcraft confirms it!

  • Modernization? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by idiotnot ( 302133 ) <sean@757.org> on Wednesday April 30, 2008 @12:27PM (#23252934) Homepage Journal
    On the upside, we're moving to a new network and hardware soon, so the site should be much faster and more stable rsn.

    Will this new network include IPv6 access, or will ./ remain in the 20th Century?

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by moosesocks ( 264553 )
      Idealism is fantastic, but you've got to draw the line between ideology and pragmatism somewhere, and focus on supporting your existing users (and paying the bills).

      This is why slashdot was so reluctant to use .PNGs on the homepage for years. (The topic icons are still .GIF, although I believe that's simply due to the .GIF patent expiring around the same time that it became "safe" to use .PNGs as a design element)

      That all said, IPv6 wouldn't break compatibility with existing IPv4 users, and would be a fant

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by jc42 ( 318812 )
      Will this new network include IPv6 access, or will ./ remain in the 20th Century?

      Actually, the main thing that would make for 21st-Century cred is accepting UTF-8 text.

      I've had a couple of posts recently on topics where it would have been better to use Chinese or Japanese characters (though not very many of them). I had to settle for pinyin/romaji instead, which isn't really ideal. The ability to correctly include text in non-Western language is of growing importance in the world, even to people whose pri

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by dkf ( 304284 )

        Actually, the main thing that would make for 21st-Century cred is accepting UTF-8 text.

        Agreed, even though I'm an English speaker.

        I've had a couple of posts recently on topics where it would have been better to use Chinese or Japanese characters (though not very many of them).

        More to the point, those of us who are math and science geeks (I hear there are a few round here) will like being able to express basic things like greek letters, superscripts, assorted operators, etc. Browsers have got a lot better at their UTF-8 support over the past few years, and there are a good few decent fonts about too.

        What are the reasons for holding back? Well, the main one is that the current database holds the data in ISO-8859-1 (probably) and would e

  • You'll be targeted by the sharpshooters either way. Upgrade the system and they'll complain that you should cater to the lynx-using crowd (all five of 'em), and so avoid the necessity of an upgrade. Don't upgrade it and they'll complain that the site doesn't load like greased lightning. Again, a pure text, no graphics site would fix all your problems, they'll say.

    Then there will be the sharpshooters who will feign disinterest. Nategoose, for example, will say: "How does this affect my life?" as if he coul

    • You'll be targeted by the sharpshooters either way. Upgrade the system and they'll complain that you should cater to the lynx-using crowd (all five of 'em), and so avoid the necessity of an upgrade.

      You may laugh at lynx (or links) - but you never know when your only connection to the network will be over a text-only connection because things have gotten really screwed up.

      (Been there, done that this month. It was an interesting experience, but I was successful in finding the commands needed to get thin
  • Dunno about Netcraft, but http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/ [downforeve...justme.com] confirmed it for me!
  • New editor foolishly posted a story with the /. comment thread as the main link. The slashdot effect took hold, and the editor has been sacked.
  • ... in my experience when an ISP says something about an upgrade it usually turns out to be a downgrade in the exact opposite of what they said.
  • I demand a refund!

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