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Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 11:34 am
by Bitter Clinger
strogg wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 11:10 am I have a feeling there is or was a hardware failure on the server that led to ongoing data corruption. It was my original thought when the forum started acting up months ago.
Do we know if it might have been affected by the NRA bankruptcy?

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 12:09 pm
by Jusme
Bitter Clinger wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 11:34 am
strogg wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 11:10 am I have a feeling there is or was a hardware failure on the server that led to ongoing data corruption. It was my original thought when the forum started acting up months ago.
Do we know if it might have been affected by the NRA bankruptcy?
My grassy knoll spidey senses always cause me to blame the cancel culture/ big brother oligarchs anytime something like this happens. It’s not paranoia, if it’s true!!!

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 12:20 pm
by Dave
Bitter Clinger wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 11:34 am
strogg wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 11:10 am I have a feeling there is or was a hardware failure on the server that led to ongoing data corruption. It was my original thought when the forum started acting up months ago.
Do we know if it might have been affected by the NRA bankruptcy?
I don’t see how. It looks to be a SQL error; if it was a server going offline there wouldn’t be anything there to generate the error.

It’s probably something that’s misconfigured, or a failing hard drive or something that’s corrupting the database or some config file.

Edit: I suppose it could be that if the actual DB was hosted on an NRA server and the DB front end was hosted on the Texas CHL web server, then it could be related to the NRA bankruptcy.

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 2:52 pm
by Bitter Clinger
Dave wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 12:20 pm
Bitter Clinger wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 11:34 am
strogg wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 11:10 am I have a feeling there is or was a hardware failure on the server that led to ongoing data corruption. It was my original thought when the forum started acting up months ago.
Do we know if it might have been affected by the NRA bankruptcy?
I don’t see how. It looks to be a SQL error; if it was a server going offline there wouldn’t be anything there to generate the error.

It’s probably something that’s misconfigured, or a failing hard drive or something that’s corrupting the database or some config file.

Edit: I suppose it could be that if the actual DB was hosted on an NRA server and the DB front end was hosted on the Texas CHL web server, then it could be related to the NRA bankruptcy.
Thanks Dave. I guess we also don't really know how the forum site was funded, do we?

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 3:42 pm
by strogg
Bitter Clinger wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 2:52 pm
Dave wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 12:20 pm
Bitter Clinger wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 11:34 am

Do we know if it might have been affected by the NRA bankruptcy?
I don’t see how. It looks to be a SQL error; if it was a server going offline there wouldn’t be anything there to generate the error.

It’s probably something that’s misconfigured, or a failing hard drive or something that’s corrupting the database or some config file.

Edit: I suppose it could be that if the actual DB was hosted on an NRA server and the DB front end was hosted on the Texas CHL web server, then it could be related to the NRA bankruptcy.
Thanks Dave. I guess we also don't really know how the forum site was funded, do we?
I remember doing some digging on the web domain. It points to a hosting service out of Dallas called VIrtbiz. Let's just say that the service is very inexpensive. And considering the site was using phpbb (freeware), I wouldn't be surprised if Charles is paying for everything out of pocket. It would only cost him a Whataburger meal or two every month.

Also, for those wondering, forum mail from that domain inevitably goes to spam or gets bounced because A: the mx server on the domain is the TLDN itself, and B: there's no SPF TXT record on the domain. Basically, as far as gmail, outlook, or whoever is concerned, no email should ever be coming from or going to the texaschlforum.com domain.

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 4:12 pm
by Russell
Yes, if I am not mistaken the forum is ran on a dedicated server plan from VirtBiz. Dedicated servers can be a good deal, but you are responsible for your own maintenance and administration if you don't pay for a managed service plan of some sort (which can be expensive), and you will also be down if you have a hardware failure until the business gets around to swapping the hardware out for you.

Texas3006.com and this forum is ran on a VM plan from Linode.com. I prefer virtualization because I get some built in redundancy (can migrate the VM to other host servers in the event mine has issues), easier console access, easy disk cloning for backups if I'm doing upgrades, etc. I also really like the company itself, in the very few times I wanted to get a human on the phone, they are one of a handful of hosting companies that still let you call someone that actually knows something.

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 6:01 pm
by strogg
Russell wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 4:12 pm Yes, if I am not mistaken the forum is ran on a dedicated server plan from VirtBiz. Dedicated servers can be a good deal, but you are responsible for your own maintenance and administration if you don't pay for a managed service plan of some sort (which can be expensive), and you will also be down if you have a hardware failure until the business gets around to swapping the hardware out for you.

Texas3006.com and this forum is ran on a VM plan from Linode.com. I prefer virtualization because I get some built in redundancy (can migrate the VM to other host servers in the event mine has issues), easier console access, easy disk cloning for backups if I'm doing upgrades, etc. I also really like the company itself, in the very few times I wanted to get a human on the phone, they are one of a handful of hosting companies that still let you call someone that actually knows something.
I can't imagine any web service running on bare metal nowadays. With VM high availability or even the option to migrate to another host being the norm nowadays, a dedicated server plan just seems irresponsible. Same goes for hosting a website like this without being behind a service like Cloudflare. So double 👍 👍 to you, Russel. Thank you for taking good care of us so far. That can't be said enough.

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 10:13 am
by Smokewagon
I went over there after a long absence this morning. Couldn’t believe it was down. That’s what lead me here. Nice forum, this one.

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 11:30 am
by Russell
Smokewagon wrote: Thu Jan 21, 2021 10:13 am I went over there after a long absence this morning. Couldn’t believe it was down. That’s what lead me here. Nice forum, this one.
Welcome! Feel free to introduce yourself in the Meet N Greet thread if you want.

Glad you could make it! :handgestures-thumbupright:

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 12:26 pm
by warnmar10
Bitter Clinger wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 2:52 pmThanks Dave. I guess we also don't really know how the forum site was funded, do we?
Forums really don't require funding. The phpBB forum software is free and hosting for a fairly busy forum runs anywhere from free to ~$20/month.