Page 5 of 9

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 6:30 pm
by 03Lightningrocks
Personally, I think it was some sort of major software/hardware failure. All the rest of the reasons I am reading here seem a little on the conspiracy side of things. Hell, maybe it was some sort of major corruption issue. I don't know squat about computers but it is what I think.

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 7:41 pm
by strogg
03Lightningrocks wrote: ↑Thu Jan 21, 2021 6:30 pm Personally, I think it was some sort of major software/hardware failure. All the rest of the reasons I am reading here seem a little on the conspiracy side of things. Hell, maybe it was some sort of major corruption issue. I don't know squat about computers but it is what I think.
Wait... Are you saying that the raid at the Dominos closest to the Virtbiz datacenter is merely a coincidence? 😜

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 7:49 am
by rpbrown0855
strogg wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 3:42 pm
Bitter Clinger wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 2:52 pm
Dave wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 12:20 pm

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.
As a member of that forum since almost day 1, we had tried to get Charles to let us contribute monetarily but he wouldn't allow it. He said it really wasn't that much, even when he changed servers.
I suspect it is a major crash of some sort as was just a few weeks ago. In Charles's defense, he is probably very busy with NRA issues right now since he is a board member

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 2:40 pm
by 03Lightningrocks
rpbrown0855 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 22, 2021 7:49 am
strogg wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 3:42 pm
Bitter Clinger wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 2:52 pm

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.
As a member of that forum since almost day 1, we had tried to get Charles to let us contribute monetarily but he wouldn't allow it. He said it really wasn't that much, even when he changed servers.
I suspect it is a major crash of some sort as was just a few weeks ago. In Charles's defense, he is probably very busy with NRA issues right now since he is a board member
Oh my gosh. You seem to be saying Charles whole life doesn't revolve around that web site. It just can't be. :o

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2021 10:39 am
by C-dub
strogg wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 6:01 pm
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 πŸ‘ πŸ‘ to you, Russel. Thank you for taking good care of us so far. That can't be said enough.
I also got in pretty early, but it was at least a couple years old IIRC. I think started around 2006 and I got in around 2008 or 2009. Anyway, it's possible that Charles never thought it would become what it had and everything seemed to be going okay. It's what we all think until one day we have that big one that says we are not okay.

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 10:19 am
by oohrah
It's a shame because one of the things I liked best about that forum was the reasoned exchange and discussion about the Lege activities, which just started again. i see that we have a forum here for that, so hopefully this site can pick up the slack.

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2021 11:49 am
by seph
Has anyone heard any updates from Charles?

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2021 8:56 am
by 03Lightningrocks
seph wrote: ↑Mon Jan 25, 2021 11:49 am Has anyone heard any updates from Charles?
Anyone?

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2021 9:08 am
by Bitter Clinger
03Lightningrocks wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 8:56 am
seph wrote: ↑Mon Jan 25, 2021 11:49 am Has anyone heard any updates from Charles?
Anyone?
Maybe he banned himself? :lol:

Re: Looks like TexasCHLForum may be coming back!

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2021 7:43 pm
by 03Lightningrocks
Bitter Clinger wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 9:08 am
03Lightningrocks wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 8:56 am
seph wrote: ↑Mon Jan 25, 2021 11:49 am Has anyone heard any updates from Charles?
Anyone?
Maybe he banned himself? :lol:
That's awnry. But funny. :lol: