More info for you techies (if you want to move over quicker) - December 06, 2002 04:22 PM
It will take a bit for the internet routing to become effective, so in the meantime if you want to hit the new server do the following (if you're on NT, 2000, or XP):edit the \{windowsdir}\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file.
Put the following entry on a line by itself:12.96.164.84 www.twinturbo.net
and save the file. This tells your machine to go to the specified address for tt.NET, regardless of what the 'internet' is telling it.
You can also just surf to http://12.96.164.84 if you want to go directly there for now.
Written by Greg (Dallas)
Server has moved!!! - December 06, 2002 03:38 PM
Well, we've finally gotten things to a point where we can flip the switch to the new server. The DNS is being changed as I write this and it will probably take a couple of days for it to fully propagate.
For those of you that don't know what I just said, to switch www.twinturbo.net to a machine in a different place, we have to switch the 'internet pointers' to look at a different machine. Once the order goes in, it usually takes a while for all the 'internet pointers' (DNS servers) to actually start pointing to the new box.
Due to this fact, here's what's happening: The new server is in our colocation facility and is running new code. It should be really fast now. However, the current server (which is also the database server) will remain where it is for a few more days. This way you can still access tt.NET no matter which box the 'internet pointer' is pointing to. Because of this dual duty process the new box has to reach across the internet to the old box to get the data (which is what makes the forum work). This access is pretty slow right now so, although the forum will be faster, it won't be near as fast as it's going to be.
Sometime early next week (Monday or Tuesday), we will shutdown the forum for a couple of hours as we move the old server (database) from its current location to the new colocation facility. Once that is done and everything is turned back on, the forum should be orders of magnitude faster.
We'll also be rolling out a couple of new things shortly after that, so stay tuned!
Finally... some *good* news - November 19, 2002 12:34 PM
Well, things have moved slowly, but we finally completed something we've been wanting to do for about a year now. The servers will be Co-located starting next week. For the non computer uber dork, this means we aren't going to be running off some crappy, slow DSL connection anymore. The servers will be in a data center with about 35,000 square feet of other servers, supplied by 3 power grids and 5 connections to the internet. We should suffer no more network & environmental outages!! Bandwidth will be large, so hanging out here will not be as tiresome as it has been the last month. http://www.hardocp.com hosts out of another facility owned by the same company just up the street, should give you an idea of the bandwidth. We're moving into a 'newer' facility they just aquired.
In other news, Steve and I did some hardware work to prep the main web server for co-lo and decided to mess with the dead drives, we managed to recover all the important data, so once we get things settled in on the 'new' server at the co-lo, we should be pretty much like we were before the crash. Yes, Boss mode will be back along with some other surprises we were working on.
Written by Dallas DamonZ
Classifieds Posting problems - October 30, 2002 05:47 PM
Many of you discovered an issue where you would put a body in a new classifieds post and when you posted, the body would be removed and (n/m) was added to the subject line.
This has been corrected and you should no longer have any problems posting in classifieds.
Slow Recovery - October 29, 2002 12:32 AM
We're getting things built back up. As you've probably noticed, bookmarks are gone and unercoverable at this point. Rides are gone, but recoverable. Some of the FAQ and TECH items are back, but maybe not as up to date as they were before. If anyone works in hard disk drive recovery, or know a place where we can get it done for a reasonable rate, please e-mail me @ damonz@twinturbo.net. 1 disk is dead, the other that failed will still spin up, so there's hope for it... they're part of a RAID5 arrangement, so if we can get 1 or the other, we can probably get ALL our data recovered and go about our business (albiet with a different backup schema Greg and I drew up during our trip) ASAP.
We're also very close to going CoLo, which means more bandwidth (speed) because we'll be off this small DSL line. So that's looking up for us right now. The tt.NET store should be making a return soon, although like everything else ancillary, it's in line after getting things back in shape around here.
In the meantime, if you can think of a cool contest (besides 'I rule, give it to me') for some Japanese Z goodies, let us know! We need to unload the goody bag.
Servers are down. Temporary Patch for now >> - October 16, 2002 04:02 PM
On the morning of 10/15/02, our primary web server crashed for some reason. It is definitely a disk access issue, but what we are trying to figure out is whether our RAID controller went bad or whether some of our disks actually crashed. Hopefully the former.
This problem affected TwinTurbo.NET, 350zforum.com, ttzd.com, zcluboftexas.org, zcca.org, and zcluboftexas.org which are all hosted on our server.
Damon and I managed to hax0r together enough Frankenstein pieces from our own systems to move tt.NET to the database server and get it running from there, which is what you are utilizing now.
To do this, we had to move newer code up that we had not yet released, so you are getting some new features now that we were not planning to push out so soon.
First off, search is modified and is now accurate and up to date. It is utilizing a totally new search engine than it used to. Click on Search, then click the little question mark icon to get help on all the different ways you can search now. The current method does have one problem. If you include words that the engine 'ignores' it will not return anything, which is unfortunate. Usually common English words and/or single letter words will cause this. If you get it, just remove those items and search again. I do have a fix for this (which is to index EVERYTHING) but it hasn't been implemented yet.
Also, you'll notice that you were dumped on the News page right away. We now flag accounts so whenever a new NEWS item is added, you will be redirected the first time you hit the site again so you can see it.
Damon and I are headed to Japan tomorrow morning for 10 days so this couldn't have come at a worse time. Therefore, this solution will have to suffice for the time being. Since this is a cobbled together patch right now, you will notice a lot of things don't work (like missing pages, etc.) This will definitely occur on 'DOCS', 'TECH', 'LINKS', 'RIDES', and 'CHAT' until we can get our original drives up and running again. However, the forums are fully functional.
Also, because we were in the middle of building some new stuff, this 'patch' is hardwired to our original theme graphics. If you were in boss mode, etc. you'll just have to live with it for now as we are overriding you since those themes have been broken in the new stuff.
Sorry for the troubles and we will be back to full speed as soon as we can be when we return. If Steve gets everything up and running and the drives are OK, he will switch back to the 'live' system which will re-enable all the broken stuff, but will take away the new features until we can get back.
News Item - March 27, 2002 12:04 AM
Planning for the 2002 National Convention tt.NET banquet is moving along. We rented a space this week & are proceeding to get through other details now that we know what we've got to work with. We'll start taking ticket orders in May. If you're interested in attending, read the next News article for more details. Should definitely be a *good* time. Please let us know if you're planning on being there so we can make room for you.
We're also working on getting some new hardware for the site now. In a few very short months, tt.NET's younger sibling, 350Zforum.com will take off and we need more HP to power both sites, or tt.NET is going to collapse. If you haven't noticed, the server seems to come and go lately. Our connectivity sucks, we get about 90% quality of service... definitely not good since it comes in blocks. We're testing a new circuit starting this weekend, so hopefully we can get that straightened out as well. BTW, if you happen to have a Seagate st19171WC - SCA interface drive you'd like to donate for the site's well being, e-mail me please! I need a third one to complete a RAID since genic has so graciously donated the other 2 for our use. Or if you just want to throw money at us to help buy new gear, there's a donation box on Store.TwinTurbo.NET at the bottom. One of these days we'll get out of the red.
Thanks!
News Item - February 27, 2002 07:39 PM
Survey is up for Zers coming to the national convention. We're looking for a location in SA for the dinner now, the convention hotel is looking like it's not going to work out for us.
News Item - February 13, 2002 10:41 PM
Making some headway on the 2002 convention get together. This is what the committee I've put together is discussing right now: Putting on a banquet dinner Wed, June 19th after the car show. We're working out per person costs, etc for BBQ dinner, and some goodies. We're working on having some speakers, some awards, some sponsor booths, and a bar (yes, you can buy your favorite admins a beer or 3). Most of this is still tentative until we start getting some details, first being a head count of people that are *seriously* going to be there. I'll have a survey up in a bit. We will be pre-selling tickets for the event. Right now the goodies list consists of a personalized ID laminate & lanyard and a tt.NET 2002 Z Convention T-shirt (not white this time), maybe some other little stuff, depends on what sponsors might want to throw out there. This will be a good time, I promise that. Anyone that's interested in helping out here in TX, particularly in S.A., get in contact with me please so I can get you on the mail list! Stay tuned for more details...
News Item - January 29, 2002 07:36 PM
Lots of things to cover in the new year. I'm unemployed right now, so I'm spending some time in the background cleaning things up no the site & prepping 350Zforum.com for some real use this year.
1. RIDES: These people have had RIDES pages waiting to be started for who knows how long (by member number):
12633 142 15330 15631 16239 17564 17699 17720 18031 18138 18209 18230 1832 18735 18936 19022 19792 1994 20352 20820 21162 22979 234 2525 25446 26197 26312 26352 26358 26380 29094 29575 30908 31321 34755 35812 37142 38143 38707 3894 40086 586 7015
So that's over forty RIDES pages that are waiting...
2. Buzz has been helping with FAQ/TECH items, unfortunately his computer crashed hard & he's having to redo a lot of work. If he asks for pictures or info again, please re-send so we can try and get caught up on this.
3. I'm starting to plan out what we're going to do for the national convention this year. I'll be assembling a committee to handle planning. If you want to volunteer (and are in the San Antonio/TX area), send me mail please. Plan on at least a dinner meet on Wednesday, June 19th (after the car show)... that's what we're going to start with if we can pull this together. There will be some surveys shortly so we can get things set up.
4. Once again, the static to content ratio is getting out of control. E-mail truly is overrated & chat needs to go to chat/IM/ICQ or just not be posted. I'm getting tired of sounding like a bitchy old schoolteacher telling everyone to shut up when you've got nothing to say all the time... it's a drag already. Moderators are being asked to start trimming the 'fat' out of threads.
5. 'Drunk' and other substance induced posts will be deleted ASAP, as will any posts with discussion about whatever controlled substance. Do I really need to explain this? This is a car forum, think about it (if you're capable). Repeated stupidity on your part will get you kicked from the site.
6. We'll be taking on new moderators soon, a lot of our current staff has moved on etc. and we need to be playing full strength with springtime right around the corner.
