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WinCustomize: Total Melt Down

WinCustomize: Total Melt Down

It was very...VERY close

Yesterday we had a total melt down of one of the machines and the FULL master database on another machine.  In short, everything was lost. 

Luckily, we do daily back-ups.  Had there been no backup, there'd be no more WinCustomize or forums or JoeUser. It was the most serious system failure we've ever had.  The daily backups of course mean we lost everything that happened yesterday -- orders, posts, skins, you name it. 

It's also another reason why WinCustomize subscriptions are so important.  Thanks to subscribers, we have the extra hardware to do those backups.  If we had even more subscribers, we could do real-time mirroring of these kinds of things and the melt down would not have even lost anything.  But last night, the end of WinCustomize as we knew it came very close. Thank you subscribers for having provided the funds to have the extra hardware for us to be able to do daily backups and be able to quickly bring the site back.

In the meantime, you will find that there are weird errors as some indexes are wrong and that kind of thing. We'll be trying to address that in the coming days.

27,840 views 59 replies
Reply #26 Top
Big applause for T-Man and who made backups possible!!!
Reply #27 Top
Nothing like a good backup to save one's bacon in a pinch!
Nice job, guys!
Reply #28 Top
man was wondering why everytime i tried getting here i was sent to a search result page i was getting kinda worried lol i'm so glad it's back now - and glad i'm a wc subscriber also! thanks for the quickness!
Reply #29 Top
Knowing what a mess when a single compuer can put you through trying to get back up to speed, I can't even imagen. Great work all!
Reply #31 Top

Backing up does save a lot of headaches......nice to have the hardware for such endeavors.

The sudden and consistent "can not find server" message seemed pretty clear.

You can of course, count on me to subscribe each year until WC is done.

Perhaps some sort of "hardware drive" might be in order (aside from the subscription drive in the upcoming months) - to target the funding of specific pieces of hardware for site security.

Reply #34 Top
Glad everything is OK. I feared the worst when I kept getting a "document has no data" msg! and a HIP HIP HURRAH ! to you all!!
Reply #35 Top
Glad everything is OK. I feared the worst when I kept getting a "document has no data" msg! and a HIP HIP HURRAH ! to you all!!


I second and third that!
Reply #36 Top
Yes! Great Work! WC is a daily fix for us. [whew!].
Reply #37 Top
Magnificent job everyone at WC and SD. A miraculous recovery from a major system crash. Well that is quite something for the news!
Reply #38 Top
Yep had it figured this morning that something was cooking up there in Michigan.
Great work all - it will be nice to see if things do get better as Brad has mentioned for mirroring.
But for the best part the site is still going and looks good as usual too!
Nice job and keep up the good work~!
SGT
Reply #39 Top

Sigh.....almost had a holiday....

Interesting coincidence....just before the crash I found myself logged out....and there was a banner-ad for 'Syncback'....and I mused "yes, it's one of THE most useful proggies I have ever run"....[I am currently running about a dozen tasks with it....from Docs to office files to digi cam photos...even LS themes and WA/WB skins].

Backup, people.

WHEN you lose everything you'll know why that phrase is soooo important....

Reply #40 Top
Yeah, Firefox kept throwing up this message about the connection being refused......and I thought 'oh dear, what've I done wrong now' Panic stations hadn't quite set in, but those constant messages produced some of the scariest moments of my life....having seen addicts on TV shows going through withdrawal symptoms, and not wanting to suffer the same

Seriously though, thanks to all who worked to restore things back to normalcy.....well as normal as things can get around here When my wife gets back from shopping with the CC, I'll re-subscribe early to do my bit to help out.

(if she leaves anything on it )
Reply #41 Top
so is the backup automatic or do you have to go in and do a full backup? (Just wondering)
Reply #42 Top
Thank you T-Man and everyone for keeping WC alive!!!
Reply #43 Top
I was around when you guys lost one of your servers(one or two years ago) and I remember what a hassle it must have been for you then.Very relieved to hear you had backups. Gave me a BIG chill to think that ALL might have been lost;which is another compelling reason for others to support this site with subscriptions!Glad to be a part of the "solution"(by subscribing).
Reply #44 Top
Backup, people.

WHEN you lose everything you'll know why that phrase is soooo important...



Word. I've been there. Now I have a second external HD, and I backup when ever it strikes my fancy.

Glad to see WC survived this!
Reply #45 Top
good work T-man, keep it up!
Reply #46 Top
A big thank you to everybody involved in keeping WC alive, sure glad I finally bought a scription here, some of the best money I've ever spent
Reply #47 Top
Thank the Powers That Be WC is back! I missed the forums this morning when my WC browser wouldn't connect and tried via IE to reach the forums and still no go. I had to suffer the day at work until 12:30am before I could get back home and online to see if the forums were back up! Please don't let me go through withdraw again!!! Excellent job at restoring and getting back up!
DD


Posted via WinCustomize Browser/Stardock Central
Reply #48 Top
Well done guys! Thank you for your hard work in getting WC back up and running so fast.
Must admit to going through severe withdrawels when I couldn't log in to WC last night
Reply #49 Top
Thx Pat & Brad & the entire crew who make WC work...even though my subscription isn't up till next September I'm resubscribing right now!! THX again!!
Reply #50 Top

There's life in the old girl yet

Great work by T-Man and crew to get everything working again