Hanford says: Sorry for the downtime! Report broken topics here.

My apologies everyone!

What happened this time?

Both the site downtime before Oasis and this most recent outage was due to a hardware upgrade Tiki Central received.

The first set of problems appeared immediately right when we got new hardware, based on configuration issues and unsupported legacy code in Tiki Central not being compatible with newer versions of misc. system software.

This most recent outage crept up on us, when Tiki Central's hard drive unexpectedly got full. We cleaned up a lot, but every time I went to repair Tiki Central's database, it would fill up again. It was somewhat of a mystery.

Most of the mystery needed to be solved by the technical experts who maintain Tiki Central's computer. (We rent the hardware, and it's located in a temperature controlled server storage room somewhere is southern California). That process can be unusually slow at times, as it was this time, since they tend to fix the immediate issue, and move on. It took us many hours of back and forth with them to determine what was filling up the hard drive so quickly. For all I know, it may still be an issue. Cross your fingers.

a bit of trivia

You might have noticed that other tiki-related sites seemed to be down, most notably Critiki, Oooga-Mooga, and Humu Kon Tiki. These sites are all owned and operated by Humuhumu, and they're all hosted on the same computer as Tiki Central. Humu and I co-rent the hardware together. I think it's been like this since 2004.

Although her and I occasionally help each other brainstorm solutions to various problems and new features, Humu and I have -- and always have had -- separate administrator accounts on the server computer. Programming-wise I have never worked on her sites, and she's never worked on Tiki Central. We don't share owenrship, programming duties, or admin* access on any tiki-related sites. Just wanted to mention that because some people assume since they're all on the same computer, that we share all responsibilities across all the sites, and that's not the case.

Sorry for the delay.

~Hanford

• Humu is one of our moderators here on Tiki Central, but that only allows her to move, delete, and edit posts. No true administration rights.

Current Advertisers: I've extended your ads four days for free to make up for the unexpected downtime. Thanks for your support of Tiki Central.

Thanks for all your hard work getting TC back online, Hanford. I guess now would be a good time to thank you for all you do regardless of technical glitches so, "Thank You!"

[ Edited by: Tobor64 2010-09-11 20:27 ]

Yes indeed...thank you Hanford for all of your hard work and dedication. I really appreciate your explanation of issues. We miss the board when it is down, but know you work hard to make this board one of the best communities around.

Wow just in time. I was jonesing so bad for a tiki fix. Cold turkey sucks. You saved me just in time. Like a misguided wino who is so desperate he drinks rubbing alcohol, I almost visited Margaritaville.com. I wonder if I would have gone blind.

Hanford rocks. It's as simple as that.
However, it does make you think...what if he was not able to pull a rabbit out of his hat? What then brown cow? Makes ya think...

Yea! Hanford!

I am signed in and Collecting Tiki/Tiki Finds thread wont let me post.

It says you do not have permission.

Fix please :)

On 2010-09-12 00:02, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
Yea! Hanford!

x's 2!!!!

Thanks Hanford!!!!!! My wife said she started to notice a repetitive facial tick I was developing the moment I couldn't get on the site. Thanks again for all of your hard work.

Whew! Trav, I think I developed the same twitch.

Thanks for all the work you do to give us something to do at work!!!

This post is rapidly becoming a place for folks to express their tiki-preciation...seems fitting, as the post starts with yet another example of Hanford putting all of us ohana together through diligent effort. Props also to Humuhumu for Critiki and Oooga-Mooga as well, which are invaluable to many of us as well. These sites have brought me (and I am sure countless others) the knowledge of a sub set of contemporary culture that I thought I was relatively alone in. Because of your efforts, I have made new friends, been inspired to create new art, and found an aspect of today's culture that I could emphatically embrace.

Again, thank you both. I hope your computer issues didn't cause you too much stress, and rest assured... we were all waiting (relatively) patiently, safe in the knowledge that you would keep us well in this beautiful digital oasis.
Cheers,
~Zero

Thanks for all you do, Hanford. I was going through some serious DT's.

On 2010-09-12 08:38, arriano wrote:
I was going through some serious DT's.

Ditto!

Thanks for your hard work Hanford, much appreciated.