Tiny Tuckered Out

The MySQL server ‘tiny’ is suffering from disks errors causing some databases to be inaccessible. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the disk errors, we have to copy all backups from the server over to a new MySQL machine. After the copy is complete, we will then begin the restoring databases from backups. During this process, all databases on tiny will be inaccessible. Check this space for updates.

Update Mon Dec 18 11:45:05 PST 2006: All databases are back online.

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29 Responses to “Tiny Tuckered Out”

  1. rod Says:

    How do I know in what mysql server I am?

  2. Woody Says:

    Do we have any ETR on these databases? I’d like to have some sort of expectation as to when my site will be accesible again.

    Thanks

    - Woody

  3. mariano Says:

    hey… i´ve been sending you messages since yesterday when i was having problems with my databases…
    Wouldnt it be cool if you just reply one of the support requests i´ve made?

    I feel so “un-important” to you :S

  4. Bill Ekhardt Says:

    I had the same problems yesterday. I look forward to having this back up.

  5. Alyson Says:

    I logged into my blog this morning to find that three years’ worth of entries and comments had vanished. I was groggy before, but that sure woke me up! Looking forward to getting it back; any estimates on when things will be restored?

  6. John Says:

    Well, thanks for the heads up 14 hours later, guys.

    Sheesh.

  7. rod Says:

    Alyson you havent made a backup in three years?

  8. Stuart Says:

    Wow, I wish I could run MY mission critical applications such that one computer can shut down the whole operation!

  9. Yvgeniy Says:

    I really hope these issues will stop soon. For the past few months my site’s been down more times than any of the free web hosts I’ve had combined. It’s a good thing our site is still under construction so it doesn’t really matter, but once it becomes fully operational this will be a BIG problem. It’s rediculous, really. What am I paying for?

  10. Alyson Says:

    Rod — The last backup I made myself was in July. It’s just a personal weblog, so it’s not the end of the world if it goes down — just a big annoyance. But, yes, I know I should take more personal responsibility for backing up my own data, beyond just expecting to rely on the DH backups if things go seriously wrong.

  11. Comedy Says:

    Comic relief!

  12. Brad Says:

    I’m wondering why there isn’t mirroring or HD redundancy of one shape or form in place already? HD space is cheap enough to make that happen, I’d think, even for the grotesque amount of space you must maintain. I’m very glad you all have done your due diligence in backups.

  13. TJP Says:

    Hope the backup happens soon.

  14. Ryan H Says:

    how come the front page showing the employee partying it up…while we suffering through so many downtime and network problem ?

    I am still having the network problem that said resolved and now the database :(

  15. Shane B. Says:

    Well, suddenly I am glad that I am using a blog that doesn’t use a database.

    The only problem for me is the fact that I am working on making Wordpress like me, and vice versa, because all in all, the mySql database may end up being nicer than text files.

    The best part was that I was just trying to figure out why wordpress wasn’t working, and I thought that I had done something wrong (which is normal, I am doing high-impact learning here, which includes actually deleting everything accidentally, and backing up from a backup made accidentally.)

    Well, I can’t wait for tiny to get big and strong again,
    Shane - http://www.aimlessvagabond.com http://amazing.aimlessvagabond.com

  16. Emily D Says:

    This is not the place for support requests. While frustration might lead you here, it’s not gonna help you.

  17. Thirsty Ferret Says:

    … and bleating about the service won’t solve anything either.

    If you have a problem with the service, go pay more for a web host. At least they’re actually telling us about the problem up-front.

  18. Bill Ekhardt Says:

    If Dreamhost really does have no backups of the databases outside of the hard drive that the database is using, that is important information for us to know. I would never have suspected this to be the practice of a company whose entire business is storing and serving data.

    This cannot be a satisfactory update:

    Update Mon Dec 18 11:45:05 PST 2006: All databases are back online.

    If you haven’t restored three years worth of data. My database is not back online because your three year old backup doesn’t include any of the tables my database uses. The update should read, we restored a three year old snapshot of the databases and those databases that existed three years ago will function without their current data.

  19. Paul Says:

    Not to bleat but simply to ask: are other people finding that their dbs aren’t *fully* restored, but only partially so?

  20. Paul Says:

    FYI:

    “The data on the mysql servers is backed up nightly and the live data is stored on a raid 5 disk array. In this case two drives failed at the same time, which meant the raid did not have time to rebuild a parity drive on a spare. Dual drive failure is very rare, but the nightly backups are the safety net for such an occurrence. In this type of case you will lose the data between the last nightly backup and the dual drive failure. Still the system worked as designed.”

  21. Bill Ekhardt Says:

    FYI:

    “The data on the mysql servers is backed up nightly and the live data is stored on a raid 5 disk array. In this case two drives failed at the same time, which meant the raid did not have time to rebuild a parity drive on a spare. Dual drive failure is very rare, but the nightly backups are the safety net for such an occurrence. In this type of case you will lose the data between the last nightly backup and the dual drive failure. Still the system worked as designed.”

    That would have been some excellent information to have in the first notice or in the update. Lacking that it looked as if they lost three years worth of data.

  22. Paul Says:

    Note that the failure isn’t referencing this outage - sorry about the confusion.

    Support helped me get my data back, which was quite great.

  23. Bob Says:

    If you think you’ve lost 3 years of data, email support and stop whining here, it’s a bit pointless.

    My data was restored and I have lost a couple of hours worth of data (which contained only one item that i have since restored myself).

  24. rlparker Says:

    Rod asks: How do I know in what mysql server I am?

    The answer to that question, and many others, can be found on the Dreamhost Discussion forum, where you will most likely have a much better chance of getting answers to questions,

  25. jan Says:

    You can find out on which databaser server you are by going to “Status” -> “Mysql Usage” in the panel.

  26. Jon Says:

    Running more than one MySQL server as a backup would cost a whole lot more, and probably slow things down, and perhaps cause its own reliablily problems.

    Dreamhost = cheap and cheerful, at least I’m cheerful anyway. Just make your site do something sensible if your DB is down.

  27. Jack Summers Says:

    My toilet backed up and now I have to call a plumber dammit Dreamhost your ruining my life.

  28. Alyson Says:

    All my missing data was restored earlier this afternoon, with no noticeable losses/issues.

  29. Bahamut Says:

    Thanks you dreamhost for the great work done. Dreamhost Rocks!

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