Central Services and Spunky Cluster Move
Due to continued space and power constraints in our primary data center, we will be moving all central DreamHost functions as well as the “spunky” cluster to one of our newer data centers. This move will begin Friday, March 21st, at 9PM PDT, and is expected to last up to 12 hours, until Saturday, March 22nd, 9AM PDT.
Central services include panel.dreamhost.com, dreamhost.com, dreambook.com, files.dreamhost.com, media.dreamhost.com, wiki.dreamhost.com, discussion.dreamhost.com, basically everything but secondary DNS and this status blog. Primary and tertiary DNS will be going down as well, but will have a more limited downtime window of only 2-3 hours. For spunky, all web servers, mail servers, file servers, and MySQL servers in the spunky cluster will be unreachable. The list of affected spunky web servers is here:
abbazaba absinthe achilles adams admiralty aero alameda almalibre alondra altoid alvarado archibald arrow atlantic avalon aviation babyruth badillo balu bandini barranca barry baseline bazooka beaudry bellflower beverly bixel blowpop bonbon bottlecap bounty bourbon boyd broadway brownie bubbleyum bundy burton butler butterfinger cahuenga caramello casamento catalina centinela century cerritos cheeto cheezit chex chiclet cienega cognac colbert compton cookie cordial crackerjack crenshaw crunch cupcake dingdong doheny dorito drumstick dumdum edendale euclid fairfax fc23 federal fig fireballs firestone fletcher flower foothill formosa frito frontseat fruitland fudge fundip garland garth garvey gobstopper goober good gower grand granola grappa gumdrop gummi haven heath heaven highland hillhurst hillmont hoho holt hoover hope hops hyperion jalapa jawbreaker jefferson jerky juniormint jurupa kidsgames kiki kitkat krackel lankershim larchmont laurel lemonhead licorice lifesaver limbo-spunky3 limbo-spunky4 locust look lucas malt manchester mariposa mayo melrose mento milliken mills monroe moorpark mounds munchies nash necco nerds nilla nougat nutrageous oakdale ocean olive olympic ord oreo ouzo overland oxnard paramount payday pernod pez pico planters plenty pocky popcorn poprock powerbar pretzel price pringle rampart razzle redhot redondo reeses rexford ritz rockyroad rodeo rollo roscoe rosecrans rossmore rum runts sake saltine sanborn sawtelle schnapps scotch selma sepulveda shocktart skittle skor skybar slauson smores snicker snocap soto sourpatch spree starburst sugardaddy sunset taffy tampa temple tequila toblerone toffee tootsie topanga torrance truffle twinkie twix twizzler union vanowen vermouth vine virgil warhead washington western whittier whopper wilmington wilshire york zagnut zuma
We realize this is a very large move and we will have a dozen techs onhand to supervise. My apologies for not posting this earlier.
Happy DreamHost Mover Team!
.
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:23 am
Has anyone had any bad experiences with HostGator … or perhaps know of somewhere even better?
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:27 am
Let’s all check out the opposition while we’re desperately waiting to get back to work.
(I checked AGAIN 2 seconds ago and I still can’t FTP to any of my sites)
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:27 am
Okay, here’s the deal from someone has worked in the hosting industry.
EMAIL: You shouldn’t lose legit email. Most mail servers have a 24 hour retry retention, minimum. The shortest I’ve seen was 16 hours on a former host I utilized.
DNS: No, zone, etc.. //shouldn’t// change. DH should make all the necessary updates to your zone files (I freaking HOPE so).
DOWNTIME: They gave us a weeks notice. However, like many users, I didn’t find out about it until tonight because I haven’t check dhstatus, or ANY rss feed - for that matter - for a looong time. too freaking busy.
ACTIONS: Should DH have moved servers? Yes, if they needed to. Should they have notified everyone affected via a method OTHER than rss/status blog?! Hell yes.
MY OPINION: DreamHost acted innapropriately by giving only a weeks notice and only giving notice on a freaking blog. They should have emailed the affected customers directly. My only consolation is that they took down their primary website and all services… Whadda ya want to bet those are up LONG before the spunky machines?
This is highly innapropriate action on the part of any host. If this was due to datacenter capacity, DH should have known about this a LONG time in advance.. at LEAST a month, and most probably two or three. This has been in the planning stages for a while, folks, I guarantee it. A freaking email would have been nice.
OTHER HOSTS: I can only speak for the hosts I’ve used, out of the ones still in operation:
The Planet, formerly EV1 Servers: reliable, although sometimes lacking on the support.
Linode: An interesting concept, new customer there, so far so good.
HostGator: Rapid support, rapid resolutions, and the servers are fast fast fast, compared to pretty much anyone.
DreamHost: downtime hasn’t been too bad, before this.. I’ve had to file more support tickets here than elsewhere, though, although response is usually pretty quick, but the servers can get grindingly slow, even during off-peak times, and Ruby support SUCKS.
Why have I stayed with DreamHost? The sites I have hosted here aren’t critical in any way, and I just haven’t gotten around to moving them, to be honest. Plus I had pre-paid for a year when I signed up.
DH, you try… but it sometimes seems like you don’t try hard enough. Just my opinion.
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:34 am
So far it seems that HostGator is ahead with the recommendations?
Still no seriously negative experiences from anyone?
I’m just Googling everyone I come across while I desperately wait to get back to work.
I’ve been a customer since 2004, but now my business has grown and I’m starting to feel uneasy about the service to my clients.
I don’t need bells and whistles, but I do need reliability.
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:36 am
So far it seems that HostGator is ahead with the recommendations?
Still no seriously negative experiences from anyone?
I’m just Googling everyone I come across while I desperately wait to get back to work.
I’ve been a customer since 2004, but now my business has grown and I’m starting to feel uneasy about the service to my clients.
Don’t need bells and whistles, but do need reliability
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:39 am
Sorry about the double post. Something weird happened during submission
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:43 am
Lol… it’s funny that so many of us have included our URLs with these comments (myself included) even though our sites are down. Ha! Getting punchy… time to sleep.
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:47 am
Hope that the site can speed better.
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:51 am
Do you have any idea about how to mirror MySql db on poor/cheap shared hosting accounts.
I have HG & DH shared accounts both sucks sometimes…
Sounds awkward but any idea link etc. will be appreciated.
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:06 am
I don not remember being notified of this, and if so, it certainly wasn’t clear enough. Dreamhost you are great, but this is bad, what with your other difficulties recently (double billing…), you should be more on the ball with your customers.
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:13 am
Yeah, I wasn’t notified. But now my site is down, and 50 people weren’t notified about it from me, and are getting angry.
Plus I’m losing new business on a busy friday night!
Lame.
Isn’t there a way to back up to a mirror server while it’s moved? I’m sure Yahoo doesn’t have these problems.
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:18 am
Very strange thing happening. Some of my sites are down and some are up. Is that how it is supposed to be?
Nevemind I just figured it out. This is a DNS issue. Those who pointed the Domain DNS at an IP address can still see their site but those that pointed the DNS to ns1.dreamhost.com and ns2.dreamhost.com and ns3.dreamhost.com - can not see their sites right now. Funny thing is, I told them they would regret having done it that way.
I guess they knew something I did not. . .
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:23 am
awesome, we always get the downtime!
Maybe now they can put us on a server thats a little faster, I never used to have any problems with the server till about 4months ago when it slowed down a ton
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:24 am
This is the first time in my entire practice that I see such huge downtime… 12 hours… Dreamhost sucks.
I am very unhappy with them. The reasons:
1) I am getting approximately one 503 error per 100 hits. Is that Ok? I get it even for plain static sites without any PHP or Ajax! What do they say? They told me - your site is wrong, fix this… Isn’t this sucks?
2) support team is very unprofessional - 90% of responses are just stupid text from some templates… Never got a proper response, maybe few times but this is out of maybe 100 requests!
3) very, very slow execution of PHP scripts.
4) how many user accounts do they host on one server do you think? Look yourself - over 50-60 accounts on each server… Users get approximately 40MHz of CPU and 40Mb of RAM - and even for this there is no guarantee!
5) this downtime 12 hours without any notice per email but just on a freaking blog - this is the last thing I stand, I resign!!
Dreamhost overcharges and his servers are extremely slow, support not professional.
People, are you going to stay with them after 12 hours downtime without an advance notice sent to everyone few times?
Move your sites, this is a disrespect you all of you!
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:26 am
It’s really bizarre my website was working then it just went WHOOSH and it’s gone. I hope it comes back up soon. Being in China I worried that the government had decided to block me. But no.
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:27 am
Also I’m not even on any of the servers mentioned.
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:56 am
@Jenny:
I found this forum rather useful: http://www.webhostingtalk.com
(no affiliation, just googling around like you do
@Fyre, re: “DOWNTIME: They gave us a weeks notice.”
“There’s no point in acting all surprised about it. All the planning charts and demolition orders have been on display in your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for fifty of your Earth years, so you’ve had plenty of time to lodge any formal complaint and it’s far too late to start making a fuss about it now.”
March 22nd, 2008 at 2:23 am
Wowie, so much drama. Why are people allowed to anonymously post here? I only want to see comments from real customers, not spam tyvm.
An email would have been nice, but if my site was mission critical I would have had the weeks notice to prepare. 12 hours at night ain’t bad, good luck with the move guys, and happy Easter.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:55 am
Dreamhost sucks.
down more than 8 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:59 am
well this has really boned me. Thats for sure.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:15 am
To all of those that are bitching and crying… get over it…. These admins have to manage hundreds of servers to keep their service online…. Those of you that have no clue what it takes to manage servers need to shut up. Managing servers and keeping them up is hard work… They shouldn’t be called names made fun of or any thing like that.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:17 am
To add on to my previous post, how often would a web hosting company tell you when they are going to do something like this, or admit that they are having problems with their servers. Most hosting companies would just give you the finger and say its not their problem. Dream host is an excellent service who provides great support and is reliable.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:26 am
Maybe there is a lot of work server management, but a minimum of respect for customers is to inform them of the service disruption by email …
An unhappy customer
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:38 am
I’m on Daedalus server (janky mail and tweety sql) and my site appears to have been down since just after midnight - it’s been almost nine hours now - anyone else down on those servers??
March 22nd, 2008 at 5:06 am
Ok, i’ll bite the bullet and deal with 12 hours downtime if it means I don’t have to write support every other day and ask them to bring my sites back online. Please someone tell me this spunky cluster move is a sign of better times ahead…
March 22nd, 2008 at 5:23 am
im not sure if this is the reason why 2 of my addon domains are down, although i am not expecting it because according to my account status, my server is pepsi
March 22nd, 2008 at 5:30 am
Now Im thinking of moving also … my other option is lunarpages. anyone here with bad experience with them?
seems like according to comments, hostgator is a winner
March 22nd, 2008 at 5:56 am
Please email your customer if you appreciate them. (unless you don’t).
Another unhappy customer
March 22nd, 2008 at 6:59 am
Its a pain in the ass but thats the web for you! Any ideas when this will all be back up and running?
Pissed: Dreamhost shared hosting is great for your own personal sites but due to the downtime and speed issues you must not have a clue if your hosting client / profitable sites on here (Leading me to believe your full of sh*t). If your “really” making that much money from these sites then you can easily afford a dedicated box with co-location (if you need these terms explaining then im sure someone on here can help you).
March 22nd, 2008 at 7:18 am
12 hours of downtime definitely warrants an email to all affected customers. Who has time to check Dreamhost Status or to monitor their RSS feed every day??
March 22nd, 2008 at 7:28 am
how can i find the name of the server I am on? I looked in panel.dreamhost but i can not find it
March 22nd, 2008 at 7:29 am
Some of the sites are UP as writing. I think the team is working hard now.
I understand this is a very large move. Hopefully everything go normal a.s.a.p
March 22nd, 2008 at 7:41 am
ok im in lovejoy and ma shizzies is messed up.. thank god we on holidays jijiji.. that doesnt mean you can take forever tho!! jejeje..
March 22nd, 2008 at 7:53 am
I just hope that Google does not scan for my site, i have top placements now, and because you are down, i could loose my top position.also easter week-end ?? i usually get a lot of calls ,, but NONE TODAY..
Please hurry and get the site up again.
March 22nd, 2008 at 8:06 am
Boooo. I want my site back now.
March 22nd, 2008 at 8:54 am
I like how people here say that, “complaining won’t help you” — but it sure prevents future clients that are crawling through here from signing up with DH.
I’ve been with DreamHost since December 2007, and the uptime has been fair. As I’m getting more involved with Affiliate programs and e-commerce, DreamHost is starting to look like less of an option. I love the features - but DreamHost’s MySQL server is slow. Painfully slow.
I pay $14 a month with DreamHost for hosting and SSL certificate.
Anyways, this downtime is announced, so good on DreamHost. But the reliability of blingy (my cluster, apparently) has been again, fair, at best.
Yes, DreamHost is inexpensive, but nowhere on it’s corporate site does it say it’s “Cheap hosting”.
March 22nd, 2008 at 9:56 am
Hi Yall. Please, there is no need to insult my IQ or anything like that. I am NOT an expert on these issues. I do have a website and am learning as I go along. I have a Master’s degree, but it is medicine.
So my question is this. My site has been down all morning and I think this is completely unacceptable. I am on a shoe string, start-up budget. My web developers in India recommended Dream host, I used to have Yahoo, but they sucked so I moved. Obviously I made the wrong choice with dreamhost. Can anyone who actually knows what they are talking about give me some good advice about who I should use?
Since I am far from an expert, please don’t respond to this unless you feel confident in your knowlegde of web hosting. Thanks so much.
Debbie
March 22nd, 2008 at 10:43 am
Posting the server downtime on just a blog is inadequate. How many of us actually read the blog UNLESS your site is down? A simple email would suffice as a notification.
March 22nd, 2008 at 11:08 am
Luckily this happened on the first day of Easter holidays, just after an exam period. I don’t think a lot of students are visiting my site now - they are either collecting easter eggs or partying ;-).
I think Nyhm’s (post 43) suggestion makes a lot of sense. Could DH also provide the same message in Dutch?
Success, DH!
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Well, if after the 24 hours (doubling typical statements of downtime in such a big server move), throughput is up, and server timeouts are down, then it’s worth it.
March 23rd, 2008 at 8:09 pm
WTF!!!! I NEED WORK GUYS OMG!
March 23rd, 2008 at 8:43 pm
and this? dont resolve too?
http://www.dreamhoststatus.com/2008/03/03/blingy-file-server-issues/
what happend?
I cant work, ftp, and sites cant work properly!
Every day, after all 0 hours until the 6 o’clock in the morning (GMT -3), the dreamhost no longer works right, impossible work!
guys! I need money, and cant move to another host!
March 24th, 2008 at 7:43 am
WHEN IS THIS GOING TO BE WORKING?!? We’re in Blingy and it’s taking forever to work properly. Can we be moved to another cluster?
March 24th, 2008 at 11:27 am
i’m fed up with this shosting that always down !! imagine a service to people that will always fall down!
March 24th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Hmmm… I must have been having to much R&R this weekend. I never noticed any down time!
Whoopie! Course I’m sure there was, but if I was running a serious business I’m sure I’d be paying some serious hosting bills. At any rate I’m happy with DH and I’ve been a happy camper for close to 2 years now. 
Keep it up guys!
March 26th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
DH is very cheap so shut up everybody! You get what you deserve!
All your sites are miserable, they can live with 12 hours of downtime and none would notice that!
You also don’t deserve an e-mail with an advance notice, you HAVE TO read this blog you monkeys.
Pay us your dollars and shut up.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:27 am
This was the rely site and it forwarded to my blackberry at .cingular.blackberry.net. att changed the address to myellin@att.bllackberry.net. that address has to be put into the dreamhost system and the cingular address has to be eliminated. This is a business emergency. pleeas respond. mel yellin.