grassfrog

Server Upgrade and DNS change

2011-12-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to announce that we have completed the upgrade of the server that your home inspection website is hosted on, and have scheduled a DNS update for ns1/2.homeinspectionsites.com this afternoon to complete the process. I have personally checked your website and it is ready to go on the new server.

Since DNS records propagate at different rates based on your ISP, you may be seeing your old site or your new site this afternoon when you visit it. Therefore, we are asking all affected customers to refrain from logging into their websites to update any content for a period of 24 hours, just to make sure that any updates made are reflected on the new server.

Server Outage - DNS upgrade

2011-10-31T20:54:00.003-06:00

One of our servers is currently down while updates are being run on the server. This will affect a handful of sites between 10p and midnight on 10/31. Please check back here for updates.

UPDATE: The server is back online (total downtime was just over an hour). Additional maintenance work on the server is scheduled for tomorrow 11/1. For updates related to this, check back on this page.

Services Restored

2010-08-07T13:58:00.002-06:00

The current issue has been resolved and all sites are back online. We will be working on migrating all affected websites to a new server over the next few weeks - please contact me for instructions on modifying your DNS, or email me your registrar login so I can take care of that for you.

Thank you for your business.

-Roberta Dulay
Grassfrog Technologies LLC

Server Update

2010-08-07T10:49:00.001-06:00

The server is back online at of 11:30 a.m. Further updates will be posted here.

Server Update

2010-08-06T15:13:00.001-06:00

Our technical team has evaluated the situation and it's been determined that we need to do some additional work on the server to bring it back online. This is currently scheduled to occur tomorrow morning from 9-11am CDT. All websites should be back up during that time, and will hopefully remain up from there out.

If any clients would still prefer to migrate their websites over to the main server, please send me your registrar login or follow the previously published DNS instructions, and we'll take care of that for you within 24 hours at no charge.

Please check back here after noon on Saturday for updates on this outage.

Server Outage affecting Grassfrog2

2010-08-05T16:51:00.003-06:00

Our Layered Tech server is experiencing some difficulties, and has been taken offline temporarily while we investigate the source of the issue. I am working with the data center and our sysadmin to troubleshoot and resolve this in a timely manner. Currently we have no specific estimate of downtime, but hope to have this resolved by some time tomorrow.

If anyone needs their website addressed immediately, contact me directly and I can migrate your site over to our main server, provided you have access to modify your DNS and can work with me directly to do so. To do this, please log in to your registrar account (GoDaddy, LikeName, etc.) and set your DNS to the following:

ns1.grassfrog.com
ns2.grassfrog.com

Then, email me (grassfrog@gmail.com) with your website address so I can check your DNS settings. If they are correct, I can then re-roll your website on the other server.

If anyone would like their website migrated over, please follow the above directions, then contact me.

Thank you for your patience.

-Roberta Dulay
Grassfrog Technologies, LLC

Data Center Power Outage

2010-05-26T14:09:00.004-06:00

Our data center experienced a power outage this afternoon, affecting all servers. While power has been restored, there is a switch that failed to come back up. The data center techs are in the process of replacing the switch and should have everything back online within the hour.

UPDATE: All services have been restored.

CMS (iWare) update

2009-09-29T13:09:00.002-06:00

The CMS permissions have been restored, so it's now OK for all clients to log in and edit their websites as normal.

We are still working on the contact form CAPTCHKAs - this should be resolved today.

Thank you for your patience.

CMS (iWare) update

2009-09-28T16:09:00.002-06:00

The iWare sites are being restored as quickly as possible, from old database backups of the iware web sites. iWare/CMS customers: please refrain from logging in to make any updates using your CMS (admin area) until we have completed these restorations. Check back here for updates.

Server Migration Update

2009-09-28T02:13:00.000-06:00

While the server migration has been completed, we have identified some database errors which are affecting the display of some of our client websites. We are working to resolve these errors ASAP, first by manually restoring websites from older backup files, then by repairing the database records where possible to restore each website to its most current state.

If you are having trouble viewing your website, please email support@grassfrog.com.

Server Migration Update

2009-09-26T21:53:00.004-06:00

The DNS changes have all been made to point all the websites to the new server and the old server is queued to go offline as scheduled at 12:01 am CST.

DNS propagation and cache varies by ISP, anywhere from 5 minutes up to 48 hours. Be sure to clear your browser cache when accessing your website so that you are seeing the site properly on the new server.

If you are able to access your website, but the site is not displaying as you expect, please contact us via email at support@grassfrog.com.

For any other questions or concerns, please contact support@grassfrog.com.

Server Update

2009-09-26T20:06:00.004-06:00

The server migration is almost complete. We are moving the DNS records and will be testing everything shortly.

Attention email clients: All email forwards have been set up on the new server and should be working the same as they were previously.

If you have full email through Grassfrog, your email account has been set up on the new server but you will need to contact us at support@grassfrog.com to be issued a new password or to change your email to a forward per our support guidelines.

Externally hosted email users will have their CNAME and MX records updated on Sunday, 9/27. If you would like externally hosted email for your website, we will set that up for FREE for anyone who requests this service this weekend.

If you are not using your web site mail account or no longer need it, please let us know so that we can update our records.

Stay tuned for updates regarding the server migration, which is scheduled to be completed tonight.

Server Migration 9/24/09

2009-09-24T14:53:00.003-06:00

Over the next few days, we will be migrating a number of websites over to a brand new server and retiring the old server on The Planet. During this process, some client websites may experience intermittent, short-term outages due to temporary database interruptions as the data is backed up and moved over.

If you see a SQL error message on your home page, please know that we are closely monitoring the situation, and are updating database permissions as necessary to minimize any downtime.

The data migration is on schedule and should be completed by end of day on Saturday.

For questions or concerns, please email grassfrog@gmail.com.

Maintenance: Reboot

2009-02-10T16:37:00.001-07:00

Grassfrog.com will be rebooted at approximately 5:45PM CST today. This is a routine maintenance reboot. Expected downtime is less than 5 minutes.

All Services Restored

2008-06-02T06:33:00.002-06:00

Services were restored at the data center overnight. All websites should be up and running. If you have any questions about your website, please email grassfrog@gmail.com.

Thank you for your patience.

Data Center Update

2008-06-01T15:16:00.002-06:00

Here's a quick update on the Data Center outage. At approximately 5pm CDT today (Sunday), the Data Center will begin powering up and testing their network systems, turning on air conditioning systems and monitoring environmental conditions. These tests are projected to run approximately 4 hours, after which time they will begin bringing up banks of servers in phases.

Here is an excerpt from an article on Data Center Knowledge.com, describing this incident more fully:

Explosion at The Planet Causes Major Outage

An electrical explosion and fire Saturday at a Houston data center operated by The Planet has taken the entire facility offline. The explosion at 5 pm Saturday has affected 9,000 customer servers, and the company says it hopes to restore service by late Sunday afternoon. No servers or network equipment were damaged by the explosion, but the data center is without power. The Planet said it is working with the fire department and its facilities staff to restore power and get servers back online.

"(Saturday) evening at 4:55pm CDT in our H1 data center, electrical gear shorted, creating an explosion and fire that knocked down three walls surrounding our electrical equipment room," said Doug Erwin, CEO of The Planet, in a message on the company's forums (mirror). "Thankfully, no one was injured. In addition, no customer servers were damaged or lost."

Early indications are that the fire was caused by a short in a high-volume wire conduit. The fire department is not allowing the company to run backup generators, so the facility has been without power since the incident occurred. In the latest update, The Planet says it plans to run a power test at 5 pm Central time. If the test is successful, The Planet will begin bringing customer servers back online.

The explosion affected only the main Houston data center, with no impact on any of The Planet's other five data centers. The company hosts more than 50,000 servers and 22,000 customers in its six data centers, meaning that about a third of its customers and 20 percent of customer servers are currently offline.

This was the second time an explosion and fire has occurred at the Houston data center, which had a transformer explode in June, 2003 when the company was known as Rackshack.

Many of the customers affected are accounts from EV1Servers, the Houston-based dedicated hosting specialist that was acquired by The Planet in 2006 as part of a larger transaction in which private equity firm GI Partners bought both companies. The Houston data center houses the servers for ServerCommand, the management portal for former EV1 customers. "We are in the process of moving the ServerCommand servers to other Houston data centers so that we’re able to loop them into communications," the company said.

The Planet has sought to move accounts to get customers back online, with limited success. "During the early stages of the H1 data center we opportunistically relocated some customers to another data center," wrote Urvish Vashi, the Director of Product Management for The Planet. "However, due to network and data center (power/cooling) constraints, this option is no longer available and requests for migration cannot be honored."

The Planet's main page was knocked offline briefly, according to monitoring from Netcraft, but was back online in less than an hour. The Planet's forums are also online, but are experiencing serious availability problems due to traffic, including a Slashdotting.

"This is a significant outage, impacting approximately 9,000 servers and 7,500 customers," said Erwin. "All members of our support team are in, and all vendors who supply us with data center equipment are on site. Our initial assessment, although early, points to being able to have some service restored by mid-afternoon on Sunday. Rest assured we are working around the clock." Center Networks has noted the strong customer communication during the outage.

Data Center Outage

2008-05-31T22:40:00.006-06:00

Saturday at approximately 5 pm Central Time, one of Grassfrog's servers was taken offline when electrical gears shorted in the H1 Data Center in Houston, creating an explosion and fire that knocked down 3 walls surrounding the electrical room. Apparently, the short was in a high volume wire conduit, and the data center was unable to utilize their backup generators due to instructions from the fire department. While no servers or websites were damaged, the data center is currently without electricity and the Disaster Recovery Team is currently working to restore services to approximately 9,000 servers. They estimate that everything will be restored by mid afternoon on Sunday.

We will continue to monitor the situation and will post updates here on this page as they become available. Please check back on this page, or send an email to grassfrog@gmail.com for any questions or assistance.

Technical Support: Server Upgrade

2007-12-06T08:01:00.000-07:00

One of our servers has been identified with memory related issues which cause some websites to render sporadically. The technical support team has recommended an upgrade to the server, which has been scheduled for this morning before 11am Central Standard Time.

The server will be down for about 1/2 hour while the techs are performing the upgrade, after which all site issues on the ns1/ns2.homeinspectionsites.com server should be resolved.

Update: 10:12am We have applied the fix for this issue and verified that the server is no longer showing the symptoms of the compromise. Please let us know if you have any questions.
______________________
Scott Aylward
Server Support Engineer

Mold & Moisture Page Update

2007-04-17T02:05:00.000-06:00

The EPA website rearranged their file structure, causing the images on the Mold & Moisture content page to be broken. To update your images, change your img src links from /iag/molds/ to simply /mold/ on each img src link, or you can download the images and upload them to your files section, then re=link them using your Media Library button.

Note that we are in the process of updating the links on individual sites as we come across them; this process will take about 2 weeks to get everyone done. So, if your image links on your Mold & Moisture page are still broken after 5/1, contact us.

Scheduled Maintenance

2007-01-18T09:57:00.000-07:00

Grassfrog will be taken offline today before 1pm MST for a scheduled server upgrade. The upgrade will take approximately 10 minutes. Check back here for updates.

Server Reboot

2007-01-18T00:51:00.000-07:00

There was a DNS issue on the server side which caused some of the hosted websites to fail DNS lookup. Issue required a manual server reboot, and was resolved 12:29 a.m.

Scheduled Maintenance

2006-02-11T11:14:00.000-07:00

The server will be offline for approximately 1 hour on Sunday evening 2/12/06 from 11 pm - midnight, Mountain Standard Time, to perform some scheduled maintenance. All web sites will be offline as well, for the same time period.

WebMail is Up and Running

2006-01-29T20:50:00.000-07:00

For those of our customers who have email service on their web site domain names, WebMail is back up and running. Please check your email and let us know if you have any trouble accessing it.

New Server - Offline for Review

2006-01-29T16:27:00.000-07:00

Will the weekend from hell never end?

I just received notification that the EV1 Data Center has idenitifed suspicious traffic on the new server too, and has taken the server offline while they look into it. Please check back here shortly for an update.

Server Issues Resolved, All Sites Online

2006-01-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Great news! The replacement server is in place, and all web sites have been moved over and brought back online. A special thanks to Ben, my system admin, for his efforts to bring everything back up so quickly.

Please check your web site by clearing your cache and visiting your domain. If you have mail service with your domain, we are in the process of restoring webmail access this afternoon, and will post an update regarding that project here shortly.

Please let me know if you have any questions, and thank you for your patience through this particularly challenging weekend.

Regards,

Roberta

Server Update

2006-01-29T11:56:00.000-07:00

The server replacement is in place and we are in the process of installing the base software before transfering all web sites to the new server. Please check back here later this afternoon for an update.

Server Update, Sunday Morning

2006-01-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

Since the Data Center has been unable to identify the source of the problem, we have ordered a priority server replacement at EV1 which should be ready in within the next 2-3 hours. We will be transferring all of the web sites to the server replacement today as soon as it is ready.

Security breaches on the Internet do happen occasionally, and we are responding as best we can. Because we only work with Class A Data Centers, we have the advantage of 24/7 data center support when it comes to identifying and responding to server attacks. The replacement server brought online today should resolve all of the current system stability issues, and the new managed server will give us additional protection by offering 24/7 monitoring, automatic security updates, and offsite backup services. When the new managed server is ready, all existing customers will be offered the option of moving to the new server at no charge. Next month, we will also be offering enhanced support and backup services on the managed services server for a small monthly or annual fee.

If you have any questions or wish to contact me about this matter, please email grassfrog@gmail.com.

Regards,

Roberta Dulay
Grassfrog Technologies

Server Update

2006-01-29T02:56:00.000-07:00

The server reboot was successful, however, we are still experiencing issues with this server. At 10:15 pm MST Saturday we received notification of unusual activity on the server. As of nearly 2 am MST Sunday, the Data Center still has it offline for investigation, although they state that they cannot identify the source of the activity.

To address the unusually high level of service outages on this server over the past few days, we are considering upgrading the existing server, pending the results of the Data Center's findings. We have also purchased outright, an additional server which we will configuring over the next week or so. This second server will be used for load balancing, and also to improve SEO relevance between sites linking with one another on our servers, since it's on a totally different IP and network.

The site owners that choose to have their sites migrated to the new server will be provided with new DNS settings, which will need to be updated before the migration can be done. Note that the server migration can be done at no charge, under the previously stated 10 minute tech support offer, and that we will be offering enhanced services on the new server including 24/7 monitoring, higher security, weekly backups and more. Contact us directly if you're interested in more information on this new service.

Reboot

2006-01-28T18:04:00.000-07:00

Server is being rebooted. Please stay tuned for an update.

Update on Server Maintenance

2006-01-28T14:27:00.000-07:00

We are going through all web sites today and locking down CGI, SSI and Perl Scripting access. Since iware does not utilize any of these functions, there should be no difference to the end user as a result of these changes.

Technical Support Offer

2006-01-28T12:07:00.000-07:00

We recognize that we've had an unusual amount of service interruption in the past few days. While our host ISP's Data Center activities are largely beyond our control, we would like to extend the following offer to our existing customers to compensate for any inconvenience these server outages have caused.

For the next 2 weeks, we are offering all existing customers a free 10 minute tech support session, which can be used for training, support or search engine optimization. A good use of this offer would be to assist customer with metatags & titles on their web pages, or to run a second SEO submission session for customers who have already received their free one through NACHI. To take advantage of this special offer, please email us at grassfrog@gmail.com, or contact Roberta directly at the NACHI offices in Colorado (or at the convention, if you happen to be attending).

Regards,

Roberta Dulay
Grassfrog Technologies

Server Online

2006-01-28T12:06:00.000-07:00

Server is back online while we continue to run further diagnostics. All web sites are back up in the interim. We will post any planned reboots or downtimes here today if required to further secure the server.

Thank you for your patience.

Server Offline for Investigation

2006-01-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

Data Center changed shifts and took the server back offline for investigation (again). We should be back up within 1-2 hours, and are looking at some alternative providers as well as escalating this to EV1's management to see what we can do to avoid issues with this apparently trigger-happy Data Center in the future. Please check back here for an update later this morning.

Server Online

2006-01-28T06:11:00.000-07:00

The Data Center has completed its investigation and was unable to find anything wrong with the server. Server is back online.

Server Offline for Investigation

2006-01-28T04:52:00.000-07:00

The server has been taken offline to investigate a reported AUP Violation. Suspicion of an AUP violution most commonly occurs when a server is transmitting unusual traffic, often as a result of a security breech by a malicious program sending email or other data. Please check back here for an update soon.

Server Back Up

2006-01-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

The issue has been resolved and the server is back online.

Regards,

Roberta

Update on server outage

2006-01-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

We experienced a denial-of-service (DOS) attack early this morning. We are currently working with our data center to investigate the cause of the attack and bring the server back online. Please check back here for an update within 1 hour.

Welcome

2006-01-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the tech support blog for Grassfrog Technologies, LLC. Here you will find announcements and service related updates for our hosting customers. We do not personally notify customers of outages unless they are in excess of 12 hours, therefore this blog is the best place to go to check on the status of the server if you are having an issue.

In the event that our server is down, please contact us via the following email address: grassfrog@gmail.com.

Thanks,

Roberta Dulay
Grassfrog Technologies, LLC