Service Unavailable Error

[CarolMN]

Dunno, but I’m kinda glad they stopped. Deleting 40 or 50 emails every day gets old.

If you do not want email notifications change the preference options in your Account Profile.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Please don't take what I am about to say as "best practice", because it's not...
If it's absolutely important to have stability for transactions, you would be able to work around this particular issue by updating your local DNS Hosts file with the following (bypassing the need to DNS query/lookup a DNS Cache)

108.61.75.210 disboards.com

Location of hosts file on various operating systems

• Windows 10 - "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts"
• Linux - "/etc/hosts"
• Mac OS X - "/private/etc/hosts"

How to:
Editing a local hosts file on Windows 10

*Warning* - if the IP Address ever changed in the future and you had forgotten that you had made that entry, it might take you a long time to figure that out / troubleshoot it - That's why it's a horrible practice to do this.

I was referring to “transactions” in the context of negotiations between two members, either via the chat feature or within the forums proper.

 

[DonMacGregor]

If you do not want email notifications change the preference options in your Account Profile.

I understand that, and I was kidding.

There are posts I do want notifications for, but we all know a thread can get derailed (WHAT? HERE? NEVER!), and you get 20 notifications of pointless argumentative or back and forth posts to wade through to find the ones of merit. For a brief moment, I don’t need to delete those emails (because I’m not receiving any). Hahaha.

 

[Wells Larsen]

I was referring to “transactions” in the context of negotiations between two members, either via the chat feature or within the forums proper.

Yea, I understood that. The chat function still uses the website, right? Adding a local hosts entry ensures that you wouldn't see the "site unavailable".

 

[orum]

Please don't take what I am about to say as "best practice", because it's not...
If it's absolutely important to have stability for transactions, you would be able to work around this particular issue by updating your local DNS Hosts file with the following (bypassing the need to DNS query/lookup a DNS Cache)

108.61.75.210 disboards.com

Location of hosts file on various operating systems

• Windows 10 - "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts"
• Linux - "/etc/hosts"
• Mac OS X - "/private/etc/hosts"

How to:
Editing a local hosts file on Windows 10

*Warning* - if the IP Address ever changed in the future and you had forgotten that you had made that entry, it might take you a long time to figure that out / troubleshoot it - That's why it's a horrible practice to do this.

I finally did this one one computer yesterday.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Yea, I understood that. The chat function still uses the website, right? Adding a local hosts entry ensures that you wouldn't see the "site unavailable".

No clue. I’m not a computer guy, nor do I want to be. Just pointing out that, for the average user who simply wants to log on and use the forum and it’s various functions, the current situation poses a unique challenge to those users trying to rent or trade points. Getting booted repeatedly while either messaging or posting in the forum would make the dialog laborious and drag out the process to the point of frustration and possibly simply giving up.

If I’m in the process of telling member JohnDoe that I really want to rent his points, and halfway through my PM I get booted for the rest of the day, it is very possible some other member who still has forum access reached out and grabbed the points in my absence.

 

[Wells Larsen]

No clue. I’m not a computer guy, nor do I want to be. Just pointing out that, for the average user who simply wants to log on and use the forum and it’s various functions, the current situation poses a unique challenge to those users trying to rent or trade points. Getting booted repeatedly while either messaging or posting in the forum would make the dialog laborious and drag out the process to the point of frustration and possibly simply giving up.

If I’m in the process of telling member JohnDoe that I really want to rent his points, and halfway through my PM I get booted for the rest of the day, it is very possible some other member who still has forum access reached out and grabbed the points in my absence.

Yea, I hear ya. I was empathetic to that situation, which is why I thought I'd try to offer a temporary solution until its fixed permanently. I hope it helps anyone that really needs it. I hope folks just don't forget to reverse it later.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Yea, I hear ya. I was empathetic to that situation, which is why I thought I'd try to offer a temporary solution until its fixed permanently. I hope it helps anyone that really needs it. I hope folks just don't forget to reverse it later.

Unfortunately, that workaround would have to be known by everyone trying to use the forum, and anyone who might decide to use the forum. Otherwise, you’re in the same boat.

 

[Wells Larsen]

Unfortunately, that workaround would have to be known by everyone trying to use the forum, and anyone who might decide to use the forum. Otherwise, you’re in the same boat.

True.

 

[WebmasterAlex]

It is not really poisoning the DNS since it is just the old IP keeping popping up. It is not a random hijack which would be a complete redirection to a malicious address.

More of a bug / human error in a very old but complex DNS scheme. Everyone starts pointing fingers up and down the chain.

Dave

I think you are right on. Trust me if I thought there was DNS poisoning going on to drive people to dangerous sites I would shut these boards down in a heartbeat. Everything I have seen just points to the old address and some stuck servers. 2 weeks is, however, insane. The reason wdwinfo.com is stable is simple, it didn't change. We are actually going to move some other servers however obviously I need to a new DNS provider before I even consider that

 

[Dave006]

The reason wdwinfo.com is stable is simple, it didn't change. We are actually going to move some other servers however obviously I need to a new DNS provider before I even consider that

@WebmasterAlex

I would hold off on switching to a new DNS provider as it does not look like it may be their issue directly. Just caught up in a bigger issue.

When I hard code their (2) Authoritative DNS servers directly I don't get the random old address pop up in response to DNS lookup requests around the DNS server world.

Note: I did notice one additional set of points: It appears to happen more frequntly during periods when the disboard forums normally have the most activity during the day. Mid-morning, lunch window, afternoons 3-4 and evenings peak loads.

Dave

 

[Dan Murphy]

Desktop out again.

 

[Dave006]

Desktop out again.

Dan you can make a local change to make it work in the short term.

Change your DNS servers on your desktop to 162.159.26.131 (NS87WORLDNIC.com) and 162.159.27.117 (NS88WORLDNIC.com). Just update your IP/4 TCP settings on your Ethernet or Wi-Fi adapter.

These are the registered DNS servers for the forums.

Dave

 

[SteveMouse]

What’s weird is that the incorrect ip keeps being forwarded on to other dns services, including Google Fiber’s and AT&T wireless/Texas.

 

[CarolMN]

Unfortunately, that workaround would have to be known by everyone trying to use the forum, and anyone who might decide to use the forum. Otherwise, you’re in the same boat.

True.

And a very large % of R/T posters are new and many seem to be unfamiliar with social media sites such as the DIS. We mods spend a lot of time directing even the experienced users to the "How To" threads.

Webmaster Alex is going to need some R&R time after this is over. Hope he gets it.

Thanks to you techie guys -esp @Wells Larsen and @Dave00. I don't understand most of what you are discussing, but it's still interesting and I think I am learning something. .

 

[Dave006]

What’s weird is that the incorrect ip keeps being forwarded on to other dns services, including Google Fiber’s and AT&T wireless/Texas.

Unfortunately that's how DNS propagation works in the Internet world. There is a tree of DNS servers from the Core Servers & Authoritative servers for IP address that maps to easy to read names.

Here is an example for www.disboards.com

disboards.com
primary name server = NS87.WORLDNIC.com
responsible mail addr = namehost.WORLDNIC.com
serial = 122071011
refresh = 10800 (3 hours)
retry = 3600 (1 hour)
expire = 604800 (7 days)
default TTL = 3600 (1 hour)

All the numbers from serial on down as the status of when / how often the records should be rechecked by any other DNS server like Google or Cloudflair or any ISP DNS servers or server farms.

So the DNS team makes a simple change for the new host(s) IP address for www.disboards.com on their registered DNS severs NS87.WOLRDNIC.com and NS88.WORLDNIC.com and then change is propagated across the Internet.

Somewhere in all those DNS servers is a error record that still points back to the old IP address of the Forum servers prior to the July 4 move.

Dave

 

[Mle8308]

Unfortunately that's how DNS propagation works in the Internet world. There is a tree of DNS servers from the Core Servers & Authoritative servers for IP address that maps to easy to read names.

Here is an example for www.disboards.com

disboards.com
primary name server = NS87.WORLDNIC.com
responsible mail addr = namehost.WORLDNIC.com
serial = 122071011
refresh = 10800 (3 hours)
retry = 3600 (1 hour)
expire = 604800 (7 days)
default TTL = 3600 (1 hour)

All the numbers from serial on down as the status of when / how often the records should be rechecked by any other DNS server like Google or Cloudflair or any ISP DNS servers or server farms.

So the DNS team makes a simple change for the new host(s) IP address for www.disboards.com on their registered DNS severs NS87.WOLRDNIC.com and NS88.WORLDNIC.com and then change is propagated across the Internet.

Somewhere in all those DNS servers is a error record that still points back to the old IP address of the Forum servers prior to the July 4 move.

Dave

No idea what al this means, I am still getting the not available message randomly. Earlier today I could not access the page with Google, but fine with Edge. Now both are working!

 

[DLgal]

That’s why I mentioned them before. All of those transactions are time sensitive and I can’t imagine how frustrating trying to negotiate a rental or trade would be if both parties kept getting booted intermittently.

Maybe a dumb question, but can't people on those boards simply PM each other their email addresses or phone numbers so they can perform those transactions offline?

 

[Dave006]

Only works once you have communication setup for email addresses to use email or have exchanged phone number. So good for final completion of transaction but not helpful during the actual communication process.

No the Board's PM will not work as it is part of the site.

Dave

 

[tvguy]

Down from 9:45 am to Noon PST today. And not sure I mentioned, this just isn't an issue of not being able to get to the Disney Boards, for me about half the time it is being on the Disney Boards and it boots me out and I get the 1.1. error message.