too much downtime

elder · 26 Jun 2002, 05:34 AM

We recently opened two paid accounts, a personal and a business, and have experienced several downtimes. While this may be offpeak in Norway, it is business hours Eastern US. Is this going to continue?

bryonlh · 26 Jun 2002, 06:21 AM

Hi!

They are working hard to fix this problem and should have things back working shortly. This doesn't happen very often..I can assure you.

Bryon

carverrn · 26 Jun 2002, 06:32 AM

I agree ... this is rare . They have been quite reliable
for me over the past 8+ months that I've been a member.

Rich

hajonez · 26 Jun 2002, 09:04 AM

As Bryon and Rich claim, this is a very rare event. In fact, this is the longest I've seen Runbox down since they became a subscription service late last year. I think that says a lot about the excellent reliability of the service

It is unfortunate that they are down but no email service is ever going to guarantee 100% uptime; that simply isn't possible. In the meantime, I think we can gain consolation from the knowledge that the Runbox crew are throwing all their resources at overcoming the problem. I have faith that it will be resolved shortly.

Good luck guys!

Hope you manage to get a little sleep!

- Henry

Geir · 26 Jun 2002, 11:00 AM

Thanks for the support guys. We are getting close to a solution that will involve no data loss at all.

By the way, the cause of the crash seems to be related to a bug in the InnoDB MySQL database software.

- Geir

hajonez · 26 Jun 2002, 11:25 AM

Thanks for the update, Geir - sounds like good news.

Let's hope that everything is up and running again soon.

- Henry

26 Jun 2002, 12:05 PM

I have been trying all day to get in. Well at least i have somewhere to vent and find out what is going on. I hope they have the service up soon.

unhappysoul · 26 Jun 2002, 12:40 PM

=============================================

I will withdraw comments and criticism I made regarding

RUNBOX at this time.....

=============================================

26 Jun 2002, 12:55 PM

I'm one of those users who is dependent on this service being up. When it's down, I'm in trouble. Right now, I'm in trouble. The worst part of it, as others have commented, is not knowing what's going on. Yes, I've scanned the threads here, but I still keep having to check via both my Eudora/POP software and the web-access page to see if the service is back up, each time kind of praying (or at least muttering to myself) that this time, this time, it will be working, please let it be working. I won't go into a long discussion of why this service is critical to me--but it is in several different ways: in terms of my employment (almost all my interactions with colleagues and customers), my personal life (most of my family lives in another country) and a charitable fund that I run (which happens to be going through a very stressful moment). I have to assume the engineers are working through the night, but is there something to can be done--not just for this incident but in future--so that alternative email addresses or Instant Messaging can be used to notify us how the repair is progressing, when the system is ESTIMATED to be back up, or anything else that will make us feel we have a clue about what's going on?

Geir · 26 Jun 2002, 01:11 PM

unhappysoul,

We do have both backup and backup plans, but unfortunately no backup is 100% up to date and no backup plan can prepare for any contingency. These problems seem to be related to a bug in the database software itself, and while we do have recent backup the bug seems to have caused additional problems with restoring the database from that backup. We have spent the last few hours recovering the corrupt backup data and thus expect 100% recovery of all changes and updates performed through email delivery or other changes since last backup.

There is a Service Status page available at http://docs.runbox.com/en/info/status.doc, linked from the login page and the Help page.

- Geir

Jeremy Howard · 26 Jun 2002, 01:25 PM

Geir, when you've finished recovering everything and had a good sleep

, could you take a moment to describe the InnoDB bug you came across? We use InnoDB too...

Is the bug fixed in the most recent release? Is the author aware of the problem?

Geir · 26 Jun 2002, 01:29 PM

Redhill,

We do realize that runbox is a critical system for many, many users -- which is exactly what we aimed for runbox to be. That is the reason this incident is extremely frustrating not only to the users but to us as well. The users depend on our reliability and we depend on the trust of the users.

The only comfort we can bring right now is that everything is being done to restore the service 100% as fast as possible. Our sysops have been working continuously for the past 14 hours and will keep on working until the problem is resolved.

Currently the only means of receiving service status updates is through the Service Status page or here at the Forum. We will take your suggestion about alternative ways of contacting users under consideration - though we certainly hope such messages will not become necessary.

- Geir

Geir · 26 Jun 2002, 01:38 PM

Jeremy,

I will provide you with the information as soon as it is available, though I am not absolutely certain that the crash was caused by that bug -- which I believe has to do with additional memory buffers in MySQL. I don't know whether the bug is fixed but the author is now aware of it.

- Geir

wox · 26 Jun 2002, 06:18 PM

Now it is more than 3 hour delay on recive mail. I am still a free
member of runbox and I will sign up for the 3 years
and 100 mb extra but...........

- When will you fix the delay of mail
- When will the downtime be exeptible (once a month not more)
- The last two weeks I have been kicked out from 7 safelist
for bounching. And runbox have been blacklist in many safelist
the last month.

I see a lot of members here that realy like runbox and I will
be able to say so to, but I start as free member 2-3 weeks ago
and have nothing but trobble.

Hope to see an answere and a solution.

Bengt Woxneryd

26 Jun 2002, 05:34 AM	#1
elder Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 4	too much downtime We recently opened two paid accounts, a personal and a business, and have experienced several downtimes. While this may be offpeak in Norway, it is business hours Eastern US. Is this going to continue?

26 Jun 2002, 06:21 AM	#2
bryonlh Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 1	Downtime.... Hi! They are working hard to fix this problem and should have things back working shortly. This doesn't happen very often..I can assure you. Bryon

26 Jun 2002, 09:04 AM	#4
hajonez Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 727	Very rare... As Bryon and Rich claim, this is a very rare event. In fact, this is the longest I've seen Runbox down since they became a subscription service late last year. I think that says a lot about the excellent reliability of the service It is unfortunate that they are down but no email service is ever going to guarantee 100% uptime; that simply isn't possible. In the meantime, I think we can gain consolation from the knowledge that the Runbox crew are throwing all their resources at overcoming the problem. I have faith that it will be resolved shortly. Good luck guys! Hope you manage to get a little sleep! - Henry

26 Jun 2002, 12:05 PM	#7
Guest Posts: n/a	DOWNTIME I have been trying all day to get in. Well at least i have somewhere to vent and find out what is going on. I hope they have the service up soon.

26 Jun 2002, 12:40 PM	#8
unhappysoul Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Los Angeles, California Posts: 504	Not Acceptable ============================================= I will withdraw comments and criticism I made regarding RUNBOX at this time..... ============================================= Last edited by unhappysoul : 26 Jun 2002 at 01:57 PM.

26 Jun 2002, 06:32 AM	#3
carverrn Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 5,606 Representative of: Runbox.com	I agree ... this is rare . They have been quite reliable for me over the past 8+ months that I've been a member. Rich

26 Jun 2002, 11:00 AM	#5
Geir The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 2,938 Representative of: Runbox.com	Thanks for the support guys. We are getting close to a solution that will involve no data loss at all. By the way, the cause of the crash seems to be related to a bug in the InnoDB MySQL database software. - Geir

26 Jun 2002, 11:25 AM	#6
hajonez Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 727	Thanks for the update, Geir - sounds like good news. Let's hope that everything is up and running again soon. - Henry

26 Jun 2002, 12:55 PM	#9
Guest Posts: n/a	For me, this is a critical system I'm one of those users who is dependent on this service being up. When it's down, I'm in trouble. Right now, I'm in trouble. The worst part of it, as others have commented, is not knowing what's going on. Yes, I've scanned the threads here, but I still keep having to check via both my Eudora/POP software and the web-access page to see if the service is back up, each time kind of praying (or at least muttering to myself) that this time, this time, it will be working, please let it be working. I won't go into a long discussion of why this service is critical to me--but it is in several different ways: in terms of my employment (almost all my interactions with colleagues and customers), my personal life (most of my family lives in another country) and a charitable fund that I run (which happens to be going through a very stressful moment). I have to assume the engineers are working through the night, but is there something to can be done--not just for this incident but in future--so that alternative email addresses or Instant Messaging can be used to notify us how the repair is progressing, when the system is ESTIMATED to be back up, or anything else that will make us feel we have a clue about what's going on?

26 Jun 2002, 01:11 PM	#10
Geir The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 2,938 Representative of: Runbox.com	unhappysoul, We do have both backup and backup plans, but unfortunately no backup is 100% up to date and no backup plan can prepare for any contingency. These problems seem to be related to a bug in the database software itself, and while we do have recent backup the bug seems to have caused additional problems with restoring the database from that backup. We have spent the last few hours recovering the corrupt backup data and thus expect 100% recovery of all changes and updates performed through email delivery or other changes since last backup. There is a Service Status page available at http://docs.runbox.com/en/info/status.doc, linked from the login page and the Help page. - Geir

26 Jun 2002, 01:25 PM	#11
Jeremy Howard Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 11,501	Geir, when you've finished recovering everything and had a good sleep , could you take a moment to describe the InnoDB bug you came across? We use InnoDB too... Is the bug fixed in the most recent release? Is the author aware of the problem?

26 Jun 2002, 01:29 PM	#12
Geir The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 2,938 Representative of: Runbox.com	Redhill, We do realize that runbox is a critical system for many, many users -- which is exactly what we aimed for runbox to be. That is the reason this incident is extremely frustrating not only to the users but to us as well. The users depend on our reliability and we depend on the trust of the users. The only comfort we can bring right now is that everything is being done to restore the service 100% as fast as possible. Our sysops have been working continuously for the past 14 hours and will keep on working until the problem is resolved. Currently the only means of receiving service status updates is through the Service Status page or here at the Forum. We will take your suggestion about alternative ways of contacting users under consideration - though we certainly hope such messages will not become necessary. - Geir

26 Jun 2002, 01:38 PM	#13
Geir The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 2,938 Representative of: Runbox.com	Jeremy, I will provide you with the information as soon as it is available, though I am not absolutely certain that the crash was caused by that bug -- which I believe has to do with additional memory buffers in MySQL. I don't know whether the bug is fixed but the author is now aware of it. - Geir

26 Jun 2002, 06:18 PM	#14
wox Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 2	Delay Now it is more than 3 hour delay on recive mail. I am still a free member of runbox and I will sign up for the 3 years and 100 mb extra but........... - When will you fix the delay of mail - When will the downtime be exeptible (once a month not more) - The last two weeks I have been kicked out from 7 safelist for bounching. And runbox have been blacklist in many safelist the last month. I see a lot of members here that realy like runbox and I will be able to say so to, but I start as free member 2-3 weeks ago and have nothing but trobble. Hope to see an answere and a solution. Bengt Woxneryd Last edited by wox : 28 Jun 2002 at 06:19 AM.