Runbox Service Update Needed

carverrn · 6 Mar 2005, 01:06 PM

Hans, Geir, Jan, Liz ... anyone

I think we need an update here. Really you do. Good news or bad news ... It's going too long without providing some feedback.

Regards,
Rich

flylow · 6 Mar 2005, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by carverrn
Hans, Geir, Jan, Liz ... anyone

I think we need an update here. Really you do. Good news or bad news ... It's going too long without providing some feedback.

Regards,
Rich

I agree 100%. Way too long...

itchychin · 6 Mar 2005, 01:43 PM

In some parts of the world, it is a working day (Dubai), and since I use runbox for everything, it is frustrating that nothing is available. I would welcome a status update asap.

flylow · 6 Mar 2005, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hanslysglimt

Our policy is to communicate as much as we can, hence this status report.

**gdg** · 6 Mar 2005, 02:41 PM

Looks like I can at least bring up the webpage now.

whatnot · 6 Mar 2005, 02:44 PM

there are finally signs of life. i just received my first message in about 24 hours, although it was just a test I sent 8 hours ago. I can now check POP with no errors. I guess it's just a matter of the stored messages now...

flylow · 6 Mar 2005, 02:51 PM

Currently working sporadically.
I got my email and a couple of others through my email client and webmail but it is hit and miss for me at this time. I know emails are currently missing as I emailed myself several times from a different email account and they have not shown up. Status reports and email outages during the last few months remind me of the old attbi@home email service and the reasons I decided to pay for email. I wish I would have changed email providers during the last round of troubles. My fault as I decided to give runbox one more shot. I plan on NOT resubscribing come renewal time. IMO, Runbox is not worth the headache it has become.

**gdg** · 6 Mar 2005, 03:13 PM

I tested Runbox with the 30 day trial 2-3 times, and always noticed problems I was unable to live with, so couldn't quite bring myself to keep using them. The Runbox employees are nice and helpful, but the infrastructure of the email service itself gives them a headache, also, and needs a major overhaul.

itchychin · 6 Mar 2005, 03:39 PM

Things are reverting back to normal for me...although still a bit slow on the web interface.

In the main, I think runbox is amazing. These hiccups have pointed out inadequecies in the hardware that they are using. I am sure that they (the runbox staff) realise that something needs to be done asap and this is what Hans alluded to in his previous posts. I hope that this is implemented as soon as possible - the more problems that there are, the less reliable rubox is perceived to be, and then survival becomes an issue. Runbox must realise all of this. When does switching email providers become a necessity? When does it get so bad that you have to move? This is what people are thinking now. Runbox knows it, and they are taking remedial action. It may get worse before it gets better, but when it does get better, it will return to to its former glories.

Personally, I would prefer less bells and whistles and for them to pour the money into the reliability, but if they can do both, then so be it.

I hope Runbox are able to sort this out and focus as a matter of urgency on maintaining reliability for the long term. Despite some issues on communication during these stressful times, the staff are some of the most helpful people I have encountered.

Good luck Runbox!

flylow · 6 Mar 2005, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by itchychin

When does it get so bad that you have to move?

That depends on the individual user as everyone has different needs.
Personally I need an email provider who does not get "hiccups" near as often as runbox has over the last few months.

If you can live with runbox the way it is then stay with it. If you need more reliable email than runbox has been providing try a different email provider.

goofy · 6 Mar 2005, 04:29 PM

Hans, will I have full access to my emails from Monday 08.00CET, again?

tuatara · 6 Mar 2005, 04:37 PM

To the Runbox colleagues: So,

Just as i asumed the reason why it took so long to recover
from the system down is that you are using traditional
FCSK to check your filesystems.

Just as i told you before, this is not used anymore by the large ISP's etc. Just for this reason!!
There are several work-arounds to prevent this from happening in the future.

Would you please inform me WHAT you are planning to do,
to prevent this from happening again.

System down, oke, that can happen. but what about
High availabilty clusters, Storage that you don't have to FSCK for so long.

Using FSCK that way, is an implementation that is 20 years old!!!.

petrs · 6 Mar 2005, 05:41 PM

I guess they didn't want to bypass the check...

tuatara · 6 Mar 2005, 06:11 PM

they have to, because their Unixversion is implemented
with a filesystem that needs to check the consistency that way.

It is just like a database with a transaction log.

After a crash you restore the latest backup of the database
from another media (tape or so) and roll all completed
transactions of the transaction log over it.
Then you are up to date again.

Fsck is a bit different, but it is a FileSystemconsistency check
(and repair).

Most large companies have left this option, because it works fine for smaller disksizes 500 GB etc, but for larger disksizes
it takes far too long. (32 Terrabytes can take days)

There are new products from different companies that
deliver NAS (Network Attached Storage) that will allow them to work with their SAME trusted Unixversion and work-around
this problem. So that at the next crash this check will take about 3 minutes (for 32 to 256 Terrabytes).

Hope that they will implement that for their staying customers.

6 Mar 2005, 01:06 PM	#1
carverrn Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 5,606 Representative of: Runbox.com	Runbox Service Update Needed Hans, Geir, Jan, Liz ... anyone I think we need an update here. Really you do. Good news or bad news ... It's going too long without providing some feedback. Regards, Rich

6 Mar 2005, 04:37 PM	#12
tuatara Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 22	like to know how you want to prevent this .. To the Runbox colleagues: So, Just as i asumed the reason why it took so long to recover from the system down is that you are using traditional FCSK to check your filesystems. Just as i told you before, this is not used anymore by the large ISP's etc. Just for this reason!! There are several work-arounds to prevent this from happening in the future. Would you please inform me WHAT you are planning to do, to prevent this from happening again. System down, oke, that can happen. but what about High availabilty clusters, Storage that you don't have to FSCK for so long. Using FSCK that way, is an implementation that is 20 years old!!!.

6 Mar 2005, 06:11 PM	#14
tuatara Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 22	fsck in this form is out of date they have to, because their Unixversion is implemented with a filesystem that needs to check the consistency that way. It is just like a database with a transaction log. After a crash you restore the latest backup of the database from another media (tape or so) and roll all completed transactions of the transaction log over it. Then you are up to date again. Fsck is a bit different, but it is a FileSystemconsistency check (and repair). Most large companies have left this option, because it works fine for smaller disksizes 500 GB etc, but for larger disksizes it takes far too long. (32 Terrabytes can take days) There are new products from different companies that deliver NAS (Network Attached Storage) that will allow them to work with their SAME trusted Unixversion and work-around this problem. So that at the next crash this check will take about 3 minutes (for 32 to 256 Terrabytes). Hope that they will implement that for their staying customers.

6 Mar 2005, 01:43 PM	#3
itchychin Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 56	In some parts of the world, it is a working day (Dubai), and since I use runbox for everything, it is frustrating that nothing is available. I would welcome a status update asap.

6 Mar 2005, 02:41 PM	#5
gdg Moderator Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 2,308	Looks like I can at least bring up the webpage now.

6 Mar 2005, 02:44 PM	#6
whatnot Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 10	there are finally signs of life. i just received my first message in about 24 hours, although it was just a test I sent 8 hours ago. I can now check POP with no errors. I guess it's just a matter of the stored messages now...

6 Mar 2005, 02:51 PM	#7
flylow Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: USA Posts: 17	Currently working sporadically. I got my email and a couple of others through my email client and webmail but it is hit and miss for me at this time. I know emails are currently missing as I emailed myself several times from a different email account and they have not shown up. Status reports and email outages during the last few months remind me of the old attbi@home email service and the reasons I decided to pay for email. I wish I would have changed email providers during the last round of troubles. My fault as I decided to give runbox one more shot. I plan on NOT resubscribing come renewal time. IMO, Runbox is not worth the headache it has become.

6 Mar 2005, 03:13 PM	#8
gdg Moderator Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 2,308	I tested Runbox with the 30 day trial 2-3 times, and always noticed problems I was unable to live with, so couldn't quite bring myself to keep using them. The Runbox employees are nice and helpful, but the infrastructure of the email service itself gives them a headache, also, and needs a major overhaul.

6 Mar 2005, 03:39 PM	#9
itchychin Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 56	Things are reverting back to normal for me...although still a bit slow on the web interface. In the main, I think runbox is amazing. These hiccups have pointed out inadequecies in the hardware that they are using. I am sure that they (the runbox staff) realise that something needs to be done asap and this is what Hans alluded to in his previous posts. I hope that this is implemented as soon as possible - the more problems that there are, the less reliable rubox is perceived to be, and then survival becomes an issue. Runbox must realise all of this. When does switching email providers become a necessity? When does it get so bad that you have to move? This is what people are thinking now. Runbox knows it, and they are taking remedial action. It may get worse before it gets better, but when it does get better, it will return to to its former glories. Personally, I would prefer less bells and whistles and for them to pour the money into the reliability, but if they can do both, then so be it. I hope Runbox are able to sort this out and focus as a matter of urgency on maintaining reliability for the long term. Despite some issues on communication during these stressful times, the staff are some of the most helpful people I have encountered. Good luck Runbox!

6 Mar 2005, 04:29 PM	#11
goofy Essential Contributor Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 226	Hans, will I have full access to my emails from Monday 08.00CET, again?

6 Mar 2005, 05:41 PM	#13
petrs Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 134	I guess they didn't want to bypass the check...