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Server connection update

Discussion in 'Announcements' started by Chris, Oct 7, 2018.

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  1. Chris

    Chris Tech Lord Moderator Ambassador SOTA Developer

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    Since we've had a few server connection issues lately and I've seen some speculation, I just wanted to give people an update on things.

    So there were actually 3 totally unrelated issues that just randomly came about within a week of each other.

    First up, the outage that occurred Sept 30. This was one we have seen before. The firewall box quit taking new connections. Players already connected never lost connection but no new players could login. It has done this about once every 6 months for a while. We finally replaced that firewall box and made the unreliable the fail over. The swap was what caused a brief outage(2 minutes) on Friday morning. We don't expect this problem to come up again.

    Second up, the outage this morning. This was something we haven't seen before. Our primary database crashed. This has happened on the replica once in the past 2 years but never the primary. For those concerned with data loss, we have two replica DB machines that are replicated constantly AND we do offsite backups hourly. We will be investigating this further. We are a number of patches behind and I suspect we just need to get an update. The issue seemed to be a memory issue but the machine it runs on uses ECC memory so that seems highly unlikely. Since we've seen this on the mirrored box, I'm guessing this is actually a software issue and we just need to get up to date on patches.

    Third, on going connectivity issues with 503 website errors and occasional issues logging in. To be GDPR compliant, we moved our auth and web servers to Ireland about 6 months ago. For some reason, the Amazon servers in Ireland have been having connectivity issues with some internet backbones for the past week. We are still investigating but will likely move the servers if this can't be resolved by Amazon soon.

    Sorry for the downtime. I think we have addressed the firewall issue for good. The DB issue is being investigated but seems to just be something REALLY rare. The web connection issue is being watched and will be fixed by moving the servers if Amazon can't address it themselves soon.

    Now go play!
     
  2. Gaelis

    Gaelis Avatar

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    thank you...have a nice Sunday without more Issues about SotA and Servers:)
     
  3. Feeyo

    Feeyo Avatar

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    Thanks for the update.
     
  4. Brass Knuckles

    Brass Knuckles Avatar

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    The updates are good thanks.
     
  5. craftymethod

    craftymethod Avatar

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    Very detailed update! Great to see the differences between the theories of loud detractors and. actual. reality.
     
  6. FireMage92

    FireMage92 Avatar

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    please don't forget to add the latest full versions(like 0-847), not just patches(like 842-843, 843-844 and etc)
     
  7. Synergy Blaize

    Synergy Blaize Avatar

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    Thank You @Chris
    There definitely been times when I "thought unkind things about You" & the Nerf Bat you wield...
    AND in the long run, those feelings, will probably remain the same, for the foreseeable future...

    BUT....

    THANK YOU @Chris for being on deck (on your day off) & helping to get us in-game again!

    But, The next time You swing the Nerf/Balance Bat, I will be out bagging you again :p
     
  8. Arkah EMPstrike

    Arkah EMPstrike Avatar

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    I bet it was Cosmic Rays. A star exploded 4 billion years ago and shotgunned the server with electrons
     
  9. Brielle McFerson

    Brielle McFerson Avatar

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    Thank you so much for the update. Communication goes a long way to help with the community. ;)
     
  10. Barugon

    Barugon Avatar

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    @Chris
    Thanks for keeping us informed.
     
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  11. Damian Killingsworth

    Damian Killingsworth Avatar

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    Dang ol' AWS. One day 11 9s of Availability
     
  12. Fionwyn Wyldemane

    Fionwyn Wyldemane Avatar

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    FYI, I am still receiving 503 nd 504 errors. Having a terrible time logging into the forums. Even just now, had a 504 error.
     
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  13. Chatele

    Chatele Avatar

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    well I got the (
    Pelican Disconnection due to server congestion error thingy, that booted me out of the game, twice yesterday...
     
  14. Fionwyn Wyldemane

    Fionwyn Wyldemane Avatar

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    Pelicans are constantly pooping on MY head and I was told by Attenwood over a year ago that the problem is on my end. Not sure what else I can do to resolve the bird problem and the constant dive bombing of my person. I have:

    Opened all the required/suggested ports on my router
    Constantly reboot the router and the modem
    Periodically uninstall/reinstall the game
    Moved from using my 5g connection to 2.4g

    Nothing deters the pelicans. They want my fish. I blame @Winfield :p

    Looks like they want your fish too @Chatele.
     
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2018
  15. Chatele

    Chatele Avatar

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    LOL hehehhe It is not on our end, it is on theirs …..
     
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  16. tphilipp

    tphilipp SotA Dev Moderator SOTA Developer

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    Just as an update, I'm still investigating the 503/504 errors - workarounds are in place to mend the situation, some servers will be replaced hoping that that will improve some suspected connectivity issues at the hoster. Sorry for this dragging on...
     
  17. Feeyo

    Feeyo Avatar

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    Yep I am getting them a lot. Hope you get it fixed, good luck.
     
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  18. tphilipp

    tphilipp SotA Dev Moderator SOTA Developer

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    So, the maintenance mode the site was in over the last hour (sorry, was unannounced, didn't think it was needed, yet it was) was part of an attempt at that - I still think it needs some more work. Sorry for this 1h outage, that didn't go as planned. My apologies.
     
  19. Steevodeevo

    Steevodeevo Avatar

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    no worries man, these things happen, hope you get it fixed soon.
     
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  20. that_shawn_guy

    that_shawn_guy Bug Hunter

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    please setup a status.shroudoftheavatar.com (or other domain) where this short of thing can be listed and unplanned outages can be automatically update. I've used statuspage.io for this type of thing in the past. but, there are plenty of such services.

    the point is that we need to put an end to the "do the devs know?" and "is the game down?" questions without having to wait for someone from port taking time away from fixing the issue to tell us about it.
     
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