*Reason For SOH Slow Down Discovered/Explained*

[Panther_99FS]

A 1GB+ file has been made available for our fellow CFS-3 simmers/sister sub-forum and is hosted at a SOH website.

Over 400 gigs alone have been used by this file this month so we had to limit the bandwidth for this file.

Our logs show as many as 20 people downloading this file at a time and it was sucking us dry. Unfortunately this had a snowball effect and caused the threads and posts tables to become corrupt and backups and repairs just kept cycling until the database and site crashed.

This means all our backups are corrupt and useless, bottom line is there is a 90% chance the two tables can not be restored.

The massive file will be left on the server for two weeks then deleted, this gives the CFS3 people time to setup an DVD exchange program.

Unfortunately this happened and was unavoidable.

[Killbilly]

I'm glad the problem was findable and fixable. It's too bad that the back-ups are gone, but I'm sure most of the important info will be reposted anyway. The site is really ripping along now. Thanks! :applause:

[IanP]

I just wanna know what the big file was now...

It's been a long time since I fired up CFS3 - do I have a good reason to now? :d

Ian P.

[stiz]

I just wanna know what the big file was now

guessing it was the ETO expansion?, bit like OFF and MAW .... but for europe.

[NSS]

It was indeed.
At 1.7gb its a big file....

[Lateral-G]

So let me get this straight:

The CFS3 forum hosts a 1GB file and download activity on this file slows down the entire site due to bandwidth allotment which in turn has a domino effect that crashes the forums and loses all the data?

Who allowed this to happen?

Isn't there a file size limit in place? Is there no "bandwidth exceeded" fail safe that trips to prevent a crash?

just curious here....

-G-

[Panther_99FS]

Who allowed this to happen?


There's no finger pointing going on.

1) The problem has been resolved and fixed.

2) Corrective measures have been implemented to help ensure that it doesn't happen again.

[Snuffy]

Now can I get my post count back? :d

[max_thehitman]

So sorry to hear about the bad news Panther.
I usually come here to get some screenshots to work them out as aviation art
for all you aviation fans.
Too bad they all went "kaput" and are gone, but no fear, I have saved alot of them so I can later work them out into some artsy scenes for everybody. I still offer them for free to whomever wants them.
You usually find me at screenshotworld.com.
Keep up the good work , and the fun, guys and gals. Things will be fixed soon. This forum has the best and friendly people working out the problem. :ernae:

Cheers
MAX

[spotlope]

Finally! That missing "p" in my username has been driving me nuts for years. I didn't want to create a new user acct because I'd lose all of my old posts & post count. You want a silver lining? There you go. :costumes:

[Lateral-G]

There's no finger pointing going on.

1) The problem has been resolved and fixed.

2) Corrective measures have been implemented to help ensure that it doesn't happen again.

I'm not fingerpointing....just wondering how it happened. And to verify my summation is correct.

-G-

[huub vink]

I'm not fingerpointing....just wondering how it happened. And to verify my summation is correct.

-G-

The problems are is not really caused by the actual file size. They were caused by the fact that the file is downloaded constantly by 20+ members for over 3 days. We were trying to push 200Mbps through a 100Mbps hole and the servers got overloaded.

As Panther and I were both not directly involved we don't know the answers on your questions. For normal files there is a size limit. I guess because this is an major upgrade like OFF and MAW an exception was made. But as said this is only guessing and to be honest I really don't care. There is nobody guilty or anything. When the people involved had foreseen the problems they wouldn't have done it.

Obviously an error has been made and we have all learned a lot this weekend. I'm convinced this mistake won't happen again. Nevertheless, as we are all humans, I'm convinced we will make other mistakes in the future.

Huub

[Panther_99FS]

I'm not fingerpointing....just wondering how it happened. And to verify my summation is correct.

-G-

You were given a "how" explanation. Why are you so bent on a "who"..?

[hey_moe]

OK...you win ....I did it and I proud of it too, anything else ya wanna know:mixedsmi:

[Henry]

So let me get this straight:

The CFS3 forum hosts a 1GB file and download activity on this file slows down the entire site due to bandwidth allotment which in turn has a domino effect that crashes the forums and loses all the data?

Who allowed this to happen?

Isn't there a file size limit in place? Is there no "bandwidth exceeded" fail safe that trips to prevent a crash?

just curious here....

-G-
let me try to explain
its not the cfs3 forum its another site that we host
i myself have an ftp site here
i have a cap on size but in theory i could upload a 1 gig file
but if 300 people downloaded it
it would do the same
it was not one person responsible
just an oversight on lots of people
when bandwidth runs out it does just that
or zaps everything else
you can take that or leave it
thats how it is
H

[Henry]

OK...you win ....I did it and I proud of it too, anything else ya wanna know:mixedsmi:
yup did ya make any money on it:costumes:
LOL
H

[hey_moe]

:d:d
yup did ya make any money on it:costumes:
LOL
H

[Panther_99FS]

Moe,
If ya' wasn't too busy eatin, ya' woulda caught the whole thing before you pressed the "accept" button....:d

[Willy]

Yall got it all wrong. Merc Air did it in an attempt to hold the forums for ransom. Unfortunately Ickie caught on to us and all we can now say is "Curses, foiled again!" ;)

[Henry]

Yall got it all wrong. Merc Air did it in an attempt to hold the forums for ransom. Unfortunately Ickie caught on to us and all we can now say is "Curses, foiled again!" ;)
but i told you i would let you have a Squadron of defiants
and some gasoline
hmmm ya just cannot make a responsible offer these days
its just not fair:banghead:
H

[Marlin]

There is one HUGE bright side to this whole thing. All of the files in the libaries are still there!!!!

Sure it sucks to have the threads to be lost, and people will bitch and moan, but all those files that are stored only here? Phuuu, I was hoping everything there would be saved.

Is there any way to limit not the upload size, but rather the number of people that are downloading at one time? Or we going to let Willy tear up the place again?:costumes:

Thanks goes out to everybody that keep this place going, and brought it back to life. :applause::ernae::applause:

[Lateral-G]

You were given a "how" explanation. Why are you so bent on a "who"..?

I should have said "HOW" rather than "WHO"......

In any case thanks all for the explanation. Sorry I asked.

-G-

[IanP]

I think working in IT and around computers for twenty-plus years must have given me a different outlook on life than people who don't remember spending weeks programming, then running and getting a helpful message like "REDO FROM START" as the only result... It didn't mean it, but good grief was it infuriating!!!

Unfortunately, databases do fail. Unforseen things do go wrong and most people learn from them and move on. Possibly except politicians. [JOKE!]

All I'll say is thanks very much for the effort of everyone involved in getting this place back available to us unwashed masses and attempting to recover anything from the previous database. At least we're all still here, the site is still here, the downloads, accounts and general insanity is still here. If we have to repopulate the threads and posts databases from scratch, so be it. Dive in folks! :d

Ian P.

[JayKae]

Glad you found it, now if you ever need to host such a big file again, feel free to contact me, I can help ya out ;)

[Bjoern]

Shouldn't files of that kind of size rather be shared via Bittorrent?



- Edit: Noooooohohohoooooo! My postcounter! :crybaby:

[NSS]

A bit torrent is bieng discussed for the ETO Expansion, I believe.

[SpaceWeevil]

Shouldn't files of that kind of size rather be shared via Bittorrent?



- Edit: Noooooohohohoooooo! My postcounter! :crybaby:

What a novel suggestion - a legitimate and legal use of Bittorrent. It would make a nice change from ripped-off movies, music, games & apps. You never know, it might just catch on.

[Henry]

What a novel suggestion - a legitimate and legal use of Bittorrent. It would make a nice change from ripped-off movies, music, games & apps. You never know, it might just catch on.
actually it should its a good way of getting large files
but the negative is so vast i shudder to think:banghead:
Jay Kae maybe i will find out
cheers
H

[DennyA]

actually it should its a good way of getting large files
but the negative is so vast i shudder to think:banghead:

There's no negative at all as long as you stay off the pirate sites.

It's just a technology.

Seeing a negative in Bittorrent because it's popular with thieves is like shunning silverware because crooks sometimes use knives. :)

[IanP]

BitTorrent is already being throttled/blocked by a large number of ISPs around the world because it supposedly has no function other than piracy. This annoys me rather a lot, as it is a very good way of distributing large files... Unfortunately, that leads directly to its unsavoury primary use, if not purpose.

Bah. :(

Ian P.

[Henry]

There's no negative at all as long as you stay off the pirate sites.

It's just a technology.

Seeing a negative in Bittorrent because it's popular with thieves is like shunning silverware because crooks sometimes use knives. :)
but ya have to go into a den of thieves to get one
and i still have never seen a torrent site that has no pirated
products, thats the negative and it is a big one
i have no problem with torrents they are great
H

[Nick C]

It only seems like yesterday when the FSX forum started anyway, so as long as the files are there I'm happy. :jump:

[middle]

To answer Ian P's question, yes it is now worth installing cfs3. We, the Groundhogs, have taken cfs3 and made it into something that is more in line with what it should have been in the first place. I was one of the people who bought it when it came out and took it back the next day. I bought it again a year and a half ago mainly so I could install OFF. Up til, that time I was a firm FS9 and cfs2 user. OFF, I found was really great. CFS3, tho, out of the box looked to me then and now like an arcade game.
Now with the ETO Expansion, it looks real nice, there are a lot of new effects and a lot of new planes and vehicles and the way it's set up you now have five eras in which you can fly and the scenery changes with all of them. We're still working on it and updates will come along as they become available.
I must say, we never intended for the catalysmic impact on SOH. But frankly, I think the forum software did what it was supposed to do. Like a fuse, the threads and posts may have gone away but everything else, as far as we know is still intact.

[CBris]

Ah... so that's where settings, avatar and post count went. No worries.