More Mutual Endeavors Hyjinx
Let me preface this entire post by saying, for the millionth time, that I am not tech savvy. I do not know the first thing about how servers function. I do not know how to program anything. All I know how to do is turn on my computer, double-click Mozilla, and voila! the Internet is up and operational for me. I, personally, have never had any technical complications accessing any website in the history of ever. I've never had to do anything beyond pointing and clicking.
Now, with that in mind, I am well aware that a select few individuals have recently been having problems accesssing Mutual Endeavors. However, to the best of my knowledge, after long talks with Mike Bell (the web host, the man who put the site together for us, the guy I pay to keep it running every year), and given a few guesses from some of my other friends, I can with confidence say that whatever the problem may be it is not a server issue.
The server on which Mutual Endeavors is hosted is, according to Mike, who can poke around and look at it, functioning perfectly fine. He has located absolutely no errors or failures anywhere on the host server whatsoever. Though at some point he said he could not ping the site, the server logs indicate that there has consistently been continued activity during the brief hour period in which he could not access the site himself.
The explanation I have received that makes the most sense so far has come from my friend Steff. If I am understanding her correctly, "DNS" does not equate "server." At least, it does not equate to the host server.
A domain name server [DNS] works in a distributed database system. That means that not all computers reach your domain name via the same route. We send a query from our home computers. We hit one of several different 'gateways' as it were, which in turn direct us to your site.
If one of those gateways goes down, that means for some people, they get it fine. For others, they do not get it.
If this is the case, as I suspect it to be, there is absolutely nothing I can do for you. I'm also fairly certain that there's nothing Mike can do to fix it either. Tara seems to think she knows how to solve the issue, but from what I've heard this is only a temporary fix. It worked for her briefly, then did not, and then I guess it did work again. I get the impression she has to keep using this method in order to access the site. Another member of the site used this fix and equally had temporary access again, but later did not.
As far as I can figure, the only thing anyone can do is wait. Mike told me he'd be keeping an eye on the site, as he does, but so far all I can say is to be patient. If this problem does not resolve itself in a few days then I'll get back in touch with him. Let me again state that I myself have been having absolutely no problem whatsoever accessing the site. I myself see it just fine. I continue to see many other members accessing the site just fine as well. The site remains active and members continue to post to the forums without complications.
All I can say further is that if you are experiencing any complications accessing the site, please contact Trent by e-mailing him at twilightinzero@mutualendeavors.org with a detailed explanation of what you are experiencing. Screen shots of what you are seeing when the site fails to load may be useful as well. If Tara's fix doesn't work for you, or if the site doesn't load on its own within an hour, then I'm at a loss. My apologies for the inconvenience, but really ... there is nothing I or anyone else can do, as we're pretty certain this is a localized complication and has nothing to do with the site itself.
Now, with that in mind, I am well aware that a select few individuals have recently been having problems accesssing Mutual Endeavors. However, to the best of my knowledge, after long talks with Mike Bell (the web host, the man who put the site together for us, the guy I pay to keep it running every year), and given a few guesses from some of my other friends, I can with confidence say that whatever the problem may be it is not a server issue.
The server on which Mutual Endeavors is hosted is, according to Mike, who can poke around and look at it, functioning perfectly fine. He has located absolutely no errors or failures anywhere on the host server whatsoever. Though at some point he said he could not ping the site, the server logs indicate that there has consistently been continued activity during the brief hour period in which he could not access the site himself.
The explanation I have received that makes the most sense so far has come from my friend Steff. If I am understanding her correctly, "DNS" does not equate "server." At least, it does not equate to the host server.
A domain name server [DNS] works in a distributed database system. That means that not all computers reach your domain name via the same route. We send a query from our home computers. We hit one of several different 'gateways' as it were, which in turn direct us to your site.
If one of those gateways goes down, that means for some people, they get it fine. For others, they do not get it.
If this is the case, as I suspect it to be, there is absolutely nothing I can do for you. I'm also fairly certain that there's nothing Mike can do to fix it either. Tara seems to think she knows how to solve the issue, but from what I've heard this is only a temporary fix. It worked for her briefly, then did not, and then I guess it did work again. I get the impression she has to keep using this method in order to access the site. Another member of the site used this fix and equally had temporary access again, but later did not.
As far as I can figure, the only thing anyone can do is wait. Mike told me he'd be keeping an eye on the site, as he does, but so far all I can say is to be patient. If this problem does not resolve itself in a few days then I'll get back in touch with him. Let me again state that I myself have been having absolutely no problem whatsoever accessing the site. I myself see it just fine. I continue to see many other members accessing the site just fine as well. The site remains active and members continue to post to the forums without complications.
All I can say further is that if you are experiencing any complications accessing the site, please contact Trent by e-mailing him at twilightinzero@mutualendeavors.org with a detailed explanation of what you are experiencing. Screen shots of what you are seeing when the site fails to load may be useful as well. If Tara's fix doesn't work for you, or if the site doesn't load on its own within an hour, then I'm at a loss. My apologies for the inconvenience, but really ... there is nothing I or anyone else can do, as we're pretty certain this is a localized complication and has nothing to do with the site itself.