I'm really sorry for giving no warning for the downtime we've had over the weekend but it was not planned at all.
You're all probably aware and have noticed the recent forum crashes we've been experiencing the last month or so. We tried many different things to try and fix this problem, however it appeared as though we needed more memory in our server to cope with the more visitors we're getting to CBn.
We requested a RAM upgrade from our web server hosts on Friday evening, around 4pm GMT, reluctantly - although we badly needed it, the price for the upgrade was a rip-off. I can't put it any other way. A ridiculous set-up fee, and on top of that a ridiculous monthly fee for only a 512MB RAM upgrade. So we wasn't pleased with that as we only survive on the generous donations our visitors send in.
Once the technicians had carried out the RAM upgrade we experienced nothing but severe problems. The upgrade they carried out totally crashed the server and we had no control over it. We were in contact with the technicians, and they kept telling us they had fixed the problem - when in fact they hadn't as the server was still down. This went on for the whole of the evening and most of the next day. Greg and myself didn't sleep much that evening...
We were really annoyed with the bad support we had receieved so we decided to look elsewhere and see if there was anywhere else more reliable. We found just that, and a much fairer monthly price for a server which has a much better spec than we previously had, also, boasting excellent reviews from customers - so in an instant we decided to switch servers. Nothing could be worse than our previous host.
After ordering our new server, Greg had to backup the entire server, and then transfer all the data across to the new one. We had to take the main site and forums down to keep the strain off of the backup so that it finished as soon as possible.
And most of today, Greg has been working extremely hard to get everything back up and running as quick as he can. The main thing we have been waiting for is the domain to point to our new server. That takes a while as the change has to filter through the whole of the Internet.
But now we're here, on a new server and look forward to a much better service!
I again apologise for the downtime, but we've done what we thought is best for CBn in the long term.
I'd like to thank AJB007.co.uk for putting up with the CBn'ers while we've been down. You've been a great host and helped lots and lots of people get their Bond fix.
I'd also like to thank Greg a great deal for dedicating his entire weekend to getting this all sorted. Thank you, Greg!
Now...
Where was we?
