Website and Login Server Hosting Issues?

[trevius]

I figured I would log into these forums today to see at least a few ongoing threads about the issue that happened yesterday for over 24 hours. The login server and the www.eqemulator.net website were both down 99% of the time, and they are definitely tied together. If one is down, so is the other. They would be down for 30 mins and then come up for maybe 1 minute and back down for another 30 all day long yesterday.

This isn't a first time occurrence. It seems like since the hosting was switched last year, the new hosting has been much less stable. Multiple times over the past few months, the server has had this issue in the middle of the night for me for a few hours at a time.

Yes, free hosting isn't something to complain about, and even with the recent outages the hosting still has been fairly stable for the most part. But, I think it would be nice if there was a way we could at least get a reason of why it was down.

In the eqemu community, one of the most important things is the login server itself. If the server you normally play on is down, you can just try out a new one for a while. But, if the login server is down, the entire project is down with the exception of anyone using minilogin.

Is there no chance of a mirror, or future sharing of the login server files? I realize that sharing the login server file will divide the server list, which isn't a good idea. But it would still be nice if other people could host it and maybe put out some news to setup your ini files to point to the main login server and maybe 1 or 2 backup ones. So, incase the primary is down, there would be a secondary.

[froglok23]

I'd gladly host a secondary login server for the community. I've send a message to Doodman stating that.

It’s in his ball park, I’m happy to host a host backup for the login servers.

You are correct; an explanation would be useful :)

-DP

[Angelox]

I've been thinking about what to reply here for about three hours now, We've been through this so many times, I can't think of anything to say anymore. I think I'll just go breath into my paper bag some more.

[Annihilator]

From what I am to understand, the powers that be do not want to release the login server code publically for reasons unknown to me. However, in leu of situations such as what happened yesterday, I wish they would. When the time comes that the project is shut down, maybe it will be. This question has been asked many times over the years and the answer has always been the same.

[Annihilator]

Oh, and FWIW, I have never been able to get the PHP minilogin server scripts to work for me. Maybe somebody with the knowledge can put up a wiki page? *HINT HINT*

[MarglarTZ]

not to stir up a bees nest or anything, but using search and browsing through two years worth of posts netted me little info on what happened, just that it had happened before.

if you find yourself with a few extra minutes and wouldnt mind typing up some quick cliff notes that'd be cool. curious minds would like to know more about it

[Angelox]

I'll get back to you with a detailed explanation of the fine art of running a "Public Mini-Login" Server. And, will try and set it up in the Wiki.
This is what I have been doing, works fine for me and anyone who wants to play there. I plan to set up Rathe server also, but just hadn't had the time for it.

Oh, and FWIW, I have never been able to get the PHP minilogin server scripts to work for me. Maybe somebody with the knowledge can put up a wiki page? *HINT HINT*

[Angelox]

"Public" Login Server belongs to Doodman and it is not open source - for any information, discussion, questions regarding this, you have to contact Doodman.
If you can't find Doodman, then there's nothing anyone else can do to help you - you have to contact him.

not to stir up a bees nest or anything, but using search and browsing through two years worth of posts netted me little info on what happened, just that it had happened before.

if you find yourself with a few extra minutes and wouldnt mind typing up some quick cliff notes that'd be cool. curious minds would like to know more about it

[trevius]

Well, after a couple hours of searching the forums for "Login Server" in the title of the message all of the way back to 2002, I was only able to find myths and minor references to the fabled epic post of The Battle for Login Server Source! I saw references to how fingers were bleeding and heads were about to explode in that epic post, but I am sure by now the blood on that post has long since dried up and washed away and the heads have all returned to normal non-exploding status.

Joking aside, it would be handy to have an easy to find reference to some of those key posts.

Also, I want to say that I wasn't asking for the code to be open sourced. I just thought it would be nice to have a mirror. Like if one of the other devs, or someone trusted could provide hosting for it if that wasn't too much hassle.

I understand that the login server source code is very sensitive because if it got into the wrong hands, it could be used to do hugely malicious acts against the entire eqemu community. Also, having multiple login servers would mean a divided server list at least some of the time, which would make the project seem smaller. And that make it harder for servers to get the population they need.

Sorry for the post Angelox. I normally try to do my research well beforehand, hence my very low post count here. I read read read and 99% of the time answer my own questions. I have been reading these boards off and on for years. I remember back when I first started, I saw a couple posts about login server distribution issues, but I can't seem to find any good ones right now.

The only post I could find with any relevant reason is:

http://www.eqemulator.net/forums/showthread.php?t=874&highlight=Login+Server

But, like I said, I wasn't really asking for source (not to say I wouldn't save it away some where for a rainy day if it was released), but more about the possibility to have 1 mirror for when the main one is down. I don't think a mirror is the same as going open source.

The other thing I was asking about was just some kind of post to let us know why the login server is going down. If someone knows that information, I don't think it hurts to tell us. Sure, we can't do anything with the information, but it would be nice to know what the problem is. Maybe the server host site is unmanned and was rebooting over and over for a day straight. Maybe it was being upgraded and had problems coming back up so was rebooted over and over to see if it was working properly. Or, maybe the server host is slowly dying and we will be without a server for an extended period of time very soon.

The first 2 RFOs (reasons for outage) aren't a big deal, but the 3rd one is. If the server was dying, it would be nice to know, so other people could have a chance to offer another permanent hosting possibility.

Neither one of these issues are big deals. I just wanted to bring them up for discussion. If the hosting is fine and won't have many 24+ hour outages, then no need to worry about either of these. If there was already a discussion on these issues, I am sorry for the repost. No reason to make this topic into a debate. Complex question with what should be a simple answer or 2.

[trevius]

Friggin' 5 minute edit restrictions lol...

Is there no chance that Doodman reads these forums anymore? If he doesn't, and since this apparently all only pertains to him, then this topic can just be ignored, lol.

[So_1337]

I just figured it had something to do with a major internet backbone going down over the weekend (http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=3870), but I don't know if the two issues were connected.

[trevius]

Since I am a network tech myself and used to work in AT&T's Common Backbone group, I can pretty much guarantee that it wasn't a backbone issue. The server was coming up from time to time. The only thing that will cause extended backbone outages in an area is a major fiber cut. And with fiber cuts, your circuit is either repaired (re-spliced), or not (still awaiting the splice). It doesn't go up and down for 24 hours coming up for a minute or so every half hour.

I am 99% sure this was a hosting issue.

[AndMetal]

When you would try to load up the main page or the forums (I forget which) and let it sit for a while, you would eventually get a database error generated by the web server. This indicates the connection is good, but the database took a nosedive. If I remember correctly, the login server, forums, and main web page all run off of the same server (and database), so this looks to be the main issue. I noticed the exact same thing happened the last time everything went down.

[leslamarch]

Angelox,
or anyone that can help me with the mini "public" login php script. I have been using this for a few weeks now and works perfect the only thing i have a question about is how to increase the number of characters in a username that it will except.

For example if i use leslamarch it will make an entry of leslamarc and cut it off at nine, however i still have accounts of people from public that are longer then that so they can not get an update of the ip?

Thanks so Much
~LL~