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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Miniature Giant Space Hamster in the Playground Administrator
     
    Rawhide's Avatar

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    Default Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    In order to improve the stability of the current forums, as well as to prepare for an upgrade in the future, I switched the forums off to perform some maintenance tasks.

    If these tasks were successful, they were scheduled to take several hours. If unsuccessful, we'd know pretty much immediately and revert to an unchanged state. Unfortunately, due to the extremely large size of the forum database, this process ended taking up far longer than anticipated. In the end, I made the decision to dump the entire search index because it was the only remaining table and would take far too long to finish the maintenance. As such, searching has been disabled.

    How much this helps the current server remains to be seen, but it's important to remember that these maintenance tasks performed now will reduce the time needed in the final upgrade by an almost 1:1 ratio, as they need to be performed before or during the upgrade. However, it comes with a caveat. Due to the time taken to perform these tasks, I may need to revise and greatly increase the estimate on how long the final upgrade will take.

    The services and settings are still being tuned. I will be monitoring and making further changes. So, you can expect the forum to be switched off or unavailable for shorter periods in the future as the adjustments take place.

    If stability and speed is greatly improved, I may start the process of reindexing the forums, in order to reenable search. This will take several days and have the effect of slowing the server right back down during this time.

    In addition, there will be future maintenance tasks that may need to be performed in the future. This may require the forums to be switched off again for several hours at a time, but hopefully not for as long a time as the recent tasks, until the final upgrade takes place.

    "My Hobby: Replacing your soap with gravy" by rtg0922, Doll and Clint "Rawhide" Eastwood by Sneak

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Flumph

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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    I just wanted to drop by and say thanks for all the hard work you, and the other admins do to keep the forum the great place it is!

    Dumbledore is dead but had a horcrux so might still be alive to it being fake and him dead but not stopping her from using the having a horcrux on you letting you live from a killing curse.
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    Epileptic monkeys. Boxing gloves. Typewriters. That is all.

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Pixie in the Playground
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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Is it likely that we will lose posts in this future upgrade?

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    NecromancerGuy

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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Servers are significantly better, thanks for all the hard work!
    Quote Originally Posted by Alabenson
    Evil Intelligence is knowing the precise ritual that will allow you to destroy the peaceful kingdom that banished you.

    Evil Wisdom is understanding that you probably shouldn’t perform said ritual while you’re standing in the estimated blast radius.

  5. - Top - End - #5
    Titan in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    ::Gasp cough sputter:: Ahhh!!! Thank goodness, I was having some nasty withdrawal symptoms here.

    Way to go, Rawhide! Hope the Search function is up soon. Google should work in the interim.

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Alright! It's good to know what was going on for those three days, and that it'll happen again in short bursts before the final upgrade. I was ailing without my PMs there for a while, so I guess it's time to copy the pertinent ones into a document again so I'm not without them for any length of time.

    So hey, thanks for the advanced warning on the rest of these. This one wound up blindsiding me and my little group down in freeform, but I'll be sure to check site issues more often from now on so I'm not caught so offguard next time.

    And on that note, tata for now.
    Julie, everyone's nth favorite succubus, by Gulaghar.
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    For anyone in plots run by me, know that I always tailor solutions to those in the plot. The answer may not be obvious, but it's there, and doable by the displayed abilities of the present characters. If you need help or hints, I'll try to be available to provide them.

  7. - Top - End - #7
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Planetar

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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Thank you very much, rawhide. I know it's been a long work.

    I second the desire that search functionality be restored when practicable. We might as well start fresh with a new database. There is no value to keeping old posts around if they cannot be found. Inaccessible posts are no better than deleted posts. I'd rather have a clean database with intact search than a tremendous old database I cannot find anything in.

    Also, I have a professional interest in mysql. I'm rather curious as to exactly what problems were had, because I intend to construct a similar database for my company.If there are scaling issues that can be better solved by Oracle or Db2 or SQL Server, I'd really, really like to know about it.

    Again, thank you very much for your hard work!

    Respectfully,

    Brian P.
    "Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid."

    -Valery Legasov in Chernobyl

  8. - Top - End - #8
    Miniature Giant Space Hamster in the Playground Administrator
     
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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Quote Originally Posted by pendell View Post
    I'm rather curious as to exactly what problems were had, because I intend to construct a similar database for my company.
    The database was huge, I underestimated how long it would take. It needed to be done, I would have given more warning and better messages had I known. That's pretty much it, there weren't any issues.

    "My Hobby: Replacing your soap with gravy" by rtg0922, Doll and Clint "Rawhide" Eastwood by Sneak

  9. - Top - End - #9
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Rising Phoenix's Avatar

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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    I'll just chime in and say that the site is running much, much better for me too. Thanks!
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  10. - Top - End - #10
    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    I don't know if you guys can, but it would have been nice to have the info in the news section, seeing as we couldn't get to the forum. Otherwise, I think it already feels faster!
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    When I die, I donate my body to the cause of whatever ******* finds it first.
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    Really though, how effin scary would the beach be if an octopus could launch itself outta the water at a 200' move speed every 6 seconds. I'd never go to the beach again... I thought flying sharks were scary...
    Blood~

  11. - Top - End - #11
    Miniature Giant Space Hamster in the Playground Administrator
     
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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Quote Originally Posted by Madara View Post
    I don't know if you guys can, but it would have been nice to have the info in the news section, seeing as we couldn't get to the forum. Otherwise, I think it already feels faster!
    Likely a Placebo effect
    There was a message left which you could see when you tried to access the forums.

    Though, for a couple of hours in the middle, the message did say "backup in progress - 30 mins". But other than that, you had all the information I had.

    "My Hobby: Replacing your soap with gravy" by rtg0922, Doll and Clint "Rawhide" Eastwood by Sneak

  12. - Top - End - #12
    Colossus in the Playground
     
    CoffeeIncluded's Avatar

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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Oh, GITP, I have missed you so much. Rawhide, is there a place where I can hug the forum? You know what? I don't care.

    *Huggles*

  13. - Top - End - #13
    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Yay, my mandatory forum vacation is over!
    ^~Cody T.~^

    "I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are." - Mewtwo

  14. - Top - End - #14
    Troll in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Me yesterday evening:
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    Glad to have the forums back up. Thanks for letting us know about the future upgrades.

    As for searching, we can always type site:giantitp.com into Google and search that way, so it's not all bad.
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  15. - Top - End - #15
    Titan in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    I wonder if it helped.
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  16. - Top - End - #16
    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    I'd like to mention that not more than 20 minutes ago when I was trying to load a thread I got a "500 Internal Server Error" like I would tend to get back before the 3 days down-time.

    So I hope that the maintenance helped in the long run, because I'm just noticing slower load times and that one error so far.

  17. - Top - End - #17
    Miniature Giant Space Hamster in the Playground Administrator
     
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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Quote Originally Posted by Troll Brau View Post
    I'd like to mention that not more than 20 minutes ago when I was trying to load a thread I got a "500 Internal Server Error" like I would tend to get back before the 3 days down-time.

    So I hope that the maintenance helped in the long run, because I'm just noticing slower load times and that one error so far.
    Probably due to the fact that the server had just been rebooted.

    "My Hobby: Replacing your soap with gravy" by rtg0922, Doll and Clint "Rawhide" Eastwood by Sneak

  18. - Top - End - #18
    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Quote Originally Posted by Diego Havoc View Post
    Me yesterday evening:
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    Am I the only one who feels this way too?

    Hopefully it doesn't take that long next time.
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  19. - Top - End - #19
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Anarion's Avatar

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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Well, the upside here is that science has been advanced, and I think we can conclusively say that forum addiction is a thing that exists. *shudder*

    In all seriousness, thanks for the update, Rawhide, and I do find the site loading faster, at least right now.
    School Fox by Atlur

    Quote Originally Posted by The Giant View Post
    Anarion's right on the money here.
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  20. - Top - End - #20
    Troll in the Playground
     
    MonkGuy

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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Well... it's hard to complain about a free service. I'm just glad we're back, and I can go back to DM'ing my games.

    I'm sorry the database was such a handful for you, and I'm grateful for the work you do to make this such a great place to post in.
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  21. - Top - End - #21
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Ravens_cry's Avatar

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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    I can use site search on Google if I really need to find something.
    Generally it works almost as well, so no worries.
    Thanks for all the hard work you put into this site. It is a real treat to be part of such a great community.
    Quote Originally Posted by Calanon View Post
    Raven_Cry's comments often have the effects of a +5 Tome of Understanding

  22. - Top - End - #22
    Troll in the Playground
     
    The Bushranger's Avatar

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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Quote Originally Posted by pendell View Post
    I second the desire that search functionality be restored when practicable. We might as well start fresh with a new database. There is no value to keeping old posts around if they cannot be found. Inaccessible posts are no better than deleted posts. I'd rather have a clean database with intact search than a tremendous old database I cannot find anything in.
    As Ravens cry points out, Google search makes every post accessable.

    Use "site:giantitp.com <search terms>". It's nifty.

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  23. - Top - End - #23
    Sheriff in the Playground Administrator
     
    Roland St. Jude's Avatar

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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    And so ends the most productive three-day stretch I've had in six years.

    I, too, am grateful to Rawhide for all the hard work keeping all the ones and zeros in line around here.
    Forum Rules

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  24. - Top - End - #24
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Anarion's Avatar

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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Quote Originally Posted by Roland St. Jude View Post
    And so ends the most productive three-day stretch I've had in six years.

    I, too, am grateful to Rawhide for all the hard work keeping all the ones and zeros in line around here.
    The real bright side is that you didn't have a single rules violation, scrubbed post, or locked thread in 3 full days. I wonder if that's a record?
    School Fox by Atlur

    Quote Originally Posted by The Giant View Post
    Anarion's right on the money here.
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  25. - Top - End - #25
    Titan in the Playground
     
    TheFallenOne's Avatar

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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    On the other hand, I don't think there was ever a larger portion of the userbase thinking and muttering profanities while looking at the forum
    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff the Green View Post
    Actually, when you first put up the post where the gazebo started trying to eat us, I assumed you were pulling our legs and you'd put up the real post soon enough.


  26. - Top - End - #26
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Deth Muncher's Avatar

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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    So if search is down, does the fancy searching trick via Google still work? I'm trying to remember how it works, but it'd be something like giantitp.com:Searchgoeshere or something. Right? Would that still let us search for things on the site without the in-site search?
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    I've always considered breakfast to be evil. Looking at me with it's bacon-smile, and it's sunny-side-up eyes. I know it's plotting something.
    Quote Originally Posted by tyckspoon View Post
    ..thank you, Deth Muncher. My life is richer for being aware of this. And weirder. ("You destroyed my friends! I will have my vengeance! Face the fury of my pelvic thrusts!" "Oh yeah? LAZOR!")
    Quote Originally Posted by golentan View Post
    You all are a terrible species. I'm going back to my fortress of misanthropy now.

  27. - Top - End - #27
    Retired Mod in the Playground Retired Moderator
     
    Savannah's Avatar

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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    You just need "site:www.giantitp.com" (no quotes) before or after your search terms. And, yes, it will still work just fine, as it's using google and not the forum search.
    Knowledge is power.
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  28. - Top - End - #28
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Deth Muncher's Avatar

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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Quote Originally Posted by Savannah View Post
    You just need "site:www.giantitp.com" (no quotes) before or after your search terms. And, yes, it will still work just fine, as it's using google and not the forum search.
    Yeaaaaah that was it. I wonder if maybe we could get the Search button back, but just have it redirect to a Google search pre-loaded with that in it? Or is that too much work/too dumb of an idea?
    Mega-tar by AlterForm. Power Up!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Xyk View Post
    I've always considered breakfast to be evil. Looking at me with it's bacon-smile, and it's sunny-side-up eyes. I know it's plotting something.
    Quote Originally Posted by tyckspoon View Post
    ..thank you, Deth Muncher. My life is richer for being aware of this. And weirder. ("You destroyed my friends! I will have my vengeance! Face the fury of my pelvic thrusts!" "Oh yeah? LAZOR!")
    Quote Originally Posted by golentan View Post
    You all are a terrible species. I'm going back to my fortress of misanthropy now.

  29. - Top - End - #29
    Troll in the Playground
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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Regarding the site search. Is it possible to use google to search a specific thread? I've been trying with little results.
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  30. - Top - End - #30
    Miniature Giant Space Hamster in the Playground Administrator
     
    Rawhide's Avatar

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    Default Re: Search disabled, maintenance, and other changes

    Quote Originally Posted by Xondoure View Post
    Regarding the site search. Is it possible to use google to search a specific thread? I've been trying with little results.
    Yes. Put the thread title in quotes. It's not perfect (you will sometimes get some outside results), and some thread titles are too generic for good results, but it generally works.

    "My Hobby: Replacing your soap with gravy" by rtg0922, Doll and Clint "Rawhide" Eastwood by Sneak

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