MySQL4 Database Server

February 21st, 2010

It looks like we have a disk failure on this server resulting in MySQL4 databases becoming non-operational.

Technicians are currently working on the issue and we shall post an update as soon as we have one…

UPDATE 15:19 – Unfortunately it is confirmed that the drive has failed and we are currently waiting for technicians to replace it. Once this is done we shall be able to restore data from the backups.

UPDATE 16:18 – The disk has now been replaced and we have started to restore data from the backups.  This should take no more than 2 hours to complete.

UPDATE 16:47 – Data has now been restored, we are in the process of reconfiguring the database server.

UPDATE 19:18 – Unfortunately our batch restore script is failing to restore databases correctly so to ensure zero data loss we are having to restore databases one by one.  There are currently 181 databases on the server and each one takes 30-60 seconds to restore.  Databases will be restored in alphabetical order so we appreciate your patience whilst we carry out this work.

UPDATE 20:44 – We are now restoring databases beginning with “H” and are more than 50% through the restoration work.

UPDATE 23:03 – All databases have now been restored, if you experience any further problems then please do not hesitate to get in touch with our support team.  We shall be issuing a full RFO (Reason For Outage) tomorrow.

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Helm Maintenance

February 8th, 2010

We shall be carrying out some essential maintenance on the Helm control panel this morning so it will be unavailable for approximately 30 minutes.

UPDATE 12:34 – This work has now been completed.

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Windows Statistics Server

January 22nd, 2010

We are currently in the process of upgrading our primary Windows statistics server up to the latest release of SmarterStats.

During the up;grade users will not be able to access their stats reports. We shall update this post once the work has been completed.

UPDATE 11:21 – This work has now been completed and stats are once again available to all Windows network users.

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Upgrade to Windows DNS Servers

January 15th, 2010

We will shortly commence an upgrade to our primary and secondary DNS servers.

The DNS servers will continue to operate throughout the upgrade so there will be no interruption in service. During the upgrade however, you will not be able to add, edit or remove and DNS records from existing zones within Helm.

We will update this post once the upgrade has been completed.

UPDATE 12:24 – The upgrade has now been completed with zero downtime or loss of data. We hope you will notice an increase in speed with DNS server requests from now on.

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Data Centre Outage

January 8th, 2010

We are currently experiencing a major outage at the data centre our newtork is located within.

This is affecting all shared/dedicated clients.

Currently we are waiting for the data centre to update us as to the nature of the problem and expcted resolution.

Updae 01:45 – The network is now back online, we are communicating with the data centre to find the cause of the outage.

Posted in General Announcments, Linux Servers, Windows Servers | No Comments »

MySQL5 Database Issue

January 4th, 2010

Users have reported connectivity problems with the MySQL5 database server on the Windows network.

We are currently investigating the issue and hope to have it resolved shortly.

Update: This issue has now been resolved.

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Billing System Closed

December 31st, 2009

The billing system is currently closed and will remain this way until Midday, 1st January 2010

The reason for the closure is to ensure that all invoices and orders are charged at the correct rate of VAT when the VAT rate changes from 15% to 17.5% at midnight tonight.

Once the billing system re-opens, users will be able to once again place new orders and access existing accounts.

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Christmas Support, VAT changes and Plans for 2010 from Open Mind Hosting

December 14th, 2009

Christmas and New Year Support
=========================

Over Christmas and the New Year, our support services will be scaled down to critical support only. The changes are as follows:

Wednesday 23rd December: Normal service
Thursday 24th December: Telephone lines close at 6pm
Friday 25th December: Critical issues only
Saturday 26th December: Critical issues only
Sunday 27th December: Normal Service

Wednesday 30th December: Normal service
Thursday 31st December: Telephone lines close at 6pm
Friday 1st January: Critical issues only
Saturday 2nd January: Normal service

Where the support above is for critical issues only, we will be able to provide support ONLY if you have suffered a complete loss of service. Non-critical issues will be dealt with as soon as normal support levels resume.

The helpdesk will be monitored over the Christmas/New Year breaks and an emergency telephone system will be in place to handle CRITICAL issues only. If the call is deemed to be non-critical then you will be advised to submit a support ticket and it will be dealt with when normal support levels resume.

All servers will be monitored as normal 24/7 and on-site technicians will be available to deal with network/hardware issues as standard.

VAT Changes from 1st January 2010
===========================

As you may be aware, the rate of VAT will rise from 15% to 17.5% on January 1st 2010. There will be no change in the existing inc. VAT pricing and if you are not registered for VAT there is no action for you to take.

Business clients who are registered for VAT will see a small increase in the vat exclusive element of their invoice but as they are able to claim back the VAT paid to us and other VAT registered suppliers, the knock on effect is minimal.

The automated billing system will be paused from 30th December 2009 until 2nd January 2010 to allow us to ensure that pricing is correct and that invoices generated show the correct level of VAT. If you have any questions about the VAT change and if you are affected then please do contact the billing department.

Future Plans for 2010
================

Here at Open Mind Hosting, 2009 has proved to be an exceptional year in terms of growth and our hosting base has grown by over 150% in the last twelve months. This is a trend we fully expect to continue through 2010 and we have some very exciting plans in place to support this growth and bring new features to our clients. These include the launch of our integrated support/billing system, expansion of our VPS/Dedicated and reseller offerings, launch of our new corporate site and the possibility of launching cloud hosting which is currently under investigation.

Finally may we take the opportunity to thank you for your business over the last twelve months and wish you and your family a very Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year.

Kind Regards,

Phil Williams
Managing Director
Open Minded Solutions Limited
Tel: 08456 445 789
Int. Tel: 044 8456 445 789

Important Links:
Support Forums: http://www.openmindhosting.co.uk/forum/
Support Portal: http://www.openmindhosting.co.uk/support/
Network Status: http://www.openmindstatus.com

Posted in General Announcments | No Comments »

Linx Issues Resolved

December 10th, 2009

At 13:10 we received an update from LINX to say that their emergency maintenance steps had restored stability and they were advising all peers to re-establish sessions. We followed that advice and began restoring our LINX sessions. This process was completed at 13:48, however a small number of our peers have kept their sessions administratively down. This is their choice but may impact traffic if you would normally cross their network to reach us. We have been monitoring the situation this afternoon and have seen traffic levels return to normal. There have been no further reports of problems.

LINX are planning further ‘tidy up’ maintenance tonight, but according to their descriptions of the works, they do not affect the Open Mind Hosting connections. We are hopeful that this is a conclusion to this incident and that LINX will maintain the resumed normal service.

If any one is still experiencing difficulties please do not hesitate to contact us. We will do what we can to investigate any issues and resolve them for you if we can. However, please bear in mind that the cause of all the problems over the last 24 hours has been outside the Open Mind Hosting network and we may not be able to act for you.

Posted in Linux Servers, Windows Servers | No Comments »

Linx Update

December 10th, 2009

LINX are still reporting that they have ongoing problems and do not know when these will be resolved. For this reason we have started disabling all peering via LINX and traffic will be rerouted via other connections.

This should resolve any outstanding problems with traffic flow via LINX, but this process will take some time to complete. We cannot just switch off a connection like LINX without ensuring that the traffic is properly handled, or there will be negative effects for all clients. Once this process is complete, we will provide further updates.

Posted in Linux Servers, Windows Servers | No Comments »

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