DNS Outage
Jun. 26th, 2006 03:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lwoodEdit: The Backup DNS is back on the air, so things should be covered up until the change actually propagates. Huzzah!
Current Server Status:
When we changed IP addresses, there was one sikrit magic setting I couldn't easily change, but as everything appeared to have come along for the ride, I figured that that one had come along, too.
It hadn't; the apparent success was because the backup DNS server was Doing the Right Thing--which was great until said backup DNS server had a power outage this afternoon from whichit hasn't yet recovered it recovered at 1706 PDT.
This has been fixed, after a phone call to Australia, and the fix will spread across the Internet like butter over the next few hours.When the backup DNS server comes back online, that will help immensely, Now that the backup DNS is back online, everything should cut over smoothly in search of that ever-elusive Oscar, which should be reached on Wednesday sometime.
DNS (Domain Name Service) is, as I explain from time to time, the equivalent of "411" for the Internet: it changes names into numbers, and the numbers are how data actually gets around. One is usually better able to remember "snugharbor.com" than "70.91.204.17", after all.
Well, DNS works because a lot of systems fly together in rather close formation.
Take, for example... snugharbor.com
First your computer must ask, "what is .com"? Which seems quite stupid when it's .com, but perhaps not so stupid when we're asking about .bs (Bahamas), or... well, there's a list.
For this task there are Root Servers which are Great and Terrible Powers. The Root Servers know what .com is; it's owned by Verisign, who acquired it from Network Solutions, who were granted that power byThe Lady of the Lake the National Science Foundation, who midwifed this whole Internet thang.
Verisign knows that snugharbor.com has one nameserver within it, ns.snugharbor.com, IP address 64.81.54.52. This means, by the way, that it knows a Wrong Thing.
It does not know this address by some funktastic self-healing mechanism that I can twiddle from my own server. I have a thing that says "ns.snugharbor.com is at 70.91.204.17, and it is the Source of Authority for this, that, and those other domains", and that does not convince Verisign.
It does not know this because of some securely cradled funktastic setting that I can twiddle from MelbourneIT, my domain name registrar, via a shiny web interface.
No, Verisign knows this because its very ownBible database tells it so. Changing this requires, at least in this case, phoning up my registrar, which is in Australia, verifying my identity, and telling them to please tell the LORD thy God Verisign to change the tablets on which the Ten Commandments are written the IP address associated with ns.snugharbor.com insofar as the Heavenly Hosts the Root Name Servers are concerned to 70.91.204.17.
And that takes time.
Especially when certain ISP's don't get the New Testament when it's delivered right to their doorstep, but wait until they've had their coffee first.
Hokay? Hokay.
Hope that helps!
-- Lorrie
Current Server Status:
| Overall Status | Explanation |
|---|---|
 |
The current status of my server is Cookie Monster, which is good but not perfect, as a result of the earlier DNS issues. |
When we changed IP addresses, there was one sikrit magic setting I couldn't easily change, but as everything appeared to have come along for the ride, I figured that that one had come along, too.
It hadn't; the apparent success was because the backup DNS server was Doing the Right Thing--which was great until said backup DNS server had a power outage this afternoon from which
This has been fixed, after a phone call to Australia, and the fix will spread across the Internet like butter over the next few hours.
DNS (Domain Name Service) is, as I explain from time to time, the equivalent of "411" for the Internet: it changes names into numbers, and the numbers are how data actually gets around. One is usually better able to remember "snugharbor.com" than "70.91.204.17", after all.
Well, DNS works because a lot of systems fly together in rather close formation.
Take, for example... snugharbor.com
First your computer must ask, "what is .com"? Which seems quite stupid when it's .com, but perhaps not so stupid when we're asking about .bs (Bahamas), or... well, there's a list.
For this task there are Root Servers which are Great and Terrible Powers. The Root Servers know what .com is; it's owned by Verisign, who acquired it from Network Solutions, who were granted that power by
Verisign knows that snugharbor.com has one nameserver within it, ns.snugharbor.com, IP address 64.81.54.52. This means, by the way, that it knows a Wrong Thing.
It does not know this address by some funktastic self-healing mechanism that I can twiddle from my own server. I have a thing that says "ns.snugharbor.com is at 70.91.204.17, and it is the Source of Authority for this, that, and those other domains", and that does not convince Verisign.
It does not know this because of some securely cradled funktastic setting that I can twiddle from MelbourneIT, my domain name registrar, via a shiny web interface.
No, Verisign knows this because its very own
And that takes time.
Especially when certain ISP's don't get the New Testament when it's delivered right to their doorstep, but wait until they've had their coffee first.
Hokay? Hokay.
Hope that helps!
-- Lorrie
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Webmail quirks
Date: 2006-06-27 01:10 am (UTC)*shrugs* Not sure if that's already being fixed.
--Ember--
Re: Webmail quirks
Date: 2006-06-27 04:31 am (UTC)Re: Webmail quirks
Date: 2006-06-27 07:23 am (UTC)The server on which the DNS was hosted (raevyn) came up just fine, but the old server of mine (transmat) that does our routing/firewalling and PPPoE for DSL, for some reason, did *not* come back up. Strange. Its BIOS is set to automatically turn the computer on upon application of power, but for some reason, it did not.
When Eric called our roomate at home here, asking him to push the button, then it happily came up and started working again :)
I'm not too happy with my old server, and need to check out and rebuild it soon. Or, perhaps replace it altogether with some hacked embedded device (perhaps an old model Linksys WRT54G router, that can be reprogrammed to add features).
Re: Webmail quirks
Date: 2006-06-27 10:31 pm (UTC)I don't think anyone else on my friends' list is near enough for you for me to be able to say; I know my power stayed on, but then again I live near Pill Hill and am on their power block, to say nothing of living 20 miles away, so that's really no comparison unelss it's a really big outage.
I'm not too happy with my old server, and need to check out and rebuild it soon. Or, perhaps replace it altogether with some hacked embedded device (perhaps an old model Linksys WRT54G router, that can be reprogrammed to add features).
Actually, the WRT54G does pretty well at its job straight out of the box--firewall, NAT, PPPoE, wireless, the whole shebang. You might want to try it out with the latest version of the standard firmware before going hack-happy...
-- Lorrie