• As I’m sure all our regular readers are aware of by now, the site’s been down since Wednesday afternoon. I’ve had a bunch of people contact me about it already by e-mail and on my MAL page and had no ETA on when I would get things back up. Well after working on the issue for the better part of the past three days, I’m happy to announce that Random Curiosity is back up and ready to go.
  • Long story short, my web host suddenly pulled the plug on me with no warning, forcing me to find an a new provider. With the help of Mentar from Eclipse, I was able to get things up and running much quicker than I was anticipating, so a big thank you goes out to him for helping RC out both past and present. If you’re seeing this post, it means the updated DNS records have already propagated to your machine and you’re already on the new server.
  • Migrating the site over and re-uploading all the content took the longest time, but I ran into a few hiccups with the server-side configuration and had to spend long hours sorting them out as well. Aside from the time lost blogging-wise and significantly more expensive cost, I think the downtime and money invested is worth it in the long-run. Gone are the days of sharing CPU and only having ~700MB RAM, as the site now resides on a dedicated server with an Intel i7 920 quad core, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and dual 1TB drives in RAID-1. What that should translate to is a much faster loading site and possibly even a Random Curiosity forum in the future.
  • In terms of the blogging backlog, I asked the other writers to continue working on posts offline, so there has been some progress even while the site’s been down. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for myself since I’ve been working endlessly to get the server back up, so it’ll take me a while to get through my shows. Regardless, you can probably expect a huge influx of posts in the upcoming days. Personally, I’m a bit drained from working on all this server stuff, so I won’t be posting anything until tomorrow. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
  • 167 Comments

    1. Nice to see you got everything back up Divine! What would we do without you?
      A forum! Cool! I’ll definitely be looking forwards to that in the future. It’s too bad about the cost though.
      Soooo rest up and we’ll be anticipating your posts tomorrow!

      Kit Kat
    2. Wow, didn’t know you knew one of the guys from Eclipse. Maybe you can bring them back from the dead as well ;). Also, seriously, don’t burn out trying to catch up, because once you make your inevitable exit from blogging, the quality vacuum will be tough to fill.

      longtimefirsttime
      1. Well, when your hosting company decides to pull the plug, you don’t really have an option. And DNS servers take sometimes days to get things pointed to the new server.
        And Divine is only a single person working on this (and thanks to Mentar for helping him).

        I would say that he did everything he could to get things running in tip top shape.

    3. Glad to see the website is back up and operational… I’ve had hiccups with my web host as well, just in the past year due to some database crashes which affected my website, and since has made me start looking into getting a dedicated server.

    4. Ugh, the super cache issue shouldn’t have been that hard to sort out. I’m still noticing a php one on this new server and am monitoring it. If you get any HTTP 500 errors while navigating the site, please let me know.

    5. I feel your pain Divine, my web host suddenly and without warning went completely out of business two weeks ago. They trapped my DNS records and all the data I had uploaded there… It took nearly two weeks to recover everything and even now some domains are in a state of limbo until the registration expires and I can re-register the domains. luckily my contract was just about to come up for renewal at the time of the collapse so while my new hosting plan is more expensive, and the registrar cost double what I had been paying, both now should be much more reliable then what I was using. *knocks on wood for both of us*

      Joshua
    6. Whee! It’s good to see that everything is back. Thank you and welcome back!

      On a different note, when I heard you were hosted on DreamHost, I thought that something like this might happen since a couple people I know went through this. Well, the good thing is now you’re on a dedicated server so… thanks Mentar!

      Silver
    7. It’s quite a frustrating few days we’ve been going through, but glad to see that everything’s come back online now. Perhaps it’s a good thing I don’t follow that many shows this Fall 2010 season, so the loss felt was minimal for me.

      Still, any explanation as to why your old webhost would do such a thing? Now that you’re on a dedicated server, perhaps you could fire a parting shot at them for such ridiculous customer service.

      Kinny Riddle
    8. Great that Random Curiosity is back, felt like a friend of mine went missing for sometime suddenly. Bad that this happened in the first place.

      I use Amazon EC2. Since it has something called “Persistent Storage”, which is separate from your server, anytime you upgrade the server you can just unplug the storage from the first server and plug it to the second, basically no backup, etc. and since the persistence of the storage is guaranteed by Amazon, the headache on you is reduced significantly.

      Just not much familiar with Anime websites hosting in terms of scalability, cost, etc. but as for me (a small programming website, and another for our company), EC2 is just doing fine.

      Still, missing a website for more than 24 hours for whatever the reason shouldn’t have happened in the first place. So if any help is needed, please let me know. I’m a programmer, not an administrator by profession, but still, we have to deal with similar issues often.

      vladrin
    9. Finally!! RC is back. thank you Mentar for helping RC. dual Intel i7 920 quad cores, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, dual 1TB drives in RAID-1 on a GigaEthernet connection. OMG i must have one of those(in the future i guess)

      Croosboy
    10. Welcome back. Sorry to hear that RC had been experiencing all this troublesome mess. Hope everything gets sorted out in due time. Take Care Divine and all the rest of the RC bloggers too. Looking forward to see all your regular posts in the coming days.

      Ayumikat
    11. WoW i didn’t know how much i love this site till it was gone. I even got some nervous tick that kept rechecking if the site was back.
      WB may you stay online for the longest of times.

      outcast
    12. Wow so randomc is finally back!
      If I’m not wrong,there was a similar problem earlier too…
      I guess everything is normal now and there wont be any problems in the future 🙂

      Fai D Fluorite
    13. Welcome back RC! ^_____^ We missed you! 🙂 Thanks Mentar for helping get RC back online. 🙂 Hmm…. was thinking maybe politics was part of the downtime… hmm…. oh well… I’m glad that you guys are back and getting stronger.:D GOD SPEED! ^______^

      1. Super Cache is running now, but the problem I’m still having is with FastCGI (i.e. mod_fcgid) that both WordPress and Super Cache make use of. I tried making adjustments in the Apache2 config to no avail. My server error log is being flooded with the following warning every ten seconds or so:

        [warn] (103)Software caused connection abort: mod_fcgid: ap_pass_brigade failed in handle_request function

        From what I’ve read, it might be a bug and every suggested fix I’ve tried doesn’t work. If anyone has encountered this problem and knows how to fix it, please send me an e-mail. The server is running Debian ‘Lenny’. Much appreciated.

        Edit: I have stuff working now, so ignore the above.

    14. “Hey everybody! Let’s give our customers quality service to show just how much we care about their websites by removing them off of our providers without telling them!”

      ****!

      starss
    15. IT LIIIIIIIVES! BANZAI! i’m also noticing the site is taking awhile to load but frankly i’m just glad i can see it at all. i really missed you guys. ;__; also it would be fantastic if you add a forum in the future, i would definitely join. ^__^

      diet otaku
    16. So my guess was right.

      Thank you very much for the hard work, for working your ass off to bring us back RC. I know by experience how hard is to migrate to a new environment and all the patience and time that takes to put everything back to normal. For that, you’ve my respect.

      Well, all the new shows are already out, so we’ve a lot to catch up and talk about.

      Take your time to rest and we’ll be waiting your regular pace here with us.

      Once again, thank you for your efforts.

      Syaoran Li
    17. Gave me a good scare when I noticed “site not found” for RC XD. “Someone must have busted somethin’ real good,” I thought to myself lol.

      It is good to have you back Divine, now try to get plenty of rest : )

      Liberta
    18. There were, as of yesterday, still some issues with super cache (as message stated) but I was obviously able to get in today.
      Thank you, Divine, for all the hard work. I’ve seen many times a blog or a site go down and had difficulties coming back on track. A server/webhost change always is a big hassle especially since you got to move all the contents. I was absolutely worried when you emailed me back and it’s with a sigh of relief I’m seeing our beloved blog back on.
      As posted on the shoutbox, kudos to Mentar from Eclipse for all the help.

      Shinjiro
    19. Yay I was worried the epic fail bomb landed and this site would vanish but im happy to grunt about crapy anime in the fututre and with a tiny hope that we will have atleast one good anime in the winter season.

      gnomtastic
    20. Wow, super glad you got this fixed. You’re a star Divine. Love randomc and missed your (and the others!) posts. Am looking forward to them resuming. Get some well earnt rest in the meanwhile. Was worried for a bit but should have known you had it under control. Am looking forward to the improvements and possible forum ^_-

      Guardikai
    21. I was really surprised to see the site down. Well, I guess all’s good now, thanks for all the hard work guys, special thanks to Divine and Mentar!

      But maybe all things happen for good, since I’m hearing about a possible RC forum(Crosses fingers???)XP

      I think a good way to boost popularity for the site would be to get an RC Facebook group up and running. Then all the fans can spread the Word all around the world!

      Sentinel
    22. Was your host, by any chance, Canaca? We just had a whole bunch of our sites pulled down and all the data stripped back to February 2009 (Which luckily we had backed up, so it was wasn’t a big deal) but it seems like they have screwed a lot of people over.

      Kipcha
    23. I visit this site a good 3-4 times a day, reading up on your opinions and thoughts on the latest shows as well as checking out what’s worth watching and what i should skip over. Big thanks to the RC crew for working to keep this site going.

      Excoriation
    24. “you can probably expect a huge influx of posts in the upcoming days.”

      Sweet, kinda like when I put off a show so I can marathon through them.

      The server specs seem a bit overkill LOL.

      Pages still load slow but it’s definitely better than having nothing at all.

        1. I thought that RC shutting down without a notice is some god damn problem with the host, and apparently, I was right. I mean, no group of dedicated anime reviewers would suddenly just go poof out all of a sudden.

          And still, it makes me wanna go mad after losing RC for three days.

    25. Thanks Divine and Mentar ofcourse 😀 I was already wandering what to do if randomc couldn’t come back. And I think I may speak for everybody here that your time and money is very valuable and well spend 😀 Well wish you luck and have a good night sleep.

      Tonameki
    26. Ah I’m so happy to have RC back! I’ve been checking everyday; sorry for all the problems you’ve been having, but thank you so much for working so hard to get the site back up!!!!!

      anna
    27. Aww!! Thank you so much for all your hard work Divine!! And Mentar as well!!

      You deserve the break Divine! I look forward to your posts soon, but I’ll be patient! Take care of yourself!!

      Amiena
    28. Apparently they deemed the content of a blog as an “anime/manga distribution site”.

      As for the new server, it’s still loading really sluggish because of an issue with ISPConfig 3 and Fast-CGI. If anyone has any experience with this, please let me know. I’ve spent hours looking into it and trying various fixes to no avail.

      1. The server’s gotten faster in the past few hours. Thanks for putting so much time into this 🙂
        Can’t believe they dropped you like that too. You should write a short blog about them advising other people to stay away.

        Lucian
    29. Glad to see the site and you guys back on your feet. Watching the latest anime episodes just isn’t enjoyable without discussing them here.

      Anyway, did the server problem also stem from the many screenshot links and YouTube video links posted in the comments section? I reckon I’d cut down on that habit of linking stuff if that’s the case. (Never mind that some of my comments depend on referencing things…)

      Incognito
      1. That sounds just as bad as YouTube taking down a user-uploaded video and being vague about which part of the video violates copyright… Ugh. I hope your new host proves to be better and more accommodating than the last one.

        Incognito
    30. Glad the site is back, alive and kicking! Thanks for the effort & hard work to both Divine and Mentar. Looking forward to continue stalki–, I mean continue following the impressions on the series at randomc! The site is loading much faster on my turtle speed internet, so it’s all good.

      Take your time to recharge, Divine!

      Lilly
      1. All pages should be up now. If you’re still getting redirected to the old site, you may have to flush your DNS cache. On Windows, you can do this by running “ipconfig /flushdns”. You may also have to clear your browser cache.

    31. I still can’t access the site =\ [at Uni atm]
      Can anyone explain how I can fix this without using hard technical terms that what Divine described? D= [something about DNS cache…etc T_T]

      Jyang

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