Folks, I've completed the process of upgrading the site from IIS6 to IIS7 (Internet Information Services). This is basically the web "server" program. It should help with some of the "out of resources" errors we've been having over the past few weeks.
Now, here's the problem. The upgrade forced us to move the site from one physical server to another. This, unfortunately, means a new IP address. In case you don't know what that means, every device on the Internet (even your computer) has its own IP (Internet Protocol) address. It's so computers can find each other. Moving forces us into a new IP address.
BUT... the old IP address is still active because changes like this can take up to 48 hours to travel all around the web. See, there's this thing called a DNS server (Domain Name System - lots of acronyms in Nerdspeak). You can think of DNS like a phone book for the Internet. Someone says, "hey, I need to go to 599cd.com" and DNS returns a value like "123.456.789.123" which is the actual numbered address of the computer that hosts the site.
Until ALL of the computers around the world update their phone books, some people might hit the OLD site, and some people might hit the NEW site because their DNS is pointing to a different address. Confusing, I know. Basically, some networks are like guys who aren't willing to stop and ask for directions when they get lost. Most networks update in a couple of hours. Some can take a few days... and some may even cache DNS settings for a week!
Well... for a short while, we'll actually have TWO copies of the site running. They will both be active, but will have different IP addresses. It's actually 2 unique but almost identical copies of the site. I'm not going to make any changes to it until the DNS propagation is complete. I'll know when the server logs don't show any traffic coming from the OLD IP address any more.
This SHOULDN'T affect you at all. Orders should still come in fine. I'll check both databases several times a day just to make sure. Posts in the forums should be OK - I'll make sure to copy them over. If the title of THIS blog post says "This is our OLD IP Address" or "This is our NEW IP address" then you'll know which site you're on.
If you find any problems or notice anything that's not working correctly, PLEASE take a moment and email me at [email protected] (the web form could be unreliable during the switchover). Thanks!
Oh, and no... you don't have to worry about ANYTHING on this page. It's just for the nerds on here (like me) that I know are interested in this stuff. :)
14 years ago
