cppop - cpanel

[tinnel]

So much for this change being invisible. CPanel doesn't work because someone didn't get the licensing issues worked out prior to making the changes. It has taken down email as well I'm now told. I've been down since at least 10pm EST yesterday. Still down now. Only estimate I'm hearing is a "couple of hours". Can't someone back out the changes and try again later when they *know* they have done everything required before making the change????

[JPC-Greg]

Those servers are still using ips from our old block. Our license provider was notified nearly a week ago about those ips though. This is unfortunate.... and as soon as we hear back from cpanel on our partern NOC application , hopefully approved, then cpanel licenses should never be an issue.

[hyperact]

Originally posted by jason
What are you using as your SMTP server? Without seeing the headers of a message that you sent, its impossible to tell where the problem is coming from. If you are using the Road Runner server to send mail (your smtp server setting in your mail client is something like "mail-server," "smtp-server," or "mail-server._____.rr.com") then the problem lies with Road Runner. If you are using your domain name as your SMTP server, then the problem is with JPC.

I have tried both the RR server and my JPC server. I get the same results from both. So I have two theories. First, AOL is looking at the originating IP -- which is RR. No matter what, I need to send from my home connection using RR to get to Iron here. The first line in the header is always my RR IP. In that case, the problem is with RR.

Second theory is a result of looking at AOL's statement about these bounces. They say they verify the DNS of the originating message. If it doesn't match, they bounce the mail. This second theory is what would affect JPC, if their IP changes have gone into affect and I have not yet changed my third-party DNS records to match.

[tinnel]

[i]This is unfortunate.... and as soon as we hear back from cpanel on our partern NOC application , hopefully approved, then cpanel licenses should never be an issue. [/B]

I sense possible doubt in getting "approval"??? Oh my. BTW. I created a ticket asking for the changes to be backed out and was told that the changes could not be reversed. So it would seem that non-reversable changes were made when all the ducks were not yet lined up. Would it have not made sense to NOT make the changes since you had not yet heard back from cpanel? I would be understanding if changes were delayed due to cpanel licensing issues much more so than the current situation.

This is worse than unfortunate. From a customer standpoint, this is unacceptable. Please please please do better migration planning and execution in the future.

[JPC-Greg]

well no, but in business I dont bet on anything until its done and in writing.

I was able to get temp license's for those machines directly with cpanel since we have an app sent in. Im sure its just a matter of days now before we are a partner noc and deal directly with cpanel.

[JPC-Greg]

Originally posted by tinnel


I sense possible doubt in getting "approval"??? Oh my. BTW. I created a ticket asking for the changes to be backed out and was told that the changes could not be reversed. So it would seem that non-reversable changes were made when all the ducks were not yet lined up. Would it have not made sense to NOT make the changes since you had not yet heard back from cpanel? I would be understanding if changes were delayed due to cpanel licensing issues much more so than the current situation.

This is worse than unfortunate. From a customer standpoint, this is unacceptable. Please please please do better migration planning and execution in the future.

That isnt how it happened, changes were made, all was working. We requested a total lincense listing to send in with our application. We notice discrepnacies in our providers list and asked them to correct them. They made some mistakes while trying to correct their list.

[Vin DSL]

I don't mean to muddy the waters, or act like a know-it-all, but I have always considered cPanel a crutch, i.e. a necessary evil (for some ppl).

Personally, I don't care much for WHM, but I suppose you gotta do what you gotta do to please the customers, keep up with the Jones, and all that sort of stuff. From a business point of view, it's probably a smart move to offer cPanel as part of the hosting package, but it's like dealing with the devil in a lot of ways; you know? This applies to the webhost as well as the clients.

I have suggested, in numerous threads, that ppl install these cPanel apps in their own web space. For instance, I run my own installs of phpMyAdmin, Squirrel Mail, PHP-Nuke, phpBB, blah, blah and blah. I can't think of one thing I need cPanel for. If it disappeared tomorrow, I wouldn't miss it one bit...

[tinnel]

While you say that it is the fault of the cpanel folks (OK, I believe you - they made mistakes), it is ultimately your responsibility to ensure the uptime (see below for pointers on this). Regardless of who started this mess, these mistakes cost me and others almost 24 hours of down time. Will we be credited for this downtime? It would seem only reasonable under the circumstances. I asked this in a ticket and got no response.

FYI. Now things seem to be working again. No email notices were sent to affected users during the outage to alternate email accounts (which we provide) informing folks of the situation. Everytime I checked the network status web page during this whole outage, it showed green the whole way... even for email service, which was clearly broken on some machines.

Look, everyone screws up at some point. The important thing is to step back, analyze the situation, and learn from it. You should now be brainstorming with your team to figure out exactly who did what and when and what alternative courses of action you could have taken at different critical points to either prevent or quickly restore service. This is not an exercise to assign blame. Rather, it is an exercise to determine how to improve your service. Good planning involves forseeing possible future undesirable situations and having mitigation plans already spec'd out in the event that they are necessary. These situations include those created by others like cpanel. For example, sitting around waiting on cpanel was not the optimal response. Instead, you might temporarily move affected domains to working servers. You would need to weigh such moves with the increased loads on other servers, etc... this is all part of building contingency plans. Such is the mark of good service.

[Vin DSL]

Originally posted by tinnel
Regardless of who started this mess, these mistakes cost me and others almost 24 hours of down time. Will we be credited for this downtime? It would seem only reasonable under the circumstances. I asked this in a ticket and got no response...

I pay for my v200 account by the year; $7.95/mo. 24 hours downtime would equal 26-cents. Is a quarter's worth of service really something to worked up about?

[tinnel]

24 hours to a business is a whole lot more money than that.

[Connie]

Originally posted by Vin DSL
I pay for my v200 account by the year; $7.95/mo.

Not to get the thread off track but you must have signed up
under a special. I pay $14.95 per month for the V200 and
$9.95 per month for 2 sites on the V100. I'm not bitching.
I think I have a good deal. Just wanted to let you know
you have a super deal.

Let me add. When Jag runs a special which usually provides
more benefits they update existing accounts to coincide with
the special. I'm getting probably 3 to 4 times as much for
the same money than I got when I originally moved sites
to Jag. I'm a happy customer.

Jag is certainly not perfect, but believe me they are a good host.

Only God can see all the ultimate consequenses for any given
action.

"The best laid plains of mice and men often go astray"

[tinnel]

Only God can see all the ultimate consequenses for any given
action.

Ummm... I fail to see how this applies. This is a basic engineering principle... People are indeed imperfect and can engage faulty analysis (see below for an example), but the fundamental principle holds.

To quote just one of numerous sources on the subject:
http://www.contingency-planning-disa...y-guide.co.uk/

One of the first contingency planning tasks to be undertaken is to prepare a comprehensive list of the potentially serious incidents that could affect the normal operations of the business. This list should include all possible incidents no matter how remote the likelihood of their occurrence.

Also see the book, "Contingency Planning and Disaster Recovery: Protecting Your Organization's Resources" available at Amazon. Here's an excerpt from a review:

(the book) provides an in-depth examination of Internet and Web security issues. Understanding the risks of (some situation) and learning how to minimize those risks is imperative to building a secure environment which enables information systems (IS) managers to use this technology.

Understanding risk requires analysis and projection to identify the situations that must be mitigated. Doing this job well does not require god-like attributes. It does require a rational and logical line of thinking coupled with years of experience in the field of application. Be thankful that there are *many* people who do this for a living and do it quite well. Successful businesses consider this non-optional. The police do this when in pursuit or on stake-outs. The military does it when at war. The electric industry does it to prevent cascading faults (and recently demonstrated that their analysis was faulty and that they need to rethink it a bit.) The automotive industry does it to determine what safety features to add to cars.... The list goes on and on.

[Vin DSL]

Originally posted by clssam
I pay $14.95 per month for the V200 and $9.95 per month for 2 sites on the V100...

Hrm... well, I don't get that. Take a look for yourself:

http://www.jaguarpc.com/index.php?loc=hosting

They aren't cutting me any special deal. It's just standard pricing as listed.

Sounds like you have two v200 accounts and a v300...

[Connie]

Originally posted by Vin DSL
Hrm... well, I don't get that. Take a look for yourself:

http://www.jaguarpc.com/index.php?loc=hosting

They aren't cutting me any special deal. It's just standard pricing as listed.

Sounds like you have two v200 accounts and a v300...

Vin I know Jag is not cutting you any special deal. The prices
I pay are for the original plans signed up for. Jag has changed
the plans pricing and benefits many times. Keep in mind that
I have been with Jag since some time in 2000. They have always
increased the benefits when they changed a plan but not the
pricing. In fact the last v100 account I signed up for was only
a few months ago. However it was charged at the rate that
was originally set for the old plan I had before several upgrades.

The rates I'm paying are what was charged when Jag was located
in Alaska, even for the new site which was only added a few months ago.

Again I'm not bitching. I will look at the new rates. However the
last time I looked at the rates they were still the same that I'm
paying. The difference was the benefits.

[Connie]

Originally posted by tinnel

Ummm... I fail to see how this applies.

I don't want to get into a controversy with you. Technology is
imperfect. The web is imperfect. Machines are imperfect. Men
and companies are imperfect. Regardless of how many books
you read on contingencies it is impossible to prepare for all of
them. Those books were written by men who have not walked a
specific path at any given time. **** happens. That is
unfortunately a reality of life, the Internet, computers, web host
etc.