Sometime in the next 48 hours (or so), I’m going to attempt upgrading this site to its own server, the better to avoid annoying access issues. If everything works the way it should, you might not even notice. If it doesn’t, of course, I may destroy the site as we know it. Let’s hope it’s the former and not the latter.
Nevertheless, if in the next couple of days the site disappears mysteriously for some amount of time, that will be why. Please do not panic. Or, more to the point, leave the panicking to me. Thanks.
Update, 8:55 am 10/8: It appears I overestimated my competence in being able to move the site. So for the moment, no transfer. As you were.
Every time I have to make a server change, I have panic attacks…and I get nowhere NEAR the visitors you do. Good luck! Hopefully we’ll see you on the other side and all will be well and good. :)
*sprinkles pixie dust for extra luck*
Good luck. :)
Yes, good luck. Change your DNS TTL to like 2 minutes if you’re changing IP addresses. It will make the propagation quicker.
Good luck with that! The last time I contemplated a server switch I procrastinated so long my ISP just upgraded the server out from under me. Sorry to hear that’s not an option for you.
John is going to break the interwebs.
You should have a placeholder with “large friendly letters that say Don’t Panic” ready.
Just in case.
ZOMG John’s going to break the interwebs!!!1!
I’ll not panic. Do you have your towel?
O In Over His Head Scalzi, just make sure you leave a picture of Her Most Glorious Perfection as a placeholder.
Then nobody of any import will care if the rest of the tripe comes back.
The Official Ghlaghghee Fan Club
I’m suddenly reminded of an REM song. And I feel fine.
[searching for towel]
Um…speaking as a complete non-technical sort, is there no way to back up the site before doing the server migration? So that if the new server goes wonky, All Is Not Lost?
***sending the good server migration mojo***
I am of course backing up the site for just this eventuality, never fear. Getting it back up to speed, if it falls off the face of the planet, of course, will be the challenge.
I hope the switch will not cause any black holes to be formed that will swallow the earth.
While you’re doing the site upgrade, and if it works fine, and if you’re feeling up to it, could you check on the RSS feed? It seems to be showing up as an error in Bloglines for some reason. Works fine in Google Reader though.
Good luck with the upgrade.
PS: I know you said that you’re not looking to hire anyone but in case the site does not come back up and you’re stuck, check out Nathan Bowers . His primary work is WordPress consulting but he does emergency repairs too. (I know about him because I read his blog and have used a web-based newsreader ((now defunct) that he’d designed.)
Oooo, our very own pending apocalypse! Can the Scalzi avert it? Only time will tell…
I–
I–
Dammit! When ever I want to panic, you tell me not to…
Seriously. What happens if the zombie apocalypse starts during the confusion? You know they are just waiting for an opportunity like this.
17. Patrick M (One Patrick to Rule Them All)
If the Zombie Apocalypse starts (and remember, The Apocalypse is just the battle, not the end), I think we can hold them off until John returns to lead us in glorious victory.
I have my shovel (sorry, no cricket bat), *and* my towel, for not panicing, so I’m prepared. How ’bout you? ;)
“If everything works the way it should, you might not even notice. If it doesn’t, of course, I may destroy the site as we know it.”
Sounds like a local version of the LHC.
OMG! The sky is falling!
Being the bleeding-heart liberal I am, I felt it’s my job to express those concerns.
Out of the blue and into the black, see you all on the other side.
It’s 8:53 a.m. EST, and you’re still here. . .
“The Apocalypse is just the battle, not the end”
Yes, but I have a large juicy brain. I am sure I am high on their hit list…
Whateveresque seems to have been taken over and killed.
The one we know is not there.
Oh, crap.
Looking at it now.
Okay, it should be back.
What should we call it? The Whateverlypse? Scalzilypse?
Off on a tangent–the four horsemen of a SF apocalypse would perhaps embody the following:
War–duh. look at all the warfare novels.
Alien Invasion (redundant duh)
Celestial Disasters–novae, beanstalks collapsing, ringworlds going “galloping girdie” (I’d pay good money to see that one! Perhaps it would just zoom off into space, like a 270-million mile long conveyer belt.)
Having to revert to a backup clone–closest analog to death in the Bitchun Society, P.S. (post singularity)
This is how your cats would do it:
PHOTO