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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

What happened yesterday?

297 replies

OhYouBadBadKitten · 22/09/2015 07:15

I can't find any explanation of why mn was down. With the odd redirect and the history of the site over the summer, it would be rather good to have an explanation please.

OP posts:
MNHQ
SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 09:43

Hi all,

Sorry for the lack of updates; unfortunately there wasn't really much to say beyond 'we're working on it' until the site came back up in the early hours of the morning. Tech have isolated the problem, so things should be up and running smoothly from hereonin - apologies again for the loss of service. Those on the tech desk who were up through the night have now passed the baton on to those who managed some sleep; they're looking to see if there are any residual problems, and will work on them if there are. We'll keep you posted, and meanwhile, do please report any issues you come across to [email protected] - or post them here.

Thanks v much
MNHQ

twirlypoo · 22/09/2015 09:43

I went running last night. I know. My poor neighbours are so glad mumsnets back up and my wobbly arse isn't going to be trundling past their windows again!

Thanks for the update, I hope nerves have settled now the data is restored (I used to be a manager in a large store, and managed to delete the whole days sales records across all departments..... People were not kind to me!)

lloydlf76 · 22/09/2015 09:50

That hasn't actually answered the question of what happened yesterday though? I'm glad the techs were working on it but what is it? Site issues or hacker issues?

ToadsJustFellFromTheSky · 22/09/2015 09:52

Was anyone else kicked out of the site before it went down? I browsing when I was randomly logged out and when I tried to log back in I just got the incorrect password/username message. I tried that a couple of times before the site went down with the same result even though my password and username were definitely right.

I even e-mailed HQ with a wtf message. I thought it was just me Blush.

Mindysgotswag · 22/09/2015 09:52

Thanks for the updates you lovely people. Technology's...technology and it will inevitably crash!

Thanks to all those working on getting us fully functional again and I hope that you all eventually managed at least some sleep.

Thanks!

Simurgh · 22/09/2015 09:52

Thanks for the update.

AIBU and Site stuff are still not accessible on FF - they're showing the 'Site Down' message. (Those are the only two I've tried which are kiboshed. There may be others.)

mermaidbutmytailfelloff · 22/09/2015 09:54

Sarah mn- it ISNT working well now though since active convos still link to the "it's not working" thread. There is another thread on it in site stuff,

MNHQ
SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 09:56

@lloydlf76

That hasn't actually answered the question of what happened yesterday though? I'm glad the techs were working on it but what is it? Site issues or hacker issues?

It was entirely a tech issue, lloyd - as Justine said in her post, there was an internal error that resulted in the database being erased. Definitely not an external attack.

MNHQ
SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 09:57

@mermaidbutmytailfelloff

Sarah mn- it ISNT working well now though since active convos still link to the "it's not working" thread. There is another thread on it in site stuff,

thanks mermaid - I'll flag this to tech now. Everyone else - do please point out any other errors you're getting. Thanks again

Simurgh · 22/09/2015 09:59

Ah - it may just have been fixed. Or it may have been the fact that I cleared cookies and cache. Seems to be OK on Site stuff at least.

MNHQ
SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 09:59

Actually, mermaid, could you clarify a bit? Do you mean when you click on active convos you're being taken to this thread, or that it's happening when you click on threads WITHIN active convos, IYSWIM?

BitOutOfPractice · 22/09/2015 10:00

I suspect, bythe look of the site, that it is running on quite an ancient platform and things like this will happen in that case.

I must admit I thought it was a dadsex attack when we got a vague "database issues" message on FB and dadsec was crowing on twitter.

CiderwithBuda · 22/09/2015 10:04

I have a theory that MNHQ are trying to create mini baby booms. Be interesting to see if 9 months after the big outages we have lots of births.

Simurgh · 22/09/2015 10:11

I think that many MNetters are experiencing challenges in actually talking to their DPs without MN, CiderwithBuda. Taking action towards 'lots of births' may be a step too far at the moment. Grin

ouryve · 22/09/2015 10:12

What I'm more curious about is, why is there not the usual banner saying "MNHQ have commented on this thread"?

Wonderwho · 22/09/2015 10:14

I think you need to look at better back up solutions at that point considering how large and popular your site is. Why are you not running a secondary site as a switch over rather than having to restore whole databases?? Cloud technology with a decent service provider would allow you an almost seamless failover and probably far better DDOS protection.

NorbertDentressangle · 22/09/2015 10:16

SarahMumsnet - I've got the same problem as mermaid.

When I click on the Active tab I get sent to a page that says "We're sorry, the site is currently down. Tech's working hard to sort things out and we hope to be back up soon; meanwhile why not come and hang out with us on Facebook or Twitter?" and has the twitter feed below it.

This happens on my laptop and phone.

MNHQ
SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 10:17

@ouryve

What I'm more curious about is, why is there not the usual banner saying "MNHQ have commented on this thread"?

Good question ourvye - I'll ask about this too.

MNHQ
SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 10:17

@NorbertDentressangle

SarahMumsnet - I've got the same problem as mermaid.

When I click on the Active tab I get sent to a page that says "We're sorry, the site is currently down. Tech's working hard to sort things out and we hope to be back up soon; meanwhile why not come and hang out with us on Facebook or Twitter?" and has the twitter feed below it.

This happens on my laptop and phone.

and thanks Norbert - v helpful. Will let you know what tech say asap.

ToadsJustFellFromTheSky · 22/09/2015 10:20

I can't directly access AIBU. I can still go to threads I've posted on there via TIO but every time I try to go to AIBU I get the site is down message.

QueenStromba · 22/09/2015 10:20

I'm on Firefox and can't get onto the AIBU board either (but can access threads in AIBU that are on my watch list or already open in my browser. I could get on to site stuff no problem though.

ToadsJustFellFromTheSky · 22/09/2015 10:21

I'm on Google chrome if that makes a difference.

MNHQ
SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 10:22

OK - on the error page still showing - I have BrunoTech sitting by my desk now Smile. He says - can you try clearing your cache? It sounds most like a browser issue at your end - would you mind trying that and letting us know what happens?

Koalafications · 22/09/2015 10:24

Brew Cake For everyone at MNHQ.

Your overtime sheets for this summer must be putting a bit of a dent in the budgets Wink

MNHQ
SarahMumsnet · 22/09/2015 10:27

On the AIBU question - could you possibly try clearing your caches too, and see if that sorts things out?