UZIPP.com Migration

Latest update: all systems still critical. Access to support system is available via https://78.110.168.161/

Our ns1 server has now failed. This leaves us at a status of critical. Further updates will be provided ASAP.

Just a quick update, our ns2 and ns3 servers are currently still down and therefore the rest of our network is still considered at risk.

We are receiving continuing updates from our providers and they expect to have the situation fully assessed with the majority of systems back online within the next 4-5 hours. Please note that any damaged systems may take longer to restore, although the only data we currently do not have access to is copies of DNS zones stored on ns2 and ns3, which can easily be rebuilt if needed by copying data from the rest of our DNS cluster.

Thank you for your continuing patience.

At approximately 7pm BST last night, our main network provider experienced a large scare attack which cause system failures in all of their datacentres. Our servers were initially largely unaffected by this, with the exception that our ns2.ghxhosting.com DNS server (located in Texas) was offline. This was not considered to be a major issue, as both our ns1 and ns3 nameservers (which also host all uzipp.com and uzipp.net DNS) remained online.

As of the last 30 minutes, it has become apparent that our ns3.ghxhosting.com DNS server (located in LA, California) has also gone down as a result of the attack, although at first it did remain online for several hours.

This leaves us with only our ns1.ghxhosting.com DNS server (located in Maidenhead, UK) remaining, which means that our network of shared and reseller hosting servers is now considered at risk of complete failure should ns1 also fail. Please note that this is extremely unlikely as the attack was over 14 hours ago, so any further failures would almost certainly have shown by now.

Our shared and reseller hosting servers are still online and have been otherwise unaffected. No data has been lost.

Our network provider have all staff working flat out in all their datacentres to restore service as soon as possible and hope to have everything back up and running within 24-48 hours.

We will continue to post status updates throughout the next few days, until everything is brought back online and considered stable. Please note that some non-urgent support requests may take longer during this time, particularly if they involve DNS or require assistance from our network providers.

In the unlikely event that our online support system becomes unavailable, we are contactable by phone on +44 (0)1453 700008, with a 24 hour messaging service if we are unable to answer your call.

We would like to thank you for your patience during this time.

Mark Stevens
Managing Director
GHXhosting.com Ltd

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Here are the details of when support will be available as normal and when it will be operating at a reduced level over the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Up to 5pm on Wednesday 24th December – As normal

5pm on 24th to 9am on 27th December – Sales & Billing closed.
Support level will be reduced to responding to urgent issues only (such as server outages). All non-urgent support requests as well as sales & billing requests will be dealt with on Saturday 27th.

9am on 27th to 5pm on Wednesday 31st – As normal

5pm on 31st to 9am on Friday 2nd January – Sales & Billing closed.
Support level will be reduced to responding to urgent issues only (such as server outages). All non-urgent support requests as well as sales & billing requests will be dealt with on Friday 2nd.

9am on Friday 2nd January onwards – As normal

Please note that during the times listed, the only form of support available will be our HelpDesk. We may not respond to phone or live support requests during times when sales & billing are closed. Any messages left will be answered when normal support hours resume. Only if you have an urgent support issue, we can be reached on our 24 hour emergency mobile by calling 07505 196643. Please use our regular number for all non-urgent calls.

All times listed are GMT.

We would like to thank you all for your custom and wish everyone a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.

The UZIPP helpdesk has now been closed. The process of transferring all Uzipp accounts across to GHXhosting.com Ltd has been completed, so it has been decided that there is no need for the Uzipp helpdesk to continue to operate as all support requests are now being handled by GHXhosting.com Ltd.

To access your account with GHXhosting.com Ltd please login to https://members.ghxhosting.com using the login details which you should have previously received. If you do not have these details, please use the contact form available at http://www.ghxhosting.com/?p=contact#helpdesk to send your request. A ticket number and access details will be sent to your e-mail address, in a similar way as happened with Uzipp.

Please feel free to contact GHXhosting.com Ltd if you have an questions or are having trouble accessing your account.

Thank you

Pear server was migrated to the new building earlier this evening and has been successfully installed in the new server cage. It has started up fine and everything appears to be working correctly. I will let you know when the migration of our NS1 DNS server has been completed.

Due to our provider filling their current capacity in the datacentre where pear server is hosted, they will be moving to a new private cage in the facility’s new building which is located on the same site. The actual distance will be approximately a 100 meter move across the car park. As part of this move, our provider is upgrading their network as well as making other enhancements.

The actual move will take place between Friday 11th and Monday 14th April, however it is expected that pear server will only be down for 30 minutes whilst it is powered down and taken to the new cage. We have not yet been informed of the specific time during this window when pear server will be moved.

As our UK DNS server (ns1.ghxhosting.com) is located in the same datacentre, it will also be affected by this move, although we anticipate that it will be moved at a different time to pear server. We are expecting that NS1 will be offline for a maximum of 1 hour. This should not cause any noticeable effect, as all DNS requests will just be redirected to our other US East and West Coast based DNS servers during the time that NS1 is offline.

No server IPs or any other details relating to any websites hosted on our servers will change during this move. We will update this post when we have had the actual time/date of the server moves confirmed.

Earlier today, pear server was taken down to have it’s memory tested. This was a planned outage, but as it was scheduled at the last minute, we were unfortunately unable to give any advance notice. The server passed the memory test, so I have just upgraded to the kernel which will hopefully solve the stability issues. I will be monitoring the server over the next few hours to make sure there are no problems caused by the upgrade.

Hopefully this will be the end of the server crashes and unplanned downtime.

Thank you for bearing with us during these outages.