We'll be moving to a new server (we are now on the new server!)

Forum Announcements
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Hi all,

Just a quick note to say we’ll be moving to a new server within the next month or so.

There will be two separate instances of downtime, the first will be when we move the forum to the new server, and the second will be when the server is physically moved into the location of the old one (this is so we can keep our existing IPs - we’ve built up good deliverable/rep on them so it makes sense to keep them than start all over again).

We’ll set our DNS server to cache our entries for no more than 1 hour to help speed this up but if you find the forum is unaccessible you might want to flush your DNS caches.

We’ll post in this thread before each step and/or leave a note on our Twitter when it’s imminent :023:

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…there is zero harm setting the TTL to zero for DNS entries.

If that makes you twitchy, use 10 seconds or something.

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Question is of course do you the TTL, whether zero or a small value? Aston’s message told us how to flush it.

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The other thing we can do is flush public DNS dbs…

Why DNS propagation takes so long?

DNS propagation can take some time to complete because it involves updating information on many servers across the internet. DNS records, like IP address, must be updated on all servers resolving your domain name.

Even after making a change, some servers may still have outdated information, leading to inconsistencies in DNS resolution and longer propagation times.

Typically, DNS propagation takes 24-48 hours, although in some cases, it can take up to 72 hours.

In some instances, network issues or other technical problems may cause DNS propagation delays.

How to speed up DNS propagation – 3 Methods:

Method #1 – Decrease the Time-to-Live (TTL) value

Method #2 – Flush Your Local DNS Cache

Method #3 – Flush the cache of public DNS databases

Another way to speed up DNS propagation is to flush the DNS cache from popular public databases like Google or OpenDNS. This ensures that these databases use the most recent version of your domain’s DNS records. Hence, it promotes both accurate search results and a positive customer experience.

https://www.siteground.co.uk/kb/dns-propagation/#:~:text=Typically%2C%20DNS%20propagation%20takes%2024,may%20cause%20DNS%20propagation%20delays.

I don’t think we need a TTL less than an hour tbh - it will take longer than that to:

  • Turn the forum off
  • Carry out a back up
  • Post to say the move is underway
  • Change domain nameservers
  • Copy db to new server
  • Re-install Discourse and restore backup (can take a while depending on size of backup)
  • Renew certs
  • Verify everything’s ok/emails are working etc
  • Turn on forum

Then do the same again for all the other forums and move all the accompany sites (giveaway sites, sponsor pages, etc) :upside_down_face:

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Problem is most people do not control their (actual) DNS cache; their upstream resolver is out of their administrative domain.

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Just a quick note to say we’ll hopefully be moving to the new server over the weekend as it’ll be one of our quietest periods of the year.

If you’re an avid participant in our giveaways, please obtain all entries by Friday - we’ll switch them off a bit earlier this month as it’ll save copying them over to the new server.

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If you can see this… you made it to the new server :023:

If you notice anything that’s broken, please let us know in the Forum Help / Feedback section. Thank you!

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