[imc-uk-emergency] Fwd: [Imc-tech-emerg] Sarai summary - public (and updated) version

[Chris]

Hi

Info on the list server situation follows.

Chris

----- Forwarded message from Alster <alster at zeromail.org> -----

From: Alster <alster at zeromail.org>
Reply-To: imc-tech-emerg at lists.aktivix.org
Date: Tue, 03 Apr 2007 14:31:24 +0200
To: imc-tech-emerg at lists.aktivix.org
List-Id: Indymedia backup list <imc-tech-emerg.lists.aktivix.org>
Subject: [Imc-tech-emerg] Sarai summary - public (and updated) version

contents
========================================================================

o  intro
o  the sarai{3,4} situation
o  next steps
o  sarai4 access
o  pseudo disclaimer



intro
========================================================================

The main indymedia.org mailing list and mail server,
sarai.indymedia.org, is currently out of service. This is not a belated
april fools joke. A replacement is in the works.

We, the listwork working group (AKA listworkers) who administrates this
server, know how much people are dependant of the mailing lists. We're
as unhappy about this sudden failure as you are, and would surely have
preferred having this migration done during a planned maintenance, not
in an ad-hoc emergency situation. Rest assured, we are spending lots of
our spare time and effort into restoring the services as quickly as
possible.



the sarai{3,4} situation
========================================================================

sarai3 is the name of the old sarai server which powered the
lists.indymedia.org mailing lists and the *@indymedia.org email
forwarding addresses and failed this weekend. The new server is called
sarai4.

sarai3 has been rebooting three times along the weekend (31.3./1.4.).
Since Mon, Apr 02 2007, 04:05 AM UTC (or earlier) the server is no
longer reachable. The reasons for all outages are unknown. They might
have been caused by a broken power supply unit. This is probably the
case as the server cannot be powered on anymore (this may also be a
motherboard issue, though).

This or that way, the sarai3 hardware is old, power hungry, and has
become insufficient for handling the load which has been increasing
along the past years. As such, it was since planned to replace this
server by a newer one this year [1]. The funding for the new hardware
still needs to be dealt with [2] but the running costs are covered until
October 2007 [3].

Nevertheless, Riseup was kind enough to provide Listwork with a
replacement server in no time. This new server will be referred to as
sarai4. To put it to use, listwork needs to configure this server,
restore data from slightly outdated backups, recover newer data from
sarai3 (if it can be made to boot again) and put sarai4 into service.

[1]
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22New+server%22+site%3Alists.indymedia.org+inurl%3Alistwork

[2]
http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-finance/2006-November/1121-00.html
http://google.com/search?strip=1&q=cache:lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-finance/2006-November/1121-00.html

[3]
http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-finance/2006-November/1122-rx.html
http://google.com/search?strip=1&q=cache:lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-finance/2006-November/1122-rx.html



next steps
========================================================================

By the time of writing, sarai4 is already being setup. It can be assumed
that the mailing list server functionality will not be fully restored
before (but possibly after) tomorrow, Wed 04 Apr. The *@indymedia.org
email forwarding service may already be recovered today, Wed 03 Apr.

Whether these times will be correct depends a lot on when (and whether)
we will be able to recover the data from the previous server sarai3.
A replacement PSU is to be installed in sarai3 today so it can hopefully
be powered up to recover data off it. Due to sarai3's special SCSI
hardware RAID setup it will likely not be possible to recover the data
by moving the HDDs to a different server.

If you have any special needs or questions regarding the process of
recovering the services or listwork in general, please send them to
listwork at SOS.indymedia.org. Urgent communication should be sent to
imc-tech-emerg at lists.aktivix.org or take place in #listwork on the
irc.indymedia.org IRC server (ircs://irc.indymedia.org/listwork).

An email will be sent to the following mailing lists as soon as the
mailing list service is restored:
imc-communication
imc-tech



sarai4 access
========================================================================

Access to the new server sarai4 (sarai4.indymedia.org) is currently
setup for whom had access to (and whose password has not expired). If
you think you should have access to sarai but don't currently have it,
please respond on the imc-tech-emerg at lists.aktivix.org mailing list (or
on listwork at lists.indymedia.org as soon as it's back) or ask in
#listwork and we'll get back to you.



pseudo disclaimer
========================================================================

This email was sent by alster (one of listwork) without having passed
through a consensus based decision making by the listwork working group.
It may not represent the common ideas and sentiments of the working
group but rather the personal ones of alster. I hope nobody minds.

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Imc-tech-emerg mailing list
Imc-tech-emerg at lists.aktivix.org
https://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-tech-emerg

----- End forwarded message -----