Do I really have to say it?

[Dorganath]

Server crashed...was rebooted.  While it was coming back up, it locked again. 
  Please do not rush the server.
  Thank you.

[Synpox]

*grumbles*

*goes and gets his dewalt drill from the basement*

*runs back up to grab Dorgie's message*

*goes headhunting*

*grumbles*

[Crunch]

How can I tell the difference between a server crash and a problem with my computer, router, internet connection, etc.  This time when I dropped off line I looked at server status on the webpage and saw half a dozen people or so were on and tried to reconnect.  then I got the can't connect message and decided to give it some time.  It seems like there is some lag in the server status report.  I am using the direct connect method that was discussed on the forums so I don't see ping when I connect.

Thanks.  I don't mean to be a pain in the ah, urm, what is the acceptable term?  Ah yes, rear.  : )

[Dorganath]

Generally, if you try to reconnect immediately and you can't, AND all other network things seem to work from your PC, that means the server is down.  Also, if you connect using the GameSpy menus in-game (vs. using a direct connect shortcut from the desktop), you can tell by the server's status.  Also on the server's status, if the ping times are jumping erratically all over the place, then that's a fairly good sign it's still trying to come back up.
  Lastly, if the Web site's server status page shows zero, or very few, players online, then that, too, is a pretty good indication of the server being down.
  I know it's not perfectly clear, but if you try once and can't reconnect immedtiately, go take a break for 5-10 minutes.

[Acacea]

Don't rush the server...  Please don't?  Time out?  Who really reads these things?  Not the ones who need to!   You get me.  And, if there were thirty people on when you were disconnected, and ten when you come back, it probably crashed.  

[IDii]

And I even threatened people with spoons.

[Guardian 452]

The ones rushing don't read the forum.




What should take a couple minutes to reset, with all the rush crashes I have time to do my taxes and re-roof the house.



Untill we find a way to stop the rushers its gonna keep happening.

[ZeroVega]

"Do I really have to say it?"
  Yes... yes you do... 

[Thak]

Maybe you can have a firewall on the server and when rebooting set it to block all pings for 5 min, then turn the firewall off again. Just a thought dont know if it is possible, am no IT guy...

[freemen2]

Must be missing something, but I thought Orth took care of the rushing thing, a while back: When we go from 1 server to another if we don't wait a bit we can't connect to the other server.  How come that isn't working when connecting to Layo, itself?

[Maki]

I know not to rush the server, but, sorry for the really newbish question, but what exactly does rushing the server do?  Is it like while the server is trying to get back up, it takes a lot of memory or whatever to get back up, and if people start logging in, it starts killing the server causing uit to crash again? Please don't hate me for asking this questiong >.

[Bryantiza]

BOO! bash him in!

Why would we hate you for asking?
Not everyones a super genious.
Whats the point in being able to as questions if you always think someones going to hate you?
*shrugs*

[miltonyorkcastle]

it's like this:  ever reboot your computer?  note how long (I mean actually clock the time) it takes windows (granted, if you're not running windows, you linux and mac otherworlders, the example should still apply) to boot-up (and if you could follow that sentence with all of it's parenthetical interuptions, good for you).  It takes a few minutes, right?  Will it let you do anything while it's booting up?  Imagine if you tried to open your email account while the sucker was booting up.  If you thought it took too long to boot before, you don't want to even look at the time curve you just threw at the start-up scripts for windows.  

Basically, as has been mentioned previously in the forums, the servers have a enourmous amounts of 'scripts' to run before everything is up and going.  When you log in before it is finished, you are essentially adding another sequence of scripts to the que, and that's only if you just stand there and don't move after you log in. Assuming you actually do something, you just added even more cars to the scripting traffic jam.  Now do that ten times with the ten or so people that jump right back into the server, and you've got one clogged highway of scripts.  With so many cars (scripts) on the road, someone's bound to have an accident and force a detour.  Reboot.  

So let the early morning traffic run its course before you get on the script highway.  It's safer, faster, and generally more enjoyable.  See you in game!

[Dorganath]

Maki - 10/8/2005 8:47 AM I know not to rush the server, but, sorry for the really newbish question, but what exactly does rushing the server do? Is it like while the server is trying to get back up, it takes a lot of memory or whatever to get back up, and if people start logging in, it starts killing the server causing uit to crash again? Please don't hate me for asking this questiong >.<

  It's a good question. 
  Whenever someone logs onto the server, it produces a fair bit of lag. The Bioware NWN does many of its tasks, but also the Layonara persistence systems do quite a bit as well. 
  Now, one user logging in is not generally a big deal.  Even two at a time can be OK.  And yes, to address what someone said, orth did do some things to help smooth out and distribute the lag caused by the Layonara portion of the login process, but that improved it, not cured it.  He also cured the cross-server portal problems by sidestepping them.  But it still does not mean that lag will not occur on login.
  Typically, when the server goes down, there are 25 or more people on  the server...during peak times this is more like 45.  When even half of those people are all scrambling to get back on at the same time, massive amounts of lag can occur.  It can also overwhelm the NWN server and cause a crash.
  The NWN server, while it may appear "up" according to GameSpy very quickly, is not actually fully "up" for several minutes after it starts.  The Layonara modules are in excess of 70MB each, and there's also a fair amount of initialization that goes on during startup as well. During this critical period, even a handful of simultaneous logins can really bring down the whole works.  This is the most crucial period, but even after that period, if a bunch of people decide, "OK, I've waited 5 minutes like they said I. I can log in now" all a the same time, then again, enough people can lag the server to the point of crashing.
  So rushing really applies to two cases.  The first case is jumping on the server as soon as it's up.  Bad.  The second is a bunch of people clammoring to get back on at the same time.  Also bad, though not as bad.
  The best thing to do when the server crashes is to wait at least 5-10 minutes before even considering to log back in again.  And once you consider it, wait a few more, just for kicks. 

[miltonyorkcastle]

yeah, what Dorg said.

[Crunch]

Could a server up time or something of the sort be added to the server status page?  There are times like now when I know it's been a while since the server crashed but I see only a couple of people on.  Would I be rushing?  Don't know so I'll wait a couple more minutes

[akata]

And I even threatened people with spoons.


aye i rembember that, there´s nothing like a gm threatening to dig you hearth out with a copper spoon, if you log on in the next half hour