tl;dr: We're moving to a new server, hopefully early next week. The only thing that should change for you guys is the Advanced Connect, but we're hopeful that the new server shouldn't have the lag issues of the last server or the disconnect issues we've been encountering this week
Many of you (especially staff members) have come to me complaining about the rash of mass disconnects currently plaguing our beloved PO server. I figure I should go ahead and tell you all what's going on.
As most of you remember, the computer currently hosting our PO server is *not* the same machine that was hosting it a little over a month ago. On that computer, our PO server was so badly plagued with lag that it was basically unusable for large chunks of the day (what some of you may remember is that, two months before that, we were on yet another server, which had the unfortunate habit of going offline for days at a time each month). In response to these lag issues, I moved us to MY OWN PERSONAL COMPUTER. Luckily for everyone, I built it to have the power of a gaming rig, and I don't even notice that you guys are on it, most of the time.
I anticipated issues with lockups and having to take PO offline while I did things like restart my computer or run updates. What I *didn't* really forsee was that I'd have issues with my home internet connection, which had been fairly reliable up to that point.
Not that I could probably ever get Comcast to admit it, but I'm pretty sure what's going on is that I'm being throttled as I rapidly approach my more-than-generous bandwidth cap of 250 GB/mo (in most months, I don't even tend to break 80. Right now, I'm past 230). That throttling, for some reason, is manifesting as my internet just up-and-giving out for a few seconds-to-a-minute at a time (it's not just PO--I find I can't even surf the web when this happens, and my wife says it's not just my computer). When that happens, some people are randomly disconnected, and when the internet comes back, the server lags as it tries to fix everything, and people overwhelm the server by trying to log back on (or so the theory goes).
Luckily, we just got a new dedicated PO server that's being configured as I type. It'll take me a few days to set up, but the plan is to migrate us over to the new server on Monday, April 2. All your accounts, passwords and ladder rankings will carry over. The ONLY thing that you'll have to do differently is to use a different "advanced connect," which we'll hopefully be able to set up as po.smogon.com (the advanced connect of the last server). I'll keep all of you posted. This new server is more powerful than the last server, but it isn't quite as powerful as my personal machine, so it's possible that lag *might* be an occasional issue. I'll go ahead and say this: if it's a MAJOR, CONSTANT issue, I have a fallback plan (hint: it involves not using PO).
If you have any questions, feel free to post them. In the meantime, enjoy the last two days of the month, and get ready for updated tiers, come April!
Many of you (especially staff members) have come to me complaining about the rash of mass disconnects currently plaguing our beloved PO server. I figure I should go ahead and tell you all what's going on.
As most of you remember, the computer currently hosting our PO server is *not* the same machine that was hosting it a little over a month ago. On that computer, our PO server was so badly plagued with lag that it was basically unusable for large chunks of the day (what some of you may remember is that, two months before that, we were on yet another server, which had the unfortunate habit of going offline for days at a time each month). In response to these lag issues, I moved us to MY OWN PERSONAL COMPUTER. Luckily for everyone, I built it to have the power of a gaming rig, and I don't even notice that you guys are on it, most of the time.
I anticipated issues with lockups and having to take PO offline while I did things like restart my computer or run updates. What I *didn't* really forsee was that I'd have issues with my home internet connection, which had been fairly reliable up to that point.
Not that I could probably ever get Comcast to admit it, but I'm pretty sure what's going on is that I'm being throttled as I rapidly approach my more-than-generous bandwidth cap of 250 GB/mo (in most months, I don't even tend to break 80. Right now, I'm past 230). That throttling, for some reason, is manifesting as my internet just up-and-giving out for a few seconds-to-a-minute at a time (it's not just PO--I find I can't even surf the web when this happens, and my wife says it's not just my computer). When that happens, some people are randomly disconnected, and when the internet comes back, the server lags as it tries to fix everything, and people overwhelm the server by trying to log back on (or so the theory goes).
Luckily, we just got a new dedicated PO server that's being configured as I type. It'll take me a few days to set up, but the plan is to migrate us over to the new server on Monday, April 2. All your accounts, passwords and ladder rankings will carry over. The ONLY thing that you'll have to do differently is to use a different "advanced connect," which we'll hopefully be able to set up as po.smogon.com (the advanced connect of the last server). I'll keep all of you posted. This new server is more powerful than the last server, but it isn't quite as powerful as my personal machine, so it's possible that lag *might* be an occasional issue. I'll go ahead and say this: if it's a MAJOR, CONSTANT issue, I have a fallback plan (hint: it involves not using PO).
If you have any questions, feel free to post them. In the meantime, enjoy the last two days of the month, and get ready for updated tiers, come April!
