We're up, but still have some problems

[Yaelle]

So glad! Thanks and Gd bless you both.

Now let's hear how this won't be happening any more, and what donations can do to guarantee it. Maybe write up a donation plea like a crowdfunder and tell us what we will get for our $x. Like

- Anyone who likes FR and just wants it to be there when they search for it - donate $x.

- If you really want to be assured it will always run smoothly and easy for the Robinsons to operate, we will purchase blabla equipment so donate $3x.

- If you want a free version of the new FreeRepublic mobile app, donate $5x.

- If you want to have access to the member's circle threads, donate $10x

Etc.

Just an idea to get focused donations. This stuff seems to work for crowdfunders.

[jazusamo]

Thank you both for FR and God bless!

[humblegunner]

You have not been paying attention. It was a hardware problem.

You are humor impaired. It was a joke.

[Ray76]

Whew! Glad your back!

[N8VTXNinWV]

Thank you, thank you both (and anyone else behind the scene) for working so diligently! FR is the best!

[fishtank]

TGIF and PTL!!!

We LOVE FreeRepublic!

[\/\/ayne]

The SSD is really flying. Did you update the BIOS as well?

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Oh, how I missed Freepr!

thanks for all you do. This is STILL THE BEST WEBSITE EVER!!

[dinodino]

I don’t believe that John is making backups. Even if the data center had been hit by a nuke, it would not have taken more than a day to do a bare metal restore from backup onto new hardware. Also, I suspect that none of the machines in question are running RAID. I have individual drives fail from time to time in servers and it’s no big deal—all are hot-swappable and it’s just a matter of plugging in a new drive and telling the array to rebuild—no downtime required.

[dinodino]

Also, my comments are predicated upon the assumption that Jim R. does not want to move to cloud-based servers, and prefers to own and colocate his own equipment. I can understand wanting to do this considering this site’s content; however, it’s obvious that both the choice of hardware and disaster recovery procedures are totally inadequate. Hell, the admin’s laptop isn’t working, so he can’t do the job? WTH

[theoilpainter]

Thanks for all your efforts. Glad to have you back. I missed FR.

[Cementjungle]

I have individual drives fail from time to time in servers and it’s no big deal—all are hot-swappable and it’s just a matter of plugging in a new drive and telling the array to rebuild—no downtime required.

You have to assume that drives WILL fail from time to time... and SSD's aren't immune to failure either.

Back when I was doing this, we always kept spare drives in the cage with the servers. When needed, we could call the COLO staff and tell them to put a new drive into bay XXX and they would... then we remotely configure it and bring it online. Simple.

[SuperLuminal]

"We're up, but still have some problems "

Yep! At almost 84 I can sympathize with that...

[Alas Babylon!]

Great job!

Please put me on your “Available for free computer/Database/Network support/help” list.

[RetiredArmy]

Jim, man I am glad you guys are back up. I have been basically without news and comments for all these days now. I don’t watch TV news, listen to talk radio when I am out in the car, nor do I check out web news links for the most part. I do check those VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY, you get the drift, few who are “on our side!!!!” Glad to see you guys back!!!

[publius911]

We're up, but still have some problems

BIG TIME!!!

But first things first...

Thank you Jim and John!
Thousands of sighs of relief worldwide.

Half a loaf is way better than a total disconnect from the real world. Ignorance is painful, and the MSM alternate universe provides a steady diet of it, and it accumulates.

The good news is... that we do not have to succumb to the temptation of responding to four days of FAKE NEWS crap!
Freepers may be mean-spirited, misogynists, racist, xenophobic, sexist and eaters of kittens and bunnies, but ignorance is never allowed to exist.

Now we can resume responding to the current crap from both the California and National "Kid Nation" judicial and legislative swamps."

In case no one else has noticed, the FR Search function is not working... What else is still currently impaired at everyone's favorite conservative news forum?

[frnewsjunkie]

When I try to donate, I get this message. How can I donate to FR? besides sending a check.

You attempted to reach secure.freerepublic.com, but the server presented a certificate signed using a weak signature algorithm (such as SHA-1). This means that the security credentials the server presented could have been forged, and the server may not be the server you expected (you may be communicating with an attacker).

[Biggirl]

Thank-you and God Bless!

[Jim Robinson]

It’s not forged. It’s secure. We use the industry standard sha-1 encryption method. Google has decided it’s no longer good enough and has “deprecated” it, flagging all sha-1 certificates as “not secure” even if paid-up, and still valid and in force. Our secure server continues to securely encrypt our donation transactions as always.

But to satisfy google (and firefox, et al) we have paid the ransom and purchased sha-256 security certificates. John will upgrade as soon as he gets everything else caught up.

Thanks

[Spitzensparkin1]

Thanks Jim, unsolicited bonus donation on the way. Keep up your great work.

SS1