You know, I wonder what they do during this down time. Every downtime is a few hours, which is fine, I'm not complaining, but what is the actual maintainance? it doesn't take that long to install a patch, and even some of those can be hotfixes that don't require bringing down the server.
They can't possibly be replacing parts every week, can they?
You know, I wonder what they do during this down time. Every downtime is a few hours, which is fine, I'm not complaining, but what is the actual maintainance? it doesn't take that long to install a patch, and even some of those can be hotfixes that don't require bringing down the server.
They can't possibly be replacing parts every week, can they?
Probably not. Usual maintainence would just be the patch. Unusual maintainence like this might involve new parts being installed, but I reckon they are performing thorough maintainence on everything to try and fix the lag/DC problems.
to be honest i dont mind extra downtime if it fixes things that arent working as intended, but when we log back in and nothing has changed i often wonder what they have done, and lets not forget some of us naively subscribe yet get no compensation for extended down time
Probably not. Usual maintainence would just be the patch. Unusual maintainence like this might involve new parts being installed, but I reckon they are performing thorough maintainence on everything to try and fix the lag/DC problems.
That's my guess at least.
Except that this isn't unusual. Normal maintainance is a few hours, every week, usually 7-9 UTC, whatever that is.
I suppose I could venture a guess that they're verifying that all the files are still intact and that the corruption is at a minimum, as well as updating the server software, but it would be interesting to hear from them what they do.
Except that this isn't unusual. Normal maintainance is a few hours, every week, usually 7-9 UTC, whatever that is.
I suppose I could venture a guess that they're verifying that all the files are still intact and that the corruption is at a minimum, as well as updating the server software, but it would be interesting to hear from them what they do.
On the CO forum they also mentioned they were doing an entire Server shutdown/restart this week - presumably to help with the lag. So not only are they implementing the normal weekly Patch, but they are doing Account Server maintenance, and a Server restart. Putting it all together probably accounts for the extra time.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
just want to point out for all of those UKers who are saddened by the game being down for so long during their peak playing time: It's because the account server has ran into some issues.
just want to point out for all of those UKers who are saddened by the game being down for so long during their peak playing time: It's because the account server has ran into some issues.
like i said i dont care what u think, as i dont beleive a word u say cos talk is cheap
and fyi with join dates if it dont say jun 2012 i dont beleive a word they say about their join date, urs us jul not jun your in that class of the peeps who i dont beleive no matter what u say u wont get out of that group. so you can stop trying to flame/spam what you think LOL
Simultaneously funny and sad that this would matter to anyone. Do you remember when you could view the total hours you've played since joining, then, no more? Imagine that number now, and what else you could have done with your time.
Do not go quietly into that downtime, rage against the patching of the server.
Simultaneously funny and sad that this would matter to anyone. Do you remember when you could view the total hours you've played since joining, then, no more? Imagine that number now, and what else you could have done with your time.
Do not go quietly into that downtime, rage against the patching of the server.
and why would i listen to you? your signture says i shouldnt as your one of them in the little group of delta moaners! try again troll and this time try not to tell players what they love LOL
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
wanted to beat the Delta Meme n00bs LOL
Join Date a player made up is NOT correct!
They have a regularly scheduled 2-3 hr maintenance period every Thursday around 6-9 AM Pacific time; this is when patches are applied, etcetera.
Sadly, it's become rather common (over half of the ones in the last three months) that the game is not back up by the originally announced end time.
If I were cryptic I would state an inflated timespan each week with a message to the effect that they can't do it do to a lack of power halfway through the span. Then finish early and claim to be a miracle worker.
You know, I wonder what they do during this down time. Every downtime is a few hours, which is fine, I'm not complaining, but what is the actual maintainance? it doesn't take that long to install a patch, and even some of those can be hotfixes that don't require bringing down the server.
They can't possibly be replacing parts every week, can they?
Probably not. It's possible though that they found an unexpected hardware problem during the maintenance testing this time; and it's taking a while to get the issue fixed. Maintenance IS done for a reason - and it's better they identify and fix something rather then just having the server crash outright.
Formerly known as Armsman from June 2008 to June 20, 2012 PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
You know, I wonder what they do during this down time. Every downtime is a few hours, which is fine, I'm not complaining, but what is the actual maintainance? it doesn't take that long to install a patch, and even some of those can be hotfixes that don't require bringing down the server.
They can't possibly be replacing parts every week, can they?
What most people don't get or know about is that when they refer to "The Server" they're actually talking about a bank of servers known as a server farm not just a single machine. It takes time to shut down each machine, duplicate code changes across multiple machines and then bring those same machines back up and check them all. This is why the process takes a certain amount of time. It is NOT like rebooting your computer and takes only a few minutes.
I worked for a company that supplied real time stock data to fortune 500 companies and our server farm was HUGE, didn't have that many simultaneous users compared to any MMO so who knows exactly how many servers they have to upgrade each and every week.
What most people don't get or know about is that when they refer to "The Server" they're actually talking about a bank of servers known as a server farm not just a single machine. It takes time to shut down each machine, duplicate code changes across multiple machines and then bring those same machines back up and check them all. This is why the process takes a certain amount of time. It is NOT like rebooting your computer and takes only a few minutes.
I worked for a company that supplied real time stock data to fortune 500 companies and our server farm was HUGE, didn't have that many simultaneous users compared to any MMO so who knows exactly how many servers they have to upgrade each and every week.
True... but don't confuse fortune 500 competency with cryptic studios.
SOME server farms are as you describe. It appears Cryptic went the "bargain" route and use the same servers across all their games, up to and including cross-chat from other cryptic online games being possible inside STO. I would be surprised if the physical hardware was more than 2, maybe 3 machines, not counting virtual instances and virtual machines multiplied on a single hardware computer.
EDIT: P.S. With the amount of corporate correspondence, server share folders, backups (so many backups! Must save the data!), I bet a fortune 500 company has far more server requirements than any online game, ever. That includes WOW. The tech infrastructure in these companies is enourmous.
What most people don't get or know about is that when they refer to "The Server" they're actually talking about a bank of servers known as a server farm not just a single machine. It takes time to shut down each machine, duplicate code changes across multiple machines and then bring those same machines back up and check them all. This is why the process takes a certain amount of time. It is NOT like rebooting your computer and takes only a few minutes.
I worked for a company that supplied real time stock data to fortune 500 companies and our server farm was HUGE, didn't have that many simultaneous users compared to any MMO so who knows exactly how many servers they have to upgrade each and every week.
I fully understand that. I actually assumed that when they said the "shard" was coming down, they literally meant the "Shard", the boards loaded into the mainframes. I'm aware that the server isn't a single machine, a single harddrive, a single processer, etc.
However, having worked on these before, I also remember having a central workstation where I could push to every machine I was connected to. If I had to send a file, an update, a command, I could do a broadcast and boom, every machine was done at once. Duplicating the code across two, twenty, or two hundred for that matter, shouldn't be that hard(unless there are errors and THEN you have to do them all individually, god help that poor soul).
True... but don't confuse fortune 500 competency with cryptic studios.
SOME server farms are as you describe. It appears Cryptic went the "bargain" route and use the same servers across all their games, up to and including cross-chat from other cryptic online games being possible inside STO. I would be surprised if the physical hardware was more than 2, maybe 3 machines, not counting virtual instances and virtual machines multiplied on a single hardware computer.
EDIT: P.S. With the amount of corporate correspondence, server share folders, backups (so many backups! Must save the data!), I bet a fortune 500 company has far more server requirements than any online game, ever. That includes WOW. The tech infrastructure in these companies is enourmous.
I guess I should have known that but I figured with it being a COMMERCIAL website that they would at least have approximately those same requirements given that the user base is so much larger at any given moment. But now I recall any financial transactions are NOT conducted onsite and you're redirected to the website that handles all that.
I'm stunned about the cross game chat thing though, that's just .....different I guess would be the pc term. Multiple games on the same server too, whew. No wonder they have to change the gerbils so often.
Comments
It matters because SENIORITY MUST BE RECOGNIZED! I must let everyone know that I WAS HERE BEFORE THEM! (maniacal laughter)
They can't possibly be replacing parts every week, can they?
Probably not. Usual maintainence would just be the patch. Unusual maintainence like this might involve new parts being installed, but I reckon they are performing thorough maintainence on everything to try and fix the lag/DC problems.
That's my guess at least.
Except that this isn't unusual. Normal maintainance is a few hours, every week, usually 7-9 UTC, whatever that is.
I suppose I could venture a guess that they're verifying that all the files are still intact and that the corruption is at a minimum, as well as updating the server software, but it would be interesting to hear from them what they do.
No point in trying to log in if you can't.
Peak playing time? It's dinner time!
You nailed it.^^
Simultaneously funny and sad that this would matter to anyone. Do you remember when you could view the total hours you've played since joining, then, no more? Imagine that number now, and what else you could have done with your time.
Do not go quietly into that downtime, rage against the patching of the server.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
and why would i listen to you? your signture says i shouldnt as your one of them in the little group of delta moaners! try again troll and this time try not to tell players what they love LOL
wanted to beat the Delta Meme n00bs LOL
Join Date a player made up is NOT correct!
If I were cryptic I would state an inflated timespan each week with a message to the effect that they can't do it do to a lack of power halfway through the span. Then finish early and claim to be a miracle worker.
Sounds good.
At least I'm all patched up already. Now all we need is the green light.
Probably not. It's possible though that they found an unexpected hardware problem during the maintenance testing this time; and it's taking a while to get the issue fixed. Maintenance IS done for a reason - and it's better they identify and fix something rather then just having the server crash outright.
PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
What most people don't get or know about is that when they refer to "The Server" they're actually talking about a bank of servers known as a server farm not just a single machine. It takes time to shut down each machine, duplicate code changes across multiple machines and then bring those same machines back up and check them all. This is why the process takes a certain amount of time. It is NOT like rebooting your computer and takes only a few minutes.
I worked for a company that supplied real time stock data to fortune 500 companies and our server farm was HUGE, didn't have that many simultaneous users compared to any MMO so who knows exactly how many servers they have to upgrade each and every week.
True... but don't confuse fortune 500 competency with cryptic studios.
SOME server farms are as you describe. It appears Cryptic went the "bargain" route and use the same servers across all their games, up to and including cross-chat from other cryptic online games being possible inside STO. I would be surprised if the physical hardware was more than 2, maybe 3 machines, not counting virtual instances and virtual machines multiplied on a single hardware computer.
EDIT: P.S. With the amount of corporate correspondence, server share folders, backups (so many backups! Must save the data!), I bet a fortune 500 company has far more server requirements than any online game, ever. That includes WOW. The tech infrastructure in these companies is enourmous.
I fully understand that. I actually assumed that when they said the "shard" was coming down, they literally meant the "Shard", the boards loaded into the mainframes. I'm aware that the server isn't a single machine, a single harddrive, a single processer, etc.
However, having worked on these before, I also remember having a central workstation where I could push to every machine I was connected to. If I had to send a file, an update, a command, I could do a broadcast and boom, every machine was done at once. Duplicating the code across two, twenty, or two hundred for that matter, shouldn't be that hard(unless there are errors and THEN you have to do them all individually, god help that poor soul).
I guess I should have known that but I figured with it being a COMMERCIAL website that they would at least have approximately those same requirements given that the user base is so much larger at any given moment. But now I recall any financial transactions are NOT conducted onsite and you're redirected to the website that handles all that.
I'm stunned about the cross game chat thing though, that's just .....different I guess would be the pc term. Multiple games on the same server too, whew. No wonder they have to change the gerbils so often.