SL & GTL problems // data loss

[arnoh]

Hi,

I was about to move SL & GTL to a new server this weekend. In the middle of migration disaster struck.

For reasons beyond my control our contract with the old server was terminated today 0:00 CET, and not several days later, as I was made to believe. That means that the old server and its FTP backup are gone and data has been lost.

The current status:

• GTL: all reviews are here, but member list, current review queue etc. has been lost, last known data is 7 months old, from 2012-08-30
• SL:
  • wiki pages: last known version March 2nd, 1 month old
  • user profiles, recentchanges entries, discussions (talk pages): last known version 7 months old, from 2012-08-30
  • archive of wiki pages: lost 40 months of data, last known version from 2009-11-01

The data in between is lost, completely, with no hope of getting it back.

I know that I'm the one to blame and I will take full responsibility. I'm terribly sorry for the mess.
The data was backed up daily to an FTP backup area (same hosting company, same contract), because I was prepared for a server failure. I was not prepared, however, for an organizational failure. Apparently the hosting company has a process whereas they wipe the server discs and the FTP backup within some minutes/hours of the end of the contract due to "privacy policies" - there is no way in getting the information back. As I said, I was unaware that the contract was ending today otherwise this would not have happened.

Currently SL & GTL are unavailable and will remain so for at least the next 2-3 days.
By then I should have the sites back running on the new server.

I'm deeply sorry & still in a state of shock.
I keep you informed about any updates.

regards,
/Arno

ps: if you cannot reach me at my ahollosi@xmp.net address, try ahollosi@gmail.com.
pps: if you have sent me an email between 15.00 CET yesterday and 12.00 CET today, it may have been lost too.

[emeraldemon]

Whatever happens, thanks for running Sensei's Library. It's been the best Go resource online for a long time.

[anoek]

Wow that's rough, what an awful policy they have. I call BS on their "privacy policies" excuse, that's just a horrible thing to do.

[Splatted]

+1 to what emeraldemon said. I doubt that in the whole of the internet there is a single English speaking go player that doesn't make use of those sites. Organisational failures are just a reminder that these things require organising, and that we should all be incredibly greatful for the work you've put in.

[logan]

There goes the 500+ pages I added : (

[hyperpape]

Terribly sorry to hear that, and thanks for all of your work running SL.

I don't have time to think about this right now, but the first couple of thoughts that went through my head are the internet archive, the google cache, and local caches. I wonder if there's any way to retrieve the changed pages.

[peppernut]

Google will have a lot of those pages in its cache. It may be possible to retrieve the cached verions with some clever scripting.

[Bonobo]

Hello Arno,


many thanks also from me for all the work you’ve done. And please don’t feel bad because all of this—to whom could such things happen if not to those who actually build something?

Does SL have a PayPal account where one could contribute some $€¥?


Greetings, Tom

[PeterPeter]

I have been trying to access the Google caches, but unfortunately the images (that are so helpful) do not seem to be accessible. Also, in many cases, the last Google crawl date is not much better than your last backup.

I find it difficult to believe that the old server company really cannot offer anything. Could you name them, so that we (and the whole world) can see their terms and conditions?

[Mage]

Sorry to hear about this. Hope things get better soon and thank you for SL

[Bonobo]

Archive.org has a snapshot from Feb 16 http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://senseis.xmp.net/

Don’t know how much they’ve stored, though, but I’ve been able to load a few pages there.

[daal]

This hurts, and I'm really sorry both for you and for those whose contributions have been lost. As you can see, nobody is particularly interested in placing any blame (though ISPs are not exactly famous for being helpful to users leaving their server), so as others have said, my appreciation for what you have accomplished is in no way diminished by the cruelty of this mishap. I am reminded of my first experiences with computers and learning the value of "save" the hard way. I've viewed these machines with suspicion ever since, though it's surprising how often they've gotten me to let my guard down.

[arnoh]

SL is online again.
If you find any problems apart from the ones mentioned in WikiNews please drop me a line (ahollosi@xmp.net).

Thanks for all the nice comments. I hope I will not disappoint you again.
I am deeply sorry for my mistakes and the data loss.

/Arno

ps: next up: working on GTL, then my private sites.

[Bonobo]

Thank you, Arno

I see that you created an SL Page with information about this event.

And again, please don’t chasten yourself, it doesn’t make things any better, and after all things could have come a LOT worse. The sun prematurely going nova, asteroids hitting Vienna, GF/BF leaving, North Korea launching nuclear missiles …

Let’s be happy that we’re alive and well. I believe this may be like a forest fire after which new green sprouts everywhere, and we find what looked like dead wood ain’t that dead after all.

You’ve created a wonderful thing, this “Sensei’s Library”. And I for one will download your snapshots regularly from now on.


BTW I also enjoyed reading your somewhat olden “Thoughts about SL”, especially the part about hugs …

…and although hugs seem to have gotten a bit out of fashion I propose a big group hug now.

Choose yours (mine’s got the “X”):

[X]

[ ]

[ ]

Greetings, Tom

[aokun]

Arno,

Sorry to hear about the snafu. Let me know if there's any way we can help.

Andy