How long is a 'short time' - Homepages maintenance

[#1]

Ah-ha, well the *good* news is that it now appears to be working again however the *bad* news is logfiles show data was restored from 14th January
Time for me to go checking for missing stuff I guess but what about the more recent logfiles and in particular the data for yesterday ? Has this been lost or will it be regenerated sometime soon(ish) ?

[#2]

I'm trying to find out about the weblogs, I'll get back into this thread when I know more.

[#3]

My site not working - shows index from 16th Jan at 18:33 hrs.
I hope this will be resolved?

[#4]

I've posted an update to the service status thread, this can be found here:-
http://usertools.plus.net/status/archive/1200581821.htm

[#5]

Quote: "..These are being recreated currently and should be available for all customers by the end of the day. Customers affected by this problem will have their website content restored once the directories have been recreated...."
What time is 'end of the day' and is mine affected?

[#6]

Unfortunately it looks like yours is one of the small amount of customers' sites we won't be able to recover. We're sending an email to the customers affected in this way shortly.

[#7]

Flipping great!    - just when I thought Plusnet were turning a corner they go and pull something like this. Don't you backup your hosting information???!
Well this has caused me a lot of bother and I want compensation for this. Afterall it is only a small amount of customers affected!   
Plusnet offer hosting for 5 domains - that is a breach of T&Cs!!!

[#8]

Quote from: geezer

Flipping great!    - just when I thought Plusnet were turning a corner they go and pull something like this. Don't you backup your hosting information???!

We don't take full back-ups, however the data is replicated across 2 sites, unfortunately the replication chain broke which was part of the reason we were migrating to a new storage platform. Due to the circumstances in which this occurred we lost a small amount of data.
While we were performing work to resolve the replication to the secondary site, a disk failed on the primary site which is why some data has been lost.

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Plusnet offer hosting for 5 domains - that is a breach of T&Cs!!!

This isn't a breach of the T&C's.

[#9]

Quote from: Chris

We don't take full back-ups, however the data is replicated across 2 sites, unfortunately the replication chain broke which was part of the reason we were migrating to a new storage platform. Due to the circumstances in which this occurred we lost a small amount of data. While we were performing work to resolve the replication to the secondary site, a disk failed on the primary site which is why some data has been lost.

Why don't full backups take place? Any web company that has websites hosted takes regular backups or is this seen as not worthwhile?
This is very poor of Plusnet - if you are offering website hosting then it should be professionally done not on a shoestring.
I am very annoyed (an no doubt others yet to find out too) and when you perform like this it doesn't just damage the already damaged name of PN but B.T. too!
I also find the "is has affected a small number of customers..." attached to such cock-ups offensive as it implies that "it's not too bad as could have been much worse!!"
Guess who won't be recommending PN?
Raging....
Still expect compensation for all affected as it is only a small number isn't it?

[#10]

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We're sending an email to the customers affected in this way shortly.

This email will now be sent tomorrow morning.

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Why don't full backups take place?

The data is replicated across 2 sites, so there are normally 2 copies of it, however we encountered a problem with the replication between these. While we were working on the secondary site the primary site had a disk failure.
I understand the frustration here, however the failure was bad luck coming at a time while we were working on the secondary storage.

[#11]

Hi,
I would agree about use of words like 'small' actually - It's irrelevant how few customers are affected if you are one who is. I will make sure that feedback is heard.
We will be contacting the customers affected by this tomorrow, so can I ask those of you to hang on for that. We'll certainly do everything we can to make amends for the inconvenience this must inevitably have caused.  
One thing I would suggest is that we are careful about the difference around discussing Backup and Replication. We did have off-site data replication which in just about every circumstance you can imagine would give you the same functionality as a backup. This was a case of exceptionally bad luck, but even so that's not an excuse.
As ever, we believe in being totally open with customers and as with any such situation we will want to explain exactly what happened and why. That won't be an immediate answer, but rest assured we will provide all the information we have.
Ian

[#12]

Thanks Chris/Ian for the replies.
Have calmed down a little since but appreciate what has been said and to be done.
I am not having a personal attack on anyone of course but no doubt the frustration that is felt/to be felt will no doubt be aired.
Only hope that the number affected is me to be honest and no more.

[#13]

I wonder just how "small" this number is - I've already had a call from one of my customers whose website has vanished.
Unfortunately it's the website of a property development and contruction company and the fact that there's nothing there is really going to do them some damage if not rectified soon.
Plusnet, I'm beginning to worry about you.... 

[#14]

I don't think it's "small" at all..
Having referred plenty of people over the years, checking the usernames of the ones I know, about 80% of the wesites are hosed.
I think this is MUCH bigger than Plusnet are making out, and I also think the multi-site backups, that failed at the same time excuse is so remote, that I smell BS there too.. 
I also remember the last time this happened, when Plusnet made such a big deal about how it could never happen again...
Surely IF, as Plusnet say, it's a very small amount of customers, then there should not be a problem offering them a months free broadband as compensation.....

[#15]

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I think this is MUCH bigger than Plusnet are making out.

Believe me it isnt. We have no need to hide this and it certainly would do us no good. Ultimately the truth will always come out so thats the way we play it. Upfront from the off.

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and I also think the multi-site backups, that failed at the same time excuse is so remote, that I smell BS there too.

Again, BS would get us absolutely no-where. We have suffered failures and issues in the past and we have handled those problems in an open and honest manner. To do it any other way would most certainly bite us in the rear. We are certainly not going to approach this one in any other way.
I am more than happy to go through your list of referrals tomorrow morning and examine the websites of the 80% which are affected and get back to you with details of my findings.
I look forward to getting to the bottom of this for you.