Intermittant site not found

[jtr1962]

I mentioned this problem in another thread also. Sometimes I'll post here, go back to SF a few minutes later, and then get "site not found", or whatever the message is that IE gives when it can't connect to a site. This condition may persist for only a few minutes, and sometimes even the better part of a day. I posted this morning, and was unable to access SR until now.

I suspect this is somehow tied in with the move to a new server. I'm probably being directed to the old IP address sometimes. As a fix, might it be possible to be automatically redirected to the proper IP address whenever you're sent to the old one? Is this happening to anyone else?

 

[CityK]

Joe,

yes, I've been experiencing the same. (BTW, I saw your post the other day and had meant to respond during some free time but never remembered).

 

[Handruin]

The old server no longer exists. In another thread I mentioned that I did put a redirect to the new server once I realized that some people were being directed to the old server.

I'm not sure why you would still be experiencing page not found message because of the move. It's been a couple weeks now, and the fact that you mentioned it happens at SR leads me to think it might be something with your ISP, or configuration? Can you try an nslookup for www.storageforum.net and see what it returns during the time you can't connect? Also see if you can ping the site by IP address (64.247.56.118). Last, try connecting to the site using the following addresses:

http://swordfish.dnsvelocity.com
http://64.247.56.118
then
http://swordfish.dnsvelocity.com/~handruin/
http://64.247.56.118/~handruin/

Let me know if any of those work during the time you can't connect.

 

[jtr1962]

It's been a couple weeks now, and the fact that you mentioned it happens at SR leads me to think it might be something with your ISP, or configuration?

Actually, SR was a typo. I meant to say SF in that sentence. No problems with SR or any other sites, just SF. I'll try the things you say next time it happens and see if they work. The fact that CityK is also experiencing this leads me to believe that we are occasionally being redirected to the old site for unknown reasons.

It may just take a little longer than expected for the new IP address to propagate entirely through the Internet. I'm obviously no expert on this stuff, but I can't think of anything else at the moment.

BTW CityK, who is your ISP? I'm currently on RoadRunner.

 

[sechs]

I am *not* experiencing this issue. So, it's likely towards your respective ends.

 

[CityK]

BTW CityK, who is your ISP? I'm currently on RoadRunner.

Rogers (cable)

 

[jtr1962]

http://swordfish.dnsvelocity.com
http://64.247.56.118
then
http://swordfish.dnsvelocity.com/~handruin/
http://64.247.56.118/~handruin/

Let me know if any of those work during the time you can't connect.

I couldn't find SF just now so I tried those links from a copy of this thread saved on my hard drive.

The first link gives me a picture with cars and the text "STATE OF EMERGENCY". The second one gives a cPanel screen which says "There is no website configured at this address". The last two links take me to SF.

 

[Handruin]

Thanks for the feedback, I'll look into this some more. We were having an issue where many people were seeing the website for "State of emergency", but only for handruin.com and franticdownstream, not SF. If you're curious, the state of emergency website is for a friend of mine who has a sub domain off of handruin.com...some how it is getting intermingled with SF and my other domains.

I'll open a support ticket to ask why some people are still seeing the wrong website (or in your case, no website).

The second link confirms that you can find our server. The third and fourth link also help me establish that you are finding the site correctly by IP address and also by a domain name. The fourth link is the default name for the entire server, so the fact that you can find SF by this name means there is something wrong with the configuration used for storageforum.net. Are you using dialup, or do I remember correctly that you now have broadband?

 

[jtr1962]

Are you using dialup, or do I remember correctly that you now have broadband?

I'm on broadband-RoadRunner to be specific.

 

[Handruin]

Ah, sorry, I looked up a few posts and you already mentioned that.

 

[Will Rickards WT]

I experience this problem.
This weekend I couldn't get to it at all from home (RCN Cable).
I do remember gettting it at work too.

 

[miksmi]

I get "site not found" often, including the last two days. ISP is Speakeasy DSL. I'm in a suburb of Washington, DC.

 

[Handruin]

Thanks for the feedback, I'm sorry you guys are having trouble getting to the site. I'll let you know once I hear something from support.

I've explained that it's happening with numerous ISP's and at different times. I also mentioned that at least one person (jtr) can get to the site with the other addresses I listed above during this time.

If anyone else who's having this problem could let me know about what time it occurs, and also if you can access the site with the other addresses, that would be very helpful.

 

[Handruin]

If you guys remember the next time it happens, can you do a tracert to www.storageforum.net. They've asked me for this info. If you don't want to, don't worry about it, but if you don't mind, can you PM me the results?

 

[Will Rickards WT]

If we can't get here how can we PM you?

 

[Handruin]

PM me after you can get here. Or, if you prefer, send by e-mail to webmaster

at

storage f orum .net

 

[blakerwry]

7:24pm Central time

[blake@localhost blake]$ dig storageforum.net

; <<>> DiG 9.2.3 <<>> storageforum.net
;; global options:  printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: SERVFAIL, id: 19303
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;storageforum.net.              IN      A

;; Query time: 158 msec
;; SERVER: 208.38.65.37#53(208.38.65.37)
;; WHEN: Sat Sep 11 19:25:52 2004
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 34

[blake@localhost blake]$ whois storageforum.net
[Querying whois.internic.net]
[Redirected to whois.dotster.com]
[Querying whois.dotster.com]
[whois.dotster.com]


The data contained in the WHOIS database, while
believed by the company to be reliable, is provided "as is",
with no guarantee or warranties regarding its accuracy.  This
information is provided for the sole purpose of assisting you
in obtaining information about domain name registration records.
Any use of this data for any other purpose, including but not
limited to, allowing or making possible dissemination or
collection of this data in part or in its entirety for any
purpose, such as the transmission of unsolicited advertising and
solicitations, is expressly forbidden without the prior written
permission of this company. You may not use the data to
allow, enable, or otherwise support any marketing activities,
regardless of the medium used. Such media include but are not
limited to e-mail, telephone, facsimile, postal mail, SMS, and
wireless alerts. In addition, you may not sell or redistribute
the data. By submitting an inquiry, you agree to these terms of
usage and limitations of warranty. Please limit your queries to
10 per minute and one connection.

Registrant:
   Douglas Cahill
   shrewsbury
   na, MA na
   US

   Registrar: DOTSTER
   Domain Name: STORAGEFORUM.NET
      Created on: 22-JAN-02
      Expires on: 22-JAN-06
      Last Updated on: 30-NOV-03

   Administrative, Technical Contact:
      Cahill, Douglas  [email]webmaster@storageforum.net[/email]
      shrewsbury
      na, MA  na
      US
      0000000000


   Domain servers in listed order:
      NS1.FRANTICDOWNSTREAM.COM
      NS2.FRANTICDOWNSTREAM.COM

End of Whois Information
[blake@localhost blake]$ ping storageforum.net
ping: unknown host storageforum.net
[blake@localhost blake]$ nslookup storageforum.net
Server:         208.38.65.37
Address:        208.38.65.37#53

** server can't find storageforum.net: SERVFAIL

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\blake>tracert storageforum.net
Unable to resolve target system name storageforum.net.

C:\Documents and Settings\blake>nslookup storageforum.net
Server:  sts.sherbtel.net
Address:  208.38.65.37

*** sts.sherbtel.net can't find storageforum.net: Server failed

C:\Documents and Settings\blake>nslookup storageforum.net ns1.sprintlink.net
Server:  ns1.sprintlink.net
Address:  204.117.214.10

DNS request timed out.
    timeout was 2 seconds.
Name:    storageforum.net
Address:  64.247.56.118


C:\Documents and Settings\blake>nslookup storageforum.net ns2.sprintlink.net
Server:  ns2.sprintlink.net
Address:  199.2.252.10

DNS request timed out.
    timeout was 2 seconds.
Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    storageforum.net
Address:  64.247.56.118


C:\Documents and Settings\blake>nslookup storageforum.net DNS1.rr.com
Server:  dns1.rr.com
Address:  24.30.200.3

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    storageforum.net
Address:  64.247.56.118


C:\Documents and Settings\blake>nslookup storageforum.net
Server:  sts.sherbtel.net
Address:  208.38.65.37

*** sts.sherbtel.net can't find storageforum.net: Server failed

C:\Documents and Settings\blake>nslookup yahoo.com
Server:  sts.sherbtel.net
Address:  208.38.65.37

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    yahoo.com
Addresses:  216.109.112.135, 66.94.234.13


C:\Documents and Settings\blake>nslookup anime-jennie.com
Server:  sts.sherbtel.net
Address:  208.38.65.37

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    anime-jennie.com
Address:  69.64.50.198


C:\Documents and Settings\blake>nslookup [url]www.balh.com[/url]
Server:  sts.sherbtel.net
Address:  208.38.65.37

Name:    [url]www.balh.com[/url]
Address:  208.254.3.160


C:\Documents and Settings\blake>nslookup [url]www.funkymunky.com[/url]
Server:  sts.sherbtel.net
Address:  208.38.65.37

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    wf.zoneedit.com
Addresses:  69.10.136.209, 207.44.244.117
Aliases:  [url]www.funkymunky.com[/url]


C:\Documents and Settings\blake>

For whatever reason some DNS servers are resolving correctly, others are not. Keep in mind that it took 2 attempts for either of sprints DNS servers to find the domain in DNS... odd...

This is the intermittant problem I've had ever since the switchover... this was working fine yesterday and then for some reason not today. This is the only site that I've experienced problems with.

 

[Handruin]

Thanks for the detailed info, I'll pass it along and see if they can come up with something.

 

[Will Rickards WT]

At home I still can't connect.
I tried tracert but it came back without being able to resolve the domain to an IP. I could get to www.handruin.com though. I didn't try the other addresses because I could get here to see them. So I'll check tonight when I get home.

 

[Handruin]

They are still working on the ticket. Last update I had was that they are working with NAC (the datacenter) to understand the problem.

Will, can you connect using http://64.247.56.118/~handruin/ from your home just as a temporary workaround?

 

[Buck]

This sure is interesting, especially considering that I haven't experienced any of these recent issues.

 

[blakerwry]

I had a similar DNS issue with my own site, anime-jennie.com

i fixed it by going to another DNS provider. everyDNS.net

Free DNS services for static or dynamic DNS.

 

[mubs]

I haven't experienced any of these recent issues.

Me neither.

 

[miksmi]

Will, can you connect using http://64.247.56.118/~handruin/ from your home just as a temporary workaround?

Thanks for the IP address and home directory as I've had site not found errors for the last two days. (It works today.) I'll post a traceroute the next time I have the error.

 

[CityK]

So I was, like, writing a Pultzer prize winning reply to Tea right, like when SF died on me (9:24AM). It, like, would not connect. It said something like "dude, the page you requested has timed out". I said, like, woooow dude, your tripping me.

I googled for Handruin at ~9:45AM, and then, like, SF worked. Cool.

So then, like, I, like, tried all those things the man wanted me to try, right, like when the site gets broke:

ping 64.247356.118 worked no problem
cPanel - (greenish/blue) no website at this address
index - (red) state of emergency
SF
SF
Handruin (don't know where I'm going)
SF

No clue what traclert is -- I think the man is just trying to mess me up. Stop bringing me down man!

And then like, when I tried to see what I wrote, it asked me for my id again. Like what kind of police state is this man? I already showed you my papers!

 

[mubs]

You, like, don't get the idea, like, do you?

 

[CityK]

Not a clue

In seriousness, I didn't have the links Handy povided bookmarked or written down, so I was unable to test while I was unable to access the site the "traditional" way.

 

[Howell]

Not a clue

In seriousness, I didn't have the links Handy povided bookmarked or written down, so I was unable to test while I was unable to access the site the "traditional" way.

Time to buy a printer?

FWIW, I'm sailing with Buck and mubs.

 

[CityK]

Time to buy a printer?

No, time to get better organized.

 

[Howell]

Preach it!

 

[CityK]

Doug,

To give an example of one of the problems that I'm encountering is that many of my intermittent "site not found" cases are terribly brief. For example, 10:21PM, I try to access SF -> can not be found. I immediately clicked the SF test pages Bookmark toolbar folder I created (this launches the 4 test sites you requested and also the "regular" SF site to make sure its still not working). I also launched a batch file that runs ping, nslookup, tracert. But SF was already back to being resolved for me for these "tests". Sometimes this is the case, sometimes it takes 3 or 4 attempts before SF works. Other times, like yesterday, it goes down for minutes, as opposed to mere seconds.

If you want the output for this one, let me know, but I doubt its of much help given the site was being resolved.

 

[CityK]

I immediately clicked the SF test pages Bookmark toolbar folder I created (this launches the 4 test sites you requested and also the "regular" SF site to make sure its still not working). I also launched a batch file that runs ping, nslookup, tracert.

And that, Howell, is what I call getting organized! Yeah baby!

 

[blakerwry]

cityk, if you wish to manually specify your DNS servers you can resolve this problem. I find that Sprint's DNS servers are pretty good.

204.117.214.10
199.2.252.10


I've noticed, like cityk, that these periods of interrruption can be very small.. the other day at school I noticed while I was browsing the site that it stopped resolving and I could not post a comment... I tried some more.. a few seconds later I got to the post screen... by the time I had finished a short reply the site would not resolve again.

I had complete network connectivity during the whole ordeal. The problem was completely with the name server's inability to resolve sf.

However, some times the intteruption can be several minutes. Ive manually specified your address in my hosts file at home... but it's probably better that you get this issue resolved...

 

[miksmi]

The outages I've experienced last 1-2 days.

 

[Will Rickards]

woohoo, I can access SF from home again!

 

[Handruin]

Will, I think my parents grew up in Drexel Hill, PA. Anywho, just an random piece of info.

 

[Will Rickards]

woohoo, I can access SF from home again!

boohoo, I can't access SF from home again (doing this from work vpn)
Is there some way of flushing the dns cache of my router or something like that? Netgear MR814v2

 

[Will Rickards WT]

woohoo, I can access SF from home again!

boohoo, I can't access SF from home again (doing this from work vpn)
Is there some way of flushing the dns cache of my router or something like that? Netgear MR814v2

Now it works... and it didn't a few hours ago.

 

[Howell]

Well, for the first time I just had difficulty getting to the site from work. Sorry handy, I didn't have your instructions.

Y:\>ping storageforum.net
Ping request could not find host storageforum.net. Please check the name and try again.

Y:\>nslookup www.storageforum.net
Server: <company internal DNS server>
Address: <company internal DNS server>

DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Request to <company internal DNS server> timed-out

Y:\>nslookup www.storageforum.net ns1.dyndns.org
Server: ns1.dyndns.org
Address: 63.208.196.90

Name: www.storageforum.net
Served by:
- E.ROOT-SERVERS.net


- F.ROOT-SERVERS.net


- G.ROOT-SERVERS.net


- H.ROOT-SERVERS.net


- I.ROOT-SERVERS.net


- J.ROOT-SERVERS.net


- K.ROOT-SERVERS.net


- L.ROOT-SERVERS.net


- M.ROOT-SERVERS.net


- A.ROOT-SERVERS.net

Y:\>nslookup www.storageforum.net A.ROOT-SERVERS.net
198.in-addr.arpa nameserver = chia.ARIN.NET
198.in-addr.arpa nameserver = dill.ARIN.NET
198.in-addr.arpa nameserver = BASIL.ARIN.NET
198.in-addr.arpa nameserver = henna.ARIN.NET
198.in-addr.arpa nameserver = indigo.ARIN.NET
198.in-addr.arpa nameserver = epazote.ARIN.NET
198.in-addr.arpa nameserver = figwort.ARIN.NET
*** Can't find server name for address 198.41.0.4: No information
Server: UnKnown
Address: 198.41.0.4

Name: www.storageforum.net
Served by:
- A.GTLD-SERVERS.net
192.5.6.30
net
- G.GTLD-SERVERS.net
192.42.93.30
net
- H.GTLD-SERVERS.net
192.54.112.30
net
- C.GTLD-SERVERS.net
192.26.92.30
net
- I.GTLD-SERVERS.net
192.43.172.30
net
- B.GTLD-SERVERS.net
192.33.14.30
net
- D.GTLD-SERVERS.net
192.31.80.30
net
- L.GTLD-SERVERS.net
192.41.162.30
net
- F.GTLD-SERVERS.net
192.35.51.30
net
- J.GTLD-SERVERS.net
192.48.79.30
net

Y:\>nslookup www.storageforum.net A.GTLD-SERVERS.net
(root) nameserver = a.root-servers.net
(root) nameserver = e.root-servers.net
(root) nameserver = l.root-servers.net
(root) nameserver = k.root-servers.net
(root) nameserver = c.root-servers.net
(root) nameserver = b.root-servers.net
(root) nameserver = m.root-servers.net
(root) nameserver = f.root-servers.net
(root) nameserver = d.root-servers.net
(root) nameserver = g.root-servers.net
(root) nameserver = i.root-servers.net
(root) nameserver = j.root-servers.net
(root) nameserver = h.root-servers.net
a.root-servers.net internet address = 198.41.0.4
e.root-servers.net internet address = 192.203.230.10
l.root-servers.net internet address = 198.32.64.12
k.root-servers.net internet address = 193.0.14.129
c.root-servers.net internet address = 192.33.4.12
b.root-servers.net internet address = 192.228.79.201
m.root-servers.net internet address = 202.12.27.33
f.root-servers.net internet address = 192.5.5.241
d.root-servers.net internet address = 128.8.10.90
g.root-servers.net internet address = 192.112.36.4
i.root-servers.net internet address = 192.36.148.17
j.root-servers.net internet address = 192.58.128.30
h.root-servers.net internet address = 128.63.2.53
*** Can't find server name for address 192.5.6.30: No information
Server: UnKnown
Address: 192.5.6.30

Name: www.storageforum.net
Served by:
- ns1.franticdownstream.com
64.247.56.117
storageforum.net
- ns2.franticdownstream.com
64.247.56.118
storageforum.net

OK, So A.GTLD-SERVERS.net knows ns1 and ns2 are supposed to be able to provide the IP address of storageforum.net. But, ns1 and ns2 can not be found by DNS name as evidenced below.

Y:\>nslookup www.storageforum.net ns1.franticdownstream.com
*** Can't find server address for 'ns1.franticdownstream.com':
Server: <company internal DNS server>
Address: <company internal DNS server>

DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Request to <company internal DNS server> timed-out

Y:\>nslookup www.storageforum.net ns2.franticdownstream.com
*** Can't find server address for 'ns2.franticdownstream.com':
Server: <company internal DNS server>
Address: <company internal DNS server>

DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Request to <company internal DNS server> timed-out

Y:\>nslookup www.storageforum.net 64.247.56.117
*** Can't find server name for address 64.247.56.117: Non-existent domain
Server: UnKnown
Address: 64.247.56.117

Name: storageforum.net
Address: 64.247.56.118
Aliases: www.storageforum.net


Y:\>nslookup www.storageforum.net 64.247.56.118
*** Can't find server name for address 64.247.56.118: Non-existent domain
Server: UnKnown
Address: 64.247.56.118

Name: storageforum.net
Address: 64.247.56.118
Aliases: www.storageforum.net

So na1 and ns2 do know where SF lives but these servers can only be talked to by IP address and they are shown to be alive by an IP address ping.

Y:\>ping ns1.franticdownstream.com
Ping request could not find host ns1.franticdownstream.com. Please check the nam
e and try again.

Y:\>ping 64.247.56.117

Pinging 64.247.56.117 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 64.247.56.117: bytes=32 time=119ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.247.56.117: bytes=32 time=195ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.247.56.117: bytes=32 time=135ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.247.56.117: bytes=32 time=177ms TTL=48

Ping statistics for 64.247.56.117:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 119ms, Maximum = 195ms, Average = 156ms

As soon as I ran:
Y:\>nslookup www.storageforum.net 64.247.56.117
&
Y:\>nslookup www.storageforum.net 64.247.56.118
I could get to the website.

 

[Will Rickards]

Dear Will Rickards,

Thank you for contacting RCN email support. I am here to assist you.

This is an issue with the DNS servers for the domain storageforum.net as the first name server does not resolve www.storageforum.net and has a high refresh and expire time.

You can check this information from:
http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/traversal.ch?domain=www.storageforum.net&type=A
http://www.dnsreport.com/tools/dnsreport.ch?domain=www.storageforum.net

You will need to contact the domain administrator for storageforum.net to resolve this issue.

If you need further assistance, please contact us again via email or phone at 1-800-RING-RCN (1-800-746-4726). If you contact us via email, in order to serve you in a timely manner, it may be necessary for an Associate other than myself to handle your next inquiry so please leave the previous messages intact in your response.

Thank You,
Kevin B.
RCN - The Live Wire of Communications
800-RING-RCN (800-746-4726)