Due to a failure of our router that connects us to the Internet, CSFBL is temporarily unavailable. A new router is expected to be received from Verizon on May 2, and we hope to be back online by the weekend.
To be specific, the router didn’t completely fail. The router’s external interface (to the public Internet) works fine, as does its wireless connectivity. What failed was the router’s four Ethernet (wired network) interfaces.
After 45 minutes on hold for a Verizon tech (and being disconnected once), I got a person who was able to confirm that my model router had a known problem where the Ethernet interfaces fail. They were nice enough to offer to ship a free replacement in two days (but were unable to ship it any faster), but couldn’t explain why they didn’t proactively replace customer’s routers who had this known problem. (He was able to tell based on the serial number of the router.)
Either way, this issue — and the fact that the current CSFBL server now has insufficient disk space for all the necessary databases and one week’s worth of backups — is forcing me to recognize that the days of self-hosting CSFBL in my basement are long gone. Managed dedicated hosting is the only long-term solution, albeit a pricey one (up to three times more per month than I pay now).
Oh, and for those who are curious — I will disable the CSFBL sims as soon as I can get access to the console. You see, there’s no keyboard or monitor hooked up to the box, and everything is controlled through the network — a network I can’t connect to right now.
Jelly In SD says:
Thanks for the update. So the sims are actually running right now? As in playoff surprises when we get back online?
brian says:
I was able to shut down the sims last night, so the last full sim that ran was actually the noon sim yesterday.
The server is busy right now doing all the fun maintenance chores that don’t get done often enough. One benefit of this is that we’re able to utilize unscheduled downtime to do a little maintenance. 🙂
BTW — GoDaddy should be forwarding traffic from CSFBL to this page, but apparently it’s not working. Sorry to those who are wondering for a long time what’s happening…
Jelly In SD says:
The good news is that this site is indexed in Google for [csfbl] (maybe page 2). That’s how I found it.
I’m glad to hear the IBA couldn’t have gotten too far into the playoffs. If I lose to Whit, it’s not going to be pretty.
DMan says:
I posted this message ion the Info Center
Jeff says:
You spoke of additional costs to the dedicated servers. I might be interested in helping you with the cost of this item. Please drop me an email regarding the aprx cost etc.
thanks
RandS says:
I’m going through withdrawl symptoms!
lostcanadian says:
Thank you for posting Brian. You don’t know what you have til it’s gone, and I have come to the conclusion that im a CSFBL junkie…..hurry I need another sim hit — hook me up 🙂
Bobo says:
Glad to hear that it’s just connectivity issues and not some catastrophic server failure.
brian says:
Verizon is delivering the new router today, so we should be back online by Saturday. I will likely keep sims suspended until Monday morning (6AM).
Mike says:
I just joined a new league (Alpha Psi Sigma) and the league still needs 5 more teams as of Thursday May 1st in order to fill up. Anyone who is reading this and wants to have a great time please join this league once the connection is back up!!!
Thanks.
lureguy says:
Good news finding these blogs via google. I too am addicted to CSFBL. Just knowing what is going on gives me peace of mind. Good luck with getting it back up.
brian says:
@lureguy:
I tried setting up forwarding from csfbl.com to this blog page so people knew what was going on, but it never worked. 🙁
ChrisG, DMan, and others all tried to get the word out to as many people as possible — I appreciate everyone’s effort in spreading the news, and everyone’s patience!
barroomhero says:
Well, it is still going to be a lot shorter than the issue last year. I think we can handle a few days down though. And as you said Brian, it is good to run the maintenance in the meantime.
brian says:
The wife just called, and the Verizon tech left, saying everything was fixed. When I get home tonight I’ll reconfigure the router and get things back online!
smartyllama says:
At what time-ish can we expect the site to be back up? Early morning? Afternoon?
smartyllama says:
lol, you posted while I was typing. Cool!
Anon says:
I know it’s not your fault, but I have three teams in the playoffs and now I’m going away for the weekend. my teams are gonna get killed without a rotation set.
Anon says:
I just read that sims suspended until monday. That’s great. I return Sunday. I was just hoping there wouldn’t be sims on Saturday although I know others are desperate for sims immediately.
CyMaddux31 says:
Thanks Brian for the updates and your dedication to CSFBL.
Apache11 says:
Good to hear something!!
thx, Brian for doing what you can … to keep us posted.
Hiredgoon / Rob says:
Thanks for the updates B.
Regarding the hosting costs etc, it might finally be time to make CSFBL a pay site.
Saibotofchilastra says:
Good to know what’s going on. Luckily I set a rotation for the playoffs, but was worried about the possibility of missing my chance to “trim the fat” before my leagues flip. Thanks for getting it done so quickly, and for bringing us such an awesome game.
Bobo says:
Brian you mentioned that they days of hosting CSFBL in your basement are over.
How soon do you expect to make this move? We can get some fundraising going
in the meantime.
Chris Gonyea says:
Brian is getting quotes from web hosting companies during the next week. Once we settle on a company, we would have to configure the server, transfer a couple hundred GB database over to it, and do some testing.
Doing most of that would of course require sims to be suspended, since it is hard to transfer a DB that is being changed every 6 hours. It probably would take several days for such a transfer to take place, given that transferring 50+ GB over the Internet isn’t easy, even in this age of broadband.
No ETA, but you will definitely hear more in the coming weeks. I know Brian wants this done before temperatures rise too much (we had problems keeping the server cool last summer).
JChuck says:
Thanks brian.
Somebody mentioned fundraising, but I am curious as to what happened to the last fundraising efforts for CSFBL. I remember brian mentioning a new server, and then discussions were surrounding a server that would be transferred to brian and we would run two servers, one for the forums and one for the sims…and neither ever seemed to materialize. Not trying to be difficult, but can we be assured that any fundraising efforts will actually produce the results we are promised this time around?
I’m trying to discuss this in a civil manner, by the way. I promise this is not an attack of any kind.
brian says:
@JChuck:
No attack taken. Every dollar ever taken in by CSFBL has been put back into the game — the game has run, and continues to run, at a deficit, even considering the money from the last server drive. In retrospect, NOT buying a new or second server a year ago was a good idea — it wouldn’t have eliminated the problem we experienced today, or the problems we routinely experience throughout the year (particularly in the summer with brownouts and overheating). Basements are nice places to hang memorabilia, not as good for hanging servers. 🙂
We have some plans in place for creating a steadier revenue stream to help cover costs as we move to more expensive (and more powerful) hosting solutions. I can’t say much yet, because I haven’t finished details.
BTW — CSFBL is back up. Writing an announcement now…
JP says:
Thanks for your hard work and having to spend all that time on the phone with Verizon. When I used to live in NYC, I ran the network/phones for my office and those Verizon people are a complete pain in the a$$. I’ve never been more frustrated with a situation then trying to a connection back up or get the phone lines working again. Thanks!
jp
LukeM says:
When will you be letting us know when we will have to start paying for the game?
brian says:
No ETA, but keep in mind that CSFBL will go the “freemium” approrach (similar to Hattrick.org), where you can play for free or pay for value-added “premium” services.
BTW — CSFBL is back, so you can post in the forums there. 🙂
Lureguy says:
Unable to access CSFBL this morning. :>)
Lureguy says:
Oops, now I can. Sorry.
mike says:
how come in postseason my hitters all advanced as normal but my pitchers tanked
walker 23 years old rookie of the year cy young last year went from po67 fi70 co65 sy52 to po 56
fi 58 co 55 fi47 thomas 29 year old went from 57 40 66 62 to 49 39 56 54 noyes a 21 year old went from 40 73 70 60 to 42 64 61 55 i was paying over 4 million for both development and drills this blows now what happen
Cecil says:
6/10/2008 – I am unable to access any csfbl url & do not find a current alternative site updating status
brian says:
@mike — you probably lack any money in scouting. Invest in scouting to see players more accurately.
@Cecil — site is up and running (and as far as I know has been) — are you still having problems?