Did you know that Black Night Software are on Twitter and Facebook?
Twitter : twitter.com/blacknightsw
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Black-Night-Software-Mac-Hosting/255292695928
LinkedIn : http://uk.linkedin.com/in/blacknightsoftware
We hope to utilise these sites to keep our customers updated with developments.
We are aware that our main smtp server is being blocked by Hotmail which is possibly due to our server being blacklisted at backscatterer.org. We suspect this was caused due to an accidental loop when we configured a new email server though not 100% certain. We have contacted Hotmail and awaiting a response.
Until we resolve this issue all customers are advised to change their SMTP server to that of your ISP.
WHO IS AFFECTED :
All customers using pop3.blacknight.co.uk/smtp.blacknight.co.uk as their outgoing server and associated web sites that send out email via this server
WHO IS NOT AFFECTED :
Customers who have migrated to newsmtp.blacknight.co.uk or who are using their own ISP SMTP servers
In order to remain competitive and avoid price rises we have made the decision to move our servers away from the Docklands datacentre to a new, highly secure datacentre in Cambridge. By doing this we are also able to grow due to the flexibility that will be provided to us from the datacentre.
However, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. Network and internet connections will remain the same. As a result of this move we are going to have to change the IP addresses of all servers and there will be a period of downtime whilst we initiate this change.
Downtime Details for ALL SERVERS
Which server : All servers, including colocation and dedicated
Who is affected : All customers
When : Sunday 8th November
How long : We envisage a downtime of approximately 2.5 hours. Our scheduled plan* is as follows :
09.00 All servers will be configured for the new IP addresses as shown below, shut down and loaded onto transportation. At the same time we will be doing a DNS change so that all domain names that we have in our DNS have the new IP addresses.
09.45 Servers will be transported to Cambridge
13.00 Servers at this point should be being installed and turned on.
12.30 All server should be back online.
*The above times are provisional and are subject to change!
| Server | Old IP | New IP |
| Lasso 8.5 Server
macosx3.blacknight.co.uk |
195.177.192.59 | 91.215.180.6 |
| Lasso 7 Server
macosx2.blacknight.co.uk |
195.177.192.177 | 91.215.180.10 |
| Netpublish Server | 195.177.192.92 | 91.215.180.13 |
| Main Email Server | 195.177.192.170 | 91.215.180.4 |
| FileMaker Services | 195.177.192.177 | 91.215.180.10 |
| NAS Backup Service | 195.177.192.234 | 91.215.180.3 |
| If you have a server colocated with us or currently have a dedicated server you will be contacted directly with further information and your new IP address.Finally if you have a shopping cart solution, WordPress or any other PHP driven solution that uses MySQL you must change the configuration from the IP address in your config to the relevant server name instead of the IP as soon as possible.
For example if you are on the 195.177.192.177 server then you need to change your config to point to macosx2.blacknight.co.uk. Note that we have already performed this change for some sites that we are aware of. |
||
09.18am
We are aware of a problem with pop3.blacknight.co.uk which is currently unresponsive. We are investigating now and hope to have this resolved in the next few minutes.
09.33am
This server is now back online
Due to unforseen circumstances the installation of the firewall upgrade has been delayed until Tuesday 17th February.
Just a quick post to advise all customers that we will be increasing our Network Protection with the installation of a new FireWall. We have chosen the Juniper SSG with an IPS (Deep Inspection firewall) subscription which should offer increased protection to our servers.
This firewall will be installed on Thursday 12th February.
8.20pm - 8.30pm
Our APC Masterswitch unit developed a fault and cut the power to all servers. We have since restarted all outlets and all servers and services are back online.
A replacement unit will be ordered as soon as possible
We are currently investigating a problem with the Mail server corrupting mailboxes and delaying email.
Whilst we do not think these issues are related we are running emergency maintenance on the mail server and as a result it is currently offline.
We will update this post as soon as we have more information.
**Edit** 18.39
Server diagnostics have found no hardware or software issues. We have restarted the mail server and will continue to monitor developments
Please be advised that we will be performing maintenance on the following server(s) this weekend during the scheduled maintenance window (Saturday 8am to 10am).
Other services affected by this maintenance :
All other servers not listed above are not affected by this maintenance. Downtime is expected to be around 3 minutes after the updates have finished and during the updates you may see slow serving speed.
**Update**
8.55am The updates have been installed