Categories
Status

Array BBU on “mail2”

This morning we received a diagnostic notification from the array controller for MX record mail2.rollernet.us that the battery backup unit (BBU) heath check had failed. As such, we will be replacing it ASAP as an emergency maintenance event. There is no major operational impact from this event as the array continues to operate in a failsafe mode without its write cache enabled. We will update this post when we set a time to replace the BBU.

[20100914 11:53] The replacement battery has arrived. We are preparing to remove the affected server from the rack; replacing the BBU requires the server to be powered down.

[20100914 12:07] BBU replacement in progress.

[20100914 12:21] BBU replacement complete.

Categories
Announcements Changes

New: Mail Box Protocol Control

We’ve added a new, simple feature that allows a hosted mail box to limit whether or not IMAP or POP3 connections are allowed.  This is controlled through two new options in the actions selector for each mail box:

Mail Box Protocol Control

Attempting to access a mail box using a disabled protocol will result in an authentication failure. The default is to allow both protocols. Disabling IMAP will also disable webmail since it’s an IMAP client.

Categories
Changes

New Invoice Options

We’ve updated our invoice system so that it will now generate invoices as attachments: either as plain text (the default) or as a fancy PDF attachment complete with logo. We’re going to be making other updates to the email templates the system sends out over the next week or two as well. Unfortunately for our international customers the PDF option is not fully UTF-8 compatible due to difficulties with XeTeX and the wide range of possible fonts (such as those for Chinese). The plain text attachment option is fully UTF-8 clean.

There is also a new option to request an invoice copy to be sent by mail. However, using this option will add a mandatory $1.50 fee for postage and handling. Unless you absolutely require us to send a paper copy, we recommend printing the PDF version since it is the same thing we’d mail. In the future we will be adding a digital signature option for the attachments.

New invoice options.

These options can be found on the Account Preferences page of the ACC at: https://acc.rollernet.us/account/preferences.php

The new routines were thoroughly tested outside of the main billing application, so hopefully there won’t be any embarrassing bugs during the next billing run. In the event of a billing error, please notify us and we’ll correct them. Thanks!

Categories
Changes IPv6

6to4 Relay Activated

Roller Network has activated a 6to4 relay on one of our border routers.

We have several customers using 6to4 addresses, so instead of relying on public relays for this traffic we will now originate it ourselves. Scanning through the logs and performing a traceroute/ping on several of them revealed working connectivity, but in the event of any trouble with 6to4 addresses, please report it to us.

Categories
Status

POTS Line Work

We will be doing some unplanned work on our POTS lines throughout the day. Our call volume is typically extremely low and while we will endeavor to keep interruptions to a minimum, if you do happen to call us with a “ring no answer” please wait a few minutes try again. No services will be affected other than our main voice phone number.

UPDATE: This work has been completed. (16:41)