Outage and SMTP problems

robmueller · 1st July 2005, 03:29 AM

Right, two separate issues.

We had a short outage as one of the frontend servers restarted all it's services due to a non-responding backend. This fixed itself within 10 minutes.

However about half of our users would have been experiencing problems sending email via SMTP for the last 2 hours or so. I finally tracked this one down and it should be fixed now. I've also worked out why our ping scripts didn't pick this up, and I'll make sure we put a check in place tomorrow so that this is automatically picked up and fixed in the future if it happens again.

Rob

mellwood · 1st July 2005, 05:44 AM

actually, mine is still down - i've quit & restarted the program i'm using (entourage); is there something else i can try?

robmueller · 1st July 2005, 02:39 PM

We've fixed the ping script so the authorisation server (sasl) is now checked every 2 minutes and automatically restarted if there are any problems, so this shouldn't happen again in the future.

mellwood: No, everything should be working fine now. Can you report some more details about error messages, etc

Rob

jongrove · 1st July 2005, 06:04 PM

Hi

I can't seem to connect to smtp.proxy.fastmail.fm on port 443 - usually I can, but not today? Does it have anything to do with the described problem?!

Regards Jon

mellwood · 1st July 2005, 08:01 PM

My smtp server is: mail.messagingengine.com

Under advanced sending options:
- "smtp service requires ssl" is checked
- "override default smtp port 25" is not checked
- "smtp server requires authentication" is checked & uses the same settings as incoming mail

Incoming mail works fine on IMAP & I am able to send mail through the website, just not on entourage, which has worked perfectly prior to yesterday.

The error message I receive is:

"An operation on the server timed out. The server may be down, overloaded, or there may be too much net traffic."

Error: -3259

Thanks.

fmfan · 1st July 2005, 09:15 PM

Right now I seem to be having an IMAP problem -
cannot download email.

Message:

Outlook Express

Your IMAP server has not responded in 60 seconds. Would you like to wait
another 60 seconds for the server to respond?

Account: (my account)
Server: mail.messagingengine.com

Using OE, SMTP seems to send, but when comes to
'Moving message 1 of 1...' , get same message as above:

Your IMAP server has not responded in 60 seconds. Would you like to wait
another 60 seconds for the server to respond?

Account: (my account)
Server: mail.messagingengine.com

fmfan · 1st July 2005, 09:19 PM

After composing above message, went back to OE.

IMAP now working. SMTP still working.

brong · 1st July 2005, 09:36 PM

The machine that the proxy goes to had a memory problem. It's pretty much fixed now, load is creaping back down towards sane levels.

Bron.

jjm · 1st July 2005, 10:13 PM

It's 3pm CET here, and I can't send email via the SMTP proxy. It looks like the fix did not quite make it.

My setup:
smtp.proxy...
port: 80
SSL

JJ.

jkibbe · 1st July 2005, 10:25 PM

Over the past 10 minutes:
Fastmail up
Fastmail down
Fastmail up
Fastmail down...

-Jason

CyberDyne · 1st July 2005, 10:26 PM

Same here.
2nd day in a row now where no email services from Fm whatsoever at approx 2pm GMT.

CyberDyne · 1st July 2005, 10:28 PM

I now have web access back but no IMAP.

jkibbe · 1st July 2005, 10:33 PM

Past 5 min:
Fastmail up again (types email)
Fastmail down again (doesn't send...)

CyberDyne · 1st July 2005, 10:36 PM

The truth is though, as frustrating as it is, its normally faultless, so im happy to tap my fingers and bide my time

brong · 1st July 2005, 11:12 PM

Ouch - it was nasty there. We've found a bottleneck that we've put a simple cache in place to tide us over for the next few days until we come up with a real solution.

My deepest apologies for the problem - the underlying cause was a long running query I was running. I had hoped it would be finished before the US day started, but it didn't quite make it, and the extra load was enough to push us over an elbow point which made everything slow down, putting even more load on the servers as clients tried to reconnect!

As I said in an earlier posting - a much more scalable proxy tool has recently become available (just this week!) and I'll be evaluating it as a very high priority.

Bron.

1st July 2005, 03:29 AM	#1
robmueller Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 6,098 Representative of: Fastmail.FM	Outage and SMTP problems Right, two separate issues. We had a short outage as one of the frontend servers restarted all it's services due to a non-responding backend. This fixed itself within 10 minutes. However about half of our users would have been experiencing problems sending email via SMTP for the last 2 hours or so. I finally tracked this one down and it should be fixed now. I've also worked out why our ping scripts didn't pick this up, and I'll make sure we put a check in place tomorrow so that this is automatically picked up and fixed in the future if it happens again. Rob

1st July 2005, 06:04 PM	#4
jongrove Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Denmark Posts: 14	SMTP via smtp.proxy.fastmail.fm Hi I can't seem to connect to smtp.proxy.fastmail.fm on port 443 - usually I can, but not today? Does it have anything to do with the described problem?! Regards Jon

1st July 2005, 10:26 PM	#11
CyberDyne Master of the @ Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 1,421	same here :( Same here. 2nd day in a row now where no email services from Fm whatsoever at approx 2pm GMT.

1st July 2005, 10:28 PM	#12
CyberDyne Master of the @ Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 1,421	Re: same here :( I now have web access back but no IMAP.

1st July 2005, 05:44 AM	#2
mellwood Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Boston Posts: 6	actually, mine is still down - i've quit & restarted the program i'm using (entourage); is there something else i can try?

1st July 2005, 02:39 PM	#3
robmueller Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 6,098 Representative of: Fastmail.FM	We've fixed the ping script so the authorisation server (sasl) is now checked every 2 minutes and automatically restarted if there are any problems, so this shouldn't happen again in the future. mellwood: No, everything should be working fine now. Can you report some more details about error messages, etc Rob

1st July 2005, 08:01 PM	#5
mellwood Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Boston Posts: 6	My smtp server is: mail.messagingengine.com Under advanced sending options: - "smtp service requires ssl" is checked - "override default smtp port 25" is not checked - "smtp server requires authentication" is checked & uses the same settings as incoming mail Incoming mail works fine on IMAP & I am able to send mail through the website, just not on entourage, which has worked perfectly prior to yesterday. The error message I receive is: "An operation on the server timed out. The server may be down, overloaded, or there may be too much net traffic." Error: -3259 Thanks.

1st July 2005, 09:15 PM	#6
fmfan Master of the @ Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: TX US Posts: 1,298	Right now I seem to be having an IMAP problem - cannot download email. Message: Outlook Express Your IMAP server has not responded in 60 seconds. Would you like to wait another 60 seconds for the server to respond? Account: (my account) Server: mail.messagingengine.com Using OE, SMTP seems to send, but when comes to 'Moving message 1 of 1...' , get same message as above: Your IMAP server has not responded in 60 seconds. Would you like to wait another 60 seconds for the server to respond? Account: (my account) Server: mail.messagingengine.com

1st July 2005, 09:19 PM	#7
fmfan Master of the @ Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: TX US Posts: 1,298	After composing above message, went back to OE. IMAP now working. SMTP still working.

1st July 2005, 09:36 PM	#8
brong The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 2,380 Representative of: Fastmail.fm	The machine that the proxy goes to had a memory problem. It's pretty much fixed now, load is creaping back down towards sane levels. Bron.

1st July 2005, 10:13 PM	#9
jjm Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 6	It's 3pm CET here, and I can't send email via the SMTP proxy. It looks like the fix did not quite make it. My setup: smtp.proxy... port: 80 SSL JJ.

1st July 2005, 10:25 PM	#10
jkibbe Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 53	Over the past 10 minutes: Fastmail up Fastmail down Fastmail up Fastmail down... -Jason

1st July 2005, 10:33 PM	#13
jkibbe Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 53	Past 5 min: Fastmail up again (types email) Fastmail down again (doesn't send...)

1st July 2005, 10:36 PM	#14
CyberDyne Master of the @ Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 1,421	The truth is though, as frustrating as it is, its normally faultless, so im happy to tap my fingers and bide my time

1st July 2005, 11:12 PM	#15
brong The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 2,380 Representative of: Fastmail.fm	Ouch - it was nasty there. We've found a bottleneck that we've put a simple cache in place to tide us over for the next few days until we come up with a real solution. My deepest apologies for the problem - the underlying cause was a long running query I was running. I had hoped it would be finished before the US day started, but it didn't quite make it, and the extra load was enough to push us over an elbow point which made everything slow down, putting even more load on the servers as clients tried to reconnect! As I said in an earlier posting - a much more scalable proxy tool has recently become available (just this week!) and I'll be evaluating it as a very high priority. Bron.