Send/Receive Errors Today

[hkk2]

Could this be related to our ASA firewall suddenly not filtering correctly this afternoon? After a full power cycle of all the related equipment, it still is accepting a connection to gambling.com. I know people don't regularly "test" the blocking capabilities of their firewall, but we were trying to check out some sites one of our Bishops wanted unblocked and we found they were all working. That's when we did a deeper test and were surprised by the results.

Mike

This wouldn't be the case for everyone as we are still dialing in and having the same Afaria #2 timeout issue today. But, only for one of the wards that I know of in my stake.

[crislapi]

The connections have been restored. I went back in last night at 9pm and was able to transmit successfully.

There was an error on the church HQ side. If you call HQ this morning, you are greeted with a message specifically related to this issue. However, based on my experience last night it appears the problem has been fixed and you can now transmit. Otherwise, you'll need to call in your checks and deposits.

[PDiedrich-p40]

I assume they mean the Close control in the upper right corner of the window -- That didn't work for us. The computer had to be shut down to clear the MSL program after the hang on our system (Gaithersburg 1st Ward, Seneca Maryland Stake) . We tried and failed Sunday morning (EDT) as well as twice Sunday evening (about 5 or 6 PM) all failures and the backup could not be done after the transmission failed. I had to restart the computer and then enter MLS without attempting a send to get a backup disk.

[MorettiDP]

For curiosity purposes, we have had these problems in Brazil too.

[slmsz20]

Same old transmission issues again. It would be nice if we could get a response on these system overloads. Sending the next day is fine, but it can put a burden on over worked clerks to come up to the building on an off day. I hope the Church gets these issues worked out, because it is becoming more the norm than the exception lately.

Also it occurs on both internet transmission and modem transmission so it isn't isolated to transmission type.

[crislapi]

All our wards have been down again this week. I called HQ and followed the prompts to hear the message. They confirmed that the servers are down. Obviously. Here are the instructions:
1) Go ahead and distribute checks. If a bank has issues, have them call the number on the check and HQ will verify the funds.
2) Deposit tithing and other donations as usual, even if you can't transmit. Donations should always be deposited on Sunday regardless of transmission status.

No word on what the problem is or when it will be resolved, though.

[techgy]

I called that number about 30 minutes ago and received the report that the servers were down.
They didn't give any indication as to when they'd be back up.

In regards to Mike's comment about the firewalls, that's not our problem.
Our MLS boxes are not on DSL yet and are still operating on dial-up - no ASA issues.
Our systems that are on the ASA's are working normally as are the blocks.

[techgy]

Same old transmission issues again. It would be nice if we could get a response on these system overloads. Sending the next day is fine, but it can put a burden on over worked clerks to come up to the building on an off day. I hope the Church gets these issues worked out, because it is becoming more the norm than the exception lately.

Also it occurs on both internet transmission and modem transmission so it isn't isolated to transmission type.

AMEN. I couldn't agree more. Is there anyone at HQ who can shed some light on these problems?

[childsdj]

It appears to be a database problem on the back end servers. Possibly the same as last week. No ETA on when they will be back up, but I will post as soon as I hear word.

[mamadsen]

Communication idea: At least on Sundays, what about sending text messages to stake clerks or STS's when a problem is identified. This message would briefly explain the problem and expected resolution, if known. This would be helpful to give the clerks and STS's a heads up for when the other calls start coming. One benefit would be that we would know that it is a system wide problem or an issue with a local unit.

Stake clerks and STS's would be able to opt in to these text messages in their profiles.

Along with the suggestions of showing status on clerk.lds.org, and sending messages to the STS, perhaps also posting, either here or on clerk.lds.org, some type of error log, stating what the problem was and what was done resolve the issue. Not just for this "huge" glitch, but for small insignificant things that most people aren't even aware of. Just a thought...

In addition to the text messages, maybe something like a dashboard that shows system status, # error, etc.