|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So what was it... around 16 hours total downtime? Not too bad for a major server problem.
Does raise a question though. I've purchased so many PDFs from Paizo over the years that I eventually decided storing them all locally took up more hard-drive space than it was worth. Given that even the largest files here can be downloaded in seconds it has just been easier to pull up the Paizo site and grab a temporary copy of the PDF whenever I need to look something up.
The question is did Paizo intend/expect for users to react this way... essentially treating the 'My Downloads' page as 'cloud storage' for their PDFs ordered through Paizo rather than simply a 'once and done' delivery system? Does lots of users downloading the same documents every time they want to view (rather than update) it put excessive strain on the servers?
As a server and network admin myself, that's not bad at all, but there should have been more warning on paizo's end (not paizo warning customers, hardware should have shown signs earlier). Very few things take down multiple servers at once without some signs.
I hope you're looking at how that is monitored. I won't make suggestions without at least a basic idea of how much of their setup is in house vs outside and how its structured, but I'd be happy to answer questions about it if they're asked.
Chief Technical Officer
|
The question is did Paizo intend/expect for users to react this way... essentially treating the 'My Downloads' page as 'cloud storage' for their PDFs ordered through Paizo rather than simply a 'once and done' delivery system? Does lots of users downloading the same documents every time they want to view (rather than update) it put excessive strain on the servers?
We're not too worried about the resources on our side, but there is a potential drawback to that method: if for some reason we are not allowed to continue distributing a PDF, you may lose the ability to redownload it. Now, even though many companies have had PDFs that they've stopped selling to new customers, in the near-decade we've been doing this, only one company has ever required us to stop allowing redownloads for customers who had previously purchased those PDFs, but it *is* nevertheless a possibility.
|
|
The question is did Paizo intend/expect for users to react this way... essentially treating the 'My Downloads' page as 'cloud storage' for their PDFs ordered through Paizo rather than simply a 'once and done' delivery system? Does lots of users downloading the same documents every time they want to view (rather than update) it put excessive strain on the servers?We're not too worried about the resources on our side, but there is a potential drawback to that method: if for some reason we are not allowed to continue distributing a PDF, you may lose the ability to redownload it. Now, even though many companies have had PDFs that they've stopped selling to new customers, in the near-decade we've been doing this, only one company has ever required us to stop allowing redownloads for customers who had previously purchased those PDFs, but it *is* nevertheless a possibility.
I would think perpetual download access should be part of the merchant agreement you make with a company. Increases your value to the customers as a retailer.
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
I would think perpetual download access should be part of the merchant agreement you make with a company. Increases your value to the customers as a retailer.The question is did Paizo intend/expect for users to react this way... essentially treating the 'My Downloads' page as 'cloud storage' for their PDFs ordered through Paizo rather than simply a 'once and done' delivery system? Does lots of users downloading the same documents every time they want to view (rather than update) it put excessive strain on the servers?We're not too worried about the resources on our side, but there is a potential drawback to that method: if for some reason we are not allowed to continue distributing a PDF, you may lose the ability to redownload it. Now, even though many companies have had PDFs that they've stopped selling to new customers, in the near-decade we've been doing this, only one company has ever required us to stop allowing redownloads for customers who had previously purchased those PDFs, but it *is* nevertheless a possibility.
There's simply no way that we can guarantee that any PDF you purchase will be available forever, because there will always be the possibility that a product will become unavailable due to legal action. (Image that somebody offers a product that violates someone else's rights, and they're later compelled to remove it from distribution.)