Communication Clinic #2:"mail server difficulties"

Welcome back, class!

Today's lesson is a logical follow-up to our last discussion. Let's begin, shall we?

Here's the latest message that our jolly (and I mean that in a good way) admins have sent:

I'll give you one thing, Bob, you certainly are creative. :>

I've forwarded these on to the admin and dev teams - the guys who do most of the announcements. I'll try to make your case for you (I tend to agree with your suggestions)...


- Jeff @ DreamHost
- DH Discussion Forum Admin

Jeff wrote:

> I'll give you one thing, Bob, you certainly are creative. :>

Heheheh... Thanks! (It's a curse, really. For me, and in cases like this, those around me. <g> )

So, I didn't get a reply to my last email to you (the long one). I take it you got it... but maybe you're just not finished reading it yet. <g>

...Bob

Yeah, I've had a tough time replying to email lately. I've been pretty busy (work related, and I'm planning a wedding).

But I definitely read everything that's sent to me, and usually respond in some fashion. :>

In short, I think the ideas you gave were pretty good. Not a mailing list, per se, but maybe a setting where users can choose between 'basic' and 'expanded' announcements.

Our current announcements are targeted to users on specific machines, though. If you're not sure who they're aimed at, it should be for whichever user is selected in the web panel (it's possible we may need to make the UI for that a little more clear though).

- Jeff @ DreamHost
- DH Discussion Forum Admin

Jeff wrote:

>Yeah, I've had a tough time replying to email lately. I've been pretty
>busy (work related, and I'm planning a wedding).

<snip>

Hey, congrats! (Unless it' not your wedding, and you're a professional wedding planner.) <g>

>In short, I think the ideas you gave were pretty good. Not a mailing list,
>per se, but maybe a setting where users can choose between 'basic' and
>'expanded' announcements.

That would be excellent...

>Our current announcements are targeted to users on specific machines,
>though. If you're not sure who they're aimed at, it should be for
>whichever user is selected in the web panel

Oy... That's really painful.

>(it's possible we may need to
>make the UI for that a little more clear though).

OH, yes. That's a very large 10-4. Especially when you have a lot of users, a lot of domains, and a lot of scrolling to do. <g>

Putting it in the message would make it immediately apparent. Remember, the mantra is "clarity, clarity, clarity."

<g>

Thanks for going to bat for that!

...Bob

Hi Bob,

Yep, it's my wedding I've been planning (thanks for the congrats, and no I'm most definitely not a pro planner - this is the last time for me!). :>

I'm still promoting the idea of a two-tier system, but that may take a while if we decide to go that route (maybe after the DH2 transition is done).

But, there's a little progress. Our good friend Josh put the following reminder list of things to mention for downtime announcements:

Well, class...

Ask and ye shall receive!

Bob = Squeaky Wheel.

Grease =

>Subject: Mail Service Interuption Type: Downtime
>
>In our efforts to better serve you, we are performing some maintenance on
>your mail server (hoggle) this evening at 5:30pm PST. This will affect all
>POP, IMAP, and SMTP (mail delivery) services for approximately 20 minutes.

All the elements are there! Server name, start time, ETA, services affected.

Now, class, take a good look at this excellent work... This is the way it should always be done! <g>

Thanks to Jeff for taking up the Cause of Clarity, and thanks to the admin who published this notice for listening!

The admin and Jeff each get their choice of stickers (gold star, Chiquita Banana, or "Intel Inside") for their foreheads, *plus* a serving of ice cream for lunch today at the cafeteria. <g>

Thanks!!

...Bob

Jeff...

You writ:

>Yep, it's my wedding I've been planning (thanks for the congrats, and no
>I'm most definitely not a pro planner - this is the last time for me!). :>

Good on ya! Save me some cake!

>I'm still promoting the idea of a two-tier system,

And maybe a four-tier cake? <g>

>but that may take a
>while if we decide to go that route (maybe after the DH2 transition is done).

Well, as long as the vital info discussed is there, I'm a happy camper.

>But, there's a little progress.

<snip>

Yes, I just got the first notice using the info-filled format. Way to go! Many thanks...

>I think we usually catch all of these when we make the announcements, but
>this will serve as a reminder.

<snip>

Weeeeellll... In the announcements I've seen since I've been here, the server name and exact services affected have never been included (services were only generic, like "mail"), and start and end times have been spotty at best.

But like I say, if the announcements include all of Josh's points, that'll cover a multitude of sins. <g>

>Keep the suggestions coming... :>

Hey, that's like suggesting to the Pope that he continue being Catholic. <g>

Thanks again... And thank Josh for me!

...Bob

Just wanted to say thanks for the latest communique...

>Subject: Your Mailserver is now......
>Type: Informational
>
>Fixed!
>
>Hello Happy DreamHost Customers! I believe someone sent out an
>announcement about this earlier....
>
>Your mailserver (dot.dreamhost.com) pretty much bellied up early this
>morning. We tried to fix it, but from what we could tell, it wasn't a
>software problem, but rather a hardware problem.
>
>Over the past several hours, we moved all of the mail spool and
>directories over to a brand new machine, and reconfigured it to become
>your new mail server.

Thanks for the effort on the server...

<snip>

>The one thing we should've done better was to have a completely empty
>machine sitting there as a "hot-swap" machine. We ~did~ have one, but that
>was used up recently to replace another dead machine.... Tomorrow, we'll
>be ordering four new machines to sit at our datacenters as hot-swap
>machines.

Thanks especially for the info in this last 'graph. It's the kind of stuff that I had been griping at you about before... I'm absolutely *thrilled* to hear you're stocking up on hot-swap boxes. And it's great to know the details, no matter what they are.

Thank you, thank you, thank you...

...Bob