ZzapRrap Backup Progress

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Iain
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ZzapRrap Backup Progress

Post by Iain »

Well, we have all the donations needed, the last £25 has been donated by an anonymous donor.

So I have sent off the order to see what we can get from the backups.

I'll keep you posted with any progress as soon as I get it.

Thank you to everybody who donated!! and remember if this doesn't work, there's no charge and you get your donations refunded back to you.

Possibile Scenarios:

Worse case, we can't get any backups and I've have to reinstall my backup from March 2004.

Next best case, we get all the messages back that were deleted but lose the messages posted since the hack (if I can't integrate them into the old database)

Best case, we get the old messages back and keep the new ones and carry on our merry way! :)
Last edited by Iain on Tue Feb 15, 2005 4:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Lloyd Mangram
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Re: ZzapRrap Backup Progress

Post by Lloyd Mangram »

Great! :D
Excellent news!
I hope it's going to work out fine!
iain wrote: Next best case, we get all the messages back that were deleted but lose the messages posted since the hack (if I can't integrate them into the old database)

Best case, we get the old messages back and keep the new ones and carry on our merry way! :)


Wouldn't it be possible to backup this actual board just before updating (in fact downdating :) ) the pre-hacked board, and then add the most recent messages afterwards?

Just askin'. 8)
Ta!
Rob

To everybody who donated: thank you! You know who you are! :D
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Post by Iain »

That's what I'm planning to do and add the newer messages by hand into the database, but there might be variables I'm not aware of. It'll probably work without much hassle, but its not certain! :)
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Post by Iain »

From the horses mouth:
Just a quick progress report, The system admin have scheduled the order
from the backup tapes. As it's a fairy complex process it is hard to
give
an accurate eta but I would expect it to be done by this afternoon at the
latest.
I didn't get another email after that so it'll probably be tomorrow. Hopefully they manage to get all the stuff back! :)
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Post by Lloyd Mangram »

AND...... :?:

8) :wink:

Rob
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Post by Iain »

Still haven't gotten another email, so I guess it wasn't "tomorrow" afterall! :) At a guess it wouldn't surprise me if it's after Christmas at this rate :(
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Post by Iain »

Didn't hear anything more until day when I got this email..
I was in touch with the administrators and they have assured me that:

The work order will be done hopefully within the next 48 hours.
So hopefully we'll know quite soon whether it's possible or not!
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Post by Lloyd Mangram »

Pink FLoyd's Dark Side Of The Moon intro..... :shock:
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Post by Iain »

Well it's not good news I'm afriad.

Here's the latest info from my web reseller.
I'm really sorry but I have now been informed that the earliest data
available is from 13 Dec which I guess would be pointless to retrieve. I
don't know what they have been playing at and why I was told earlier
backups could be retrieved but it now seems it is not possible.
The board got hacked on Dec 9 so backups from Dec 13 would be kinda pointless :(

I'll try reintegrating my own backuped messages up to March 2004, which should be quite possible. But everything from April 2004 to December 2004 is pretty much lost forever :(

Anyone who has donated will get an email soon about it being refunded etc.

Thanks again for all your help, it's a damn shame we couldn't get all the messages back with it
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Post by Lloyd Mangram »

:shock: :cry:
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Post by Professor Brian Strain »

Tough break Iain. I for one would be happy to let you keep the donation, to pay for the upkeep of the site.
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Post by Iain »

Thanks for that Prof. I guess I'll give people the option when I send around the email later..

I was getting kinda optimistic about being able to get a backup until recently, but c'est la vie I guess. I'll start trying to restore the March backup that I do have during today. Better that, than nothing.
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Post by Iain »

Okay, I have reintegrated the March 204 backups and everything *seems* okay.

Some of the new topics (after the hack) might be in the worong forums but I think I have converted most of them.

Let me know if anything is weird or any newer topics are missing etc.

Here's a list of what's been lost between the March 2004 backup and the December 9th Hack.

Approx 178 Topics
Approx 1600 messages


I hope those script kiddies of proud of themselves! Anyway onwards and upwards! :)
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Post by Iain »

When I rebuilt the (empty) forums after the hack, they had different item numbers than the originally forums. What this means is:

If you search for a message from Dec 9th 2004 to 3 January 2005 (either directly or through a persons previous posts) you'll be redirected to the incorrect forum.

I don't really see this as a problem so I'm not going through the database to mannually fix it. Any old or new messages outside of this month will be in their correct spot and can be searched correctly.
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Post by CraigGrannell »

Why not donate the excess (after PayPal fees, etc) to the DEC's tsunami appeal?
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