Portal Down?

Full Of Questions1

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Jul 22, 2017
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Tried to access my portal (6-April-2018 @ 7:17 am PST) and it gave an error saying IP address could not be found. Anyone else having the same problem?
 
The portal and our websites are fine... it is the USAFA DNS that has failed. Hence your browser can't resolve the correct IP address.

Contrary to the post above, it is very rare for the portal to be down (USAFA has over a 99% up-time). It certainly doesn't happen "a couple of times a week". The poster is probably confusing the planned nightly synchronization with an actual issue.

- Insider
 
The portal and our websites are fine... it is the USAFA DNS that has failed. Hence your browser can't resolve the correct IP address.

Contrary to the post above, it is very rare for the portal to be down (USAFA has over a 99% up-time). It certainly doesn't happen "a couple of times a week". The poster is probably confusing the planned nightly synchronization with an actual issue.

- Insider
The poster did confuse the two issues. I did not check the link so my assumption was server maintenance. My apologies. Nice to see you defending your livelihood. Thanks.
 
Potato, putato.... as anxious as many people are at the moment waiting for news.... whether it is a server issue or a DNS issue from an outsider even if a momentarily glitch means the same thing no access to a doorway that your hoping good news to walk through...... that said, pretty sure by the time I've posted the DNS issue will be resolved. Good luck to everyone waiting for an update!
 
The portal and our websites are fine... it is the USAFA DNS that has failed. Hence your browser can't resolve the correct IP address.

Contrary to the post above, it is very rare for the portal to be down (USAFA has over a 99% up-time). It certainly doesn't happen "a couple of times a week". The poster is probably confusing the planned nightly synchronization with an actual issue.

- Insider
any idea how long the USAFA DNS will be out of comission?
 
We currently have no estimated time to repair. This has also knocked out much of the internal communication as well, so we are essentially in the dark in Admissions as well.

- Insider
 
We currently have no estimated time to repair. This has also knocked out much of the internal communication as well, so we are essentially in the dark in Admissions as well.

- Insider
Thanks for the update. I hope the rest of your day is uneventful, this must have been stressful for all involved.
 
We have since learned that a major fiber-optic cable was cut near Canyon City. This is what has blocked USAFA's network from the broader Internet and why the DNS is unable to respond. Admissions' server is actually located in Atlanta but without the DNS providing the correct name resolution most users cannot reach the portal.

It is a major repair and could a while before the sites come back up.

- Insider
 
We have since learned that a major fiber-optic cable was cut near Canyon City. This is what has blocked USAFA's network from the broader Internet and why the DNS is unable to respond. Admissions' server is actually located in Atlanta but without the DNS providing the correct name resolution most users cannot reach the portal.

It is a major repair and could a while before the sites come back up.

- Insider

Hmmm...single point of failure...this sounds like may easily take few days if not week
 
We have since learned that a major fiber-optic cable was cut near Canyon City. This is what has blocked USAFA's network from the broader Internet and why the DNS is unable to respond. Admissions' server is actually located in Atlanta but without the DNS providing the correct name resolution most users cannot reach the portal.

It is a major repair and could a while before the sites come back up.

- Insider

It's okay, all we need is the IP :)
 
Unfortunately just using the IP won't work as the site links to itself to transition from page to page. If you know how to modify your "hosts" file you can artificially resolve the domain name with these entries:

64.251.19.220 aloweb.usafa.edu
64.251.19.221 admissions.usafa.edu

Bear in mind that none of the USAFA counselors can reach the server either. There will be some automatic updates performed overnight but little else will happen until the counselors can get back into the system.

- Insider
 
Thanks for your contributions, Insider. I can only imagine the frustration level without having your insights to what is going on.

On a related note, I hope the fiber optic repair crew does not get distracted with touring the Royal Gorge Bridge in Canon City and is staying on task!
 
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