Due to an abnormally high server load the Use Tasks service was unavailable for about 90 minutes today.  The issue was due to a corrupted database table, which caused the server load to get excessivly high and cause the server to become unresponsive.

We trying to find the exact cause of the corruption and we will take steps to ensure that this doesn't happen again.

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:01:07 -0500

Due to an abnormally high server load the Use Tasks service was unavailable for about 90 minutes today.  The issue was due to a user that was accessing a script an excessive amount of times, and with an excessive amount of resources.  At this time, that user was blocked from accessing the script.

To address this in the future, we are putting the following changes into effect:

1.  We will have an automated process to check for excessive amounts of polls to the script in question.  The system will check and prevent connection "flooding".

2.  We will be adding additional server(s), to share the load, and act as a failover in case of high system load.

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:44:11 -0500

Whatever you did, thank you! We're able to connect again.

Tue, 3 Jun 2008 09:35:44 -0500

You should find my messages under the id {13359}.

Thanks, Mic

Mon, 2 Jun 2008 10:05:46 -0500

Hello,

During the investigation we did identify several IP addresses that were abusing the service, and as such they were blocked.  Could you please send your IP address to us using the support form at http://www.usetasks.com/support/

Mon, 2 Jun 2008 09:38:11 -0500

We've also experienced difficulties reaching UseTasks, both our instance and the whole site (usetasks.com). Could it be that you've blocked certain IP addresses on your server, possibly as a result of your high load-investigation?

Mon, 2 Jun 2008 08:28:29 -0500

Problems started about midnight (29/30.05) CET (UTC+1:00).

Fri, 30 May 2008 09:45:42 -0500

What time/day was this?

Fri, 30 May 2008 08:38:11 -0500

I wasn't able to use my Use Tasks account for more than 8 hours. I was getting timeout each time I tried to connect. The forum wasn't accessible either. Why didn't you react to the problems for such a long time?

Fri, 30 May 2008 02:08:33 -0500

We experienced about 20 minutes of downtime this AM, due to abnormally high load on the server.  We are continuing to investigate the problem to ensure that this doesn't happen again.

All system are currently up and running.

Fri, 30 May 2008 01:49:08 -0500

Starting late May we will be starting to delete accounts for canceled and past due accounts that are 90 days or more old.  At present we have simply "locked" canceled and past due accounts, so they could be reactivated without any problems.

Any Use Tasks customer who has canceled their account or they are 90 days past due can have their account reactivated without losing any data before May 20th, 2008.  After May 20th, 2008 your data will be permanently erased, and your account name (not data) will be released, so someone else could sign up for that name.

This will not effect any active accounts.

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 22:11:35 -0500

Today at approximately 2:00pm CST Use Tasks services became unavailable, and users were only seeing blank screens when trying to access their account. 

The issue was with a run away Apache process that caused the load on the Use Task's servers to skyrocket, and thus Apache was unable to serve any pages.

Apache was restarted and everything is working fine.  The total amount of down time was only a few minutes.

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:31:47 -0500

Hello All,

We had some downtime this morning (Nov. 14, 2007), and I just wanted to provide a quick update.  Here's the overview of the situation:

1.  The issue was at the data center where Austin Web Development / Use Tasks has it's servers. 

2. The problem was with the supervisor card in the Cisco 6509.

3.  On the onset of the problem, the data center network technicians attempted to fix what they thought to be a misconfiguration, it turned out to be hardware failure. 

4.  The supervisor card was replaced, and service was restored.

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:45:07 -0600

The account upgrades are complete, please note that the next time you log into your account you will be asked to verify and save your Preferences and Server Settings to upgrade them to the new version.

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 23:33:44 -0500

Upgrades are being done now.

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 21:45:58 -0500

Due to the emergency, we have just rebooted, and the issues that we were seeing seemed to have cleared up.  We will be closely monitoring the server to see if any other issues pop up.

The server has already been rebooted and there will be no reboot tonight.

Mon, 9 Jul 2007 15:08:03 -0500

The server will be rebooted so we can apply various patches.

This thread will be updated when the reboot is complete.

Mon, 9 Jul 2007 14:50:41 -0500

The Use Tasks service will be offline for several hours on Thursday evening while I upgrade all accounts to the latest versions of Tasks Pro and Tasks.

This thread will be updated when the upgrades are complete.

Thu, 5 Jul 2007 15:06:25 -0500

Okay, I'm still a bit miffed that the answer is I have to set up a CRON job somewhere else.  Might be a good answer if this were a free account or something.  That is not a setup I'm interested in at the moment.  If I had time and inclination for involved setup, I would buy the software instead of having it hosted.

But I did finally figure out the proper URL for my account on Use Tasks with some trial and error.

https://myacctname.usetasks.com/check_m ... d=myCRONpw

Note the reversal of where the account name goes vs the earlier post.

Guess I'll refresh manually for a few weeks and see if that's enough.

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 08:14:35 -0500

Your account has been updated to the latest version of Tasks Pro (multi-user) or Tasks (single-user). The next time you log in, you will see a message reminding you to review and save your Preferences and Server Settings to update them to the latest version.

This new version includes the ability to add "tags" to tasks and notes. If you would like to use this feature, you will first need to go to your Server Settings and click the 'Enable tagging' box. You can read more about the new tagging features in the documentation:

Tasks Pro (multi-user)

http://kingdesign.net/tasks-pro/documentation/

Tasks (single-user)

http://kingdesign.net/tasks/documentation/

Additionally, we are pleased to announce new URLs for all accounts. In addition to the URL you have always used for your account:

http://www.usetasks.com/tasks/your-account/

You can now access your account at:

http://your-account.usetasks.com/

Don't worry about your bookmarks, you can still access your account at the old URL as well. At some point in the future we will likely phase out the old URL in favor of the new one, so we recommend you start using your new account URL now. All of your task notifications and daily reminder e-mails are already updated to use your new account URL.

If you have any trouble with these new features, we ask that you post in the forums so that all users can benefit from the solutions.

http://www.usetasks.com/forums/

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 01:16:17 -0600