# Why SDMB off the air today? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 15, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-sdmb-off-the-air-today/683783 "2014-03-15T19:00:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-sdmb-off-the-air-today/683783/1 "2014-03-15T19:00:36Z")
About an hour ago, I was unable to connect to this board, getting a message that it was offline for a brief data maintenance procedure. Was this legitimate or bogus? Just curious what the procedure was that could be done so quickly. ETA: I mean SDMB, not DCMB. Stupid fat fingers. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-sdmb-off-the-air-today/683783/2 "2014-03-15T20:51:31Z")
I too saw that message earlier today, and have seen it a few times during the past week or so. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-sdmb-off-the-air-today/683783/3 "2014-03-15T21:09:48Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I too saw that message earlier today, and have seen it a few times during the past week or so. Interesting. So maybe it’s a default message from a recurring technical problem, not a planned outage by the staff? Could any mods check in and enlighten us? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-sdmb-off-the-air-today/683783/4 "2014-03-15T21:42:38Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I too saw that message earlier today, and have seen it a few times during the past week or so. Me, too. Plus I’ve been getting “internal database errors” as well. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-sdmb-off-the-air-today/683783/5 "2014-03-15T21:42:46Z")
What exactly would be “bogus?” I don’t understand what that means in this context and am not quite sure how to answer your question. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-sdmb-off-the-air-today/683783/6 "2014-03-15T21:46:14Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > What exactly would be “bogus?” I don’t understand what that means in this context and am not quite sure how to answer your question. I’m thinking he means was the board _actually_ having maintenance done (ie is the message “legit”), or did the message come up as a result of some error or as a sign something was going wrong with the board (ie is the message “bogus”, no maintenance being done). ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-sdmb-off-the-air-today/683783/7 "2014-03-15T21:50:47Z")
Maybe I’m an idiot here but I can’t imagine just taking the board down for grins and giggles, especially a tech working on a weekend. It was apparently only down for a short period of time, that’s seems reasonable for “routine maintenance.” ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-sdmb-off-the-air-today/683783/8 "2014-03-15T21:56:25Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > Maybe I’m an idiot here but I can’t imagine just taking the board down for grins and giggles, especially a tech working on a weekend. > > It was apparently only down for a short period of time, that’s seems reasonable for “routine maintenance.” Who said grins and giggles? I think you missed what I wrote. Just like getting a database error can be a sign that board might having problems, the OP (and me, too) is simply wondering if that message, too, might default when the board when the board goes offline. So, the two scenarios are: the board could go offline for (1) actual work on it, or (2) if it’s being unstable. A simple, “no, that message generally only appears when work is done” would have been a lot more helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-sdmb-off-the-air-today/683783/9 "2014-03-15T22:00:11Z")
What **IvoryTowerDenizen** said. Sorry I wasn’t more descriptive, and thanks for fixing the title. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-sdmb-off-the-air-today/683783/10 "2014-03-15T23:00:32Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > Maybe I’m an idiot here but I can’t imagine just taking the board down for grins and giggles, especially a tech working on a weekend. > > It was apparently only down for a short period of time, that’s seems reasonable for “routine maintenance.” Actually, the short time (less than five minutes) was what made me suspect it wasn’t actual maintenance. Plus there’s the fact that board maintenance is usually announced in advance. I assumed it was just the server restarting itself or something. I’ve seen the message before when it lasted an even shorter amount of time, lasting only until I clicked the refresh button. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-sdmb-off-the-air-today/683783/11 "2014-03-15T23:11:55Z")
Maybe they were taking the few minutes the board was down to upload the old smilies back onto the server until the next upgrade 3-4 years from now (not that you need to take down the board to upload smilies). BWAHAHAAHAHA. Ok. I couldn’t get through that with a straight face either. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-sdmb-off-the-air-today/683783/12 "2014-03-16T03:41:09Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Actually, the short time (less than five minutes) was what made me suspect it wasn’t actual maintenance. Plus there’s the fact that board maintenance is usually announced in advance. I assumed it was just the server restarting itself or something. > > I’ve seen the message before when it lasted an even shorter amount of time, lasting only until I clicked the refresh button. Maybe whoever took over that Malaysian plane is targeting the Board next. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-sdmb-off-the-air-today/683783/13 "2014-03-16T20:13:20Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Maybe whoever took over that Malaysian plane is targeting the Board next. From beyond the grave?