Site Upgrade this week - possible unexpected downtime

[Ted Craven]

Folks - I have been corresponding with our web host and the vBulletin board software people for a few weeks about the web host's plan to upgrade the server software on Monday afternoon August 24.

For the technically minded, the host is upgrading the PHP version used from 7.2 to 7.3 - part of the operating system language (along with Linux) of the server which Paceandcap operates on. Further, they are also upgrading to HTTP/2 - the basic transport mechanism used by browsers and other internet-aware applications (like RDSS).

There is a possibility that this PHP upgrade will cause the site not to function! If this happens, I can revert the upgrade back to the way it was, then I have 30 days to fix the problems -- i.e. upgrade the vBulletin board software, a major and somewhat daunting (and a little costly) prospect, TBH. After the 30 day extension, there is no option but to go forward again with the upgrade and whatever solutions I will have found to any incompatibilities.

I can try to upgrade sooner than next Monday to test if all will be well and there is a reasonable chance it will be. In all cases, I understand that the downtime should be not longer than a few hours (or minutes). If you encounter strange messages this week through next Monday for longer than a few hours when trying to access Paceandcap, feel free to write me at ted@sartinmethodology.com for a progress report.

When the upgrade is complete and successful, there should be no difference in appearance or function.

We also have a separate server which houses the Library (Follow Ups, audios, videos, manuals, etc) and runs the RDSS Registration server, which will also be upgrading this week. Since there is no website operating on that server (just downloadable files) the upgrade should not affect downloads or RDSS operation.

Here's wishing us luck that all will be smooth

Ted