May 17: Database Crash

[mx]

Many of you have probably noticed that sputnik has been running slower and has been crashing over the past few weeks. I've been trying to zero in on the problem, but it appeared to be a vague issue with MySQL performance that was difficult to zero on.

This all came to a head at approximately 1PM today, when the reviews database table essentially blew up. Attempts to repair the table revealed the problem with the database -- the size had grown so much that there was no longer enough space allocated to the database on the disk.

The immediate result was the deletion of the entire reviews table, which failed in its repair process due to the lack of space within the drive.

So what does that mean for Sputnik? Unfortunately, the automatic backups failed in February due to the space situation, without me noticing. This is entirely my error, and I can't communicate how upset I am about this -- this one is on me.

I've managed to restore the reviews to their state on February 28, 2008, which was the last uncorrupted back up. All reviews posted since then are gone. Please note that all other information, including albums, ratings, lists, etc are all preserved -- the damage was limited to the reviews table.

If you have backups of your reviews (which I hope you do), please submit these as quickly as possible. I'll be here to fix any unresolved problems that come up as we ramp back online.

In terms of the database, I've repaired several parts of the engine, and have cleared up the necessary space. I promise that I'll monitor this every day so this never happens again.

Once again, my deepest apologies, especially if your review was deleted with no backup. My fault.

[Cocaine]

Asking us to resubmit as fast as possible is just asking for the server to crash, is it not? You're going to get hundreds of resubmits in a very short amount of time.

[mx]

It shouldn't recrash due to submissions, as I've cleared up the necessary space on the drive. Everything is now backed up as well, so there would be no further losses.

I should also mention here what I've said in a regular forum thread: If you resubmit and want all your views, comments, etc back -- this can be done as long as we can find the original reviewid (presumably via google search)

[username345]

Wow, I'm glad I only joined a few days ago.

Luckily I have 2 of my 3 reviews saved (and the other was rubbish anyway)

[Cocaine]

The thing is a lot of mine get touched up after they're submitted, so the documents I have saved aren't necessarily the final review. But they're close enough. Also, all the italics and such are gone. Oh well.

[encmetalhead]

Stay Classy
Victims
A Fire So Big The Heavens Can See It
Hurricanes

i still feel i wrote more reviews bwetween the 28th adn today but i can't find a word doc of them so i guess i didn't if anyone notices a review i wrote that's not one of those 4 let me know please

[ninjuice]

If I'd known something like this would happen, I'd certainly have my reviews saved.

[planewreck]

lol

[encmetalhead]

you didn't save the Cradle to Grave review? lol

google cache to the rescue

3.5
great by Jorn van Schaïk CONTRIBUTOR (116 Reviews)

2008-05-16 | 1 comments | 8 views


Summary: Pantera meets Black Label Society. And I mean that in the best way possible...


Cradle to Grave – Texas Medicine

When Pantera left the worldly scene, it was like any sense of post-thrash/groove (or whatever you would like to call this particular brand of metal) had faded from the earth. We have of course seen albums released by the underground thrash revivalists such as Exodus and other similar bands, but nothing as straight up groovy and heavy as Pantera used to be; sure, there’s Lamb of God and Machine Head and similar bands, but all of these guys started before the demise of Pantera. However, now there apparently is this band from Canada that claims to be the next best thing in southern metal.

Well, they certainly weren’t far off base with that call. This stuff recalls Pantera in its exact glory (and the promo flyer that came with it actually recommends this band to fans of Pantera, Down, Slayer, Hell Yeah, Lamb of God and Soulfly.) The comparison stands for one big-*** musical reason though, and that is that the riffs chug and churn with a groove that is very, very reminiscent of the aforementioned bands. It’s headbanging, fist-pumping stuff; nothing mind-bogglingly complex, but it’s loud, it’s fast, it’s heavy as all hell and it’ll definitely get those mosh pits going in a live arena.

This music exudes energy in massive doses. I’m sure that songs like lead single “Broken God” or the (stupidly titled) *** It Up are bound to amazing live tunes, their churning rhythm and chunky riffs getting every metalhead’s neck banging. Another upshot to the riffs is that on some songs, they aren’t afraid to get hardcore-punk fast, upping the tempo from Pantera-average to Slayer-average in no time, lending some of the songs just that extra punch. “From Nowhere to Nowhere” as a whole seems more rooted in punk than metal overall; it feels more reminiscent of Bad Religion than Slayer.

The Pantera comparisons also apply to the vocal part of this album. Singer Greg Cavanagh brings the same sort of piercing snarl that we were used to from Phil Anselmo; his bear-in-a-trap roar is duly emulated. There are even some spoken vocal sections kind of like we’re used to from Machine Head in their Burn My Eyes days. Again this isn’t something that’s extraordinarily deep, but it certainly fits the music on offer like a glove, and I’m sure thrash fans won’t find the vocals an obstacle to liking this (something so often a problem with thrash-based bands.)

However, it’s not just thrash that’s on offer here. Next to southern giants Pantera, the other main influence is Black Label Society; the groove may be Dime-esque, but the licks are very Zakk Wylde; it’s shred, squeals and licks all over. Again it fits perfectly with the style; the songwriting and timing for the lead guitar breaks never feels off and the intro solo to “I Am Nothing” is nothing short of monstrous.

However, for all this good enjoyable groovy metal that the boys bring to the table, there are a couple of flaws on the album. The band tried their hand at some diversity, mainly in the form of a 9-minute closing title track called “Beheaded in Paris”, but they simply don’t have the power to pull this sort of thing off. Much like the way Machine Head’s The Blackening could have much better if they trimmed the songs down, for thrash-based bands, long songs just do not work in context. The other miss element is “Daughters”, a close to-two-minute instrumental acoustic track , but again, it feels horribly silly and stupid. Bands like these should stick to their formula, because it’s exactly what makes them exciting. And for the love of God, the intro to At Last, with its cheesy quasi-choral approach should just leave a fan attempting to shoot the band. You guys aren’t Metallica, you can’t pull off pranks like these on a record.

Overall that just makes the record a very enjoyable one in general. Despite some small flaws and nitpickings, it’s a great slab of pure metal with a little bit of varied other influences. And if that isn’t selling the thing enough for you, did I mention that Devin Townsend (yes, THAT one) mixed and mastered this disc? It may not be everyone’s taste, but it’s a gem in the style that it represents, and a worthy buy of anyone into the thrashier side of metal.

[Crimson]

i actually only started saving my reviews on word this year, so yeah, sucks for those who don't

[mx]

You'll probably be able to find a lot of them on cache websites as I mentioned.

[hermitspancho]

****! None of mine were deleted! You couldn't let it crash again could you?

[BallsToTheWall]

So yeah, I have the link for my last album, Ikuinen Kaamos- Epilogue but it takes me to a page with Iluvtar and Chan coming out of the closet.
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review_16241

[Big Baby Jesus]

Explanation of crash....

Ohhhhh. So that's why. I thought Sputnik was just trying to kill itself as a result of all the retarded users (Mainly juggalos) lately.

[Against Miik!]

Geez this is real unfortunate. Luckily, I only had one review since then, which I did literally two days ago, but I didn't back it up. I know a lot of other people have done a lot more though. They probably have back ups though.

Shame on you Jeremy.

[Dave de Sylvia]

Geez this is real unfortunate. Luckily, I only had one review since then, which I did literally two days ago, but I didn't back it up. I know a lot of other people have done a lot more though. They probably have back ups though.

Shame on you Jeremy.
http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:cyapRhDqXf8J:www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php%3Freviewid%3D16222%26page%3D1

plz copy so I can delete post and fix page

[Iluvatar]

time to google my old reviews ugh

[Altmer]

you didn't save the Cradle to Grave review? lol

google cache to the rescue

Actually I did have that one saved.

[DaveyBoy]

I wrote & posted 23 reviews in the space of 9 weeks and now they are all gone! Just my luck that the first one was posted in the first week of March (just days after the last successful database save)!!!

And to make matters even worse is that I am currently on vacation and not back until the first week of June, so I cannot do anything at the moment to repost any of my reviews!

Grrrrrrrr :angry::smash:

[Mendigo]

I just thought about reposting my reviews not yet, so they would spend some time on the user-review list and maybe get some more readers and comments. But then I just posted them anyway. Fortunately I save all of my reviews on RYM too (the word-versions I have are often very different from the actual reviews, cause I usually edit a lot of stuff later on), so reposting wasn't a problem.

Edit: but I think I'll save the newest version of all my reviews on word too, just in case...

[Dancin' Man]

Does this mean that new reviews will be largely old reveiws for a while, or is there someway to reintroduce them separately from new site reviews?

[Electric City]

im guessing the new reviews will be old ones for a little while

[Cocaine]

The majority of the catch-up I'd imagine will be taken care of in the next day or two. I'm going to keep writing and use this to catch up on some overdue stuff and then I'll post them periodically. But yeah I'd personally avoid submitting new stuff for a few days because it'll just get lost in the shuffle, unless it's something feature worthy.

[encmetalhead]

i'm good anyway cause release date for ASD is Tuesday and everything should be settled down pretty much by then

edit: i somehow missed my 4k...meh

[Against Miik!]

plz copy so I can delete post and fix page


done. thank you much.

[Charlie Daniels]

ouch this must really suck...

[Chewie]

My Sonic Youth- Goo review that had 0 out of 7 agreeing with it is gone.

travesty.

[Aficionado]

I have a review lined up for a new release, should I go ahead and submit it or would it be wise to wait for things to calm down a bit?

[Dave de Sylvia]

Go for it, new reviews seem to be getting normal amounts of attention now.

[Aficionado]

well ok, it's submitted, but let's just hope it doesn't get buried in the mounds of old reviews and gets featured.

[encmetalhead]

i think all new reviews should get featured for atleast a day till things get clamed down cause my reviews was the 9th new review today and now it's buried cuz of 21 reviews that are probably old(and this was an album that got released today)

[IsItLuck?]

i think all new reviews should get featured for atleast a day till things get clamed down cause my reviews was the 9th new review today and now it's buried cuz of 21 reviews that are probably old(and this was an album that got released today)
New releases maybe, but new reviews that are from older dates (before May 20th), not a chance. Sorry but it looks like the best option right now would to be wait it out until everything calms down. It's clearly dying down, so it's just a matter of time.

[Aficionado]

I think your best bet would to wait for things to die down and just ask for the review to be deleted and then re-submit it again, that way your review may get more attention which is probably what i'll do.

[Interviewer/surveyer]

where is the "my reviews" sections of this website?

[IsItLuck?]

go to www.sputnikmusic.com
click the 'login' button
type in your username and password
go to the homepage
where the 'login' button was, it should be replaced with a 'my profile' button where you can find your reviews.
If they aren't there, they were deleted during the database crash and you have to resubmit them. Read around the forums from there.

[encmetalhead]

i hope i finally get featured with my ASD review anyway. New Release + one of my better reviews + i've never been featured should get me a feature....right? RIGHT?!? =( heh anyway yeah i'll probably just keep it maybe make comments everyother day so it'll appear in comment box for a lil while

[IsItLuck?]

you probably should avoid bumping your reviews

[Cocaine]

I think in moderation it's a little understandable right now.

Also, I have no idea who ASD is, and features are usually limited to significant or huge or important releases. It might be one though I just havent heard of it. Just saying.

[encmetalhead]

i don't bump unless i really want more comments but hopfully people will keep posting comments on it

[encmetalhead]

A Skylit Drive - They're pretty big in the scene but no where esle

[Djnx]

I submitted three reviews that were lost and now re-published. According to google review id's were:

Emilie Simon - Vegetal
www.sputnikmusic.com/review_16013

Ayumi Hamasaki - Guilty
www.sputnikmusic.com/review_16014

Hannah Montana - Original TV Soundtrack
www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?reviewid=16012
but not in cache anymore.

[evilmegaman]

I'd like to see that kill your ex review back up...

[Klown]

phew

[Klown]

was worried there had been another database crash there