Astraweb/US MAY Have Changed it's Sunday 'Maintenance Period'

For several months (Years?) it has been well known that Astraweb/US had a 'block hole' maintenance period Sunday evenings (between around 1900-2200 Pacific Time where their server is located at in San Jose), and most folks have simply learned to 'avoid' that block of time (plus or minus a good half hour to an hour or so) because trying to transfer anything during that 'block' was pretty zero.

So no big deal, simply avoid it. Until today. I noticed that around 1400 that the typical extreme slowdowns, 'socket errors', 'timeouts', and etc., had ground things to a halt. I let it run. Basically, nothing got accomplished for what is now going on a good hour or so.

Will continue to monitor, but basically, things are going round and round in a circle, just like what has been occurring during the Sunday night 'period'. Great.

No problems here, but I'm halfway across the world.

The 'hole' lasted just about 3+ hours, just like all the previous Sunday's.

Are you sure you were 'attached' to Astraweb/US, not the 'generic' Astraweb which auto-selects which server 'on the fly'...?

Well, like I said, it lasted about 3+ hours, then slowly subsided.

Now, what will be interesting is if the Sunday PM 'hole' isn't there tonight; guess I'll find out in about 2-3 hours!

Well, nope. Right on schedule (just about) the Sunday PM kicked in seriously around 2030, with the server coming to a screeching halt.

Hopefully will start back up in a couple of hours.

I split 8/8 between servers in the EU and US. No problems. I'll definitely be renewing my subscription next January.

Like a lot of folks, I 'trip' over 'slowdowns' every once in a while (once every couple of weeks) other than this Sunday PM thingy which has, as I said, existed for many many moons. There is no way I'd go back to paying triple (or more) simply to avoid the 'potholes', so to speak.

And the Blocknews I use for 'fills' cost just a few bucks several years ago (200GB) and I've only used about 7GB of it so far (at that rate, I'll just about be taking the final dirt nap before getting close to using it up).

Works for me, but it's still a bit of a mystery as to why these 'black hole' events seem to come and go (other than the scheduled maintenance). For those who get 'caught' by one when they're trying to get something, it's a pain in the you know what.

Come on guy do you stilll honestly believe the Sunday maint. thing? First, astra is in trouble if they need to do maint that effects service EVERY weekend when so many people would be home looking to connect. It just doesn't make sense. Not only does this not happen every week with every other provider when was the last time you saw scheduled maint for any usenet provider?

Plus there are so many other services running across the net these days that are more critical and complex than astra and not even they need to do maint at any regular interval let alone every week that affect users.

If I had to bet, astras system is just croaking under the heavy load on the late weekends and they just don't want to fix it.but it is certainly is not logical to think it is maint.

Astraweb have a 10Gbps line at each server location. I can see that being taxed on a Sunday with the primetime shows being uploaded and downloaded.

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Originally Posted by sandman_1

Astraweb have a 10Gbps line at each server location..

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source?

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Originally Posted by Hypatia

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Originally Posted by sandman_1

Astraweb have a 10Gbps line at each server location..

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source?

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http://networktools.nl/asinfo/AS35176

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General Network Information
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Network Name : Searchtech Limited
Name Aliases : Astraweb Usenet Server
Primary ASN : 35176
Website : http://www.as35176.net
IRR AS-SET :
Network Type : Content
Approx BGP Prefixes : 3
Traffic Levels : Not Disclosed
Traffic Ratios : Heavy Outbound
Geographic Scope : Global
Supported Protocols : Coming Soon
Looking Glass URL :
Route Server URL :
Public Notes : ASN for Astraweb Usenet Server
Record Created Date : 2008-11-02 01:28:22
Last Updated Date : 2009-12-14 09:18:22

Peering Policy Information
--------------------------
Peering Policy URL : http://www.as35176.net
General Policy : Open
Location Requirement : Not Required
Ratio Requirement : No
Contract Requirement : Not Required

Contact Information
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Role Name E-Mail Phone
---- ---- ------ -----
Policy NOC [email protected] -

Public Peering Information
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Exchange Point ASN IP Address Capacity
-------------- --- ---------- --------
AMS-IX 35176 Not Provided 10000 Mbps
NL-IX 35176 193.239.116.12 10000 Mbps
Equinix San Jose 35176 206.223.116.89 10000 Mbps

Private Peering Information
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Facility Name ASN City Country
------------- --- ---- -------
NIKHEF Amsterdam 35176 Amsterdam NL
TelecityGroup Amsterdam 3 (Sloterdijk) 35176 Amsterdam NL
SARA Amsterdam 35176 Amsterdam NL
Equinix San Jose (SV3) 35176 San Jose US

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where can i get those AS35176 like addresses? for instance for supernews etc