What to do if you think the server, or a service, is down.

[Bryon]

If you think the server, or a service (IE: MySQL, HTTP, FTP), is down, please follow these steps to find out what is going on.

1. Check the "Server Alerts" forum. Most of the time when something goes wrong, or maintenance is being performed on a server, a thread will be created in that forum specifically explaining what is going on.
   
   If there are no new threads in that forum, continue on.
   
2. Check this thread and verify that a service is showing that it's down.
3. Wait 5-15 minutes, checking every few minutes for whatever was not working to be working. If nothing changes after that time period, continue.
4. Check the "Support Forum" for your type of hosting (Free, Paid, or Instant), for current threads on what is going on.
   
   - If you do not see any at all about the current issue, feel free to create a new thread to alert us and others of the problem.
   
   - If you see an existing thread about the problem, do not create a new thread. One thread is enough to let us know about the problem. Also if you are going to post in a thread, saying things like "Oh noes my site isn't working make it work now!!" does not help at all. Posts containing statements such as that will be deleted, and can possibly earn you a warning.​

Always be sure to include your account username and domain to help us isolate the problem.

 

[Bryon]

Also, if suddenly your MySQL databases "disappear" from cPanel, do not worry, your databases still exist. When the MySQL server goes down, cPanel cannot retrieve information on your databases, thus making it appear that they do not exist. If this happens, follow the steps above.

 

[bigguy]

Excellent post Bryon, I hope ppl take the time to read it.