Last Thursday evening our websites www.nandyala.org and www.nandyala.org/mahanandi got suspended by our web hosting provider. The action was sudden and there was no prior communication or email from them about any problem. We were painfully shocked at the loss of control over our site and there was no way we could let you know about what was going on. They took total control of our site and posted a cheap sounding message on it.
After almost 4 hours of trying to find why, they settled on the reason that our website was consuming too much processing capacity on the server. And it took another 2 hours on the phone with these guys for us to realize unless we upgrade the account, we wouldn’t gain access to our site. So from shared hosting, we moved to dedicated server. And it took almost 48 hours to find and to transfer database files. Mind you, we are totally clueless about these things and we had to learn everything quickly. A total 4 days of constant worrying and work, Mahanandi is here again. Thankfully we did it without losing a single word.
Even though I can understand their reason for suspending our account, I still wish they could have at least sent us an email notice beforehand. Suspending accounts without notice – is this a common practice in web hosting business? What a merciless, ruthless bunch these web hosting providers are. Even the Shakthi, the natural force that created us all would be more merciful, at least She would hint through symptoms and signs that we are not taking good care of ourselves before suspending our lives. No such mercy from website hosting providers I guess.
One pleasant thing I had done during this ordeal was, I launched a food blog forum for us Indian food bloggers, mainly to talk about issues like this and also to share and exchange ideas and tips related to food blogging and food photography. Website name is Dining Hall. You can find more details about it – Here. Manisha of Indian Food Rocks is the co-administrator.
I have to say thanks to all of you who wrote emails, offered help and sent good Karma our way. Also many thanks to Inji Pennu of Ginger and Mango for responding to my request and posting a message about Mahanandi. I greatly appreciate it!
Update on March 1st, 08:
The Dining Hall forum is closed permanently on March 1st, 2008. Time constraints, busy personal life, and lack of passion made the closure inevitable and unavoidable. Sorry for the inconvenience.
– Indira
i was checking u’r website every now and then to see if u are back again.
I know it must have been so hard to deal with unexpected things like this but well u are back right!!!
cool!!
Comment by Padmaja — February 12, 2007 @ 4:17 am
Hi Indira…
I am so glad you are back!!! i really missed you!! Welcome back 🙂
Comment by Vidya — February 12, 2007 @ 5:07 am
Glad to see you back. And thankfully with everything intact.
Comment by Liz — February 12, 2007 @ 5:33 am
Hi Indira,
it’s become a daily habit for me to check your website for new recipes & I hav never been dissapointed.
I am so glad you r back.
Comment by divya — February 12, 2007 @ 6:13 am
Good to see ‘Mahanandi’ back, Indira.
Comment by sailaja — February 12, 2007 @ 6:34 am
Hi Indira,
Its nice to see Mahanandi back online. This site is my recipe bible. Last week i wanted to try something and bought all the ingradiants on the weekend, as usuall, visited Mahanandi, BOOOm, refreshed my chache, boom .. 🙁
with my experience on web hosting, I predicted that there could be some thing wrong with hosting provider. I am glad Mahanandi is back.
wish you good luck.
Comment by sanugu — February 12, 2007 @ 6:39 am
Glad to have you back and so sorry about the web hosting problems.
Jayashree
Comment by Jayashree — February 12, 2007 @ 6:53 am
I didn’t quite realise how dependent I am on your website, until Mahanandi vanished!
Don’t worry, I realised the problem would be your webhost and probably so did most others. But, this is dirty service – and you shouldn’t take it.
Comment by Chithrupa — February 12, 2007 @ 6:59 am
dear indira,
you and mahanandi were sorely missed.
good to see you back. the forum is a great idea.
bee
Comment by bee — February 12, 2007 @ 7:13 am
ah…been wondering. welcome back!
Comment by jacob — February 12, 2007 @ 7:26 am
Thank god…. you are back…
Comment by Sri — February 12, 2007 @ 7:34 am
Indira,
My heart sank really low when I tried to access your site and could not. So glad that you are back in one piece, and so sorry that you had to go through all that trouble. Let me tell you as an (until now silent) admirer that it will all be worth it. You have many, many, happy fans now, I’m sure!
Kamini.
Comment by Kamini — February 12, 2007 @ 7:48 am
Good to see you again! It was scary to see the website offline. I finally found good methi to go with the green garbanzo from trader joe’s but no Indira to guide me on how to cook it!
now, back to sharpening the knife… and the pen, better write it down this time!
Comment by Anu — February 12, 2007 @ 7:52 am
It must be bad karma for the comment moderation you have going on.
Comment by Rabi — February 12, 2007 @ 8:50 am
I like your recipes and try to plan my menu for the week around them. i was kind of lost this weekend without access to your site. nice to see you’re back!!( by the way, i couldn’t access injimanga either)
Comment by deepa — February 12, 2007 @ 8:54 am
Hey
I was checking this site often and I thought you had taken it down for server maintenance or something 🙂
Good to know you have resolve the probs
Comment by sandeepa — February 12, 2007 @ 9:24 am
Indira: This weekend I had bought some chestnuts on sale and wnated to access Mahanandi to see your chestnut posts for some ideas. I was so bummed that you were down..and the chestnuts turned out to be duds too:(
But am so RELIEVED to see you’re back.
Maybe too much Drishthi (evil eye) on mahanandi:)
Comment by Janani — February 12, 2007 @ 9:42 am
Really glad to see you back,Indira..You can’t realize how much you’re misssed…:((
Comment by Annita — February 12, 2007 @ 10:02 am
Hey Indira… Thanks for coming back…Glad to see you ….
Comment by Rekha — February 12, 2007 @ 10:57 am
I am very glad you are back.Every now and then i was checking for your site.Really missed your site.Thank god.You hardly know how much you were being missed.
Comment by raji — February 12, 2007 @ 11:00 am
So good to see the site up and running…I was wondering what had happened, I thought you were changing the look of the site or doing some tech.work with it.
Take care,
trupti
Comment by Trupti — February 12, 2007 @ 11:06 am
good to have you back!
Comment by IBH — February 12, 2007 @ 11:36 am
Dear Indira,
I cannot tell you how thankful I am that you are back. Its like spring has finally arrived. Thanks for your wonderful website.
Comment by Sapna — February 12, 2007 @ 12:09 pm
Glad to note that you are back – but why continue with the same folks? There are plenty of others who will provide similar service. You are right, they should have forewarned you before compelling you to upgrade your account.
Anyway – the bottom line is that the site is up and running …
Comment by Raghu — February 12, 2007 @ 12:41 pm
Hi Indira,
it’s become a daily habit for me to check your website for new recipes & I hav never been dissapointed.
I am so glad you r back.
Comment by swathi — February 12, 2007 @ 12:47 pm
I’m so glad you are back!!! Do you want/need donations to help pay for what sounds like an expensive upgrade?
PS – that “down” message was so cheesy. I agree. Glad to have your classy site back.
Comment by Diane — February 12, 2007 @ 1:34 pm
Thank God Mahanandi is back! I was worried and checked it so many times.
I appreiciate your efforts to keep this site alive Indira! specially when u r running on a budget (I assume with Vijay’s studies and all)
The least I can do is say Thanks :)…or if any form of help that I can extend.
By the way, the hosting guys affected me too…well indirectly ha ha. I went and bought wild rice, hoping to refer to your post while cooking. I was so frustrated when I couldnt get into the site…somehow i cooked on my own but dint turn out great. Will try again since the site is back now 🙂
Comment by Tweety — February 12, 2007 @ 1:35 pm
Hey Indira –
I am so sorry that it has happened to you. I figured it was something to do with the hosting.
It is very unusual and not very nice of them to just disable your site without any fore-warning. I am sure the blocking/disabling was done by a computer program and not by a human being, and what caused it to happen this weekend in unusual. I wonder if you had an unusual number of visitors just this weekend…
Anyway..I am GLAD that you are back!
Comment by Luv2Cook — February 12, 2007 @ 1:51 pm
Thank god you’re back, Indira!! I am sorry to hear about the problem you had with your web hosting provider.
I really missed both you and mananandi. It’s great to have you back!!
Comment by Mini — February 12, 2007 @ 2:36 pm
Great to see your blog up and running.
Comment by krithika — February 12, 2007 @ 2:43 pm
Dear Indira,
Nice to see ytou back. Was quite worried abt you.
Comment by Raveena — February 12, 2007 @ 3:04 pm
Hi Indira,
The 1st site I visit everyday is yours; it kept me worried until I read your message yesterday. Thank you.
Darshana
Comment by Darshana — February 12, 2007 @ 3:43 pm
It is so nice to see Mahanandi back in action! I was wondering and also concerned what had happened as it was not up & running for a few days…anyway…good times come back! Am now waiting to see your new post,Indira!!
Comment by Deepu — February 12, 2007 @ 4:02 pm
Hi Indira,
I came across your blog about a month ago and checked it out often although never left a comment before. And was I worried when the site would not open up! Anyways, I am happy to see that your website is back and functioning well and you’ve got things under control.
I like your approach to cooking — gives an everyday doable kind of feel. I’ve tried out your pomegranate juice (awesome!) and the sweet pongal (very easy to follow recipe with step by step illistration) has been repeated twice in my kitchen in the last month.
I like the thoughtfulness behind the blog search feature.
Good luck.
Anita
Comment by Anita — February 12, 2007 @ 4:10 pm
Nice to see you back Indira.
Comment by Archana Thomas — February 12, 2007 @ 4:18 pm
Good to see you back, Indira! I was pretty worried…
Comment by Chandrika — February 12, 2007 @ 4:39 pm
Hi Indira,
I have been ur silent admirer for months. It’s become a habit to visit ur site everyday like checking mails. Was shocked when ur webite could not be accessed. GLAD that you are back !
Comment by Akhila — February 12, 2007 @ 5:00 pm
Glad to see you back, dear Indira.
Comment by RP — February 12, 2007 @ 7:33 pm
Hi Indira,
you are such a blesssing for beginners like me, you even shows the photographs and explain cooking step by step, which has made me a good cook (:)I have never had the chance to see anybody cook at home, was always away from home 🙁 Thank You so much, may god bless you and your family, was so upset when your website was down, every now and then I used to check whether you have restored it,I might have been really hard for you. Any ways I am glad you r back.
paaru
Comment by paaru — February 12, 2007 @ 9:32 pm
Thank god you’re back! I missed your recipes for my potluck last weekend.
Comment by Seetha — February 12, 2007 @ 9:39 pm
really glad that you’r back! Ciao! comidademama
Comment by comidademama — February 12, 2007 @ 11:49 pm
The sudden disappearance of the site only confirmed to me of what I always suspected as a Mahanandi Addiction Syndrome being devoloped in the minds of people.
Relievd to see the site back.
-Jagan
Comment by Jagan Mohan Reddy — February 13, 2007 @ 1:44 am
glad to see ur website up and running. its a home away from home for many of us.
Comment by sia — February 13, 2007 @ 4:12 am
Dear Indira – I’m sorry that you had to go through the stress. Having undergone Blogger issues recently, I’m aware the chaos that ensues… So glad you are back and up and running! Looking forward to new entries.
Comment by Mandira — February 13, 2007 @ 7:11 am
Phew, you are back! These server problems can be frustrating sometimes. Love the idea of a forum, and what a nice name:)
Comment by Hema — February 13, 2007 @ 7:14 am
Thats very sad to know Indira. Even I have some problem with my server many times, when I complain them, they give me some stupid answers. But bringing it down purposely is insane. I hope you take backups regularly.
Comment by shilpa — February 13, 2007 @ 7:31 am
Hi Indira,
gald to see u back. daily i see ur website for recipes. the four days were like something is miising from my daily routine. iam glad that u r back! thanks .
Comment by chaya — February 13, 2007 @ 9:01 am
Hey Indira-
welcome back!! Could you pl post recipe for Rava dosa? my many attempts have failed miserably and my family wants no more of rava dosa from me anymore, they are tired of my experiments! Pl. help.
Thanks.
Comment by Deepa — February 13, 2007 @ 9:18 am
Welcome back Indira: I thought I missed your posting about a break in blogging. Good you are back. These webhosting providers should not have done like this.
Comment by Mythreyee — February 13, 2007 @ 9:34 am
You are so popular! I am one of your regular fans like many and was sorely disappointed when I couldnt access your site. So glad to have you back online!
Regards,
Archana
Comment by archana — February 13, 2007 @ 10:16 am
Hi Indira, I’ve been a silent admirer of your site for months and truly love all your recipes, photos and presentation. Hats off!!! I didn’t realize how much addicted I was to your site until it went down. So glad to see you back!!
Comment by Shashi — February 13, 2007 @ 10:47 am
Hi Indira
Happy to see u back
Regsrds,
Shalini
Comment by shalini — February 13, 2007 @ 11:55 am
Hi Indira,I had been busy all these days but recently when I visited your URL,I saw that yu were having “technical difficulties”..never thought your website got suspended.Glad to see you back though.it was really rude of those guys to have suspended your site without atleast an email..unbelievable!your forum is a very good idea.Will visit it soon..
Comment by Vini K — February 13, 2007 @ 12:39 pm
🙂 too much publicity for my site ma’am. My site counter is overflowing. hehehe! Great to see you back….it is like home..you know this site is there and you kind of feel secure:)
Comment by InjiPennu — February 13, 2007 @ 1:18 pm
Thank you for sharing my happiness at the return of Mahanandi. It was quite an ordeal but I am glad everything worked out at the end.
My sincere apologies for the inconvenience to those of you who had planned to prepare meals based on Mahanandi recipes during last week. As I mentioned we did not have any control over the site and I could not let you know what was going on at that time. Sorry for that.
Janani: That’s a bummer. What went wrong? Did you just roast them or prepared a recipe with them? It’s almost end of the season for chestnuts. Perhaps that might be the reason for not-so-good tasting end result.
Evil eye is right. If only I’d sacrifice a spammer to ward off the Dristhi.:)
Hi Diane: Thanks very much for your support. It was an expensive upgrade. I am reluctant to ask for donations and I am hoping my amazon shop would cover the expenses. I just cancelled my cable and decided to spend that money on the maintaince of this website.
Thanks Tweety! Hope SF is treating you good.
Inji, the least I could do.:) Thanks again!
Comment by Indira — February 13, 2007 @ 3:31 pm
oh no..it was the chestnuts themselves that flopped..probably the end of season timing has something to do with it
Comment by Janani — February 14, 2007 @ 7:22 am
Im sorry to hear about the bad experience dear girl and glad that you didn’t lose any data.
Comment by nandita — February 14, 2007 @ 10:17 pm
idlebrain, eenadu and your blog are the ones we check everyday.
Glad you are back and sorry for the mess.
Comment by srinadh — February 15, 2007 @ 8:49 pm
A great relief indeed! Did not know untill the site was down that i was so much addicted to it.Go on with the excellent work.
Lakshmi
Comment by Lakshmi Raghuraman — February 17, 2007 @ 4:21 am