View Full Version : IP Address Changes?
davintosh
10-23-09, 11:15 AM
Wondering if anyone else's website IP address has been changed by Powweb techs without notification.
We have a website for our company hosted on Powweb -- small site for a small company, mostly for information for potential customers -- and I discovered yesterday that the website's IP address had changed, but I had not been notified. Goofier yet is that the IP showing on the OPS panel under System Settings had not been changed to match what the IP actually was.
The problem was first discovered when we were having an issue with our company website not being accessible inside the local network. We use the same domain name as our Windows domain inside the network, so I have a www A record set up on the local DNS server so that local machines can find the website. If I had been notified of the change, it's a simple matter of updating the A record, but I wasn't, and the Control Panel told me that I should be using the same IP that was originally assigned when I set up the account. It was a minor inconvenience because people inside the network rarely visit the website, and the new IP address propagated throughout the www DNS system without problem, so customers were able to find the site with no difficulty.
To make things a little more interesting, I got this reply back from Powweb support this morning:
<quote removed>
What is strange is that .112 IP; the IP that was originally assigned to me was .113, and the IP that I found that through the www DNS, our domain resolved to .123 yesterday. So where did the .112 come from? If it had been changed to .112, why did our domain name resolve to .123?
Like I said, the inconvenience was minimal. If it weren't for the Windows domain thing, I probably wouldn't have noticed; in fact, I'm guessing that most Powweb customers don't have a local Windows domain that matches their website's domain, so if the IP was changed, they'd be pretty much unaware of it. What I'm more concerned about is the procedural aspects of this incident. I expect some kind of notification if the IP address is being changed. And for the Tech Support to respond that "someone" changed the IP, with no explanation... That's just goofy.
Or am I making a big deal of nothing?
Powweb don't assign fixed IP addresses and never have. If you use IP addresses, you do so at your own risk.
So, yes, you're making a big deal out of nothing.
I thought the same on both counts as Ian but wasn't totally positive. Thanks for clearing that up, Ian. Have them pull you an extra pint down at the pub.
YvetteKuhns
10-23-09, 02:08 PM
I remember using the ip address for scripts for security, then having to change them when they mysteriously stopped working. It would be nice to get notification of changes that can interfere with the website's functionality. The OP brought up another good reason.
davintosh
10-23-09, 02:46 PM
Powweb don't assign fixed IP addresses and never have. If you use IP addresses, you do so at your own risk.
So, yes, you're making a big deal out of nothing.
Seems to me that setting a fixed IP shouldn't be that big a deal, and would be a common courtesy, especially for business customers use their domain names on internal networks. I for one would appreciate it, and would be willing to pay a little extra for that. If they are not willing to provide that service, then a simple email advising users that the IP for their site is changing would be great. Other web hosts I've worked with have done this; why not Powweb?
I guess what bothers me the most is that I spent a bunch of time troubleshooting other equipment before discovering this. I had checked the OPS Control Panel a number of times to verify that the IP I had in DNS was correct. If they are going to change the IP, I would think that the one place that displays the IP prominently should be updated. Is it too much to ask that this at least have accurate information.
entrecon
10-23-09, 03:10 PM
I have always understood in shared environments like this that resources could be shifted and adjusted as needed. To that end, any kind of fixed address could shift as needed. I know that is why they made a shift on the MySQL references as well.
Seems to me that setting a fixed IP shouldn't be that big a deal, and would be a common courtesy, especially for business customers use their domain names on internal networks. I for one would appreciate it, and would be willing to pay a little extra for that. Powweb don't currently offer that facility. Some places do offer fixed IP addresses, but not Powweb.
davintosh
10-26-09, 06:42 PM
Ok, so a fixed IP address is asking a bit too much, but is it too much to ask that the IP address information provided on the Control Panel be accurate? In my original issue, I was checking there to make sure that I had the correct IP address (assuming it was correct); if that had been correct it would've saved me a lot of time in figuring out what my problem was. Even after five days and several messages back and forth with Support, it's STILL not showing what the actual IP address is for my site.
Yes, I know that a WHOIS search will give me the correct IP for my site, but... If basic information like that is incorrect, it makes me wonder what else is incorrect.
Here's a test; check to see what the IP address is in YOUR Control Panel, then do a WHOIS search on your domain name. Do they match? Mine do not!
davintosh
10-27-09, 11:22 AM
Turns out that this is a known issue with an apparently low spot on the priority list:
This is know bug in the Control Panel. The IP address shows incorrectly at the Control Panel. We are aware of this issue and our engineers are currently working on a permanent fix. However, we can't provide an exact time frame as when the issue will be resolved.
:rolleyes:
I guess I can understand and accept that the IP is going to change from time to time, but it would sure be nice to get a heads-up when it does, instead of the boss banging on my desk asking why the website isn't up (of course it is, but if he can't see it, it isn't.)
The bug is a bit of a miscommunication. The IP address displayed in the control panel is for your account url, eg myaccount.powweb.com. The IP address for your domain may differ.
davintosh
10-28-09, 10:26 PM
The bug is a bit of a miscommunication. The IP address displayed in the control panel is for your account url, eg myaccount.powweb.com. The IP address for your domain may differ.
What good would it be for it to show an IP address that doesn't match the domain, especially when there's only one domain under the account? No offense, but I'll take the word of Powweb tech staff over yours.
mpk is PowWeb staff, davintosh. Look at his avatar. Don't be a ninnyhammer.
tpoynton
10-29-09, 09:41 AM
while I have only read about them, there are programs that monitor an IP address and send out a notification if it changes. A google search reveals several; it would be good to know if any of these suit your needs.
davintosh
10-29-09, 10:56 AM
mpk is PowWeb staff, davintosh. Look at his avatar. Don't be a ninnyhammer.
Define 'ninnyhammer'. ;)
Didn't notice the avatar; was too annoyed by the whole situation. Seems strange though that in the response to my support ticket, support tells me that it's a known bug that's being worked on (the quote in my 10-27-09 entry was copied directly from the ticket) while mpk says the "bug is bit of a miscommunication". What exactly is being miscommunicated? I'm still scratching my head over that. Did they tell me it was a bug just to mollify me?
mpk: Care to elaborate on your statement, and in what cases the IP for an account would differ from that for a domain hosted under that account? Especially in this case where there is only one domain? I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but that just doesn't make sense.
All I'm looking for is a reliable way to know what the IP address for my website is, and to know when it changes. That's all. In my experience, that is something provided regularly by lesser web hosting companies. I appreciate your suggestion, tpoynton, and I've already implemented something like that, but I don't think it's too much to ask of Powweb to provide accurate information. And I don't think I should have to rely on jury-rigged solutions to get information that Powweb should be providing in the first place.
Just so anyone listening in doesn't get the wrong idea, I'm really not trying to make a federal case out of this. I really am pleased with the level of service provided by Powweb; the servers and the service are much more reliable and professional than other hosts I've worked with. To me this issue is just a minor annoyance that really shouldn't exist at all.
HalfaBee
10-29-09, 04:07 PM
You could probbaly setup a scheduled job to call a script, to email you the IP address if it changes.
Ninnyhammer:
A fool or simpleton.
ref: http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-nin1.htm
In regards to the miscommunication, the part of the OPS panel where the IP address is displayed has the text: "Your website IP address" but does not specify what url the IP address is for.
Only customers using dedicated ssl certificates are given a dedicated, static IP.
HalfaBee
10-30-09, 06:35 AM
mpk, I don't quite understand difference between "url" and "website", maybe you could elaborate?
A website is accessed via an URL but the reverse does not apply.
The web server farm is configured in a pooled architecture and has many different IP addresses. The IP address for username.powweb.com may be different than for a domain hosted in the account. The IP address for a domain is determined in most cases automatically by an algorithm that runs when the DNS records are created. Due to the automated setup support agents rarely modify DNS records for domains.
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