Hi thornc ...
Yes that is the problem.
To be specific, the server the site is on is not having a problem with static html web pages but it did/is haveing a problem with SQL databases
This web site is constucted of all dynamically generated pages, including the index page. The forums run from an SQL databse so when there is an SQL database connectivity problem the whole web site is down. Yesterday was particularily bad for a few hours. Like most sites on the web this site resides in a shared server enviornment and that means if you have a resource greedy or stupid cyber neighbour, then there can be problems. Yesterday someone set up a cron job to work off of the SQL port
and hence the problem.
You wouldn't believe the amount of emails I get when this happens - 100s and 100s because each time a member or visitor checks the site there is an auto mail sent to me that there is a problem. I'm not complaining about the volume because I want to know when there is a problem. I have noticed today a couple of sporadict error emails which means the techies are still fixing things. When I first went to submit this reply post to you I got a server not found message so there are still things happenning.
This is the nature of the Internet. Joy - problem - fix - then joy again
I think what I'll do is make a static html page on a completely different server, post the URL here and then any time there are future problems, members will have another site to go to for announcements or updates. Maybe I'll even put up a blog or guestbook there for brief comments or questions.