Service Unavailable - DNS failure

If you get this error:

Service Unavailable - DNS failure
The server is temporarily unable to service your request. Please try again later.

Reference #11.4d961645.1291270534.2b4af1c (or something similar)

Please help us out by doing a tracert so we can see where the DNS is failing. 

To do a trace you can run a manual tracert in console (if you know how), or you can go here: http://network-tools.com/default.asp?prog=express&host=chess.com

Then paste our your results like this:

TraceRoute to 68.71.245.5 [chess.com]

Trace complete

is tracing using cmd

On Windows, from a cmd window you can do "tracert www.chess.com"

Quick and dirty way to do it manually. Omit the quotation marks when you actually type in the commands. The website is much easier, though.

1. CTRL+R(for windows users)

2. Type "cmd" into the dialog box

3. Type "tracert chess.com" into the console

4. When it's completed, right click somewhere in the window, and select the top option, "Mark"

5. Use your mouse or arrow keys to highlight all the stuff you want to copy.

6. Hit enter(this copies it), then paste it as requested.

erik, you know you are taking some chances by choosing to set up Chess.com with a dynamic IP.

How do you explain Chess.com' changing it's IP from something beginning w/ 67 to one beginning with 68? Is it because you are changing the main server that recieves all initial requests?

I'll get right on that.

Where's the any key?

there are some really great articles online for how to setup a multi-server web hosting environment with load balancers, switches, multiple database servers, and web servers. i'm not going to be able to explain it as well as they can. 

Interesting -- from my location, it's cached on akami part of the time.  And when it pings / tracert's through it gets a different IP each time.  I'd say load balancing is working just fine. 

Not sure how a tracert is going to identify a DNS problem though.  I suggest nslookup as an alternative/additional means of figuring out the DNS part.  Note: mine works OK...  Given the presence of edge caching (Akami) and load-balancing servers, several results from a user having trouble may be necessary to track it down.

C:\Users\David>nslookup www.chess.com
Server:  cns.cmc.co.denver.comcast.net
Address:  68.87.85.102

Non-authoritative answer:
DNS request timed out.
    timeout was 2 seconds.
Name:    a1015.w7.akamai.net
Addresses:  204.246.230.105
          204.246.230.113
Aliases:  www.chess.com
          cdn.chess.com.edgesuite.net

Edit: I found this link which might be useful.

TraceRoute to 68.71.245.5 [chess.com]

Trace complete

I agreed tonydal but her is worst, here is mine

 Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6000]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\Users\kelvin>tracert chess.com

Tracing route to chess.com [68.71.245.5]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1   204 ms   194 ms   205 ms  123-3-16-1.static.dsl.dodo.com.au [123.3.16.1]
  2   204 ms   198 ms   197 ms  123-2-4-1.core.d1.com.au [123.2.4.1]
  3   213 ms   211 ms   197 ms  GigabitEthernet2-7.lon55.Melbourne.telstra.net [
139.130.205.17]
  4   206 ms   205 ms   213 ms  TenGigabitEthernet0-12-0-2.exi-core1.Melbourne.t
elstra.net [203.50.80.1]
  5   218 ms   222 ms   221 ms  Bundle-Pos3.chw-core2.Sydney.telstra.net [203.50
.11.14]
  6   221 ms   221 ms   213 ms  Bundle-Ether1.oxf-gw2.Sydney.telstra.net [203.50
.6.90]
  7   227 ms   229 ms   221 ms  TenGigabitEthernet6-0.sydo-core01.Sydney.reach.c
om [203.50.13.38]
  8   409 ms   412 ms   411 ms  i-0-1-2-0.tlot-core01.bx.reach.com [202.84.140.6
]
  9   417 ms   412 ms   412 ms  i-2-5.tlot03.bi.reach.com [202.84.251.242]
 10   419 ms   404 ms   419 ms  10gigabitethernet1-3.core1.lax1.he.net [206.223.
123.37]
 11   416 ms   412 ms   594 ms  zerolag-communications-inc.gigabitethernet3-18.c
ore1.lax1.he.net [216.218.244.238]
 12   410 ms   420 ms   411 ms  shirov.chess.com [68.71.245.5]

Am I in a trouble ?

IP address: 68.71.245.5
Host name: chess.com

Alias:
chess.com
68.71.245.5 is from United States(US) in region North America

TraceRoute to 68.71.245.5 [chess.com]

Trace complete

what's shirov.chess.com? :)

How to fix this?

That's the server sponsored by shirov. He bought erik a beer for that... :p

interesting stuff. why isn't Shirov a chess.com member then? ;)

Doesn't it 

Here is mine as instucted
Tracing route to chess.com [68.71.245.5]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.1.1
  2     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  3    12 ms     8 ms     9 ms  te-7-2-ur02.sffolsom.ca.sfba.comcast.net [68.87.
196.165]
  4    10 ms    12 ms    10 ms  te-0-10-0-2-ar01.oakland.ca.sfba.comcast.net [68
.85.154.66]
  5    13 ms    13 ms    11 ms  pos-0-3-0-0-cr01.sacramento.ca.ibone.comcast.net
 [68.86.90.129]
  6    23 ms    22 ms    22 ms  pos-1-11-0-0-cr01.losangeles.ca.ibone.comcast.ne
t [68.86.86.10]
  7    31 ms    22 ms    31 ms  75.149.231.238
  8    24 ms    22 ms    26 ms  ge1-zerolag.cust.lax02.mzima.net [72.37.172.250]

  9    25 ms    38 ms    25 ms  shirov.chess.com [68.71.245.5]

Trace complete.

TraceRoute to 68.71.245.5 [chess.com]

Trace complete