Build servers going offline due to inclement weather

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Feb 15, 2021, at 17:34, Ryan Schmidt wrote:

> On Feb 15, 2021, at 02:42, Ryan Schmidt wrote:
> 
>> The MacPorts build servers are located in Austin, TX which is experiencing its coldest temperatures since 1989, which is driving record electricity usage, which has prompted the local power company to warn of impending rolling power outages. The build servers do not take well to being powered off while builds are happening, so I'm shutting them down now. Hopefully the situation will improve within a day or so.
>> 
>> I'll keep the buildmaster on for now, since it also generates the portindexes and distributes them and the updated portfiles to the public rsync server, but if the power goes out I'll shut it down too because the uninterruptible power supply will not last as long as the projected duration of the power outages.
>> 
>> Binary archives of newly updated ports will not be produced during this time so MacPorts will compile from source on your computer when needed. Source distfiles will not be mirrored during this time either which may impact your ability to install some ports on older OS versions, particularly OS X 10.8 and earlier. If you get an error during the fetch phase, consult:
>> 
>> https://trac.macports.org/wiki/ProblemHotlist#fetch-failures
> 
> Internet service is out so the buildmaster is off now too. Port updates or other changes committed to the repository won't be reflected on the public rsync server until this is back online.

Internet service has been restored and power has stayed on, but I'm keeping the servers offline to comply with the City of Austin's request to conserve power as much as possible. The State of Texas energy authority ERCOT has required Austin Energy to reduce its power consumption so drastically that all customers on circuits deemed non-critical (~40% of the city) have been without power for over 24 hours already (in well below freezing temperatures).

https://austinenergy.com/ae/about/news/news-releases/2021/update-what-you-need-to-know-about-austin-energys-outage-situa

The rest of the contiguous United States shares either the east or west power grid, but most of Texas uses its own separate grid managed by ERCOT. Unfortunately right now most of Texas is very cold and everybody is using more electricity running their heaters. At the same time, the weather has knocked out some power plants. And since our grid is separate, there's no way to get surplus power from other states. Texas was not designed with such cold temperatures in mind.

Hopefully the situation will improve in a day or two and I'll get the servers back online then.