# PSA: Pinside is Down **Source:** Cary Hardy **Type:** video **Published:** 2021-04-05 **Duration:** 1m 45s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKTa31NAnm0 --- ## Analysis Cary Hardy reports that Pinside.com is currently offline due to a fire at the data center hosting its servers. Robin, who runs Pinside, confirmed that sprinklers were activated, servers need individual water damage checks, and reconfiguring a complete working server would take at least two days. Robin is deciding between purchasing a new server or waiting out the outage, with hopes to restore service by the next day. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] A fire occurred at the data center where Pinside servers are located — _Direct statement from Robin (Pinside operator) relayed through Jeff Patterson of This Week in Pinball_ - [HIGH] Sprinklers were activated at the data center during the fire — _Robin's statement about the incident_ - [HIGH] Servers need to be checked individually for water damage — _Robin's assessment of recovery process_ - [HIGH] Reconfiguring a complete working server would take at least two days — _Robin's estimate of recovery timeline_ - [HIGH] Pinside has backups of its data — _Robin's clarification that data is backed up_ - [HIGH] Pinside hosting bills are paid and the outage is not due to DDoS or site shutdown — _Robin's statement addressing potential misconceptions_ ### Notable Quotes > "There was a fire in the data center where Pinside servers are located. Sprinklers were involved. It's a mess." > — **Robin (Pinside operator, relayed by Cary Hardy)**, ~0:30-0:45 > _Core explanation of the outage cause_ > "Pinside has backups, but reconfiguring a complete working server would take me at least two days." > — **Robin (Pinside operator, relayed by Cary Hardy)**, ~0:45-1:00 > _Clarifies recovery timeline and constraints_ > "I'm constantly hesitating between purchasing or reconfiguring a new server elsewhere, or waiting this outage out." > — **Robin (Pinside operator, relayed by Cary Hardy)**, ~1:00-1:15 > _Shows uncertainty about recovery strategy_ > "We did pay our hosting bills. We are not being DDoSed, and I have not decided to call it quits after my third Twippy." > — **Robin (Pinside operator, relayed by Cary Hardy)**, ~1:15-1:30 > _Addresses misconceptions and affirms commitment to site recovery_ > "I hope we can be back online tomorrow. Fingers crossed." > — **Robin (Pinside operator, relayed by Cary Hardy)**, ~1:30-1:40 > _Optimistic recovery timeline estimate_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Pinside | organization | Major online pinball community forum and marketplace; currently offline due to data center fire | | Robin | person | Operator/administrator of Pinside; managing recovery effort from data center incident | | Cary Hardy | person | Video creator providing PSA about Pinside outage to community | | Jeff Patterson | person | Host of This Week in Pinball podcast; reached out to Robin for official statement | | This Week in Pinball | organization | Pinball podcast where Jeff Patterson is host; helped relay Pinside status information | ### Topics - **Primary:** Infrastructure and service outages, Community communication and transparency, Pinside operations and recovery - **Secondary:** Data backup and disaster recovery ### Sentiment **Negative** (-0.7) — The incident itself is serious and disruptive to the community, but tone is measured and factual. Robin's statement shows frustration but also determination to recover. Cary's presentation is matter-of-fact and helpful rather than alarmist. ### Signals - **[business_signal]** Major pinball community infrastructure (Pinside forum/marketplace) offline due to physical data center disaster; operational continuity and recovery timeline uncertain (confidence: high) — Fire and water damage to servers hosting Pinside; recovery estimates 1-2 days minimum but complicated by need for individual server checks - **[community_signal]** Transparent communication from Pinside operator to community through media channels (Facebook, This Week in Pinball) explaining incident and clarifying misconceptions (confidence: high) — Robin's direct statement addressing concerns about hosting bills, DDoS, or site shutdown; explicit message about commitment to recovery --- ## Transcript So if you're like me, you tried getting on pinside.com today and you saw this. Now at the time I thought nothing of it. I was like, okay, maybe I've just got a bad connection to that server at this particular time, or maybe the website is down for a mere glitch or something like that. And I went about my day. Evidently, no, it's a little more serious than that. Real quick video here, guys. Just wanted to give you an update on what's going on with Pinside Jeff Patterson from This Week in Pinball reached out to Robin that runs Pinside, and this is what Robin had to say about the issue. There was a fire in the data center where Pinside servers are located. Sprinklers were involved. It's a mess. Servers are slowly being brought back up, but need to be checked individually for water damage, etc. I also heard repairs are ongoing at the facility. Pennside has backups, but reconfiguring a complete working server would take me at least two days. So I'm constantly hesitating between purchasing or reconfiguring a new server elsewhere, or waiting this outage out. It's incredibly frustrating to have this in your head, and needless to say, it has been slowly eating me up all day. Anyways, feel free to bring word out that this is going on. We did pay our hosting bills. We are not being DDoSed, and I have not decided to call it quits after my third Twippy. To be continued, I hope we can be back online tomorrow. Fingers crossed. So there you go. I'm just doing my part right here by getting the word out to those of you that may not have Facebook or have seen this on Facebook. There you go. There is the reasons behind it. Hopefully, we'll see Pinside back up soon. Until next time, guys, peace out. _(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: c7ff19d1-ecff-49e5-b84b-2dd39d5073da*