Are there different server(farms) working on client groups - and are they in sync for sure?

[AlbertR 704]

I've the following problem (formerly described in an other thread)

• At least one note has been created before about 30 days in Legacy
  • It was seen OK in EN10
• Then it was changed in Legacy
  • But EN10 Windows client app remains to show the unchanged version
  • EN10 Web works correct (like EN10)
• Nice: Note history in EN10 knows about the change in all cases)

I've already un-installed EN10, removed the local cache (C:\users\<user>\AppData\*\Evernote\...), re-installed EN10: Same effect - note in EN10 remains untouched from my last change.

I've two support tickets open on this (#3742278 and #3773445) but got no answer to my question (see subject of this thread):

• It looks like EN10 app clients use servers that do not sync reliably to other servers that are used by Legacy and Web

My problem is not only to repair this note (I might make a copy of in Legacy and hope to see the now complete version in EN10). I'm afraid of having such problems with (many?) other notes and it will not go away because it's a syncing problem of EN10 app clients...

Support asked me clear the trash because they met problems on syncing sometimes in this area. And there is another effect:

• My trash hold 122 notes (in EN10)
  • at the same time, trash in Legacy showed only 51 notes
• I cleared the trash from Administrator's console (because it's a Teams account)
  • Web client (in Admin) showed 51 notes
  • and deleted these 51 notes
• The legacy showed 0 notes in trash 
  • But EN10 app client shows now 71 notes in trash (=122-51)
  • If I click on such a note, i get the message that this note is no longer available

In both cases EN10 is not able to sync realiably my note content. Note history and trash show other (really trusted) states.

Question to the audience here: Does anyone have seen similar effects with his notes?

And please do not answer "This is a Legacy problem and I should change to EN10". I see this problem also between EN10 Web and EN10 app clients... And if my assumption is correct, similar problems my come up whenever notes wander between operating system worlds. THX.

 

 

 

[gazumped 12,057]

Evernote were at one stage the proud owners of "the largest repository of personal data on the planet".  (The phrase stuck with me,  but not the source...).  You may remember that since 2016 they have used Google's business storage services. 

I'm not sure how many servers Google runs for its commercial services,  nor do I know how many hold Evernote data.  I'd think that would be commercially (and security) sensitive information.  But I'd guess it's a lot,  spread around the world.  And "which server is my data on?" is quite possibly a meaningless question given the context.

Based on recent conversations here about RTE and new coding for notes,  and the difficulties of maintaining compatibility between officially deprecated systems (3+ years ago) and improvements meant to favour the latest 64bit features and architecture I'd assume that there are two places where data might be stored - 'old format' and 'new format' and given that translations between the two were described at one stage as being made on demand,  its possible that there is no practical way to compare content between the two,  which are probably spread on different servers.

Although it's not the answer that you want,  Abe Lincoln recognised in 1864 (according to Bing) that changing horses in the middle of a stream was probably a bad idea. 

Once you fix on v10 for your full-time use you'll be able to fix any errors you see.  But Evernote seem pretty serious that Legacy issues are not supported in any way.  I'm confident that they won't be willing to try to compare one set of data with another to find anomalies.  If you want to do that,  then it's up to you to find a way. 

I'd suggest a full ENEX and HTML backup of all your notebooks as they currently stand in Legacy,  and regular local backups for v10;  and then don't use the Legacy app again.

I could be wrong - but I don't think I am...

[AlbertR 704]

OK, it's clear that "the server" is a real huge server farm. And I do not want anyone to solve a problem with one note. Moreover I know that some guys here will be triggered to "don't use Legacy" if they simply read this word by flying over the postings 😉

But it's only an example of

• "one set of clients use this farms and an other set of client use an other farm"
• and "these farms" are not in sync".

You may feel better with

• "Web clients use one farm and Windows clients use an other farm"
• and "these farms are not in sync"

It's not only me that have this feeling. Look i.e. to the following thread in which @Feitz has mentioned it before 3 weeks:

• https://discussion.evernote.com/forums/topic/148558-sync-has-gone-completely-wrong/?do=findComment&comment=706102

I want to get an answer from EN whether our assumption is true and how they are dealing with it.

If it is true and there are syncing problems between the servers, this will lead to scrambled note chapters: If one client adds some content, the other does not receive the the changes for sure and add other content, then syncs, the addings of the first are lost. OK, it might be repaired by digging through the history - but who want to do that? If a user cannot rely on the service, he will look for others...

In the meanwhile I installed EN10-Windows-app on a second maschine to be sure that it's not a problem of my EN10-Windows-app und my maschine. And Bingo: EN10-Windows-app shows the old note content on all maschines whereas EN10-Web (and sorry - Legacy) shows the correct one. 

 

[gazumped 12,057]

5 minutes ago, AlbertR said:

I want to get an answer from EN whether our assumption is true and how they are dealing with it.

Good luck with that.  I think you'd be better off simply asking Support to help fix the discrepancy between note numbers and/ or content. 

I'd be surprised if they're willing to answer detail questions about the way they manage syncing and notes generally because that's commercially valuable information and probably only a small team understands exactly how it works anyway.

[AlbertR 704]

2 minutes ago, gazumped said:

I'd be surprised if they're willing to answer detail questions

I feel it's a kind of openess to the users...

• If this is reason for not answering my question, they are free to say "sorry - this is confidential information".
• If they do not trust me (to not sharing better answers), they might ask me to sign a NDA (I think Experts here are handled this way)
• But if they answer be asking stupid questions, it's a sign of "Don't know and I'm not willing to learn more" 😞

In former times I got in contact to a "Team Lead, Customer Success (Business Accounts)" directly. She left - like many other for any reason 😉. But I believe there are others available to do a similar good job 🙏.

[PinkElephant 8,785]

We don’t know, and maybe we won’t know …

What I think is pretty consistent information is that very likely the former server structure does not exist any more. I assume it still is hosted securely - but many forum posts in the last couple of months point into the direction that the cloud data was moved to a new server storage, and their setup changed.

See the blog post about the server outage some weeks ago, and read a bit between the lines.

https://evernote.com/blog/update-october-4-outage-a-big-migration-and-a-better-infrastructure

[AlbertR 704]

THX, but 

21 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

many forum posts in the last couple of months point into the direction that the cloud data was moved to a new server storage

contradicts EN's own statements on Google Cloud Platform FAQ
Because the server location might be of special interrest for many users (esp. in Europe), I think EN would change this information close to any changes of infrastructure (if the old information went wrong). 

[gazumped 12,057]

24 minutes ago, AlbertR said:

the server location might be of special interrest for many users

As long as my data is not on servers in a few of the more extreme countries,  and I have an assurance from the operator that it's being kept secure and subject to the requirements of GDPR,  I don't really care where in the world my data is held.  It's basic security not to disclose much information about processes and protocols.

[AlbertR 704]

Complete agree 🙂. But most users are not that inside and read only "Google servers - located in the US - CIA is watching you!" 😉

[PinkElephant 8,785]

23 minutes ago, gazumped said:

As long as my data is not on servers in a few of the more extreme countries,  and I have an assurance from the operator that it's being kept secure …

Like - in the US, where a secret court can order a cloud service provider to open the backdoor to any „account of interest“, and at the same time forbidding the provider to inform his client about it ?

OK, I assume this to be hypothetical in my case.

But GDPR compliance is not necessarily guaranteed, as I see it.

[gazumped 12,057]

3 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

But GDPR compliance is not necessarily guaranteed, as I see it.

No,  but I consider it a sign of good faith.  And if I had anything that any security service might be interested in - it's not online!  😄

[Feitz 262]

On 11/24/2023 at 4:37 PM, AlbertR said:

In the meanwhile I installed EN10-Windows-app on a second maschine to be sure that it's not a problem of my EN10-Windows-app und my maschine. And Bingo: EN10-Windows-app shows the old note content on all maschines whereas EN10-Web (and sorry - Legacy) shows the correct one. 

 

Problem is not the one note you found but the possibility that this happens to (many) other notes you are unaware of. Definitely concerning...