Well the site keeps crashing alot today.  I have had it down at least 4 times when I have been on or trying to get on.  I wasn't the only one that had this issue so I know it wasnt me.  

 

Just an FYI. 

Ditto. Lost a collab post I was trying to send because of it.

I got a white page and a message at the top saying something like 'unable to connect. Too many connections.' Then a bunch of other stuff like the RDI web address that had the word 'disconnect' in it. Is that what you guys got?

I was really worried that I'd never be able to get back on the site! I'm really getting into it, you see!

The site does go down from time to time and, in most instances, comes back up pretty quickly. On occassion, though, the downtime can last a while (especially if Olan is busy with RL or otherwise unavailable to fix the issue)... even then, it's usually nothing to worry about overmuch. From all the posts I've seen about it, though, it sounds like yesterday was a cascade of crashes, eh?

I'm new to the site, so I thought it was gone for good for me lol! Thank God it wasn't!

What is happening is that we are the target of some hackers.  They send a TON of requests at the site, trying to grab information from the databsse in some very clumsy, easily defeated ways. 

But they never stop. 

So what happens is that they sometimes fire off attacks back to back to back from different IP addresss, and do so very rapidly, causing a mini DDOS attack against the site. 

I have set up one fence that sees their attacks, matches a pattern, then immediately drops the trafffic and kills them at the firewall level (thus preventing them from making any more requests). 

But they change tactis from time to time, which can end up slowing the site down or knocking it - and the other webistes I run off of this server - off line. 

I'll keep an eye on the logs and work to keep fencing them out.

Thanks Olan! That sounds so frustrating.

The dicks! Why can't they just leave us to have fun in peace?

Some are phishing.  They figure a hobby site isn't well protected, but that people are lazy - so if they use a username/password here, they may use the same combo for their bank or credit card. 

Some just like to watch the world burn.

...just wanna see it pan-seared with a nice mushroom gravy and some roasted potatoes on the side.

Some people just want to watch the World Cup.

 

Buuuut srsly, good to know we're in good hands!

Some people are just a waste of space. 😏

For anyone waiting on a reply from me, I’m super busy at work and will attend to it when I get home tonight.

 

That sounds delicious, Eol!
Suddenly got a craving for roasted mushrooms...