Post by Vyse on Jul 13, 2009 0:22:09 GMT -5
This is what happened.
I'll begin by naming the source of all our troubles: the gallery. Here at Proboards, we have unlimited bandwidth, so the gallery was fine as it is. However, the new forum was installed on a free host and so was limited by the monthly bandwidth the host allowed. The gallery is just a mass of text, but the sheer number of viewers it got -- we had over 1000 members at the new forum in just a couple of weeks, and an overwhelming majority of those joined and posted just for the gallery! -- quickly made our bandwidth skyrocket, and we were shut down.
So why did this happen twice? Well, the first time, we didn't have nearly as much information as we have now. Only Marcov had access to the control panel that provided stats such as bandwidth and cpu usage, and when the forum went down, the e-mail I received told me that we were removed due to a DDoS attack. Now that the exact same thing has happened twice, picano and I highly doubt the veracity of this information.
Thus, the sequence of events is as follows.
We switch to the new forum, and members gradually trickle over. Bandwidth and cpu (for processing php files, which, because we were a forum, was every page) usage increases -- well, there's no accurate analysis, so let's just say it increases exponentially, unbeknownst to us because no one has access to the control panel, until it peaks at about 8:15 CST. Xtreemhost shuts us down. I send an e-mail to support that isn't answered until the following morning, informing me that we were shut down due to a DDoS attack.
Meanwhile, picano spends pretty much all of July 10 trying to figure out why a backup he happened to make the day before didn't include any of the forum's posts. At the end of the day, we have a forum set up on a new host with the partial backup installed, but we're still missing posts. I send another e-mail to Xtreemhost asking if they can provide us with a complete backup.
Come July 11, I wake up to find that Xtreemhost has come through with a backup. We restore the forum and open it up to everyone, not suspecting that the previous crash was caused by exceeding bandwidth instead of a malicious attack. Skip to today, July 12.
Picano, who is observing our stats, expresses concern to me about the rapidly rising bandwidth and cpu usage and starts shopping around for other hosts. I ask PZT, the leader of Stack Smash, if, hypothetically, he would, let KC use the same host he uses in the event that our current one shut us down. He gladly agrees... and the situation almost immediately ceases being hypothetical and becomes horribly real.
We have, once again, exceeded our cpu usage due to the obscene numbers of people viewing the gallery. I explain the situation to PZT. Realizing that we're talking about hosting the forum, not the blog, he amends his offer, stating that he would accept the KC forum only if we merged it with the SCHC. However, they have their own bandwidth concerns, and if such a merger were to occur, the gallery, bandwidth vampire that it is, would have to go.
Picano and I seriously consider this for a while, but we eventually settle on another alternative on which he's been diligently working throughout the day. We will be restoring the new forum on yet another server, one with substantially higher bandwidth and cpu limits. However, the gallery as you know it will be no more.
When this new forum opens, the gallery will be gone. In its place will be a button along the top row, much like the Staff Blog button that was there before, leading to a Wordpress blog that contains the gallery. It will look nicer, run more smoothly, and, most importantly, have its own (unlimited) bandwidth.
This is, overall, a good thing. Since this button cannot be hidden like the galleries here and on the new forum were, the registration and posting requirements will no longer exist. That means only those who truly want to join and contribute to the forum will do so. Our member count will no longer be artificially inflated, but the Kitty Corp community as a whole will be much better for it. Separating the gallery from the forum also means we can have a sleek, much-improved forum with virtually no bandwidth worries.
Some of you may wonder why we don't just stick with Proboards. The only answer I can offer is that picano and I are both sick of Proboards, its glitches, and its overall shoddiness, and after experiencing SMF, we have no intention of staying here for any extended period of time.
So don't get too comfortable.
I'll begin by naming the source of all our troubles: the gallery. Here at Proboards, we have unlimited bandwidth, so the gallery was fine as it is. However, the new forum was installed on a free host and so was limited by the monthly bandwidth the host allowed. The gallery is just a mass of text, but the sheer number of viewers it got -- we had over 1000 members at the new forum in just a couple of weeks, and an overwhelming majority of those joined and posted just for the gallery! -- quickly made our bandwidth skyrocket, and we were shut down.
So why did this happen twice? Well, the first time, we didn't have nearly as much information as we have now. Only Marcov had access to the control panel that provided stats such as bandwidth and cpu usage, and when the forum went down, the e-mail I received told me that we were removed due to a DDoS attack. Now that the exact same thing has happened twice, picano and I highly doubt the veracity of this information.
Thus, the sequence of events is as follows.
We switch to the new forum, and members gradually trickle over. Bandwidth and cpu (for processing php files, which, because we were a forum, was every page) usage increases -- well, there's no accurate analysis, so let's just say it increases exponentially, unbeknownst to us because no one has access to the control panel, until it peaks at about 8:15 CST. Xtreemhost shuts us down. I send an e-mail to support that isn't answered until the following morning, informing me that we were shut down due to a DDoS attack.
Meanwhile, picano spends pretty much all of July 10 trying to figure out why a backup he happened to make the day before didn't include any of the forum's posts. At the end of the day, we have a forum set up on a new host with the partial backup installed, but we're still missing posts. I send another e-mail to Xtreemhost asking if they can provide us with a complete backup.
Come July 11, I wake up to find that Xtreemhost has come through with a backup. We restore the forum and open it up to everyone, not suspecting that the previous crash was caused by exceeding bandwidth instead of a malicious attack. Skip to today, July 12.
Picano, who is observing our stats, expresses concern to me about the rapidly rising bandwidth and cpu usage and starts shopping around for other hosts. I ask PZT, the leader of Stack Smash, if, hypothetically, he would, let KC use the same host he uses in the event that our current one shut us down. He gladly agrees... and the situation almost immediately ceases being hypothetical and becomes horribly real.
We have, once again, exceeded our cpu usage due to the obscene numbers of people viewing the gallery. I explain the situation to PZT. Realizing that we're talking about hosting the forum, not the blog, he amends his offer, stating that he would accept the KC forum only if we merged it with the SCHC. However, they have their own bandwidth concerns, and if such a merger were to occur, the gallery, bandwidth vampire that it is, would have to go.
Picano and I seriously consider this for a while, but we eventually settle on another alternative on which he's been diligently working throughout the day. We will be restoring the new forum on yet another server, one with substantially higher bandwidth and cpu limits. However, the gallery as you know it will be no more.
When this new forum opens, the gallery will be gone. In its place will be a button along the top row, much like the Staff Blog button that was there before, leading to a Wordpress blog that contains the gallery. It will look nicer, run more smoothly, and, most importantly, have its own (unlimited) bandwidth.
This is, overall, a good thing. Since this button cannot be hidden like the galleries here and on the new forum were, the registration and posting requirements will no longer exist. That means only those who truly want to join and contribute to the forum will do so. Our member count will no longer be artificially inflated, but the Kitty Corp community as a whole will be much better for it. Separating the gallery from the forum also means we can have a sleek, much-improved forum with virtually no bandwidth worries.
Some of you may wonder why we don't just stick with Proboards. The only answer I can offer is that picano and I are both sick of Proboards, its glitches, and its overall shoddiness, and after experiencing SMF, we have no intention of staying here for any extended period of time.
So don't get too comfortable.
