losing my connection to board

Every day now for 3 days about 10am est I lose my connection to the board.
Only for about 20 min or so.
just thought I would let you know here as Cog suggested.

Annoying as all get out but at least I can still get back on.

 

Yep, it's a general consensus amongst most members.

Here's a link to one of the more recent threads in the Lounge in case you haven't seen it, Daniel.

 

I saw it and Cog said that this area would be better since Daniel reads the comments here more.
so I posted it here.

 

I know.

I just wanted to make sure Daniel took a look at that other thread.

I must add that over the last hour I've gone from having the site up for 10 minutes, then cutting out for 10 minutes in a repeated loop. It's really annoying and screwing up my posts.

 

Ironically, when I attempted to view this thread just now, I received this message:

I received nothing but this error one every connection attempt between 11:09 AM EST to 11:13 AM EST today (15 January). Such a message usually mains that there is a quota on the number of simultaneous server connections, and that connection quota is currently met. It may in some cases indicate certain types of network attacks, in which connection requests are made by clients, but the response from the server granting the connection is not acknowledged by the requestor. Large numbers of such incomplete requests are a type of Denial of Service (DoS) attack. This specific scenario is known as a SYN flood attack.

It's not the only possible explanation, but it is a possibility. If such an attack in fact taking place, there may be a software patch available to address such an attack.

 

So that's what a DoS attack is.

This isn't leading to a situation where a person - for reasons I cannot begin to fathom - hacks into the site, messes with the code, and places some weird content on the main page for anyone unfortunate to visit the site? I've seen that happen before. There are a lot of smart computer people in the world.

 

We're under attack? Quick mobilize the WF.org SDF... wait a minute... we don't have one do we? darn...

Seriously though its getting a little annoying. Especially when I'm ready to post and the site cuts out on me. Then I have to wait ten minutes to get back on and it most likely cuts out again as I'm coming. I do see the time thing. Mine's always cutting out between 5-11 PM Eastern time. It'll go off come back on over the course of six hours over and over.

EIDT: I don't get any error messages though. I just get that "Internet Explorer cannot connect" message. You know like when you type in a domain that doesn't exist. I jsut get that for ten minutes till I can finally connect. Then when I'm browsing the topics and click on them it eventually cuts out and I again get "Internet Explorer cannot connect."

 

There are many kinds of DoS attacks, but the common feature is that an attacker ties up the resources of a server so it is unable to respond to legitimate requests.

Attacks where user exploits a vulnerability to plant malicious code on a server can assist in a DoS attack, but are more often used to plant spyware to steal account information. That kind of attack is more often used on sites where financial transactions are taking place on a regular basis. But such sites usually have more stringent security as well.

As I understand it, vBulletin has its own web server component, so it may not benefit as easily from the vulnerability patches in more widely used server engines like Apache.

 

Again, I have to emphasize that I have no real evidence the site is under attack. I'm only discussing possible explanations for the performance hit we have taken lately. The behavior I've seen is a set of symptoms for which more than one explanation is possible.

All I am able to really rule out at this point is that that the problem is caused at the user's end of the connection, because other sites are not affected when this site's performance tanks.

 

Okay, so the conspiracy theories stop now.

But if we have been hit by a spyware bug it would explain the sudden increase in junk mail I've been receiving. I'm still yet to figure out where it's all coming from ...

 

I think we need a WF.org SDF...

 

I agree Banzai... I'd join but I'm non-violent... yeah that's it... I'm a pacifier... no wait pacifist thats the word. Yep pacifist.

 

So why does a pacifist end with a fist?

 

Good question... It makes me feel like hurting someone!

 

Anyway, back on topic, I'm hoping that the server logs will give a clue to what's happening. The database logs might also show if there's a bottleneck there, but I kind of doubt that's the problem, given the symptoms.

But the only way to rule out possible causes is to first list them and identify what kind of trail they would leave.

 

The tcp error (Connection refused) occurred again just now, from 12:48 PM to 12:53 PM EST (11:48 to 11:53 AM CST) on January 15.

 

We should change the word to pacihug. There, isn't that nicer?

I have been experiencing this same issue multiple times throughout the day. So far, nothing today though.

 

It's very likely to be an error with the server company itself.

 

Lord did you know that the stupid rubber thingy they put in babies mouths to stop them crying is a pacifier.
now how would that look in one of your wonderful hats.

 

A pacifier is also known as a dummy, for those of you playing at home.

 

Was that clarification, or a pun, I couldn't tell?

 

It was a random fact. Unfortunately, I couldn't spot a pun opportunity.