petetherock 1,205 Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Haven't been able to access the forum for a couple of days.. Losing interest in clicking DTV, I am afraid Link to post Share on other sites
MrC 210 Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 1 hour ago, Scorchie™ said: What doesn't help, is comments from metamatic. Yes that is right but his comments are completely understandable. People are losing patience with this forum. Link to post Share on other sites
metal beat 19,352 Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 1 hour ago, Scorchie™ said: Problems or solutions peeps? There's two issues. 1, critical defect in the code that Invision are tying to correct. 2, routing issues with the provider. What doesn't help, is comments from metamatic. What doesn't help is not being able to get into this site for days on end. I am only saying what many people say about DTV publicly and privately. Link to post Share on other sites
metal beat 19,352 Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 56 minutes ago, Chopsus said: John Foxx is making comments? Or was that autocorrect and you mean the melodramatic comments like Smithy is prone to make? Well, kudos for having some musical knowledge. This is probably the only kudos you have ever had Link to post Share on other sites
MrC 210 Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 6 minutes ago, metal beat said: What doesn't help is not being able to get into this site for days on end. I am only saying what many people say about DTV publicly and privately. And so say all of us .... Scorchie needs to realise how patient we lot are. Link to post Share on other sites
JSmith 1,949 Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Glad to see the forum back on its feet again, I hope all is resolved now. Thanks for putting your time into this forum again Scorchie. JSmith Link to post Share on other sites
Blackman1503561291 1 Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 16 hours ago, JSmith said: Glad to see the forum back on its feet again, I hope all is resolved now. Thanks for putting your time into this forum again Scorchie. JSmith Yes +1 for me Link to post Share on other sites
muriwai 367 Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 Yes,thanks scorchie,it is very frustrating trying to log on and not being able to access this site,all comments re trying to gain access and not being able to are not having a go at you personally,more to just make you aware there is a problem as if no one says anything then it's easy to assume there isn't an issue ,kudos for all the hard work you put in behind the scenes ,and apology if any posts came across as too harsh,regards and keep up the good workMuri Link to post Share on other sites
MLXXX 740 Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Access has been much better for me, e.g. yesterday and this morning, but this afternoon there has been a fair amount of delay at times. Link to post Share on other sites
petetherock 1,205 Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 1 hour ago, yorac said: So is there any chance this will be rectified before the next US election? We need a like button! Ha ha Seriously constant difficulty in getting onto a website is not helping to attract or maintain members' interest. Traffic has been severely curtailed. This is my first successful attempt of 10 to come to this website today.. Link to post Share on other sites
Scorchie™ 1 Posted January 30, 2017 Author Share Posted January 30, 2017 Pete, I genuinely need more information. I have eight probes, some internationally watching the website and - despite some slowness, have not reported any issues accessing the site for the past few days. When you say "successful attempt", what errors are you receiving when it is 'unsuccessful'. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 1 hour ago, Scorchie™ said: I genuinely need more information. I'll give you more information, The site simply does not load. It's a bit like a brides nightie it's off more then it's on. And all these problems only happened since your so-called up-grade Link to post Share on other sites
Scorchie™ 1 Posted January 30, 2017 Author Share Posted January 30, 2017 27 minutes ago, Chopsus said: Mate, your probes are telling you fibs .... I had trouble at least twice today ... usually give up and try an hour later. do you want us to start keeping track of when we can't get in? That would be great, thanks. Link to post Share on other sites
Scorchie™ 1 Posted January 30, 2017 Author Share Posted January 30, 2017 7 minutes ago, bassett said: I'll give you more information, The site simply does not load. It's a bit like a brides nightie it's off more then it's on. And all these problems only happened since your so-called up-grade Based on the graphs, one of the problems started on or around October 27th and has gradually gotten worse. However, we have just put in some changes that may help. Link to post Share on other sites
petetherock 1,205 Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 3 hours ago, Scorchie™ said: Pete, I genuinely need more information. I have eight probes, some internationally watching the website and - despite some slowness, have not reported any issues accessing the site for the past few days. When you say "successful attempt", what errors are you receiving when it is 'unsuccessful'. Will try and cut and paste the message, cheers. Link to post Share on other sites
JSmith 1,949 Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Forum has been running smooth for me... no access or time-out/gateway issues at all in the last few days. JSmith Link to post Share on other sites
MrC 210 Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 48 minutes ago, JSmith said: Forum has been running smooth for me... no access or time-out/gateway issues at all in the last few days. JSmith You have told us this many times, and equally other members keep reporting issues. Perhaps you are very lucky. Link to post Share on other sites
JSmith 1,949 Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 4 minutes ago, MrC said: You have told us this many times Settle down Mr C... I have posted numerous times in this thread saying I can't get in and at one point I gave up trying to access the site entirety. So please, refrain from posting bollocks. Scorch needs to know if it's all members or just some that are experiencing this issue, ok? JSmith Link to post Share on other sites
MrC 210 Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 1 minute ago, JSmith said: Settle down Mr C... I have posted numerous times in this thread saying I can't get in and at one point I gave up trying to access the site entirety. So please, refrain from posting bollocks. Scorch needs to know if it's all members or just some that are experiencing this issue, ok? JSmith Strange then that I had another member private message me and agree with my sentiments. People are indicating that your post of "no problems" gives the wrong impression. Link to post Share on other sites
JSmith 1,949 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 34 minutes ago, MrC said: Strange then that I had another member private message me and agree with my sentiments. People are indicating that your post of "no problems" gives the wrong impression. Yes, discussing PM's is strange... I don't care what impression my post gives... its meant to assist Scorch. I don't like your implication mate. JSmith Link to post Share on other sites
JSmith 1,949 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 19 hours ago, Scorchie™ said: That would be great, thanks. Hey Scorch, not sure if you saw this one? JSmith Link to post Share on other sites
Scorchie™ 1 Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 1 hour ago, JSmith said: Hey Scorch, not sure if you saw this one? JSmith Yeah, was a temporary trial Link to post Share on other sites
Scorchie™ 1 Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 Just as a general update on solutions to the challenges of late: Issue #1: A member, since banned, was inserting junk characters into webforms which was triggering 503 errors as it updates the cache which rendered the site fairly ineffective until the cache refreshes (every minute or so). This was annoying, and malicious. Issue #2: The secondary datacenter used by the host has some routing issues. This was visible with requests to DNS, where the secondary DNS server that we use was inaccessible. So in the event that you could not access the 1st DNS server, the page would not have loaded. Issue #3: DigitalOcean. Hundreds upon hundreds of DigitalOcean servers (a web host in Singapore) were attempting to download and spider the entire site. These spiders weren't the usuals (Google, Yahoo etc) and belonged to none of the major vendors. At times, the server was experiencing CPU load averages of 60+ which is intense. This will explain why it worked for some, and didn't work for others and was intermittent by nature. The load averages weren't continuous as the load from DigitalOcean wasn't constant - the servers and the board's protections kicked in and blocked users from causing more load. DigitalOcean has been blocked whilst we work with them around the abuse complaint; following this, load averages dropped to 0.3 as expected. To help offset some of these challenges also, we have moved DNS and the site to CloudFlare. This will accelerate a number of features, remove a number of threats and provide a better experience in the future. Link to post Share on other sites
MLXXX 740 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 25 minutes ago, Scorchie™ said: Just as a general update on solutions to the challenges of late: Thanks for the info. With significant issues having been identified, the prospects for continuity of forum access appear very favourable. This should be pleasing to all concerned, other than the malcontent referred to at issue #1. Link to post Share on other sites
MrC 210 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Thanks Scorchie .... this is a good report and gives us some detail of what has been happening. Thankyou and others for the work you are doing. Link to post Share on other sites
JSmith 1,949 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 48 minutes ago, Scorchie™ said: general update Thanks for the detailed update. Cloudfare is probably a good move. JSmith Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Thank you for your concise report on problems and the solutions you have implemented Link to post Share on other sites
mello yello 5,065 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 4 hours ago, Scorchie™ said: Just as a general update on solutions to the challenges of late: Issue #1: A member, since banned, was inserting junk characters into webforms which was triggering 503 errors as it updates the cache which rendered the site fairly ineffective until the cache refreshes (every minute or so). This was annoying, and malicious. Issue #2: The secondary datacenter used by the host has some routing issues. This was visible with requests to DNS, where the secondary DNS server that we use was inaccessible. So in the event that you could not access the 1st DNS server, the page would not have loaded. Issue #3: DigitalOcean. Hundreds upon hundreds of DigitalOcean servers (a web host in Singapore) were attempting to download and spider the entire site. These spiders weren't the usuals (Google, Yahoo etc) and belonged to none of the major vendors. At times, the server was experiencing CPU load averages of 60+ which is intense. This will explain why it worked for some, and didn't work for others and was intermittent by nature. The load averages weren't continuous as the load from DigitalOcean wasn't constant - the servers and the board's protections kicked in and blocked users from causing more load. DigitalOcean has been blocked whilst we work with them around the abuse complaint; following this, load averages dropped to 0.3 as expected. To help offset some of these challenges also, we have moved DNS and the site to CloudFlare. This will accelerate a number of features, remove a number of threats and provide a better experience in the future. good stuff, thats why youre the IT guy and i do the comedy LoL whilst we appreciate being kept informed, one possibly salient point that will probably be offset with individual opinions and points of view, however ... i will still make it and ask the question Issue#1 - an actual member ? or (another) blow in alt with just the one specific purpose ? Could the same method be replicated ? and here is my point ... i would be happy to NOT know what you are actually doing so as to NOT keep the malicious informed with security plans/updates/patches etc ... bearing in mind most of these sorts of (sic) social misfits derive pleasure from seeing discomfort and inconvenience caused, similar to pyromaniacs etc. i would be happy with just a single word "noted" and know and trust you are doing everything you can to resolve whatever issue without having to publicly give out security details ... but thats just me Issue#4 - what are we going to do about mello ? Link to post Share on other sites
Scorchie™ 1 Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 Mello, noted. Link to post Share on other sites
mello yello 5,065 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 (edited) On 27/01/2017 at 7:48 PM, Chopsus said: don't know how I got your knickers all bunched, I didn't know you existed until now he seems to know you though i mean it when i say we shouldnt be disclosing so much when there is a malicious intender around, not even how much he could be peeing you off. Hes been banned now, good riddance, but are there any more ? should never show your pain, and should never ask security "what do you know" yes?/no? Edited February 1, 2017 by mello yello Link to post Share on other sites
mello yello 5,065 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 8 hours ago, Scorchie™ said: Mello, noted. Scorchie, thank you. Link to post Share on other sites
Tony ray 1,084 Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 (edited) Just thinkin here, if the said such offender has been banned wont he/she be able to work around it as he/she was smart enough to cause all this trouble you would think he/she is smart enough to work around a Ban. PS doubt it was a she. Edited February 2, 2017 by Tony ray Link to post Share on other sites
Scorchie™ 1 Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 Hi, Our DigitalOcean friends returned overnight after receiving assurances they had handled the problem. We've blocked them again and things will return to normal again. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 45 minutes ago, Scorchie™ said: Hi, Our DigitalOcean friends returned overnight after receiving assurances they had handled the problem. We've blocked them again and things will return to normal again. Everythings running now as it should, with no problems Link to post Share on other sites
JSmith 1,949 Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 On 2/3/2017 at 3:26 PM, bassett said: Everythings running now as it should, with no problems I can't seem to start a new topic actually... a captcha comes up which once completed seems to just return me to the start new topic screen. I assume this is a new measure to avoid the spamming attack earlier today, however it doesn't seem to be working correctly. Anyone else having this issue? JSmith Link to post Share on other sites
JSmith 1,949 Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 1 minute ago, Chopsus said: Nup Where is the new topic you started then to test it? JSmith Link to post Share on other sites
JSmith 1,949 Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Just now, Chopsus said: Ok, I'll try again from different browsers etc... but no need for the derision. You started the new test thread after you posted "nup"... so was a fair question to you. JSmith Link to post Share on other sites
JSmith 1,949 Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 2 minutes ago, Chopsus said: I went through the process and had no problems Um, you need to press submit to bring up the captcha... but thanks for testing it. JSmith Link to post Share on other sites
mello yello 5,065 Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 30 minutes ago, JSmith said: Um, you need to press submit to bring up the captcha... but thanks for testing it. JSmith just went straight through for me just fine no Captcha get a screen shot and show Scorchie Link to post Share on other sites
JSmith 1,949 Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 3 minutes ago, mello yello said: just went straight through for me just fine no Captcha get a screen shot and show Scorchie Ok, thanks for confirming mate. Yep, I messaged him about it earlier this evening, however I don't think he has been online since I sent it. JSmith Link to post Share on other sites
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