SFS outage - bandwidth exceeded?

kpatz · 2009-02-20 2:16 pm

When I got up this morning the SFS lookup script on my forum was failing. When I went to this site, I got a "bandwidth exceeded" message.

WHen I got into work (an hour later), things seem to be back, but is this indicative of a problem? Was SFS DoS attacked? Or is it getting too popular for its alloted bandwidth?

MysteryFCM · 2009-02-20 2:43 pm

I've got a feeling it's the latter of the two

If it is a case of being too popular, I've got a sneaky feeling we're going to have to either stop using the API's (in which case SFS's usefulness will drop like a log), or help find SFS a mirror/new home (be happy to help where I can)

kpatz · 2009-02-20 2:58 pm

I wonder how this site is funded. If the bandwidth becomes an issue, maybe the owners can set up a paypal donation account to help pay for more bandwidth. (EDIT: There is one at the bottom of the page, just noticed it!! Pretty small though, easy to overlook)

The mirror is a good idea too. Not just for bandwidth issues, but for general outages too. Plus, that makes the site more immune to DoS/DDoS attacks that lowlifes such as spammers like to do to people who try to slow them down.

I wonder about creating some sort of peer-to-peer protocol for a SFS type database. Where peers share the data and it's distributed all over the place, making it nearly impossible for spammers to bring it down. Plus then the bandwidth costs would be spread out.

Last edited by kpatz (2009-02-20 2:59 pm)

MysteryFCM · 2009-02-20 3:01 pm

I doubt donations alone could support it, they certainly don't support the costs of running the hpHosts and fSpamlist etc servers (only had one donation in > 12 months). Alas ad's aren't a good idea either as most avoid them.

One of the possibilities may be to get a sponsor for the site?

pedigree · 2009-02-20 3:47 pm

Current bandwidth usage this month = 40gb

MysteryFCM · 2009-02-20 4:08 pm

Whats the BW limit?

kpatz · 2009-02-20 6:26 pm

40 GB in 20 days, that's a drop in the bucket nowadays. I just did a quick search, GoDaddy's economy hosting plan allows 300 GB/month. 1000 GB/month allowances are common nowdays even on inexpensive plans.

Considering that SFS was only down a short time, it was probably a daily or hourly bandwidth limit that was exceeded.

fspamlist · 2009-02-20 7:53 pm

Mystery has been so good to fspamlist. Being hosted on his server was a good move.

SpamHammer · 2009-02-21 11:08 am

If bandwidth is becoming a problem, may I suggest two other hosts that offer unlimited bandwidth. I use them myself and am very happy with both of them.

http://powweb.com and http://doteasy.com

pedigree · 2009-02-21 11:34 pm

At the moment, the service is hosted with a friend of Russ. Im not exactly sure about the amount of donations that he gets but I know its very low. Im not sure the financials would allow for it but it doesnt hurt in asking

zaphod · 2009-02-21 11:35 pm

I do hate to toot my own horn, but, if some of the phpbb2 & phpbb3 boards on here, maybe just a few, used my somewhat hard to see, but cruel to bots captcha (backscatter for 2, casper for 3), the bandwidth use caused from sucessful registration attempts should drop dramatically.

Would be nice to have some more data-points at least.

Zap

#1 2009-02-20 2:16 pm

SFS outage - bandwidth exceeded?

#2 2009-02-20 2:43 pm

Re: SFS outage - bandwidth exceeded?

#3 2009-02-20 2:58 pm

Re: SFS outage - bandwidth exceeded?

#4 2009-02-20 3:01 pm

Re: SFS outage - bandwidth exceeded?

#5 2009-02-20 3:47 pm

Re: SFS outage - bandwidth exceeded?

#6 2009-02-20 4:08 pm

Re: SFS outage - bandwidth exceeded?

#7 2009-02-20 6:26 pm

Re: SFS outage - bandwidth exceeded?

#8 2009-02-20 7:53 pm

Re: SFS outage - bandwidth exceeded?

#9 2009-02-21 11:08 am

Re: SFS outage - bandwidth exceeded?

#10 2009-02-21 11:34 pm

Re: SFS outage - bandwidth exceeded?

#11 2009-02-21 11:35 pm

Re: SFS outage - bandwidth exceeded?

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