503 Error when loading PC

[Shovelnose]

Hey @Jools,

The site has consistently turned up a 503 error for the past week or so, sometimes when loading and every time when I try to login. I tried to open it as I typed this and got the same error message. I use Chrome on Windows 11 in case it helps. Could this be specific to me/my network?

[Jools]

No, it's not you, it's us. Any error beginning with 5 is a server side error. In this case the server is getting too busy - I suspect from cyber abuse. I'll have a look at the logs and see if there is anything I can do to help it.

Cheers,

Jools

[naturalart]

Dude, I'm feeling since the advertisments and popup banners, I've noticed that I'm logged out more often and it takes 2-3mins, and sometimes never, to log back in. I understand staying financially solvent, but I just have to say it's challenging.

Hopefully we will get more support from users, myself included.

[Jools]

Hi

There isn't anything that should log you out more often in place. Logging in should take seconds, so not sure what's going on but it could be related to the 503 errors others have recently reported. Let me go check what the "stay logged in" parameters are.



Cheers,

Jools

[Jools]

An update after some hours researching and making some changes.

In under a day there were the following number of automated processes attempting to register accounts:
744,073 */planetcatfish.com/https/access.log
87,031 */aquaticrepublic.com/https/access.log
37,867 */zebrapleco.com/https/access.log

The number of requests from certain IPs is unusually high, which will be affecting performance. Some requests resulted in 503 errors, indicating server overload. To improve site performance and mitigate excessive traffic, I've invested in Cloudflare for caching and traffic management.

It should provide:
- Faster page load times
- Reduced bandwidth usage on your hosting server
- Improved site performance under heavy traffic
- Blocks bad bots and scrapers
- Stops brute force attacks on login pages (our main issue)
- Reduces server load by filtering out unwanted traffic

Let's see how it goes. This will take 24-48 hours to propogate around all the (internet domain name) servers in the world and I will monitor access data to see if it helps.

Some more stats to follow.

Cheers,

Jools

[Jools]

Some stats.

[edds]

Thanks Jools and well done. I was seeing the huge number of guest visitors for a while.

[Shane]

This is the first time I have been able to log in after 2 days of trying to do so.
Clicking my normal link results in "site unreachable."
I can come at the site in a different manner, but have to log in each time. Despite clicking "remember me."
Logging in takes several tries as clicking "log in" just takes me to a pop up ad most times.
Sorry Jools. I am sure this is a PITA. But hey, you are HUGE in Brazil!
-Shane

[Jools]

Much work on this but we now have a new line of what's called "edge defence" in a product called Cloudflare which protects the sites from simple / brute force attacks. Please do report any further issues.

Cheers,

Jools

[Jools]

Turns out these were both the same issue - $20 a month on Cloudflare and all sites back up and running.

Cheers,

Jools