Problems...

[ErikJan]

The site is slow to load/refresh and sometimes fails to load.

I can't sent PM to inform the admins as all my messages either don't arrive or they get stuck in the Outbox

[Leif]

Apologies for this - we suspect a large number of Chinese bots are clogging the system. We're working on it.

[stuck]

I wonder what have we all done to warrant a denial of service attack by bots?

Was it something Chris said?



Ken

[ChrisGreaves]

Was it something Chris said?

No!

[ChrisGreaves]

Was it something Chris said?

And again:
No!

[ChrisGreaves]

Was it something Chris said?

And again:-
No!

[StuartR]

Was it something Chris said?

Probably

[GeoffW]

The lounge might be slow at times, but at least we're not Stuck.

[snb]

It must be the binary bug:

01-09-2024 = 45536
2^ 26 = 65536

The first digit must have been stored incorrectly.

You remember the problems at Eindhoven Airport c.a. ?

[ChrisGreaves]

It must be the binary bug:

Just out of interest: can there be any other sort of bug in today's digital computers?
Thanks, Chris

[snb]

I get this warning several times:


General Error
SQL ERROR [ mysqli ]

User eileenslounge already has more than 'max_user_connections' active connections [1203]

An sql error occurred while fetching this page. Please contact an administrator if this problem persists.

[HansV]

I even got an error while trying to read your report...

It's very sad, but we cannot do anything about it. Apparently the server (which we share with other sites) gets overloaded.

[ChrisGreaves]

... It's very sad, but we cannot do anything about it. Apparently the server (which we share with other sites) gets overloaded.

This came in while I was waiting to log in, and provides a partial answer to my questions, and prompts more questions. But anyway ...

Re these bots and (tongue in cheek) Stuart’s comment.
What makes Eileen’s Lounge so attractive to these rogue bots? Do we know?
I frequent four other public technical phpBB sites and don’t experience these lockouts/slowdowns there. Those four sites are obviously inferior in the view of rogue bots, otherwise they too would be under attack, right?
Do we know what these nefarious bots are trying to do? Steal login data? Scour posts for a knowledge-base? Is this the dark-side manifestation of Chat-AI stuff? Is there something that Eileen’s Lounge possesses, of value to bots, that could be handed over like payment to a blackmailer (“There you go. Now shove off!”).
I sit there thinking like a bad scientist “There must be a reason for this prolonged (2 weeks and counting) upheaval.”
I know little about “bots” excepting that they must be capable of mounting an impact 1,000 times stronger/faster/more frequent than any manual human load on a system.
(later)
So now I think that Eileen's Lounge is not being singled out for attack as much as we happen to be sharing a ride on a camel with a few other people, and the camel is being attacked for its meat. Nothing personal, just that we backed the "wrong" horse.

If so, this would raise the perennial question "What would it cost (in dollars and in increased labour) to have our own server?".
I am not the only one to be prepared to offer a subscription, and now I have an extra reason:-
All societies (of homo sapiens)and all species (of living things) survive only by new membership. If these attacks discourage visitors from exploring and joining Eileen's Lounge, we may, daily, wither on the vine.

Thanks, Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

Apologies for this - we suspect a large number of Chinese bots are clogging the system. We're working on it.

My limited understanding to date is that the root cause is NOT from Eileen's Lounge, but is closely related to the servers we use.
That is, if Eileen's Lounge is sharing a server (service) with one or more OTHER systems that is attractive to these scavenging bots, then Eileen's Lounge is going to suffer because the other systems being hosted are attracting bots.

The closest analogy I have is Grandmama and little Bobby trying to get home by train after a day in the park, and they just happen to catch the train that is full of football's rowdy supporters leaving a spirited match. Or anyone trying to travel in a world-class city at peak hour.

If I am 75% on target here, might we have a conversation about switching to a quieter server?

I suppose that rogue bots, or even well-behaved bots flocking to a Free-Porn site will always be with us. But I know too of several other phpBB forums that do not appear to be suffering in these days from these low-level denial Of Service "attacks".

Thanks, Chris

[BobH]

Perhaps those bots are trying to use our systems to create a botnet.