Slow Forums: PF Under DDOS Attack

  • Thread starter Borek
  • Start date
In summary: I'm not getting the 503 errors I was getting last night.It's Tuesday morning, March 6th, about 7:30 am EST.In summary, the Physics Forums website has been experiencing slow loading times and errors, particularly the "MySQL server has gone away" error. This is attributed to a DOS attack that occurred on March 5th and is still ongoing. The site moderators are working on fixing the issue and have contacted their data center for assistance. The attack is believed to be from a disgruntled individual or group, and the site is currently being monitored for any further attacks. The site's speed has improved since last night, but it is not yet back to
  • #386
Jack21222 said:

I don't see ads either. :grumpy:
 
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  • #387
502 Bad Gateway again :grumpy:
 
  • #388
Borek said:
502 Bad Gateway again :grumpy:

I got one too. Seems like I've been getting them for a while, actually.
 
  • #389
Char. Limit said:
I got one too. Seems like I've been getting them for a while, actually.
Same here :frown:
 
  • #390
No bad Gateway here, just slow to load, can't do any advanced searches and hitting main pages was very slow, between 6:00 - 6:30 am EDT.

Rhody...
 
  • #391
And again. Note there is a half an hour gap in posts at PF between 12:30 and 13:00 PM my time (that is, last half an hour). Earlier there were posts every few minutes, which suggests it was a problem with PF, not with my link.
 

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  • #392
Borek said:
502 Bad Gateway again :grumpy:
I had it also.
 
  • #393
Same problem here but the speed looks normal again
 
  • #394
Drive-by intermittent hacker attacks perhaps, if so, how fiendishly clever on their part, let's hope that this scenario is NOT the case. Any comments ? Greg ? Admins ?

Rhody... :bugeye:
 
  • #395
There was a long delay to sign in, a message at the bottom of the page said "waiting for xxxx.mathjax.org". If I get it again, I'll note what the "xxxx" is.
 
  • #396
rhody said:
Drive-by intermittent hacker attacks perhaps, if so, how fiendishly clever on their part, let's hope that this scenario is NOT the case. Any comments ? Greg ? Admins ?

Rhody... :bugeye:

nginx simply crashed. no attack

lisab said:
There was a long delay to sign in, a message at the bottom of the page said "waiting for xxxx.mathjax.org". If I get it again, I'll note what the "xxxx" is.

cdn. not related
 
  • #397
Greg Bernhardt said:
nginx simply crashed. no attack



cdn. not related
Things have been working very well on this end. But thanks for this info as we are all a little...a lot addicted to PF. :approve:
 
  • #398
lisab said:
There was a long delay to sign in, a message at the bottom of the page said "waiting for xxxx.mathjax.org". If I get it again, I'll note what the "xxxx" is.

This is our new LaTeX engine, sometimes it has its own quirks.

I see this message several times a day on average. In my case it is most likely Opera related :grumpy:
 
  • #399
Borek said:
This is our new LaTeX engine, sometimes it has its own quirks.

I see this message several times a day on average. In my case it is most likely Opera related :grumpy:

I'm using Chrome.
 
  • #400
lisab said:
I'm using Chrome.
I'm using the Windows 7 operating system and added the http://www.stixfonts.org/" [Broken] installation instructions.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #401
lisab said:
I'm using Chrome.

MathJax is on different servers that PF is, so it may happen you can connect to PF without problems, while MathJax can't be reached. This part is not browser dependent, so it won't be surprising to see it on any computer.

Problem with Opera seems to be that for some reason it tries to contact MathJax servers each time PF pages are loading, instead of using cached version of the files. That means much more traffic and higher probability of problems. As far as I can tell Chrome uses cached version much more efficiently on my machine, but I didn't test it well enough to be sure - could be I was just lucky. For sure when Opera fails to load PF pages, I can switch to Chrome and browse the site without problems.
 
  • #402
Bad Gateway after submitting a post, lost it, about 6:30 AM EDT.

Rhody...
 
  • #403
I have the problem about once a day each day, around 11 GMT. It never lasts long and - as far I can tell - it can't be assigned to a specific time, more like +/- 1 hour of some point.

As it happens also in the morning - when AFAIK maintenance scripts are working, I wonder if it is not some other maintenance script?
 
  • #404
Yes for me, every morning at 8:30 am exactly, PF is down for a few minutes. Maybe one year, I'll learn not to try to open PF exactly at that time.
 
<h2>1. What is a DDOS attack?</h2><p>A DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack is a malicious attempt to disrupt the normal traffic of a targeted server, service, or network by overwhelming it with a flood of internet traffic from multiple sources.</p><h2>2. How does a DDOS attack affect a forum like PF?</h2><p>A DDOS attack can cause a forum like PF to experience slow loading times, errors, and even complete downtime. This is because the server is unable to handle the large amount of incoming traffic, making it difficult for users to access the forum.</p><h2>3. Who is responsible for the DDOS attack on PF?</h2><p>It is difficult to determine the exact source of a DDOS attack as the traffic is coming from multiple sources. It could be a single individual or a group of hackers. The forum administrators are working to mitigate the attack and prevent future ones.</p><h2>4. Is my personal information at risk during a DDOS attack?</h2><p>In most cases, a DDOS attack does not directly target personal information. However, there is always a risk of data breaches during any type of cyber attack. It is important to regularly change your passwords and monitor your accounts for any suspicious activity.</p><h2>5. How long will the forum be under attack?</h2><p>The duration of a DDOS attack can vary, but the forum administrators are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. It is important to be patient and avoid sharing any personal information during this time. You can also check the forum's social media or website for updates on the situation.</p>

1. What is a DDOS attack?

A DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack is a malicious attempt to disrupt the normal traffic of a targeted server, service, or network by overwhelming it with a flood of internet traffic from multiple sources.

2. How does a DDOS attack affect a forum like PF?

A DDOS attack can cause a forum like PF to experience slow loading times, errors, and even complete downtime. This is because the server is unable to handle the large amount of incoming traffic, making it difficult for users to access the forum.

3. Who is responsible for the DDOS attack on PF?

It is difficult to determine the exact source of a DDOS attack as the traffic is coming from multiple sources. It could be a single individual or a group of hackers. The forum administrators are working to mitigate the attack and prevent future ones.

4. Is my personal information at risk during a DDOS attack?

In most cases, a DDOS attack does not directly target personal information. However, there is always a risk of data breaches during any type of cyber attack. It is important to regularly change your passwords and monitor your accounts for any suspicious activity.

5. How long will the forum be under attack?

The duration of a DDOS attack can vary, but the forum administrators are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. It is important to be patient and avoid sharing any personal information during this time. You can also check the forum's social media or website for updates on the situation.

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