why is my site always down?

[shygirl]

I have noticed that recently my site has slowed down in loading (it used to load up very fast and I have not changed anything or added anything to make it slower). Also, people have complained to me that it goes down quite often. (They get a "Cannot find Server" message) I check the server status pages on HostRocket yet everything is always up and running. What's up? Is it my site or is it something else? It's so irritating!

[don5408]

"I have noticed that recently my site has slowed down in loading (it used to load up very fast and I have not changed anything or added anything to make it slower). Also, people have complained to me that it goes down quite often. (They get a "Cannot find Server" message) I check the server status pages on HostRocket yet everything is always up and running. What's up?"

Hi. First of all for whatever it's worth your site just loaded up fine for me.

As far as a relatively 'unbiased' second (or third) opinion as to uptime and site performance one thing you might want to do is to sign up for site monitoring at InternetSeer (http://www.internetseer.com). internetseer.com will monitor one site for you free of charge and send you a weekly performance report as well as notifications of downtime as it happens.

While I haven't necessarily found their reporting to be 100% accurate (while they have correctly notified me of all verified downtime on a few occasions they've reported the downtime as being longer than it actually was and I've had a couple of 'false alarms' where they reported my site being down yet I could access it with no problem) however overall if reports are taken with the appropriate grain of salt it's a good service.

Don

[Aeonian]

I wanted to thank you for posting the InternetSeer Link. I will definitely check this outs seeing as I all the sudden have constant bandwidth lock outs the last 2 months despite the upgrade to 37 GB a month. I am lost as to what is causing this and HR only solution to me thus far is buy more Bandwidth. The Control Panel tools have not aided me in trying to find out the problem so I am hoping that InternetSeeker might reveal something.

[bluefreeze]

What server/host thing are you on Aeonian for HostRocket?

[Aeonian]

I am on Host32. I am just looking for anyway to explain for example in the last 5 Days my site only received a couple hundreds hits yet I burned through the 12GB Bandwidth that I just extend with the upgrade special. The site has been trimmed more than in past months, yet traffic has not seemed to increase, and all the sudden the past 2 months I have bandwidth issues. Is it possible something like script could cause a problem like this? I am about to pull my hair outs =(

[don5408]

"The Control Panel tools have not aided me in trying to find out the problem so I am hoping that InternetSeeker might reveal something."

Hi. Unfortunately InternetSeer isn't going to shed any light on your bandwidth consumpion issues, their reports strictly concern uptime and time to connect.

"I am just looking for anyway to explain for example in the last 5 Days my site only received a couple hundreds hits yet I burned through the 12GB Bandwidth that I just extend with the upgrade special."

Yeah, that's a pretty difficult thing to explain away, particularly if you don't offer any large file downloads. For a couple of hundred hits to eat up 12GB of bandwidth your site would have to consist exclusively of 50MB+ files...where exactly are you getting that "couple of hundred hits" info from, offhand it sure sounds like you are getting way more than that.

When you regain access to your account go to your Webalizer stats page (http://www.titansofazan.com/stats/) and click on the link to Jan 2003, what are the totals (in particular total hits, total kbytes) reported there at the top?

Do you have any subdomains? If you do make sure to check out the stats for each subdomain (http://subdomain.titansofazan.com/stats/) as these are maintained separately from the stats for your main domain.

"Is it possible something like script could cause a problem like this?"

Absolutely...however one would expect evidence of something like that to turn up via an examination of their Webalizer stats and raw server logs.

Don

[Redman]

If you have media such as videos or songs on ya site, make sure no one is linking to those files without your knowledge.


They will eat right through your bandwidth without you even knowing :)

[Ricebowl]

Was this resolved? Because bandwidth locks are not good, especially if you only get a few hundred hits. I am considering a move to HostRocket. But the same things that scared me off the first time I came around here shopping for a host is scaring me again. Weird complaints like this.

Shygirl, was this resolved for you?

[don5408]

"Was this resolved? Because bandwidth locks are not good, especially if you only get a few hundred hits."

Hi. Yes, it appears that the site with the mysterious disappearing bandwidth (which actually was Aeonian's, not shygirl's) is back up and running and no longer appears to be eating up that absurd amount of bandwidth.

It's pretty obvious from just a glance at the stats for Aeonian's domain that someone had it in for him and was doing a number on him with a script...while the "couple of hundred hits" quoted may have been accurate for his index page he had 10 particular *.jpg screen captures each of which was loaded in excess of 600,000 times in Dec/Jan.

The net result was that the "couple of hundred hits" was actually in excess of 6 million hits to those 10 image files in a two month period during which over 70GB of bandwidth was consumed. I don't know what action was taken however it looks like the problem has been addressed as with over half of the month gone to date the site has used less than 250MB bandwidth in Feb (obviously a HUGE improvement over 44GB in Jan!)

Don

[vanselus]

damn, with traffic like that, you could charge for ad space. you wouldn't believe what people will pay for banner ads these days.

[Tammy]

Pray tell. ;)

[vanselus]

oh i don't have any exact figures for you, but the people that try to sell me banner ads sure seem to charge more than we can afford. one site wanted more than it costs for a full-page ad in Golf Magazine!

[fac3less]

Laugh.. I'll sell you some beach front property in arizona.. for about that same price.. wuddya' say? :)

Well - I hope you consider my offer!

(anyways, about the previous statements)

pretty immature for someone to just 'abuse' someone's bandwidth like that.. thats when you do something even more immature and knock his system off the net.. ;)

[vanselus]

Originally posted by fac3less
Laugh.. I'll sell you some beach front property in arizona.. for about that same price.. wuddya' say? :)

If it's not Lake Havasu, then i'm not biting!

Seriously though, that's a good analogy. I can't imagine banner ads work worth shiz anymore.

[fac3less]

Well it all depends. I do think they work. If I go to a site i regularlly visit and see some sort of deal like 'go to crucial.com mention you're from HR and we'll give you 10% off' and I already need some ram - then I'm going to jump on the boat giving whoever has the banner some money back. Saving us both type deal.

So it all depends on the audience really - and their current needs. You can't just sit the same banner there for 4 million years and hope it keeps working.. and of course it has to be site-related.

Meh!

[vanselus]

I suppose you have a point, but I'm still skeptical. 99% of the time I don't even notice what a banner ad is, much less read it. However, if it's related to my interests, looks really cool, and offers a good deal, then I suppose I would hit it. (and quit it)

[johnb]

99% of the time I don't even notice what a banner ad is, much less read it

I think anyone that's even remotely web-savvy has developed the ability to ignore banner ads completely. That's why those god-awful "floater" ads exist.

[vanselus]

So eventually we'll start ignoring those, and then they'll have to come up with MORE annoying ways to get attention. Ugh.

[johnb]

It's difficult when it's right smack dab in the middle of the page, right over what you're trying to read. I wish some hateful stuff on the person responsible for those ads when they come up.

[vanselus]

The thing that makes me want to tear out people's throats with my teeth is on weather.com when you just finish typing in your zip code and the freaking floater ad comes by and magically erases what you've typed.

[Tammy]

Once in a blue moon a banner ad will offer a discount or something on a product I'm looking for anyway. I think that has happened once or twice in about five years? Anyway, they are almost all worthless and pointless and annoying. ;)

[Viper007Bond]

Yay for content filters! It just blocks all those ads from ever loading. :)

[vanselus]

Why is your site always down?

[Viper007Bond]

Originally posted by vanselus
Why is your site always down?
Mine or are you actually getting back on topic?

[fac3less]

lol.

they should make it one of those clouds from mario and make it give ya the finger. :)