What happened?

[Stravinsk]

Have you read what I wrote a couple times now about the possibility of the host blocking the capability to ping? It seems you haven't understood that.

Yes, and understood - just not accepted because it doesn't make sense to me. The PING operation is a pretty standard and popular service to test basic server receptiveness to online traffic. Being a server and disabling it doesn't make sense to me.

Anyhoo - thanks for suggesting it. Because of all this I've discovered an interesting network utility I can use instead of PING.

 

[Lamb]

I'm trying to tell you that it's not CH doing anything to prevent you from logging in.

 

[tango]

To the second part of your post - no - it is not just a few minutes - it is several hours of not bringing up the website - and it has nothing to do with being logged in - obviously if it doesn't even come up I cannot log in either. This generally lasts for around 10 minutes or so - I leave the window open and go elsewhere in another window. In the open window with the error - I hit the "try again" multiple times. After a relatively short period of time (usually around 10 minutes or so) - then I can see the website.

Clearing history, cookies, cache etc does not affect this.

To the first part of your question - not only can I not ping the server - but services on the web that attempt to ping it from all over the world cannot either.

For instance - try any of these:

https://centralops.net/co/
http://network-tools.com/
http://www.locaping.com/

type in "christianityhaven.com" and either ping or traceroute (on locaping choose the locations the server is to be pinged from) and go.

Packet loss 100%. Traceroute time outs. On all, and I've checked some other services as well.

And of these - when I can see the site! I checked all of these while I was typing this message!!

OK, it sounds like you're having a similar issue to what I sometimes see. If I connect to the site after being away for a while I get DNS errors for a short time and then it works normally. I don't think that has anything to do with trust - if I wasn't trusted I wouldn't have the pretty black letters.

As for pinging, I'm sure you know enough about internet security to know that sometimes servers may not respond to ping requests for all sorts of reasons. If you can get onto the web site but not ping the server I'm not sure what the issue is. Is being able to ping the server really that important to you?

 

[Stravinsk]

OK, it sounds like you're having a similar issue to what I sometimes see. If I connect to the site after being away for a while I get DNS errors for a short time and then it works normally. I don't think that has anything to do with trust - if I wasn't trusted I wouldn't have the pretty black letters.

Trust or no trust - it's a sign that something is amiss. Look - I may have jumped the gun and put 2 and 2 together but missed the decimal point(the mystery "testing board" that only staff was supposed to know about apparently - leading me to think that for a while at least the board may not have been online at all), but that part has been clarified to me now.

That being said - having regular difficulty connecting (even for short periods) when it is clear that it is a server side error along with missing a regular feature of internet host testing (ping) means something's not right.

As for pinging, I'm sure you know enough about internet security to know that sometimes servers may not respond to ping requests for all sorts of reasons. If you can get onto the web site but not ping the server I'm not sure what the issue is. Is being able to ping the server really that important to you?

It's a sign that something isn't right. And to be frank - I must not know as much as your statement implies - because I cannot think of a reason to deny normal ping requests. Someone educate me without pulling reasons out of their butt. Google doesn't deny them. CF doesn't deny them. This site's rank in popularity is way way down there according to Alexa - so there could be no excuses in the form of "can't handle the traffic".

 

[Lamb]

Well there is no use complaining because we can't change what the host is doing.

 

[Stravinsk]

Well there is no use complaining because we can't change what the host is doing.

Perhaps not.

I'd suggest though that frequent DNS errors are not going to encourage anyone to stay. I dunno, something as annoying as frequently not being able to get into the site (for many short periods or infrequent longer periods) is just one of those basic things that would deter new people from becoming members and discourage existing ones from being as active or staying.

If it is even remotely close to a traffic issue that is straining whatever limited resources the server is allocating for CH - then imagine the problems when we get (gasp!) 10 or 20 new members.

 

[Lamb]

You never said if you're logging in with a proxy. If you are, maybe you should log in the normal way like other members who aren't having issues?

 

[Stravinsk]

You never said if you're logging in with a proxy. If you are, maybe you should log in the normal way like other members who aren't having issues?

Tango admits to having small issues similar to mine and EVERYONE had an issue just a few days ago when the site was down for many many hours. I understand this is not the first time, and I highly doubt that given the newness of the website and it's low ranking on Alexa that we've gotten any kind of malicious attack that would account for that. The server is also not responding to a basic echo request in the form of a ping. This is not normal or usual.

In order for me to log in - I have to see the page, not an error page. If you must know, I have seen this error page under my real IP numerous times. And *sigh* yes, even after clearing all my browser data and cookies. This is not a logging in issue - it's an issue that says the website is down.

Thirdly - I have just acquired software that allows me to do in depth scans of any website I choose. Although the site was up most of the day - it was also down as well for a short time when I ran a scan.

 

[Stravinsk]

I'm having fun video recording this message from "Nederland", because for the 3rd or 4th morning in a row, it seems the IP I regularly use has to "knock" and DNS is totally unrecognized for a set period before I can see the site, while a Tor node can get in immediately without problems. So also other proxy type services have no problem seeing the website, only me when I use my normal IP (which also, incidentally, has no issues seeing other websites - JUST this one). While I am here under Tor or other proxy - other visitors who are logged in often show on the bottom of the webpage - showing that it is apparently not offline to anyone but the person using my normal IP.

Of course this must all be in my imagination. Strav is just exercising that stupid paranoia again. Except, recording it this time. I wouldn't have bothered to do that but I really don't like being lied to.

 

[Romanos]

I'm having fun video recording this message from "Nederland", because for the 3rd or 4th morning in a row, it seems the IP I regularly use has to "knock" and DNS is totally unrecognized for a set period before I can see the site, while a Tor node can get in immediately without problems. So also other proxy type services have no problem seeing the website, only me when I use my normal IP (which also, incidentally, has no issues seeing other websites - JUST this one). While I am here under Tor or other proxy - other visitors who are logged in often show on the bottom of the webpage - showing that it is apparently not offline to anyone but the person using my normal IP.

Of course this must all be in my imagination. Strav is just exercising that stupid paranoia again. Except, recording it this time. I wouldn't have bothered to do that but I really don't like being lied to.

So are you assuming that you are being lied to?

 

[tango]

I'm having fun video recording this message from "Nederland", because for the 3rd or 4th morning in a row, it seems the IP I regularly use has to "knock" and DNS is totally unrecognized for a set period before I can see the site, while a Tor node can get in immediately without problems. So also other proxy type services have no problem seeing the website, only me when I use my normal IP (which also, incidentally, has no issues seeing other websites - JUST this one). While I am here under Tor or other proxy - other visitors who are logged in often show on the bottom of the webpage - showing that it is apparently not offline to anyone but the person using my normal IP.

Of course this must all be in my imagination. Strav is just exercising that stupid paranoia again. Except, recording it this time. I wouldn't have bothered to do that but I really don't like being lied to.

Seriously Strav, what's with the comments about being lied to?

If it was down to a trust issue I wouldn't have the same issues with you. If I wasn't trusted to the point I wasn't wanted here I wouldn't have the pretty black lettering.

Nobody is saying you aren't having issues, just wondering why you seem to be assuming that having issues means it's something personal. We're talking a connection between a PC and a server here, subject to the usual vagaries of internet connections.

A lot of servers have semi-intelligent processes to screen out things that look like they may become problems. It's the sort of thing you'd expect in a world where the DDoS is a pretty standard exploit to take a server offline for a time. I won't pretend to know the details of just what server is hosting this board but I'd hazard a guess we're not looking at our own dedicated server at this stage so may also be subject to the vagaries of glitches relating to other servers. My own web space is hosted on a shared server, primarily for reasons of cost, and over the years occasionally I've had issues that were ultimately related to another user of the server.

You don't necessarily even have to be doing anything specifically naughty to get tagged as a possible threat to a server - the semi-intelligent processes are looking for the kind of thing that is typically associated with an attack and takes preemptive steps. DNS errors are something else, and I honestly don't know why I get those from time to time other than to observe that, like you, it tends to happen from my tablet and when I've been offline for a time. I'm wondering whether a recent Chrome update has caused it, because it seems to be presenting me with "faster page" options that don't work as well, and I've never seen the problem on my laptop.

As for security at a server level, in many ways it's much like physical security. As I'm sure you know there was a recent bombing on the London Underground and, as is often the case, the initial assumption is that it's probably Islamic terrorists. So in the hunt for those planning similar attacks, perhaps security types are looking out for young men with brown skin and beards, carrying large backpacks on the Tube. That doesn't mean that every young man with brown skin and a beard and a backpack is a terrorist, just that they are more likely to get checked out.

 

[tango]

I'm having fun video recording this message from "Nederland", because for the 3rd or 4th morning in a row, it seems the IP I regularly use has to "knock" and DNS is totally unrecognized for a set period before I can see the site, while a Tor node can get in immediately without problems. So also other proxy type services have no problem seeing the website, only me when I use my normal IP (which also, incidentally, has no issues seeing other websites - JUST this one). While I am here under Tor or other proxy - other visitors who are logged in often show on the bottom of the webpage - showing that it is apparently not offline to anyone but the person using my normal IP.

Of course this must all be in my imagination. Strav is just exercising that stupid paranoia again. Except, recording it this time. I wouldn't have bothered to do that but I really don't like being lied to.

Seriously Strav, what's with the comments about being lied to?

If it was down to a trust issue I wouldn't have the same issues with you. If I wasn't trusted to the point I wasn't wanted here I wouldn't have the pretty black lettering.

Nobody is saying you aren't having issues, just wondering why you seem to be assuming that having issues means it's something personal. We're talking a connection between a PC and a server here, subject to the usual vagaries of internet connections.

A lot of servers have semi-intelligent processes to screen out things that look like they may become problems. It's the sort of thing you'd expect in a world where the DDoS is a pretty standard exploit to take a server offline for a time. I won't pretend to know the details of just what server is hosting this board but I'd hazard a guess we're not looking at our own dedicated server at this stage so may also be subject to the vagaries of glitches relating to other servers. My own web space is hosted on a shared server, primarily for reasons of cost, and over the years occasionally I've had issues that were ultimately related to another user of the server.

You don't necessarily even have to be doing anything specifically naughty to get tagged as a possible threat to a server - the semi-intelligent processes are looking for the kind of thing that is typically associated with an attack and takes preemptive steps. DNS errors are something else, and I honestly don't know why I get those from time to time other than to observe that, like you, it tends to happen from my tablet and when I've been offline for a time. I'm wondering whether a recent Chrome update has caused it, because it seems to be presenting me with "faster page" options that don't work as well, and I've never seen the problem on my laptop.

As for security at a server level, in many ways it's much like physical security. As I'm sure you know there was a recent bombing on the London Underground and, as is often the case, the initial assumption is that it's probably Islamic terrorists. So in the hunt for those planning similar attacks, perhaps security types are looking out for young men with brown skin and beards, carrying large backpacks on the Tube. That doesn't mean that every young man with brown skin and a beard and a backpack is a terrorist, just that they are more likely to get checked out.