Stormfront Refugees

[South Rising]

Ole Massa here, awaiting confirmation. 

[Phoenix]

Stormfront is faltering again.  The last couple of days efforts to open pages have been timing out.  Just now I couldn't get anything to open so I came over here.  This is how it began last fall before the data base failed completely.

I'm not even sure it's DDoS attacks anymore.  I think the forum software is just geriatric.

The end may be near.

[Phoenix]

I stand corrected.  Just checked the forum stats at the bottom of the home page.  There are over 12,000 "guests" onlne right now; almost half a million in the last 24 hours.

SF is under attack again.  Oh, how I'd love to get my hands on those bastards.

[Jotunn]

Yup, just went offine again.

Web server is returning an unknown error

Error code 520

[Jotunn]

Aaaaand now it's database errors again.

[fluxmaster]

Man the lifeboats!

[Phoenix]

Almost 10,000 "guests" online at SF right now.  I was able to access my UserCP, one other page, and that was it.  Then it locked up. 

Miraculously I was just able to submit a post.  Now I'm waiting to get back to my UserCP page.

I think I'll call it a day.

[Ole Massa]

It may just need a complete overhaul of its system. It's a good thirty years old at this point. Somebody notify Don Black.

[Captain Nemo]

There was about 17000 "guests" the other day. Any site would be overloaded with that kind of "attendance"

[Jotunn]

Database error first thing this morning.

I wish I was more tech savvy. DDOS attacks basically cause bandwidth outages. Is there any correlation between them and database corruption? I wish I knew.

[fluxmaster]

Database error first thing this morning.

I wish I was more tech savvy. DDOS attacks basically cause bandwidth outages. Is there any correlation between them and database corruption? I wish I knew.

From what I was able to find out, DDOS attacks do not per se cause database corruption; they merely overload the system, causing it to crash. A SQL injection attack, on the other hand, can cause database corruption. That would involve including in a post things like a closing quote followed by DROP TALBE; if the database is poorly coded and does not guard against that.

These are the most common causes of database corruption, according to Microsoft:

Common Causes of SQL Server Database Corruption

Corruption usually originates outside of SQL Server, often in the I/O path. Below I list the main causes, ordered in terms of probability - the higher on the list, the more probable it is:

• Hardware Failures
  
  
  • Disk errors, RAID controller cache issues, or faulty RAM can corrupt pages during writes.
  • Even with write-ahead logging, if the physical medium fails, durability is compromised.
• I/O Subsystem Issues
  
  
  • SAN/NAS instability, outdated drivers, or virtualization misconfigurations can cause torn writes.
  • SQL Server relies on the OS and storage stack for atomic page writes; instability breaks this assumption.
• Improper Shutdowns
  
  
  • Power loss during write operations can leave pages partially written, violating atomicity.
  • Torn-page detection mitigates this, but only if checksums are enabled.
• OS or SQL Server Bugs
  
  
  • Rare, but missing cumulative updates can expose edge cases in buffer pool or checkpoint logic.
• File System Misconfiguration
  
  
  • Compressed/encrypted volumes or sector size mismatches can corrupt allocation maps in edge cases.
• Human Error
  
  
  • Manual deletion of MDF/LDF files or incorrect restore sequences can orphan pages in some unsupported scenarios.
• Malware
  
  
  • Ransomware or malicious scripts altering system tables can break referential integrity.

[Captain Nemo]

Question to Google: Can overload cause database corruption?

Google AI:

Yes, overloading a database can directly lead to data corruption
. When a database system is pushed beyond its capacity—due to excessive traffic, insufficient hardware resources, or unoptimized queries—it can fail in ways that damage the integrity of the stored data.
Here is how overload leads to corruption:

    Dirty/Abrupt Shutdowns: When an overloaded system becomes unresponsive, administrators or automated systems may force a shutdown. If this occurs while the database is writing to disk, it can lead to partial, incomplete writes, resulting in corrupted data files.

    Memory/CPU Exhaustion: An overwhelmed server might exhaust its available RAM or CPU. This can cause the database management system (DBMS) to crash, disrupting active transactions and potentially leaving the database in an inconsistent state.

    Storage Subsystem Overload (I/O Bottlenecks): High traffic can overload the disk subsystem, causing write operations to time out or be dropped, causing file system damage.

    Data Type/Buffer Overflows: If an overload causes too much data to be packed into a space smaller than it is designed to hold (e.g., in memory or specific columns), it can lead to memory corruption, overwriting neighboring data.

    Hardware Failure Under Load: Overloading a system creates high heat and puts stress on components like CPUs and hard drives, which can lead to premature hardware failure and consequent data corruption.

To prevent this, it is recommended to monitor resource usage, optimize SQL queries, and maintain regular backups.

   

[Ole Massa]

Welcome back, Captain Nemo. 

[Captain Nemo]

Welcome back, Captain Nemo. 

Thanks Ole Massa.

[Phoenix]

Managed to open a couple of pages, then zap.  Got a 520 Error "Web server is returning an unknown error", followed on the next try by a 525 Error "This page isn't working."

Prior to all that I got the red banner at the top  which says, "As a registered member you are bypassing the server busy message."

Yeah?  Well, not for long.

Cloudflare doesn't seem to do much good.  I hope Don doesn't pay a lot for it.