MySQL query limit

[seneca]

Been having tons of database errors lately and trying to straighten it out with our hosting. They are saying we're exceeding the query limit and needing to purchase some additional. This makes no sense to me as we haven't had that much influx and have certainly ran fine when we are doing planned events with lots of people online at once. Our error that commonly comes up says "An unexpected database error occurred. Please try again later." This is resolved by hitting refresh a couple times. This is the communication from our host. Whatcha think?

"Sorry for the inconvenience this might have caused you. Your website "Now, Interpret This!" Online School (Prophetic and Dream Forum) is currently working fine from our end, however when I checked the stats for the month of September, 2015 I could see more number of hits. There was huge number of request coming to your website due to which the MySQL query limit for the database user has exceeded.

The maximum query limit set for each user of the database on our server is 75000/hour. If the database user from which the website is fetching the data exceeds this query limit, then you will experience an issues while accessing the websites and databases. This query limit will reset to zero for every one hour. However, once the database user exceeds query limit, then you should have to wait one hour for the proper functionality of the website. I would recommend you to purchase additional Query Limit i.e. 150000 per hour for your website."

My source code <!-- Can't connect to MySQL server on 'nowinterpretthiscom.ipagemysql.com' (111) -->

 

[TPerry]

Uh, dump the host and get one that doesn't have that limitation imposed? Something a more "high end" shared type?

Or maybe move to a VPS (either managed or unmanaged if you are capable of doing it yourself).

 

[WSWD]

Assuming your host isn't lying to you to get you to purchase an upgrade, something like this can be caused by a large number of bots indexing your site, or perhaps even a small-scale DDoS attack of sorts. Looking at your forum stats, there is no possibly way you have 75,000 queries an hour, aside from something like that.

 

[TPerry]

Assuming your host isn't lying to you to get you to purchase an upgrade, something like this can be caused by a large number of bots indexing your site, or perhaps even a small-scale DDoS attack of sorts. Looking at your forum stats, there is no possibly way you have 75,000 queries an hour, aside from something like that.

Well, something is definitely going on with it..

 

[Mouth]

The maximum query limit set for each user of the database on our server is 75000/hour.

That equates to approx. 6,500 page views per hour.
Do you have google analytics active? Check it and see what it says your page views and hits are - does it agree with what your host is saying?

 

[seneca]

That equates to approx. 6,500 page views per hour.
Do you have google analytics active? Check it and see what it says your page views and hits are - does it agree with what your host is saying?

I'm not the one who has access to the analytics account but I can assure you it's nowhere near that.

 

[WSWD]

Well, something is definitely going on with it..

View attachment 116366

Of course there's something going on with it, but that something is not happening due to the normal traffic they're getting on their website. Could even be an issue with the host's database server. Who knows? But it most certainly isn't due to normal traffic.

 

[WSWD]

I'm not the one who has access to the analytics account but I can assure you it's nowhere near that.

Do you have any sort of analytic software running locally on your hosting account, like AWStats, or Webalizer, or even a log that shows the raw connections? That would show if any bots are hammering your website, or perhaps even a small DDoS attack. Like I said, if the host's records are legitimate, and you are actually seeing the queries they say you are seeing, I would put money on bots or DDoS simply hammering your pages.

You might even want to ask your host if they have the connection stats. They should be able to monitor your site and see where all this traffic is coming from.

 

[seneca]

I'm in the process of looking at the raw logs in stats, but don't really know what I'm looking for. I see an ip that's doing weird stuff, like a long list of pulling favicon and I searched the user ip and it belongs to our admin.

 

[seneca]

I would put money on bots or DDoS simply hammering your pages.

I do see a lot of bots, but don't know that it's enough...

 

[WSWD]

I do see a lot of bots, but don't know that it's enough...

I have a tendency to agree with that, but it's a good place to start the search. You would be amazed at what a bunch of bots at once can do. Has your host said anything besides the overall traffic volume? When you do a search through the IPs, is there any country hitting your site a lot more than perhaps it should?

 

[Mouth]

Try turning off search functionality within unregistered user group permissions

 

[seneca]

Try turning off search functionality within unregistered user group permissions

Tried that. Still having problems.

When you do a search through the IPs, is there any country hitting your site a lot more than perhaps it should?

How do I see countries? 87% US according to Google Analytics.

 

[seneca]

Stuff like this makes me wonder.

 

[rdn]

Stuff like this makes me wonder.

Put your site behind firewall like Sucuri.

 

[WSWD]

Stuff like this makes me wonder.

That's a Comcast address in Washington state. That is most likely a legitimate user. 87% of the traffic coming from the US probably rules out a DDoS attack, just out of previous experience. The majority of botnets seem to originate out of the US. So if you saw a huge spike in traffic say from Brazil or such, that would be reason to worry. This is a tough one.

 

[Liam W]

Browsers tend to request the favicon file constantly, even if there isn't one, so it's common to see lots of logs for it.

Liam

 

[seneca]

That's a Comcast address in Washington state. That is most likely a legitimate user. 87% of the traffic coming from the US probably rules out a DDoS attack, just out of previous experience. The majority of botnets seem to originate out of the US. So if you saw a huge spike in traffic say from Brazil or such, that would be reason to worry. This is a tough one.

Ok, was just on doing my refresh thing to get in and counted 18 spambots. Would analytics be picking those up?

 

[seneca]

Ok, was just on doing my refresh thing to get in and counted 18 spambots. Would analytics be picking those up?

Nope, just checked real time and it doesn't count them. Ok, so that might be the issue. What do I do about this?

 

[Mouth]

https://xenforo.com/community/resou...-spam-collection-anti-spam-free-version.1474/