Please do check out my main site (nsharp.org) for my ramblings on IT, Linux, Photography etc.

More humor:

• Two superheroes with X-Ray vision, and a hot girl. Guess what happens?
• Sometimes… Linux confuses me
• Escape Attempt
• I’m With Stupid

• Sometimes… Linux confuses me
• Escape Attempt
• I’m With Stupid

More Superboy at Superdickery and Cover browser

If anyone knows the source of this pic, please let me know..
*update* source found (thank you, anonymous) : Photo is from here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ukaaa/1102090491/

Like funny pics? See this. Also please visit nsharp.org for my musings on IT.

Note: To the original owner, I’m very sorry about the mixup with your link
The above photo is copyright http://www.flickr.com/photos/ukaaa

PS: Do visit my original site at nsharp.org It’s now back up!

Actual email recd from my web host (Pair.com)
=======================================

Hello,

It appears nsharp.org is on the Digg.com frontpage.

Unfortunately traffic to this site had to be firewalled, as it was overwhelming the server and caused the server to become unresponsive.

We will only be able to lift this block when traffic to this site has significantly decreased. We appreciate your understanding in this matter.

If you have any questions, please let us know.

Thank You,

[name removed]
pair Networks, Inc.
http://www.pair.com

==========================================================

OK, Let me explain a few things

1. Firewalled is a fancy term which means we pull the plug on your site.

2. Most of the traffic came from Reddit actually. When I explained this they had a bit of a hard time figuring who/what reddit was, so I said ‘It’s like digg’ and they got the idea (Of course I feel guilty for insulting reddit this way.. but moving on..)

2. When my site went down, it was a wordpress site using wp-cache (so pages were served as static content). I had also modified the digg/reddit links to be simple static html links for minimum impact. My account had an actual 200GB monthly allowance – so the server load from my site was low.

Why I am writing this

1. I trusted pair.com as a host. I told everyone I know “Hey, that’s a good host”. I hosted with them for 8 years. More specifically, I believed they would be able to handle a sudden spike in traffic because they have the resources necessary (own data center, etc) unlike other budget hosts.

I believed that pair would know how important this was to me, and do something, instead of pulling the plug.

2. Pair.com knew perfectly well what a big deal being featured on reddit or digg is, they could have done SOMETHING ANYTHING. they could have moved it temporarily to another server, instead, they just chose to politely pull the plug. A lot of people are pointing out that shared accounts aren’t suitable for large amounts of traffic. If my site regularly recd a lot of traffic I’d be on a large account, but on average I get like 200 visitors a day (please, don’t laugh). So I was fine with shared hosting. On the one day that my site got a lot of traffic, pair should have worked to keep the site up.They didn’t. They just pulled the plug, sent the polite email above, and forgot about it. They promised to restore the connection after things got normal, which is thoughtful of them.

Also note: I am on free hosting here (wordpress.com) and they are OK with the traffic surge of this being on the front page of reddit.

3. If you are a web host today, you CAN’T tell your customer that you can’t handle digg/reddit/slashdot. You should be able to use caches or reroute traffic as necessary. The reason is, every site you host has the potential to be on digg/reddit/slashdot/etc and as a host you must realize how important exposure via these sites is to your customers.

4. Say.. how on earth could Pair not know who reddit is? Seriously??

5. Last but not least I believe pair is a good host. I know they are a good host. I will continue to host with them, and recommend them (with a warning that their shared hosting is not digg ready – I believe this is one area they can improve upon).

1. When digg/reddit linked, I modified the landing page to a static html page, so there would be a minimum load. My main blog was using wordpress with wp-cache so it was also a STATIC site, as far as pair was concerned.
2. Getting linked by digg/reddit/slashdot is something that can happen to anyone. It happens rarely – a typical web hosting company may have about 5 sites on any one day which are on digg/reddit/slashdot. When this happens, a hosting company SHOULD DO WHATEVER it needs to do, to keep that site up. (Think CACHEING)
3. I’m not trying to gain publicity or profit from this issue. I’m sad I made a big deal out of it. I did this because I think it is a big issue, and I believe all hosting companies should make an allowance to a site linked from digg/reddit/slashdot.
4. I believe web hosts should have some system to enable a customers site featured on digg/reddit/slashdo, to continue functioning. I don’t believe a host should tell their customer “We will disable you if you are featured on digg”, particularly a world class hosting company like pair
5. I still think pair is a good host. I believe they should find a way to do something to ensure their customers stay up in rare circumstances like this. As you can see, wordpress (the people who host this link for FREE) are still fine with this site, so if they being a free host can manage, how come pair cant?
6. I used wp-cache for my site, so the load on the server was very low. Also, when things got heavy, I replaced the site with a simple html file and jpg, even that was too much.
7. This particular site isn’t 8 years old, but I HAVE hosted various sites with pair and recommended them to friends since 1999.
8. The main reason why I posted this is because I do know that if I DON’T complain, the next time some other customer of theirs is on digg or reddit he/she will also be switched off.

PS: Want to see something funny? Click here. No, really, the story has humor, tragedy and more.