Forum has been very slow 2 days now...

[Joost Buijs]

The forum seems to be hosted at ionos.com in Germany, probably cheap-ass shared webhosting unable to handle more than a few hundred requests simultaneously.

[smatovic]

Right now it is just

Who is online
Users browsing this forum: Bo Persson and 69 guests

and still slow. You would expect a webserver to be able to handle 70 users.

You have to look at the numbers on the main page, otherwise you get only a subset, with ~1000+ users/guests (probably concurrent sessions) it starts to slow down.

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Srdja

[smatovic]

The forum seems to be hosted at ionos.com in Germany, probably cheap-ass shared webhosting unable to handle more than a few hundred requests simultaneously.

Re: New forum
viewtopic.php?p=959266#p959266

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Srdja

[Joost Buijs]

The forum seems to be hosted at ionos.com in Germany, probably cheap-ass shared webhosting unable to handle more than a few hundred requests simultaneously.

Re: New forum
viewtopic.php?p=959266#p959266

I see, so a very tiny VPS is hired from strato.nl, according to IP-info the server is from ionos.com and resides in Germany. As the forum is right now it's completely unusable. I have the feeling that a somewhat bigger server would do a better job, probably my mobile phone would do better too.

I understand that one tries to keep the cost for hiring a server as low as possible, but that comes with a cost too.

[Brunetti]

As the forum is right now it's completely unusable.

Helo Joost,
you’ve been around since the BBS days, I imagine - when it took minutes (on a good day!) to download a post from a BBS and reply - and now you say a system is “completely unusable” if you have to wait 15 seconds?

Alex

[Joost Buijs]

As the forum is right now it's completely unusable.

you’ve been around since the BBS days, I imagine - when it took minutes (on a good day!) to download a post from a BBS and reply - and now you say a system is “completely unusable” if you have to wait 15 seconds?

Hello Alex, I've been around for a very long time, and I don't recall BBS being slow like this, maybe a few seconds delay (even to the USA) but not any longer, from Amsterdam we've always had good connections via the precursor of the internet.

Currently each action on this forum takes 15 sec. on average, logging on takes 30 seconds (loading the webpage and logging on). I'm reading many forums, and I never see delays of more than a few hundred msec. (besides talkchess this is). With these long delays the forum is very cumbersome to use, what will happen is that people start avoiding using it.

[smatovic]

....
On the main page at bottom you can see how many users/guests are visiting the
site, usually it is about 100+, now it is about 1000, during the page slowdown
it was 3000+.
...

Something changed,

In total there are 4138 users online :

and it is still fast.

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Srdja

[phhnguyen]

I have asked… Gemini about the forum slowness. She - an AI by Google (2.5 pro preview-the free version) replies a bit long but there may be some useful information, especially about preventing. You may refine the question to dig deeper.

Q: My favourite forum on https://talkchess.com at recent time becomes very slow. Look like it is being attacked by some bots. Could you find out where and who attacking us? Any suggestion to improve the situation? Thanks

A: TalkChess.com Users Report Slow Performance, Bot Activity Suspected
Users of the popular online chess forum TalkChess.com (https://talkchess.com) have reported significant slowdowns in recent days, with some speculating that bot activity may be a contributing factor. While there is no definitive public confirmation of a specific bot attack or its origin, the symptoms described by users align with common issues caused by malicious bot traffic.
A forum thread titled "Forum has been very slow 2 days now..." active around May 6-9, 2025, contains multiple user complaints about the sluggish performance. Some users noted that the forum, reportedly hosted with ionos.com in Germany (possibly on a small Virtual Private Server from strato.nl), seemed to struggle when the number of online users and guests rose significantly, at times exceeding 1,000 to 3,000 concurrent sessions. Such high numbers of "guest" sessions can be indicative of bot activity.
At this time, there is no publicly available information identifying specific individuals or groups responsible for any potential attacks. Identifying the precise source of such an attack is a complex task that typically requires internal investigation by the website administrators.
Suggestions for Improvement
Forum administrators and users can consider several general strategies to mitigate performance issues, whether caused by bot attacks or high traffic load:
For Forum Administrators:
* Investigate Server Logs: Analyze server access logs to identify patterns of suspicious activity, such as a high number of requests from specific IP addresses or user agents. This can help pinpoint sources of heavy traffic.
* Implement or Enhance CAPTCHA: Ensure that robust CAPTCHA challenges are in place for registration, posting, and other key interactions to deter automated bots.
* Web Application Firewall (WAF): Deploying a WAF can help filter out malicious traffic, including known botnets and various types of attacks, before it reaches the forum software.
* Rate Limiting: Configure the server or forum software to limit the number of requests an IP address can make within a certain time window. This can slow down bots that attempt to overwhelm the site.
* IP Address Blocking: If specific IP ranges are identified as sources of malicious traffic, they can be blocked.
* Update Forum Software and Plugins: Ensure that the forum software (e.g., phpBB, which TalkChess.com appears to use) and any associated plugins or extensions are up to date to patch known vulnerabilities that bots might exploit.
* Content Delivery Network (CDN): A CDN can help distribute the website's load across multiple servers, improving performance for legitimate users and potentially absorbing some malicious traffic.
* Review Hosting Plan: If the current hosting setup is insufficient for the forum's traffic (even legitimate traffic), an upgrade to a more robust hosting plan with better resources (CPU, RAM, bandwidth) might be necessary. User discussions on the forum have already pointed to the current hosting as a potential bottleneck.
* User Agent Blocking: Malicious bots often use specific or generic user-agent strings. Blocking known bad user agents can provide some relief.
* Enable or Enhance Bot-Blocking Rules: Many server configurations and security tools allow for the implementation of rules specifically designed to identify and block common bot behaviors.
For Users:
* Report Issues: Continue to report performance issues to the forum administrators, providing as much detail as possible (e.g., time of day, specific actions that are slow).
* Patience: Understand that diagnosing and resolving such issues can take time.
* Avoid Suspicious Links: Be cautious of any suspicious links posted on the forum, as these could be related to malicious activity.
It's important to reiterate that without direct access to TalkChess.com's server logs and administrative tools, it's difficult to definitively confirm a bot attack or its origin. However, the reported symptoms and the general nature of online forums make bot activity a plausible explanation for the recent slowdowns. The suggestions above represent common best practices for improving forum security and performance.

[smatovic]

In total there are 4538 users online

and back to slow again.

[Rebel]

In total there are 4538 users online

and back to slow again.

PM or email HGM.

Perhaps he is on holidays.