To LOVELY Ashal: (FAST SPEED NOW!) Nix...CloudFlare is not likely doing more harm than good

[LongDukDong]

CONTENT BELOW DATED. 

REFER TO POST OF 8:21PM Greenwich Meantime April 13, 2022!!!

 

Dear @Ashal,

 

I write this within the Community Board rather than by way of a Personal Message to give you some semblance of relief, and hopes to cut down on the number of PMs you may be receiving on this issue.  Having one openly placed message that all may read and acknowledge may suggest to others that further messaging on this issue is not needed.  As staff in 'another separate' forum myself, I am aware that multiple PMs on the same issue can be aggravating.  Of course, it would be grateful to all if you were to likewise acknowledge this post or give a possible update if this issue is being examined.

 

First, I must say thanks for the hard work that you had put into the forum.  The recovery and restorative work you put into LoversLab this January shows commitment and love for the community.  I understand that form of commitment myself.  I also understand the worry one would have for disreputable individuals who would seek to cause the forum harm.  This would be the reason in which you had chosen to use CloudFlare®, likely for protection against DDos (Distributed Denial-Of-Service) attacks.

 

However, there has been significant slowdown in the forum that began roughly the latter half of January. I am aware that CloudFlare has been in use for some time, but believe that something significant has changed and CloudFlare's current state of use is the common denominator.

 

Many have stated that there has been significant slowdown when navigating LoversLab, the elapsed time taking (depending upon the browser, cookies and ISP) roughly 30 seconds to two minutes per page refresh. There were thoughts that this was singularly browser related, but quickly dashed.

(Member posts in spoiler below):
 

Spoiler

 

On 1/18/2022 at 10:24 AM, TDA said:

why is everything so slow? Especially video. Maybe should switch to another engine, this one just sucks.

 

On 2/5/2022 at 4:14 AM, TommyEs said:

Hey there, I'm unsure why but since yesterday the site is going off, and I need to refresh it quite a lot so that it works again.

 

I'm getting this almost permanently

 

 

On 2/5/2022 at 9:36 AM, axz2 said:

For the last few days its been getting worse every day.  Its getting close to unusable now with all the 520 errors.   In addition to the pages getting 520 errors, even once the pages load links within the page to LL content give their own 520 errors.  Someone said they were on FIOS and they don't get the errors.  I'm also on FIOS but I've been getting a ton of them.

 

On 2/10/2022 at 4:29 AM, Vyxenne said:

It's fine now, but earlier this evening I got Cloudflared.

 

It persisted for over 2 minutes so I just closed my browser, then relaunched it to the site. This time, the Cloudflare warning only took 20-30 seconds to connect to LL, but once there I could not open my Notifications- the site hung with a spinny thing over the Notifications widget.

 

Now (3:30 AM Central U.S. time) the site is very fast, almost instantaneous, so thanks to whoever fixed it.

 

 

On 3/7/2022 at 6:09 PM, Vyxenne said:

On 3/7/2022 at 12:48 PM, thaclone said:

I don't know if you are trolling or not,
but the site (on my end) is slow af....

even the main page takes like ages to load and if I open a thread with some pictures - oh dear lord

 

Well, tonight it's back to its bad old ways- it took 33 seconds to load in to the SSE Request & Find page (my usual landing page). No Cloudflare or other error message, just a really long time.

 

And why would I troll this subject?

On 4/7/2022 at 11:08 AM, NCK30 said:

The site is really slow on my end with Google Chrome. Gives me headaches thinking of my next upload.

 

It has been this way for 2 weeks or more...

 

On 4/7/2022 at 11:52 AM, VirginMarie said:

Same for me. I'd say 3 weeks and getting worse each week.

 

Anything I click takes 5 to 40 seconds. Makes it close to unusable. Once and a while a page will load normal, but then you click to add a message, follow, edit etc... all the little things and they take 20 seconds, or don't work at after waiting and I have to reload.

 

I removed cookies, helped a little bit.

 

Normally using Edge, but tried chrome and no difference.

 

On 4/10/2022 at 2:58 AM, Evaloves4 said:

> I assume that Mrs. Ashal is working on the site problem but situation is

 

> It's better to be without LL for couple of days, than having the site like this

 

Yes, the above are merely selected comments and posts within the singular 'Site is back after extended downtime' thread, but note the common theme throughout. More than half of the thread is filled with complaints about the board slowdown or inconsistent and rare moments of normal bandwidth. 

 

But this isn't merely an issue with navigation slowdown, but also an issue towards content submission.  Video images, game mods, or other file-upload content of a relatively significant size have become near impossible for various members.  Again, the thought was that browsers were to blame. But this was again an incorrect assumption.

 

(Member posts in spoiler below):

 

Spoiler

 

On 3/30/2022 at 5:49 PM, Pepe Sim said:

Hello... I was unable to attach the Crix Manara download file (https://www.loverslab.com/files/file/21450-crix-manara/). It reported me the error:

 

Sorry, an unknown server error occurred when uploading this file.
(Error code: -200)

 

To what is due?

 

On 4/3/2022 at 2:36 PM, Kingfish95 said:

Videos and photos still seem to be a problem for me in terms of upload.  Phots eventually upload after multiple tries, but videos have still been a thorn in my side.  I've used Safari, Chrome - still will test with Edge and Firefox.

 

On 4/4/2022 at 1:41 PM, LongDukDong said:

Well, my fore-mentioned issue and fix suggested by  KoolHndLuke to sign-out and sign back in no longer works.  I do not use Chrome, and I had even tried uploading with (barf) Microsoft Edge.  Hell, I have no plugins installed, and even turned off my anti-virus and firewall, so that too is not the issue. 

 

This is making uploads near impossible unless you have something puny.

 

On 4/6/2022 at 5:06 PM, Pepe Sim said:

Well, with Firefox either. There is a problem.

 

On 4/9/2022 at 8:48 PM, Kingfish95 said:

Update: Videos from my previous post finally uploaded when I compressed the file to low quality.  

 

Now, trying to upload files to my "Kingfish's Sims" page and my "Kingfish's lots" page has continued to prove futile.  No matter the size of the file, site refuses to upload it on the first (read numerous) try.

 

On 4/10/2022 at 11:29 PM, dharvinia said:

Now I know this is taboo, and everybody is blaming their OS or Browser.

BUT!!  a month ago I was able to upload videos of my builds to my club.

                                             NOW

The upload goes to a certain level then stops, times out and I get the same error message as everyone else.

Now, I could be wrong, but it seems as if the forum is working on half power, as if the bandwidth was being limited.

That would not be so bad if we were told about it.

Is it just possible the problem is here on LL and not our individual systems

   Also, the multiple attempts at unloading........

I was once told that doing the same thing that fails again and again  expecting a different result was the mark of insanity. ?

 

 

 

Again, the above are merely selected commentaries, this time within the 'Error uploading file' thread, a thread that began late this past march. But again, the commonality is that it is related to uploads in general.  This is not an issue with the Download Manager or forum software, but uploads in general. Not even basic attachments may be created.

 

The very likely cause for the inability to upload any content is that the upload 'times-out', this with CloudFlare being the main suspect.  Admittedly, some people have been able to upload large files recently, but is this the exception or the norm?  As one of the members above so noted, it was more of a "crapshoot".  And towards my own experience, I have been attempting to upload a 28MB mod since this past Friday with no success.

 

Please, I ask that this be looked into.  I fear that the issues could become much worse. How hazardous can this become if the delays caused by CloudFlare would time-out a member's attempt to make a post, or worse, sign back into the forum?  Membership would diminish.

Dear Ashal, I beg that this be looked into and plead that you would respond so members would know that this petition has reached you.  I do not ask for an ETA, but acknowledgement that this issue exists and that you are aware and hopefully attempting to handle the situation.

 

To fellow members, I wish no posts to follow which would possibly stray this request from its intended purpose. Of exception would, or course, be moderators who would generally be aware of forum moderation and administration acts.  I have no qualms of this thread being locked to prevent additional posting, other than content by staff-members giving the community further updates.

 

With due respect, sincerely yours

-LongDukDong

 

 

 

Edited April 13, 2022 by LongDukDong
Lovely title change for new positive feedback. Repaired forum likely.

[spoonsinger]

https://blog.cloudflare.com/ddos-attack-trends-for-2022-q1/

[darkconsole]

the primary thing to remember is cloudflare does not do anything about making your site faster. if this cpu is overloaded, this cpu is overloaded. its only when your server gets so overloaded it stops talking that it goes down, and cloudflare is like "huh, sites down" - to make this place have better up time we're talking about building a fairly expensive  (remember the web scale memes?) web scaling platform. (load balancer, multiple http instances, multiple slave db instances, memcache, redis, etc etc etc),

 

while i dislike cloudflare and appreciate annoyance for them for lots of various reasons, the slow site is the application/db server. regardless of if you were selected to see the stupid cloudflare "please wait" page if that request is going to drag ass, its going to regardless. high level they are just an easy and somewhat affordable attempt to try and solve the ddos problem and are not really themselves contributing to the bulk of the delay.

 

source: being a dev and network admin myself at work. excuse my simple common folk worded explanation. though i look forward to all the replies about how im wrong.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by darkconsole

[chemicalvamp]

Is this what has broken images from loading in 'view files' section? it never used to do this.

[alex77r4]

I think couldflare has none relation with the slow down...If the problem was couldflare every web site ussing couldflare must have the slow down...

As thoussand and thoussand of web site use couldflare is practically imposible the problem was couldflare.

 

For me, LoversLabs show the main page very fast in the morning, in lest than 5 seconds, in the evening need more than 30 seconds, at nigth sometimes not show.

Is a simple problem of concurrent users. If you live in europe is very easy verify it. Open the the Online Users and look how the speed is directly related to the number of concurrent users. As more and more users from USA connect to LoversLab more slow is the web site.

Is a simple problem of computer resources out and the only solution is add more cpu and ram to the server.

 

If anyone need upload a big file make it when the server usage is low.

[LongDukDong]

I am fully aware that other sites use CloudFlare.  I am also aware that this site has used CloudFlare in the past.  But not long after the restoration has the forum not only been extremely slow, but has timed out on occasions. 

 

To state that CloudFlare is not at fault or its usage is not related to the issue is in error.  There are other reports of sites that have used CloudFlare that had 30 second downloads for images, reduced to 3/4ths of a second after CloudFlare disabled (>HERE<).  And another case study (>HERE<) reports that a mere 700KB webpage slowly loaded until CloudFlare's removal.

 

I do not make assumptions lightly.  After all, please note that there are members who have been halted by CloudFlare before even entering LoversLab.  For example, Vyxenne made such a posting.

(Love your signature, Vyxenne  ?  )

On 2/10/2022 at 4:29 AM, Vyxenne said:

It's fine now, but earlier this evening I got Cloudflared.

 

It persisted for over 2 minutes so I just closed my browser, then relaunched it to the site. This time, the Cloudflare warning only took 20-30 seconds to connect to LL, but once there I could not open my Notifications- the site hung with a spinny thing over the Notifications widget.

 

Now (3:30 AM Central U.S. time) the site is very fast, almost instantaneous, so thanks to whoever fixed it.

 

Can one say that CloudFlare is not an issue with such a report from a long time member?  This is a report that cannot be dismissed.

 

As I stated before, I am aware that this board has used CloudFlare in the past.  For that, I offer that the settings in use for CloudFlare are the same as those before Ashal had need to restore the board in January.  And if so, these settings may now be incorrect and invalid to manage LoversLab now.  There are support pages within the CloudFlare community in which assists in optimization.

 

And please, I would appreciate to know if someone in staff is aware of any work being done to relieve the forum of such slowdown and time-outs occurring.  And for that, why I added that the topic may be locked so there be only staff respondents.

 

 

Edited April 13, 2022 by LongDukDong

[27X]

10 minutes ago, LongDukDong said:

This is a report that cannot be dismissed.

 

 

Yes it can. This has nothing to with cloudfare. The version nexus uses has real time per-connection scanning and nexus is instantly responsive.

[TDA]

Maybe make themed sites-alternatives (on free constructors), just indicate on the LL a link to a site on topics?

 

or to twitter, just create a thematic section with a link to twitter or wherever you want, telegram ...

Why suffer and ask someone for something, just need to organize ourselves, and not wait for help from someone.

Edited April 13, 2022 by TDA

[fishburger67]

LL is very responsive for me nearly always.  There are times like twice a year or so when it is slow, but it generally gets fixed within a few days.

[LongDukDong]

This has not been a few days.  And the reports have been made for well over a month.  Within the initial post of this topic, there is a spoiler showing quite a few quotes from the 'Site is back after extended downtime' thread,  The complaints quoted within demonstrate that the slowdown appeared mere weeks after Ashal herself created the topic this January.  And then we have the other spoiler from the 'Error uploading file' thread, indicating the inability of various members to even upload content. 

 

This has in fact been going on for roughly two months.  Various members are now suffering from this as is evident, myself included.  This cannot be dismissed unless you wish to dismiss the complaints of other members who are likewise suffering.

 

As towards making downloadable content offsite and then using those links, this should not be.  And it is only part of the entire issue.  Note how many people are having issues merely navigating. This too is a symptom and one that is disastrous.

 

What of those wishing to register if this becomes worse or if issues arose when one wishes to log back in?  This is a matter that must be addressed and handled by those managing the forum.  Anything else courts a loss to LoversLab.  And again, it would be best to hear from a member of staff on this issue.

 

Edited April 13, 2022 by LongDukDong
Typo issues.

[D C]

Well , i can't see any activity of any of my friends here

[Evaloves4]

11 hours ago, 27X said:

 

Yes it can. This has nothing to with cloudfare. The version nexus uses has real time per-connection scanning and nexus is instantly responsive.

> Nexus is fast and responsive because it use two different software for mods and forum: game mods are hosted on "Black Tree Gaming software" while forum is hosed in same software as LL - Invision community, which use one software for both. So, we are talking about vegetables and fruits here.

Edited April 13, 2022 by Evaloves4

[Pamatronic]

1 hour ago, Evaloves4 said:

> Nexus is fast and responsive because it use two different software for mods and forum: game mods are hosted on "Black Tree Gaming software" while forum is hosed in same software as LL - Invision community, which use one software for both. So, we are talking about vegetables and fruits here.

wat?

 

Also, no. As darkconsole already pointed out, this is a simply issue with lacking server capacity. has nothing to do with the software used.

Nexus is more responsive because its a multi million dollar company which has no problems with throwing a few extra grand into additional server power. 

 

 

Edited April 13, 2022 by Pamatronic

[Heroine HoneyCrotch]

6 minutes ago, Pamatronic said:

this is a simply issue with lacking server capacity

 

far from arguing....but, a few years ago LL was more active right? I dont ever remember lingering problems prior to last few months. Are there really more people bogging down system now? At the height of scamdemic ,surely LL was more bogged down then, right? 

 

And browser and cloudflare and stuffs, someone made good point that its only LL that is bogging down for at least some of us users? 

 

Are there users not experiencing any slowdowns last few months? Occasionally LL is fast but never for long on my end last few months. 

[27X]

1 hour ago, Evaloves4 said:

> Nexus is fast and responsive because it use two different software for mods and forum: game mods are hosted on "Black Tree Gaming software" while forum is hosed in same software as LL - Invision community, which use one software for both. So, we are talking about vegetables and fruits here.

 

I'm talking about the forums.

 

Also whatever you're talking about has nothing to with agnostic network traffic.

Edited April 13, 2022 by 27X

[LongDukDong]

1 hour ago, Heroine HoneyCrotch said:

1 hour ago, Pamatronic said:

this is a simply issue with lacking server capacity

 

far from arguing....but, a few years ago LL was more active right? I dont ever remember lingering problems prior to last few months. Are there really more people bogging down system now? At the height of scamdemic ,surely LL was more bogged down then, right? 

 

This is a fair point.  Traffic prior to the downtime had not bogged down the forum as it is now.  And that was mere months ago prior to Ashal having to bring the forum back online.  So what had changed?  What changes were made that now have catastrophic consequences for our fellow members, those that have legitimate gripes of slow response and the inability to upload content of any sort?

 

This has begun within the past few months, so the number of current members would not have made such a significant change in usage. Ergo, something recent is causing undo restriction to many accounts.  This is not by use of browsers, though it would still be disturbing if it were. And I have various browsers to check, so that is a big no.

 

But this is even more disturbing that many users are now suffering.  How will this affect new registrees?  One must assume that many may time-out and not be able to join LoversLab just as there are numerous members already suffering from the months-long bog. 

 

It was suggested that one might wish to make an alternative website for their content, this instead of uploading in LoversLab and provide off-site links instead.  One may wish this option, but others may see this as giving less traffic to our forum. And it would only tackle the symptom of upload-inability and not the actual root cause.  Rather to find a treatment and cure the forum than to let it sicken and wither.

 

And again, I say it wold be best to hear from a member of staff, whether to acknowledge this issue, to update us on any work being performed, or at least a report on the forum status.

 

 

Edited April 13, 2022 by LongDukDong

[Pamatronic]

1 hour ago, LongDukDong said:

So what had changed?  What changes were made that now have catastrophic consequences for our fellow members, those that have legitimate gripes of slow response and the inability to upload content of any sort?

Maybe an increased influx of droolies uploading 20 cas sims every day with 300+ mb of stolen cc?

Lets just completely shut of the sims sections for a few days and see if that helps ?.

 

But yeah, i guess you´re right. would be kinda curious to hear from staff about it. The sites responsiveness (or lack thereof) is making usage really tiring.

[Wolfstorm321]

I'm not having any traffic issues here. Can access and log normally. 

But some weeks ago the site was not working. And after it was back online, my post history was gone. 

I suggest to keep only the forum, and use self-host for the files.

There are plenty of free clouds available. I use mega, mediafire and yandex for backups. But there are many others, offering free plans. Some are temporary, though, but the most popular ones can host your files for years, even without any download. 

Edited April 13, 2022 by Wolfstorm321

[LongDukDong]

1 hour ago, LongDukDong said:

It was suggested that one might wish to make an alternative website for their content, this instead of uploading in LoversLab and provide off-site links instead.  One may wish this option, but others may see this as giving less traffic to our forum. And it would only tackle the symptom of upload-inability and not the actual root cause.  Rather to find a treatment and cure the forum than to let it sicken and wither.

 

The issue is not that the download manager nor attachments system is defective, but that there is an issue with the forum's speed and repeated time-outs.  Something is constraining the speed and consistency of the forum where it is literally hampering many members.  And by this, it affects both navigation, the ability to upload content, and in one instance a CloudFlare 2-minute continuous delay on even entering the forum.  Just using url and img links for downloads and visuals is not the solution.  It is a mere patch to a larger problem. 

[DoctaSax]

1 hour ago, LongDukDong said:

And again, I say it wold be best to hear from a member of staff, whether to acknowledge this issue, to update us on any work being performed, or at least a report on the forum status.

 

I have no opinion either way on the technical side of things, not my area, so I've refrained from commenting so far.
But I don't want people to get the impression we're just shrugging our shoulders, so I just want to say that ofc, this is frustrating, as much so for us on staff as any other member. Simple tasks that should just take a minute or two can now take ten, if not more. Meanwhile, you're kinda stuck in limbo. So, y'know, we get it, it's annoying af. Bear with us, I'm sure it'll get solved.

[LongDukDong]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE RESPONSE!!!!! 

[pinky6225]

28 minutes ago, LongDukDong said:

 

The issue is not that the download manager nor attachments system is defective, but that there is an issue with the forum's speed and repeated time-outs.  Something is constraining the speed and consistency of the forum where it is literally hampering many members.  And by this, it affects both navigation, the ability to upload content, and in one instance a CloudFlare 2-minute continuous delay on even entering the forum.  Just using url and img links for downloads and visuals is not the solution.  It is a mere patch to a larger problem. 

 

Think the question that hasn't been asked/answered is what to use instead of CloudFlare if it was turned off (whether the free or premium version) if that actually is the issue

 

While i don't recall anything recently i do recall it being mentioned in the past that the site was subject to Ddos attacks

[LongDukDong]

46 minutes ago, pinky6225 said:

Think the question that hasn't been asked/answered is what to use instead of CloudFlare if it was turned off (whether the free or premium version) if that actually is the issue

Well, thank you for that statement.  I suggested that the currently defined "settings" to use CloudFlare may be in error if they needed to be updated after the January repair.  So, it may be simply, that one would need to  verify and quite possibly update the settings for LoversLab as it is now.  Unlike the Shakespearean play, "I seek to praise Caesar, not to bury him."

 

This would, of course, be the ideal solution and one I had mentioned a good sixteen(16) hours ago.

 

As towards the Premium Version... *sigh*    I had read an article where another web-service had issues using the Cloudflare Pro plan using GT Metrix, and Webpagetest.org,  The poster went on how he tested and ensured it was CloudFlare, and how he attempted resolution with their support... they eventually suggesting he pay $200 per month for the Premium or Enterprise edition.  Of this, I certainly hope that this is NOT the norm.

 

IF... another service may be required, I am aware of StopForumSpam which would at least block would-be registers that have already been reported.  Essentially, a blacklist service.  Not unfamiliar, the forum which I am staff uses it and to good degree. Granted, it is for blocking those wishing to enter by way of registration, checking against both IP addresses and eMail accounts.  I am not sure this is satisfactory enough.  Also, it would undoubtably infuriate members who wish to use disposable eMail accounts. But I am already aware that this forum already discourages their use.

Edited April 13, 2022 by LongDukDong

[LongDukDong]

Dear @Ashal,

 

The speed of which I am encountering is back to what it was the beginning of this year.  I have not encountered any slowdown whatsoever, and my attempt to upload a 28MB file that took over three minutes to 'fail' now takes less than a second.

 

I am, of course, curious as to what the situation was... whether I was correct in my estimated assumptions or was way off.  But I have no expectations for a reply in this.

 

I am hoping that the speed when I am encountering is the norm, and that all others experience this increase in performance is experienced by the rest of our community.  That this was a downtime of... well, I am unaware as I only just attempted to log in ten(15) minutes ago.  But whatever the issue, I know it didn't take even an hour to resolve.

 

As to no offence, I do have hopes that the current speed and connectivity does last.  If anyone 'does' still have issues, I would certainly understand if further posts from those members continue.

 

But please.  Know that very much, I am grateful.  And I hope that all others of our LoversLab ( comical?   ) family will be as elated as I am. 

 

>o__

 

 

Um... yeah...  I do have a habit of flattery.    However, I have the feeling that the description is accurate.

 

Edited April 13, 2022 by LongDukDong

[Ashal]

It had/has nothing to do with cloudflare.

 

One of the file servers had a fault that was causing slowness for all traffic hitting that particular server. Right now that server is off and the site is just running on the 1 working file server instead of the usual 2, so some slowness is going to happen still as traffic picks up, but hopefully not as bad, and the 2nd faulty server will hopefully be fixed soon.