[GLLUG] Web Hosting Options

STeve Andre' andres at msu.edu
Wed Nov 2 22:22:48 EDT 2011


On 11/02/11 21:40, Patrick Collora wrote:
> Hey Everyone,
>
> Do any of you have any recommendations regarding reasonably priced 
> Linux/Apache web hosting without too may restrictions?  I was 
> previously using A2 Hosting <http://www.a2hosting.com/>.  They were a 
> good host until recently when they began limiting our CPU usage and 
> number of connections.  Routinely our site would simply be 
> inaccessible during peak hours, especially if a search engine was 
> indexing the site.  We never exceeded the 50GB transfer limit of the 
> account.  Now I'm using LiquidWeb <http://www.liquidweb.com/>.  
> Performance is excellent, but immediately we started having trouble 
> with 403 errors and IP addresses being blacklisted.  I discovered that 
> the culprit is ModSecurity <http://www.modsecurity.org/>.  ModSecurity 
> looks for patterns in form input and blocks the HTTP request if it 
> appears malicious.  For example, one site member had text like "system 
> (blah blah blah...)" in a photo description.  It was blocked because 
> it looked like an attempt to call system().  I found I can't even type 
> the text "/bin/bash" into a form input on their server because it 
> looks like a command.  If a user makes several attempts to submit a 
> blocked request, they permanently blacklist the IP unless someone 
> requests to have it removed.  They were unwilling to provide me with a 
> report of the IP addresses blocked, so I have no way of knowing how 
> severe the problem is.  Anyway, it looks like we may be leaving 
> LiquidWeb soon.  I was surprised because I've seen them get good 
> reviews from people, even some on their list, but to have them start 
> blocking legitimate users and requests because some text vaguely 
> matches an attack signature is simply unacceptable.
>
> My website is http://www.lighting-gallery.net
>
> Thanks.
> -- 
> Patrick Collora
>

Because the string "system (blah" existed ModSecurity blocked it?  I don't
know which to call it--pathetic, or monstrous.

Anyway, take a look at Pair.com.  They have pair-lite.com, for $100 a year
for hobby sites.  You can then get bigger plans if your bandwidth/file space
needs grow.

--STeve Andre'

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