Resolved Intermittent CloudFlare 5## errors/site loading errors

[garrettroyce]

Last updated: 2020/04/29 13:00 CST

Status:
4/24 - Started tracking issue
4/25 - Admins working on server
4/26 - Issue possibly from datacenter, not x10; working with DC to resolve
4/27 - Awaiting DC response. Admins have been able to replicate the issue
4/28 - DC found a firewall issue. This is resolved. Some maintenance must still be performed on the server software to solve any remaining issues.
5/1 - Tests on x12 indicates that the switch to LiteSpeed will help mitigate the errors. x12 is currently updated and the rest should follow during the day, if all goes according to plan.

There is no ETA given at this time. Please do not ask for an estimated time for completion; I will put it here as soon as it is known.

The admin team is aware of some issues with websites being slow, timing out, connection errors, and if using CloudFlare, 5## errors. This affects all servers (x11, x12, ... x15) and it happens randomly. Sometimes the server will act funny constantly, and sometimes not at all.

I'm routing these threads through here so hopefully everyone can have accurate information as soon as possible. Please use the "watch thread" feature to get updates. Also, check the news and announcements because the admin team uses this to communicate. And, as always, please post if you notice anything that is unusual, related or not.

Known Issues:

• Page and PHPMyAdmin not loading
• DirectAdmin not loading
• CloudFlare 521/522 errors
• TCP Resets
• Refused Connections
• Empty Response
• Can't get access to the website

Please don't create new threads if you are sure you are having this problem. If you're not sure, then please do create a thread and I'll let you know.

You are not having this issue if

• You see a page that says "Apache is functioning normally"
• You are an x10hosting premium customer; this does not affect premium accounts. Please use your client area to file a ticket if you have an issue.
• You have an HTTP 400 or 500 error. Check your DirectAdmin error log.

Please create a thread if you are having any of these symptoms.

Please do not

• "+1" this thread (in example, "I'm having this problem too!", "Please fix now!", "You're the worst mod", etc.) This just spams people who subscribed. Feel free to leave feedback here.
• Private message admins. Generally, they don't reply to PMs. It's not fair to everyone waiting in line.

Please leave notes to other users and admins if you have something useful to say. Spammy comments and +1's will be deleted.

Thank you for being patient while this is being worked on. I generally sign on in the evening CST and will do my best to keep the forum organized and answer simple questions so the admins can focus on the big issues. You can also use the x10 Discord, but please avoid +1's and PMing admins for the same reasons.

 

[garrettroyce]

4/25 update - No new information. Please check back later.

 

[Anna]

I have had some information from the head admins. It appears to be a network issue, but the intermittent nature of it makes it a bit harder to pinpoint.

We're working with our datacenter to get a solution, they are however a bit short staffed due to Corona so it may take a bit more time then it normally would to actually get it sorted.

 

[fitwebde]

I have the same problem with cloudflare works perfect until a few days ago
Anna you and coworkers are you doing a great job I hope you find what's the problem
I use x13.x10hosting.com

 

[baybisc5]

is this just a x13 server issue or are other server having the same issue?
If it is just an .x13 issue is it not possible to move the affect accounts to other servers (even for short time).
I now very little about server so this is just a laymen probably asking a stupid question. You lot seem to be trying hard to fix an issue that is very hard to find...keep your good work up.

 

[Anna]

It affects all servers.

The problem with intermittent issues is that they will without a fail work perfectly fine as soon as you start troubleshooting. We are a few admins that has seen and confirmed the issue on the various servers though.

I'll try and see if I can get an update on the matter, that would however likely be in a few hours due to time zone differences.

 

[femifitx]

Thanks for staying on this, Anna. But it's happening so frequently now that there's no missing it at all. In fact, my site is more down than up. And even when it's up, it's for such a short period of time (literally, for seconds), that it's impossible to do anything - including doing a safe back-up, just in case. I appreciate the fact that this is free hosting, but for this issue to extend this long is really frustrating - especially when you have a client-facing site, like I do.

 

[garrettroyce]

Thanks for staying on this, Anna. But it's happening so frequently now that there's no missing it at all. In fact, my site is more down than up. And even when it's up, it's for such a short period of time (literally, for seconds), that it's impossible to do anything - including doing a safe back-up, just in case. I appreciate the fact that this is free hosting, but for this issue to extend this long is really frustrating - especially when you have a client-facing site, like I do.

It's not necessarily a free vs. non-free issue.

DirectAdmin has different quirks, so potentially it could be something overlooked, but right now the datacenter (the physical location where the hardware for your website resides) may be having the issue. If this was on a paid server, it wouldn't matter because there's nothing x10 can do since they're not allowed to access the physical hardware. If it is a DA issue, then x10 is at the mercy of DA's support staff, which wouldn't change on paid.

What would change on paid is that there are much less users per server. When there are less users, there are more resources free at any given moment, so issues tend to be less dramatic.

I don't have the numbers in front of me, and they're probably extremely confidential, but free services are one of the worst ways possible to promote a paid service. About 2-5% of people will upgrade from a free service, no matter how much better paid is. And, considering paid is a whopping $4 a month (including domain registration and an SSL cert), that's not a whole lot more profitable than free considering you go from extreme limits around every corner on free to almost no limits at all on shared.

That's my two cents, not that I actually have any effect on the outcome since I don't work for x10. I've seen much worse problems happen for longer periods of time over the years from software and hardware, but paid servers have not had the same issue because of the reasons I mentioned. So, is free more prone to problems? Yes, 100%. Is it because x10 isn't squeezing enough money out of free users? No. My non-professional estimate is that it costs several thousand USD a month to run free hosting. Tens of people changing to shared hosting doesn't even put a dent in that.

[Edit]
I also think the control panel vendors (cPanel, DirectAdmin, etc.) don't test their product with the user density x10 has on free servers, so these mystery issues are a real pain to diagnose since there are not a lot of free webhosts out there that are as big as x10.

 

[garrettroyce]

I spoke to our head admin today. The datacenter has identified an corrected an issue. There was also an issue with the HTTP server (the software that sends your website out to your visitors). There will likely need to be more work done on the HTTP software to fix the remaining issues. Possibly, changing to a new software. This won't be a quick fix, but x10 users will not see any difference and will not have to update anything if it is actually something that happens.

 

[bytex10h]

I spoke to our head admin today. The datacenter has identified an corrected an issue.

Which issue was corrected? I'm still getting the CloudFlare error 521 intermittently.

 

[garrettroyce]

There are a few things happening, it seems. Something was severing the connection between the user and server. That was a datacenter issue. The HTTP server was/is acting weird, so it needs modification or replacement. That's causing some pages not to load. So, it sounds like when the new servers were requisitioned, they had some configuration issues from the get-go. On top of that, the HTTP server from cPanel is not the same as DirectAdmin, so there are problems from that, which also happened right after requisition. Now that the admins know there are two issues, and that one is solved, the second problem is being worked on.

 

[michaelw1]

Nice to hear some good news. Thank you for the updates

 

[costas1]

Maybe the firewall issue was not the critical one, because I still get 521 errors often.

 

[michaelw1]

Maybe the firewall issue was not the critical one, because I still get 521 errors often.

I only get the error's only after you try to do thing's on the word press back end . I have not set cloud flare back up yet though.

 

[costas1]

I only get the error's only after you try to do thing's on the word press back end . I have not set cloud flare back up yet though.

I constantly get 521 errors when visiting my website. The site is a few minutes / moments online and then offline again.

 

[michaelw1]

I constantly get 521 errors when visiting my website. The site is a few minutes / moments online and then offline again.

How have you done a test to see if the same thing happens on other browser? I currently use Firefox for website test and Microsoft edge as my main browser. I don't get many error when I use edge

 

[costas1]

How have you done a test to see if the same thing happens on other browser? I currently use Firefox for website test and Microsoft edge as my main browser. I don't get many error when I use edge

Error 521 is not a client side issue. It means Cloudflare's server was unable to get a response from the origin server. The browser used would have no effect. I guess the answer is that the error happens "randomly" and that means there may be periods of time with a reduced frequency of errors.

The last 2 hours my website on x12 is offline very frequently...

 

[garrettroyce]

I'm sorry, I didn't get an update today, but I haven't forgotten you all. I'll get one tomorrow.

Last time I spoke with the head admin, he was working on getting an alternate HTTP server that worked better for us in the past.

 

[garrettroyce]

In case you are following this thread, a change in HTTP server is rolling out to all servers. Please follow this thread:

https://x10hosting.com/community/threads/servers-are-currently-having-some-work-done.207978/

 

[michaelw1]

Funny how websites stop working if you use it