Tux Reports Network

There is nothing worse than people who invade someone else’s area. We all have “personal space” and someone who gets too close is annoying. Along this line of thought, someone who breaks into a home or business is considered by society to be a robber. Hacking is breaking and entering. Yet, some kids (and adults) do not understand that hacking is not a sport or something to do for enjoyment. They do not consider the cost. Yes, the harm is costly - in time, energy, and resources.

One of the Windows Server was hacked (again): housing UMPC Buzz, Tablet PC Blogs, What Is New and about 30 other domains. I was locked out and the hosting company was demanding money that seemed inappropriate. The technicians told many stories and failed to follow through with their promises. After frustrating hours (days - 2 weekends in a row) of attempting to get to the server, I opted to change the dns for What Is New and use a backup site and server.

As if this was not enough, the database for Technology Questions was corrupt and the site failed to load. This site has the highest traffic and so my attention turned to it. The hosting company is paid to backup the site daily. Instead, the backup was 2 weeks old. Three days of attention passed and the database was restored but the site didn’t work. Files were corrupt, templates were destroyed, and cron jobs were going wild. Little by little (and with the help of vBulletin) the site was restored.

In the meantime, a search for another way to manage the servers started. Auto Backup for MySQL by SwordSky Software was purchased and databases are remotely downloaded to a local drive. This should help manage the Linux boxes.

Yet, the Windows Servers remain a challenge. A search continues to find a way to remotely manage these sites so that my life is not spent cleaning up after intruders and rude people who have nothing better to do … (insert profanity).