Eviction Notice
A few days ago there was a huge spike in hits to LARGETONY.COM. I mean really huge. I mean drop-to-your-knees-and-drool-in- awe-becuase-you-can’t-wrap-your-fist-around-it kind of huge. But it’s my brain I can’t wrap around this. It usually takes about a month for the numbers to hit six digits within a given period, but last week it hit six and was well on it’s way to seven within a 24 hour period! WTF???
I don’t check the stats very often, so the way I found out about it was because RJ (my webmaster) got an e-mail from the company that hosts the server that the site (and this blog) are on. It seems that a red flag went up because, not unlike the seams of an old pair of jeans, the server was straining as a result of LARGETONY.
I couldn’t figure out what was causing all that traffic. We’ve seen small spikes before when someone has been nice enough to link on a popular website. Sure, Rico mentioned me in his blog that day, but even as cute and sexy as he is, does he see the kind of traffic that he could be sending half a million hits this way…in one day? After some investigation, RJ found out that somebody tried to hack into the membership side of the site using some sort of program to try to force its way past the password login.
Now the big problem in all this is that when the spike happened, the host company moved the site to a bigger (and more expensive) server, temporarily, and notified RJ that he needed to upgrade to a bigger (and more expensive) account or find a new host. The choices were to 1) fix the problem and go back to our old server 2) pony up the Benjamins for an account updgrade, or 3) get the hell out. And a decsion had to be made in seven days or the account would be suspended.
We think the hacker never got in because most of the hits were to the login page, and all pages on the other side of the login had normal stats. And the next day, all the graphs were looking more like what we usually expect. But the damage was already done. Even though everything was back to normal (from our point of view, anyway) they were keeping an eye on us. LARGETONY had one loud party too many.
The host decided that even our “normal” numbers were higher than what they wanted on the server. According to the e-mail, my stuff that you are reading (and the dirtier-minded of you are ogling) is on the same server with some others, and my stuff is taking up the major portion of it. That’s why they temporarily moved me to a server all by myself. But to stay there, we have to cough up some serious dough. Like five times what it costs now. They gave some suggestions on how to possibly relieve the strain on the system (don’t ask me what) and RJ has been trying them. Last I heard from him, the numbers were still too high. We can’t afford to move on up to the deluxe apartment in the sky, so it’s very likely that unless he figures this out, come day after tomorrow, my site will be evicted.
So, if you come around and I ain’t here, don’t worry, it won’t be for long. RJ is looking for other hosting options, but he says that it usually takes 2-3 days for all the domain stuff to get transfered to a new host. In the meantime, I’ll be like Little Orphan Annie, patiently waiting for a new home and thinking about tomorrow…after all, tomorrow is another day.
September 14th, 2005 at 9:15 am
First off that’s unfortunate and unfair. . .secondly. . .what are we going to do without you!!!! I’ve become a regular reader and I’d go through withdrawals I’m sure. But as you said, it hopefully will only be a short time. Here’s keeping our fingers crossed. We’ll all be thinking about you for sure.
September 14th, 2005 at 10:05 am
Holy crap! That is NOT cool!
September 14th, 2005 at 12:23 pm
Okay…Okay… I’ll buy a t-shirt.. But I have to wait until Friday…
September 14th, 2005 at 2:03 pm
At least you will get bragging rights to say that you were too BIG for their server and choked it up!!! LOL Good luck Tony.
September 14th, 2005 at 2:34 pm
That’s so wrong! You’d think they’d like getting all the traffic; well, if you’re evicted, they’re going to notice a huge drop — sorry for the pun — in anyone using their services. I hope you can find a new place soon!!
September 14th, 2005 at 6:07 pm
Damn. Hope it works out for you.
September 14th, 2005 at 6:48 pm
You can move to Dreamhost. They are fantastic.
I love them. 
However, I hope you don’t get evicted at all. I don’t want any downtime.
September 14th, 2005 at 6:54 pm
just make sure we know where to follow you
September 14th, 2005 at 7:30 pm
Believe it or not it’s probably a cyber bashing attempt. They hack in and redirect your site to some god freaks like jessie helms and the like.
1and1.com has some pretty good prices for domain hosting.
good luck and glad the attack was unsuccessful.
September 14th, 2005 at 8:22 pm
I’ll hope for the best!
September 14th, 2005 at 10:44 pm
Please find a way to continue. I’ll buy a T-shirt too.
September 15th, 2005 at 2:39 pm
Sounds like you’re gettin’ a little too big for your britches. WAIT! That’s a good thing.
Good luck. These kinds of forced changes are almost alwayr for the better. I can’t wait…
September 15th, 2005 at 10:42 pm
Oh man… hackers like that SUCK!
Be sure to e-mail me if you move and I’ll pass the word on.
September 16th, 2005 at 12:52 am
Wow. Happy moving day. Just be sure to leave us a forwarding address big guy. I have a feeling your readers will follow you. And do those crazy “god freaks” really do that like Moby says? Scary. Very Scary.
September 16th, 2005 at 5:39 am
Damn, I always knew you were too big for your server.
Tell us when you’re moving so that we can follow.
Paul
September 16th, 2005 at 6:14 am
It’s not easy being large….
September 16th, 2005 at 8:42 am
God that sucks, Tony! Try not to be good for too long. I’ll miss you too much.
September 17th, 2005 at 2:55 pm
If I had the ability to do so, I would totally give you half a million hits, you’re worth it! But alas, I’m not THAT much of a celeb (yet)!! Keep it up, big guy!
September 26th, 2005 at 8:01 pm
First let me make it perfectly clear, the only hacking I know how to do is from morning post nasal drip! I had never heard of LargeTony.com until today. I have membership in several free Gay Men group sites that have thousands of male nude photos. You could actually go blind trying to look at all of them. I don’t know when your site spiked. What I do know is that at least 40 photos of you, nude and egorged are on one of those sites. I was fondleing my way through and ran across you by chance. The photo I saw had LargeTony.com. Making a notation of the address I moved on. Later I decided to see what you were all about….I had already seen all of you…but thought what the hell, more is better!!!!! That is when I went back, and let me count the ways of your glory. The photos were loaded onto the site on July 25, 2005 by who I have no idea. This particular site is linked to many many other sites, so Tony, you have gone global and free for all. What a bitch huh? Want you to know I do not steal photos of any site that has a address, but as you know, thousands do and post them anyplace they can. The upside to this dastardlly deed might result in higher revenue??? Or not. What the hell do I know. Keep on truckin “Thank God For Country Boys.”
March 31st, 2007 at 4:58 am
michelangelo is ryt!!!