1. Post #1

    January 2014
    135 Posts
    I had goals and aspirations to have the most popular and widely enjoyed community Rust server around. Those plans have been derailed by factors outside of my control. Those of you that have played on my server know what kind of guy I am, and know that I have done the best that I could to provide a server that players, local to Denver or not, could enjoy without having to deal with hackers, cheaters, pre-pubescent trolls, post-adolescent trolls, and others whose aim is to ruin the experience of others due to their own self-loathing and hatred. Anytime someone has logged on my server with a preexisting VAC ban on their profile that occurred within a 365-day time frame, 98% of the time, I have banned them to protect the community. I am suspicious of people who have "Private" profiles and I watch them play the game until I am satisfied their motives are not malevolent. I have watched people who are accused of hacking and made a judgment call based on how they play.

    I have been fair in every assessment all to protect and preserve the community I had hoped to shape. And we were winning. And we were coming into our own. To spur growth, I made a successful bid on TopRustServers.com for the top sponsored server on the list. We peaked at 91 players out of 100 on at once between Jan 31 and Feb 2. Somewhere along the way, I must have banned someone who was capable of launching a near-continuous large scale DDoS attack on my server. (This is all, of course, according to HFB, my provider) The interruptions to my server, despite server migration, a new IP, and DDoS protection, have been numerous and catastrophic. I submitted ticket after ticket to HFB Servers in hopes to remedy this problem quickly and painlessly. The communication between us has been sparse and the few emails that I have received have been less than helpful.

    During this most recent attack tonight, and after submitting 2 tickets within 24 hours with response, I sent this email to the GM of HFB:

    This is absolutely unacceptable. All I want is a reliable, stable central US server location with DDoS protection. Why is this so hard to secure? There are other providers out there that are more expensive and I am willing to pay them MORE money in order to have stability of service. You and I are in the same shoes, except you are actually generating revenue from this business, so you have much more to lose. If my service has not returned in a reasonable time frame, I will pursue another provider to host my Rust server.
    As you can see, I was a bit upset. Shortly, and in record fashion for HFB, I got this reply:

    This email is not meant for support, you must wait for a response from our support reps normally. With that being said I took a look at your ticket and by what you are stating (a bout of 5-10 minute rubber-banding every once and awhile) then you are most likely being attacked during those periods of time (most common attack time is 300-600 seconds), however since the server has DDoS protection instead of the server going down completely during the attack and being nullrouted the server stays online. DDoS protection is not perfect we have yet to see any DDoS protection provider be able to standup to a 10gbps attack without any negative impact, IE a few minutes of rubber banding in your case (packetloss), We have spent well over $2000 testing out DDoS protection providers. If you feel that you can find a provider that can indeed meet those needs I suggest you explore them as an opportunity as we simply can not meet your needs. We are launching our new DDoS protected offerings in Chicago, LA, and New York here very soon (slightly higher cost per service exact amount tbd) however as I said above none will work perfectly, you will see at least some sort of rubberbanding (packetloss) during very large attacks.
    I read that as a corporate tailored way of telling me to go fuck myself. He seems to think that I had only one or two attacks, each lasting 5-10 minutes a piece, but that was only true in the first ticket I submitted. They would last from 5-10 minutes at a time, back to back to back to back. We had maybe a few hours respite from this nonsense. And then tonight, it continued. Constant severe rubberbanding, outrageous packet loss, and a server ping well into the high 100s to mid 200s.

    His response, which told me that DDoS protection is useless since when the attacks occur, your server will still experience the same effects, only it won't crash. He proceeds to qualify and value his company's research and due-diligence in protecting against these attacks by telling me they have spent well over $2000. And then goes on to tell me to hit the road if I don't like what I HAVE PAID FOR.

    I started to look for other providers but then I started thinking... If I relocate, get a new IP again, and even get the best of the best DDoS protection, what's to stop the attacks from happening? Nothing. They will keep happening, more than likely. And I'll be paying every month to run a crippled server. That is bad business sense. That is bad common sense. Ultimately, it's not me that loses out on anything material. I'll regain the money that I have paid into this hobby. I paid to provide others the chance to play this incredible game and grow with it. The ones that lose in this scenario are the 150+ players that would frequent my server. Whoever this anonymous cowardly, gutless, and spineless asshole is has completely ruined it for them with his DDoS attacks. This provider, with this reply to a PAYING customer, and a seemingly complete bankruptcy of business ethics and practice based upon my experience and others, has ultimately cost the Rust community a champion for their cause. I designed and printed cardstock flyers with my server info as well as a description of how to get the game. I worked out a deal with local game shops to have Steam wallet cards attached to each of the flyers to increase attention for the game. I was even working out an event with a local gaming arena to have a dedicated Rust night and local meetup for the server regulars to continue to raise awareness.

    And I did it because I believe in and enjoy this game. And when you believe in something, you get behind it. You don't half-ass it, as the provider has done. And you don't try to destroy it, as the attacker has done.

    So with that, I am leaning towards shutting down my server. I tremendously appreciate all of you that have played. But ultimately, it's just not worth the headache of trying to breathe life into a black hole. Maybe I'll start back up once the game is further along...who knows? As for now, I wish you all the best of luck.
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  2. Post #2

    February 2014
    7 Posts
    2000 dollars worth of testing for DDOS protection on a game server hosting company? these guys are a joke. $2000. lol. watch out.

    annoying. i was having fun :(
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  3. Post #3

    February 2014
    1 Posts
    I'll be sad to see it go down. You are the best admin I have met yet. Let me know if it comes back up!
    -Cleveland Brown
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  4. Post #4

    February 2014
    1 Posts
    Thanks Blu from all of the zL clan. It was fun.

  5. Post #5
    R R E R R R
    01271's Avatar
    October 2009
    5,555 Posts
    Ddos protection is an extremely tricky matter. It's akin to building a bridge to hold up an indefinitely increasing weight.

    The bottom line is that even big, official and well protected servers can go down easily.
    Around the new year a twitter user named •••••••••••• (facepunch censors this name) took down: league of legends servers, dota servers and servers for many other games and companies.

    HFB's answer is basically an attempt to explain that they simply can't handle it, despite the money spent on testing the issue.

    You can shut down your server if you feel you are being targeted but stay or come back: ultimately you will cone to rely on the relative obscurity of your server or the skid's percieved worthlessness of ddosing it.
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  6. Post #6

    January 2014
    22 Posts
    I used to hate on hfb nitrous fpsplayersand multiplay since I too thought that they were shit because they could not handle DDoS attacks. Then I looked into the cost of protection and holy shit is it expensive. If you are getting 10gbps attacks like they say its going to cost them over $700/mo for a single Ip in most locations for 20gbps protection. Heck the atlanta area (where I am) DDoS protection costs over 5k for that amount. Im not sure where your server was before but yeah, its expensive man.

  7. Post #7

    January 2014
    12 Posts
    It is so sad to see such an amazing server admin have to shutdown his server, cannot believe that someone would go through so much effort in their out real life community to get a server going, truly a Legendary server own, sucks to see DDoS attacks and crappy host bring you down.

    Sucks to see amazing people, who go through amazing effort to run game server, I truly and honestly can say i am amazed how much effort you had put into the server, even knowingly that there is no money to be made hosting such a game. I am from Canada and cannot even find words for the persistence you had used in you home town to advertise your server.

    I enjoyed playing your server so much, me and my buds will truly miss you ownership of the server and will truly miss playing along your side. thanks for the amazing effort, and good luck in you further adventures, hope to see you around!
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  8. Post #8

    January 2014
    135 Posts
    I used to hate on hfb nitrous fpsplayersand multiplay since I too thought that they were shit because they could not handle DDoS attacks. Then I looked into the cost of protection and holy shit is it expensive. If you are getting 10gbps attacks like they say its going to cost them over $700/mo for a single Ip in most locations for 20gbps protection. Heck the atlanta area (where I am) DDoS protection costs over 5k for that amount. Im not sure where your server was before but yeah, its expensive man.
    If you can't handle providing the protection, then don't offer it. Nor allow me to pay for it, especially since you can't handle it. That's a joke.
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  9. Post #9

    January 2014
    12 Posts
    I used to hate on hfb nitrous fpsplayersand multiplay since I too thought that they were shit because they could not handle DDoS attacks. Then I looked into the cost of protection and holy shit is it expensive. If you are getting 10gbps attacks like they say its going to cost them over $700/mo for a single Ip in most locations for 20gbps protection. Heck the atlanta area (where I am) DDoS protection costs over 5k for that amount. Im not sure where your server was before but yeah, its expensive man.
    Thats a little big, i pay for a 16gb ram with an i7 processor dedibox, with about 10gbps ddos protection for about $60 a month...

  10. Post #10

    January 2014
    22 Posts
    If you can't handle providing the protection, then don't offer it. Nor allow me to pay for it, especially since you can't handle it. That's a joke.
    Have you paid for the protection? If so how much did they charge, if its anything less then like $100/mo then its most likely going to be around 10gbps protection.

    Edited:

    Thats a little big, i pay for a 16gb ram with an i7 processor dedibox, with about 10gbps ddos protection for about $60 a month...
    Where? I know for a fact no provider in the US has that pricing.
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  11. Post #11

    January 2014
    12 Posts
    Have you paid for the protection? If so how much did they charge, if its anything less then like $100/mo then its most likely going to be around 10gbps protection.

    Edited:


    Where? I know for a fact no provider in the US has that pricing.
    company is called OVH, server is based in Canada, just about at the border, dont think they are offering the same server as of now, but ive been leasing the server for a year or 2 now here are their current offers http://www.soyoustart.com/ca/en/offers.xml

  12. Post #12

    January 2014
    22 Posts
    company is called OVH, server is based in Canada, just about at the border, dont think they are offering the same server as of now, but ive been leasing the server for a year or 2 now here are their current offers http://www.soyoustart.com/ca/en/offers.xml
    Not the US but yes close, Pretty sure hfb talked about having free ddos protection there already on reddit and here.


    EDIT

    Yeah here is their wording

    We offer Quebec DDoS protected servers Free of Charge and any clients are welcome to move there a simple ticket can be submitted and we will be happy to move a client there.

  13. Post #13

    January 2014
    12 Posts
    Not the US but yes close, Pretty sure hfb talked about having free ddos protection there already on reddit and here.


    EDIT

    Yeah here is their wording
    http://gyazo.com/45dcb47d5629604e15df2487ae65c186

    server is basically in the US, never said it was US either, and so what you have to submit a ticket to get ddos protection, or they provide you with a interface which allows you to put you server on mitigation. I've hosted gameserver like Minecraft, which also has a lot of ddosing problems and the server has held up to many ddos attacks, only way i found out about them is when i got an email letting me know.

  14. Post #14
    Gold Member
    Maloof?'s Avatar
    December 2006
    7,456 Posts
    Is this a provider that generally hosts servers for games or websites?

    Their protection might be designed for keeping a website online during an attack, not for providing an ongoing fast connection during an attack

  15. Post #15
    HER NAME IS SHAY LAREN .YES I HAD SEX WITH HER
    anazhd's Avatar
    August 2010
    205 Posts
    Spending $2000 and a lot more? It's better for HFB to blacklist the DDoSer ip range, find the provider and send an email or a notice to the provider about the illegal activity. At least that's what I did on my dedicated server. Better to lose some people on that ip range than lose everything you have.

    kids if you don't know the underlined statement, keep away from commenting on my post.
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  16. Post #16

    December 2013
    21 Posts
    Same thing happened to me! Even did a reddit post

    http://www.reddit.com/r/playrust/com...r_scam_beware/

  17. Post #17

    January 2014
    22 Posts
    Spending $2000 and a lot more? It's better for HFB to blacklist the DDoSer ip range, find the provider and send an email or a notice to the provider about the illegal activity. At least that's what I did on my dedicated server. Better to lose some people on that ip range than lose everything you have.

    kids if you don't know the underlined statement, keep away from commenting on my post.

    I also thought the same thing lol, Then my minecraft dediserver at reliablesite got ddos'd and these were the attack logs

    http://pastebin.com/zhMK3cMu

  18. Post #18

    December 2013
    111 Posts
    seriously, what do you expect for the price we pay ($20/month)?

    i rent one at fps for little over a month, i wanted change but idk the only gsp who seems good is bmrf but they never have available servers even the price is almost twice. i don't think i'll keep paying for my rust server too.

    given the price of the game, i already had loads of fun with it, so i guess it's time to put it aside for some time until this gsp joke has an end. idk if garry is so dumb that doesn't notice that, if he doesn't care because who wanna rent a server already paid for the game, or if these gsp are giving him money in order to don't have more competition.

    he should go public and tell why these companies were selected, why he doesn't allow other companies to host the game. why he doesn't do anything if ppl are screaming that their service sucks?
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  19. Post #19
    steamfreak's Avatar
    July 2008
    123 Posts
    DDoS protection was originally designed for websites, it was used to keep the site up even unter a DDoS attack, the loading times might be a bit longer, but at least you could still use the site.

    Gameserver DDoS protection is almost pointless, because unlike a website, that "loading lag" translates into the infamous "Rubber-banding" effects, essentially make the game worse to play.

    Ive run plenty of servers on plenty of games, experienced all kinds of DDoS attacks, and the one thing i notice is that no matter how good the protection is, it still ends up lagging the server.

    As a fellow server/community owner i would like to offer a bit of advice, If your willing to put your own money down to provide a server for free to others, always expect it to be attacked at some point, learn to accept that fact and be able to get over it and move on, rebuild and continue.

    The way i did this was simply form some way of communication to regular members of the server/community, forums, voip, social media, etc. Whatever works for you and is simple to use for your members. That way in case your server does go down, those regulars will know whats going on and can stay informed to possible IP changes, etc.

    I always say, its better to start with a few members than to start from scratch.


    TL;DR DDoS Protection for Gameservers is almost useless, and if your server/community has to change IP, use an external form of communication to inform regular members of IP changes.
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  20. Post #20

    December 2013
    156 Posts
    DDoS protection is a weird thing. The more you mitigate it, the more the ddosers will buy zombies or stresser shells from hackforums. You just can't really win.
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  21. Post #21

    December 2013
    47 Posts
    I'm in the exact same boat as the OP, HFB server, became popular to the point we were #1 during peak US times in population. Today and yesterday we've been receiving attacks... server has been down roughly 11 hours today. I had a ticket open for over 24 hours with no response @ HFB, I opened ANOTHER ticket and finally got a response.. my other one is still sitting there with no response so who knows how their ticket system works.

    After contacting all the approved providers it seems these are the closest you can get for central US hosting with protection:
    ----
    BMRF - Wait list, selective of clients. I'm not sure on how large the attacks they can handle are. New York location. Waiting on a quote and more information.
    Multiplay - Washington, DC... not sure on how much they can handle yet, waiting for another reply to my sales inquiry. They also have San Jose and Seattle.
    PlayRust.EU - Using LSN in TX, two options for 10Gbps and 20Gpbs, would be perfect if it wasn't TX as we have a lot of Canadian \ East coast players. Waiting to hear back if they have another US location but I don't think they do.

    Other info:
    ----
    Nitrous Networks - Up to 1.5Gbit protection, unfortunately not enough for most attacks
    HFB Hosting - No DDoS by default, you can pay $50 for Texas which I think is @ LSN like PlayRust.Eu or move to Canada (I think OVH?) for free.
    FPSPlayers - No DDoS protection, no option as of yet for it. Also some of their IPs I checked were SWIPed to HFB which is odd.
    RustGameServers.com - No protection, have a secondary server with them that maxes out at 10 players... over 80 hours of downtime in 3 weeks.

    If anyone has any other information please post... when I hear back from BMRF, Multiplay, and PlayRust, I'll update this. I'd definitely have to give HFB a thumbs down though, it might not be possible to run a popular server right now in the current state of things but you definitely won't be doing it at HFB either way.

  22. Post #22
    ArmtageShanks's Avatar
    January 2014
    63 Posts
    What is the motivation behind the DDoS attacks? Hatred? Anger? Are people born nasty? I know that having your game interrupted is low on the scale of World problems, but it is sad that there are those out there that want to cause unpleasantness. I took took a liking to a server and it now suffers from constant rubberbanding making Rust unplayable. Shame really. Was beginning to get to know the folks well.

  23. Post #23

    January 2014
    137 Posts
    What is the motivation behind the DDoS attacks? Hatred? Anger? Are people born nasty? I know that having your game interrupted is low on the scale of World problems, but it is sad that there are those out there that want to cause unpleasantness. I took took a liking to a server and it now suffers from constant rubberbanding making Rust unplayable. Shame really. Was beginning to get to know the folks well.
    Sounds like someone got mad because he is either a decent admin, or a ban-happy one, which in either way the guy DDoSing is stupid. Don't take your server down! Need good servers for this game with good admins! Sorry for the bad shit to happen, but usually the result in being the 'good' guy is more hate then the 'bad' guy. I've learned this in many of things, and rust it is the same, i became a target since I helped noobs in my home server, it tis sad.

  24. Post #24

    November 2013
    35 Posts
    If this has been mentioned already, I apologize (I only skimmed through the comments), but the alleged "DDoSing" of HFB based Rust servers is nowhere near isolated to you. The owner of Rusty Rust Rust (A server of which the plug was pulled due to various reasons) was subjected to such 'attacks', as have been several other forum users. Some believe it is a huge scam to squeeze money out of people, and I'm inclined to believe them, based off what I've both read and witnessed. It seems that paying for their DDoS protection does not guarantee your server will stay up. That sort of filth should result in a refund.

    I feel rather dirty; I actually promoted them before shit turned sour to people looking for hosting solutions.

  25. Post #25

    January 2014
    38 Posts
    What I don't understand is why enforcement over DDoSing is not more serious. If someone is denying you your ability to use a server that you're paying money for, it's essentially a form of theft/vandalism.

    Granted, I don't know much about it maybe it's too difficult to track them, but the only way to get DDoSing to stop is to really enforce it's illegality.

  26. Post #26

    January 2014
    22 Posts
    If this has been mentioned already, I apologize (I only skimmed through the comments), but the alleged "DDoSing" of HFB based Rust servers is nowhere near isolated to you. The owner of Rusty Rust Rust (A server of which the plug was pulled due to various reasons) was subjected to such 'attacks', as have been several other forum users. Some believe it is a huge scam to squeeze money out of people, and I'm inclined to believe them, based off what I've both read and witnessed. It seems that paying for their DDoS protection does not guarantee your server will stay up. That sort of filth should result in a refund.

    I feel rather dirty; I actually promoted them before shit turned sour to people looking for hosting solutions.
    Oh god, as much as I hated all the providers before I discovered the true cost of ddos protection and well the way it actually works when my minecraft dediserver was ddos'd. That reddit post had to be the most stupid thing I have ever read, simply due to the fact that hfb never made anyone pay a dime or even from what i see terminated anyone for ddos attacks. Hell if i was hfb and some one was getting ddosd over and over i would just terminate them as they are messing up other peoples server. Also from what i read they never even made anyone move that was getting dosd over and over so how does that logic even make sense.

    From the reddit post this is what people were suggesting. And what you belive

    hfb dos's client

    client complains server is down

    hfb says yeah your server was ddos'd

    client asks about ddos protection

    hfb says they dont have any but they can move for free to canada, move to dallas for $50 or stay on server

    client says no i dont want to move

    hfb continues to ddos client causing all servers to go down tons of tickets to be made and angry people and never forces the client to do anything?..............

    That makes no sense at all, just saying.

  27. Post #27

    January 2014
    137 Posts
    What I don't understand is why enforcement over DDoSing is not more serious. If someone is denying you your ability to use a server that you're paying money for, it's essentially a form of theft/vandalism.

    Granted, I don't know much about it maybe it's too difficult to track them, but the only way to get DDoSing to stop is to really enforce it's illegality.
    That's very hard to do because tracking a DDoS back to its roots is tougher then it seems. Unless the script kiddy doing it is very dumb, which could be the c ase since they're just a kid with a ddos program they bought off a forum.

  28. Post #28
    MindlessMe's Avatar
    January 2014
    47 Posts
    AHAHAHA, oh man. I am not laughing at the issues you are having, more so that a bunch of other people had this same issue and plethora of other ones. I'm honestly surprised you haven't been bombarded by the HFB fanboy brigrade trying to discredit you. refer to THIS post I made a couple days ago. HFB sucks for hosting, so I wouldn't shut your server down due to a bunch of incompetent server owners. Just get new hosting. After moving my hosting away from them I have had zero issues. Wish you the best of luck with your server and I hope to see you continuing on after dropping them!

  29. Post #29
    Bigstivie's Avatar
    November 2013
    184 Posts
    I feel bad for your man, let me know when your server comes back up so I can join!

  30. Post #30
    ArmtageShanks's Avatar
    January 2014
    63 Posts
    I feel bad for your man, let me know when your server comes back up so I can join!
    Same here OP. Sound like a good admin.

  31. Post #31
    Haxer's Avatar
    January 2014
    85 Posts
    I feel bad for your man, let me know when your server comes back up so I can join!
    Agreed, please let us know how this pans out. I'm tired of getting shot through walls on official servers, definitely looking for a new server that bans.
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  32. Post #32

    January 2014
    445 Posts
    I'm truly impressed the HFB fanboy brigade hasn't shown up yet to shit up the thread.

    I'm no fan of HFBServers, but what they said is correct. They can only do so much. If their DDOS protection is ineffective for you (whether it was one 5-10 minute DDOS or something ongoing), then you need to find another provider or shut down. Simple as that. DDOS protection is expensive. If you want to pay $500 - $2000 a month for a server that can withstand much larger DDOS attacks, I'm sure someone can accommodate you.

    Yes, I understand you paid for DDOS protection. But you need to understand how DDOSs work and you need to understand that there's a limit to what kind of protection you're going to get for $50. If you bought in thinking that you were getting unlimited DDOS protection then you're entirely to blame. If you thought your server was going to be invincible then you don't understand what a DDOS is or how cheap they are to roll out.

    It's like you bought a bicycle and paid extra for the racing gears, and are now complaining about how the bike ("THAT I PAID FOR!") can't tow a tractor trailer. What you bought isn't the right tool for the job. You're expecting a cheap DDOS protection to stand up to a massive DDOS flood.

    I have no problem finding other faults with HFBServers and I will never do business with them. But their response was 100% appropriate and this is not their fault.

    E: Also sounds like you're a good admin. Don't let some DDOSer dbag ruin the game for you, because that's exactly what they want. Find another provider and try again.
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  33. Post #33

    January 2014
    135 Posts
    I'm truly impressed the HFB fanboy brigade hasn't shown up yet to shit up the thread.

    I'm no fan of HFBServers, but what they said is correct. They can only do so much. If their DDOS protection is ineffective for you (whether it was one 5-10 minute DDOS or something ongoing), then you need to find another provider or shut down. Simple as that. DDOS protection is expensive. If you want to pay $500 - $2000 a month for a server that can withstand much larger DDOS attacks, I'm sure someone can accommodate you.

    Yes, I understand you paid for DDOS protection. But you need to understand how DDOSs work and you need to understand that there's a limit to what kind of protection you're going to get for $50. If you bought in thinking that you were getting unlimited DDOS protection then you're entirely to blame. If you thought your server was going to be invincible then you don't understand what a DDOS is or how cheap they are to roll out.

    It's like you bought a bicycle and paid extra for the racing gears, and are now complaining about how the bike ("THAT I PAID FOR!") can't tow a tractor trailer. What you bought isn't the right tool for the job. You're expecting a cheap DDOS protection to stand up to a massive DDOS flood.

    I have no problem finding other faults with HFBServers and I will never do business with them. But their response was 100% appropriate and this is not their fault.

    E: Also sounds like you're a good admin. Don't let some DDOSer dbag ruin the game for you, because that's exactly what they want. Find another provider and try again.
    Well here's the thing. I've been doing some thinking. And thinking while reading this thread. Is it possible that some jackass is sitting at home in his underwear launching the attack at the exact same time every night? Maybe.

    But what I think is more likely is consistent with what I've been reading. I think that HFB is overcommitted, as far as their physical servers go, and is definitely spread too thin, personnel-wise. And rather than lose face and say "We're having trouble maintaining all the activity" they simply say "It was more than likely caused by a DDoS attack" which only they can prove and could certainly manufacture proof if it wasn't true.

    If I switch providers and it still happens, then obviously it's not the provider. But if I were to place a bet, I would bet it's the provider.

  34. Post #34
    What I don't understand is why enforcement over DDoSing is not more serious. If someone is denying you your ability to use a server that you're paying money for, it's essentially a form of theft/vandalism.

    Granted, I don't know much about it maybe it's too difficult to track them, but the only way to get DDoSing to stop is to really enforce it's illegality.
    Call the FBI, I can't play my game!

    The actual impact of DDOSing a Rust server is very low from a law enforcement standpoint. DDOSing, say, a US government agency's website that's used for emergency coordination during a natural disaster might provoke a more severe response. (Don't DDOS FEMA, people, it's an example.)
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  35. Post #35

    January 2014
    78 Posts
    Call the FBI, I can't play my game!

    The actual impact of DDOSing a Rust server is very low from a law enforcement standpoint. DDOSing, say, a US government agency's website that's used for emergency coordination during a natural disaster might provoke a more severe response. (Don't DDOS FEMA, people, it's an example.)
    You may have a point here, but none the less DDoSing is illegal regardless. Local authorities being alerted to the attacks being rendered can actually do something about it, and in most cases will. Rather it's a slap on the wrist or sitting in jail for a 2 days...

    DDoSing is considered illegal, and therefore is punishable by law.

    Yes, I know... it's hard to prove. I understand this, but the point stands.

    Edited:

    I had goals and aspirations to have the most popular and widely enjoyed community Rust server around. Those plans have been derailed by factors outside of my control. Those of you that have played on my server know what kind of guy I am, and know that I have done the best that I could to provide a server that players, local to Denver or not, could enjoy without having to deal with hackers, cheaters, pre-pubescent trolls, post-adolescent trolls, and others whose aim is to ruin the experience of others due to their own self-loathing and hatred. Anytime someone has logged on my server with a preexisting VAC ban on their profile that occurred within a 365-day time frame, 98% of the time, I have banned them to protect the community. I am suspicious of people who have "Private" profiles and I watch them play the game until I am satisfied their motives are not malevolent. I have watched people who are accused of hacking and made a judgment call based on how they play.

    I have been fair in every assessment all to protect and preserve the community I had hoped to shape. And we were winning. And we were coming into our own. To spur growth, I made a successful bid on TopRustServers.com for the top sponsored server on the list. We peaked at 91 players out of 100 on at once between Jan 31 and Feb 2. Somewhere along the way, I must have banned someone who was capable of launching a near-continuous large scale DDoS attack on my server. (This is all, of course, according to HFB, my provider) The interruptions to my server, despite server migration, a new IP, and DDoS protection, have been numerous and catastrophic. I submitted ticket after ticket to HFB Servers in hopes to remedy this problem quickly and painlessly. The communication between us has been sparse and the few emails that I have received have been less than helpful.

    During this most recent attack tonight, and after submitting 2 tickets within 24 hours with response, I sent this email to the GM of HFB:



    As you can see, I was a bit upset. Shortly, and in record fashion for HFB, I got this reply:



    I read that as a corporate tailored way of telling me to go fuck myself. He seems to think that I had only one or two attacks, each lasting 5-10 minutes a piece, but that was only true in the first ticket I submitted. They would last from 5-10 minutes at a time, back to back to back to back. We had maybe a few hours respite from this nonsense. And then tonight, it continued. Constant severe rubberbanding, outrageous packet loss, and a server ping well into the high 100s to mid 200s.

    His response, which told me that DDoS protection is useless since when the attacks occur, your server will still experience the same effects, only it won't crash. He proceeds to qualify and value his company's research and due-diligence in protecting against these attacks by telling me they have spent well over $2000. And then goes on to tell me to hit the road if I don't like what I HAVE PAID FOR.

    I started to look for other providers but then I started thinking... If I relocate, get a new IP again, and even get the best of the best DDoS protection, what's to stop the attacks from happening? Nothing. They will keep happening, more than likely. And I'll be paying every month to run a crippled server. That is bad business sense. That is bad common sense. Ultimately, it's not me that loses out on anything material. I'll regain the money that I have paid into this hobby. I paid to provide others the chance to play this incredible game and grow with it. The ones that lose in this scenario are the 150+ players that would frequent my server. Whoever this anonymous cowardly, gutless, and spineless asshole is has completely ruined it for them with his DDoS attacks. This provider, with this reply to a PAYING customer, and a seemingly complete bankruptcy of business ethics and practice based upon my experience and others, has ultimately cost the Rust community a champion for their cause. I designed and printed cardstock flyers with my server info as well as a description of how to get the game. I worked out a deal with local game shops to have Steam wallet cards attached to each of the flyers to increase attention for the game. I was even working out an event with a local gaming arena to have a dedicated Rust night and local meetup for the server regulars to continue to raise awareness.

    And I did it because I believe in and enjoy this game. And when you believe in something, you get behind it. You don't half-ass it, as the provider has done. And you don't try to destroy it, as the attacker has done.

    So with that, I am leaning towards shutting down my server. I tremendously appreciate all of you that have played. But ultimately, it's just not worth the headache of trying to breathe life into a black hole. Maybe I'll start back up once the game is further along...who knows? As for now, I wish you all the best of luck.
    Blucifer, let me show you the response I got from FPS Players... I think you should take your business there after the response I had received whilst searching through providers.

    See below:
    **NOTE** I snipped part of the response. His response was incredibly professional and well done.

    Let me answer these questions for you.

    1.) Yes, we do have DDoS protection on our data network.
    2.) No we do not charge to have files reinstalled should they become corrupted. You will be able to reinstall them from actions panel in your admin control panel if needed.
    3.) No, we do not charge any additional fees for DDoS protection.
    4.) No, we do not have different levels of protection all networks are equally protected from DDoS attacks. And of course we provide the maximum level of protection free of charge.
    5.) We do not allow .ddl files to be uploaded through FTP, however, if you contact us we can try to accommodate you.
    6.) As far as equipment we have a variety of hardware. It would be impossible to give you an accurate indication of what hardware you would be running on until we've placed you.
    7.) We do allow and prefer PayPal for invoice payment.

    Thanks for choosing FPSPlayers.com and happy gaming!

    If you have any other inquiries, don't hesitate to contact us.
    After that, they earned my business in a heartbeat. I'll be transferring to them at the end of this month and giving HFB my middle fucking finger.

  36. Post #36
    You may have a point here, but none the less DDoSing is illegal regardless. Local authorities being alerted to the attacks being rendered can actually do something about it, and in most cases will. Rather it's a slap on the wrist or sitting in jail for a 2 days...

    DDoSing is considered illegal, and therefore is punishable by law.

    Yes, I know... it's hard to prove. I understand this, but the point stands.
    DDOSing is often performed across international borders, and this makes everything much more complicated.

    Over a game server.

    That's in alpha.

    Law enforcement honestly does not give a fuck about your problems, they have real crimes to worry about.

    Until you can demonstrate a monetary loss that's enough to justify hiring a lawyer, nobody actually cares unless you can drag the other person into small claims court.

  37. Post #37
    Haxer's Avatar
    January 2014
    85 Posts
    so are we good to go now? FPS it is? where is this server and how can i make it my new home?

  38. Post #38

    December 2013
    47 Posts
    FPSPLayers does not have DDoS protection, I have no idea what is going on with them but they don't even know what features they offer. Here are their replies to me last night, I removed my questions to cut down the text but it was just me asking about their protection, then to clarify it. Also note some of their IP addresses I found are SWIPed to HFBServers... I have no idea what the connection is with that.

    Top to bottom in order:
    There are no protection limits at the Chicago data center. All data centers and networks are equally covered.
    -Greg -M
    Welcome to FPSplayers, I'm Sean the General Manager,

    At the moment we don't have DDOS protection in any location other then null routing which isn't really protection for you.

    Our new data center in Amsterdam will have it and will then be slowly retrofitted into locations within the US
    -Sean M (General Manager)
    We do have protection from DDoS attacks on our network. Unfortunately we are unable to let users control the protection mechanisms.
    -Greg M
    Greg was referring to systems like your game panel, teamspeak, the website and emails - core network stuff.

    Game servers at this point don't have DDOS protection, I'm sorry we cannot meet your needs at this point, it is coming but at the moment no.
    -Sean M (General Manager)

  39. Post #39

    January 2014
    135 Posts
    FPSPLayers does not have DDoS protection, I have no idea what is going on with them but they don't even know what features they offer. Here are their replies to me last night, I removed my questions to cut down the text but it was just me asking about their protection, then to clarify it. Also note some of their IP addresses I found are SWIPed to HFBServers... I have no idea what the connection is with that.

    Top to bottom in order:
    I don't know who to trust at this point. I'm sick of providers not being truthful and having shitty communication. In order to run a successful business, communication is paramount to EVERYTHING else.

  40. Post #40

    February 2014
    7 Posts
    I just created an account to back Blucifer up; i've played on his server since he's started it, pretty much. He is an amazing admin and all around good guy. However, I can confirm that the problems he's facing with his provider renders his server unplayable, dang near all the time.

    Blucifer, let me know if you want to give another provider a shot... I'll bring my horde of friends with me and just point me to a donate button =P
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