Too many connections from this IP

[Newfloridian]

I am writing this in the hope of gaining some understanding and inspiritation. I have run into a problem which I cannot get to the bottom of. I have tried to read around the issue and the more I see the more confused I get. Last week I had a system failure with my desktop machine which was checked out by the service centre - and nothing was found wrong. It was however recommended that I should do a Windows reinstall. Since then I have been unable to complete a multiple file transfer by ftp. I have discussed with technical support both by ticket (BOU-58911-928 ) and by live discussion but have not found a solution yet.

I am running Windows Vista Ultimate 64 and my ISP is AOL (now running AOL9.1)

I run a website hosted on Puma. The install directory is 6.5Gb in size. Prior to the recent reinstallation I was able to ftp the complete install directory from the server to my PC fairly regularly as a backup measure (I also have an LB-02 backup space) - taking about one hour - without any problem. Now when I try, transmission fails with an error message "too many connections from this IP" after about 12 - 20 Mb have been downloaded. The connection is reported lost. I then have to wait for 30 minutes or so and reload the software and resume. I have made sure that the connection parameters are those required by EUKHOST and have also set simultaneous connections to a maximum of 8.

Technical support did tell me that I was blocked at their firewall because of 240 open connections (I have no idea where that figure came from). They have watched the logs during one of these sessions. AOL provide only dynamic IP addresses - so change there is not an option. I have downloaded the latest Vista drivers and firmware upgrade for my NETGEAR834Gv3 router. Beyond that I don't know where to go.

I have used WS_FTP Pro for several years without problem. After this issue started I upgraded to the latest version (12.2) with no luck. I have also tried Filezilla and had the same problem. The best partial solution to date has been to use the FireFTP add-on in Firefox. That seems to run for longer but still won't download the full amount. The best it achieved was seven sessions spread over two days. Ordinary internet access appears to be OK. I have to say that I am getting a similar effect when using my laptop.

At the moment I haven't tried the full effect of using ftp from my PC to the server. I can transfer small single files happily (the critical value seems to be about 12Mb) but I have the likelihood of a major web building software upgrade coming up in the summer which will be very much bigger than that.

I would be most grateful for any comments or thoughts on the following:

What causes the too many connections from this IP error - and how could it reach such a figure as 240?
Is this a local issue on the server firewall?
Is it possible that Windows Vista / Netgear router is generating a problem?
What else can I do to the ftp software to help?
Why has a static IP address be suggested? (AOL don't issue them and I understand that the router's address, once assigned, does remain "static" if it is left switched on)
Does the environment "Safe mode" on the server make any difference to ftp usage? (running phpinfo.php does say that Safe Mode = Off - which is the proper setting for my application; although the software diagnostics suggest that it is on)

Many thanks
Alan

[eUKhost.com]

Hi Alan,

It seems you are suffering due to some other user on our server with same AOL IP address as that of yours. I had a look at logs on the server and here's what I found :-

messages:Mar 18 21:10:00 puma suhosin[28936]: ALERT - configured request variable name length limit exceeded - dropped variable 'js,js/framework/prototype,js/control_tabs,js/functions,js/ADxMenu,js/swfobject,js/jw_player,js/stars,js/bookmark' (attacker '195.93.21.102', file '/home/dan0042/public_html/compress.php')
messages.3:Feb 25 18:24:11 puma suhosin[1110]: ALERT - configured request variable name length limit exceeded - dropped variable 'js,js/framework/prototype,js/control_tabs,js/functions,js/ADxMenu,js/swfobject,js/jw_player,js/stars,js/bookmark' (attacker '195.93.21.102', file '/home/dan0042/public_html/compress.php')
messages.4:Feb 14 17:39:10 puma suhosin[21432]: ALERT - configured request variable name length limit exceeded - dropped variable 'js,js/framework/prototype,js/control_tabs,js/functions,js/ADxMenu,js/swfobject,js/jw_player,js/stars,js/bookmark' (attacker '195.93.21.102', file '/home/dan0042/public_html/compress.php')
messages.4:Feb 17 14:50:00 puma suhosin[11611]: ALERT - configured request variable name length limit exceeded - dropped variable 'js,js/framework/prototype,js/control_tabs,js/functions,js/ADxMenu,js/swfobject,js/jw_player,js/stars,js/bookmark' (attacker '195.93.21.102', file '/home/dan0042/public_html/compress.php')

AOL seems to be assigning same dynamic IP to thousands of their users at a time. Our Engineers won't agree to reduce security of the server to help you in such situation. Please talk to AOL and ask them if they can provide you with a static IP or at least a VPN connection which you can use for FTP.

Alternatively, you can download the weekly backup from your Backup space under LB-02 plan.

[Newfloridian]

Many thanks for your answer.
I can confirm that I had a completely uneventful download of the install directory from my backup space to my PC this evening using WS_FTP 12
I will approach AOL tech support after the weekend. I feel pretty sure that they do not provide static IPs for domestic use but will see what they have to say about applying a VPN. I see that IE8 has an option to install a VPN connection but I haven't a clue about the practicalities of doing it.
As I mentioned I have not had any trouble using ftp to upload single files from my PC to the server. I will be carrying out the majority of the development work on the new web builder software installed on my PC under WAMP server. When finished, the install directory will again be in the order of 6.5Mb If this problem has not been rationalised then (it's likely to be August before that happens) would it be in order for me to ftp the update unto a new directory on my backup space and then ask EUKHost tech support to restore it to the working site?
Kind regards
Alan

[eUKhost.com]

Many thanks for your answer.
I can confirm that I had a completely uneventful download of the install directory from my backup space to my PC this evening using WS_FTP 12
I will approach AOL tech support after the weekend. I feel pretty sure that they do not provide static IPs for domestic use but will see what they have to say about applying a VPN. I see that IE8 has an option to install a VPN connection but I haven't a clue about the practicalities of doing it.
As I mentioned I have not had any trouble using ftp to upload single files from my PC to the server. I will be carrying out the majority of the development work on the new web builder software installed on my PC under WAMP server. When finished, the install directory will again be in the order of 6.5Mb If this problem has not been rationalised then (it's likely to be August before that happens) would it be in order for me to ftp the update unto a new directory on my backup space and then ask EUKHost tech support to restore it to the working site?
Kind regards
Alan

Hi alan,

You can always ask our Support staff to copy or migrate a directory from your backup space to your hosting space. Our staff will do that 10 times if you ask them to do so.

[Newfloridian]

Just one final thought - if many of these reported connections are coming from other AOL subscribers (and not me) is there any security issue that I need to be aware of; or need to take measures against
Alan