just got a question wil SM lift the ban on IRC services on their Network if FloodGuard is installed ??

I have goten a few questions about it from customers but i had to send em else where for their IRC needs .

What i basicaly want to run is IRCd and some kind of services . the server won't be linked to any of the major irc networks at all

I really wish SM would lift their IRC ban, but I doubt FloodGuard will change their position; from their standpoint, FloodGuard doesn't reduce SM's bandwidth use during a DoS, only their customers.

However, one could also argue that if you ran an IRCD and some script kiddie decided to DoS you, they'd stop when the realized that they can't put a dent in your server due to your awesome protection

I don't mean to single you out, but people are thinking that if you have FloodGuard installed you won't be susceptible to all DoS or DDoS attacks. That's really not the case. Maybe a standard DoS, but definitely NOT a well done DDoS attack. People need to understand that there will always be risk and a firewall isn't going to prevent this. It's a design flaw of the Internet.

However, from what I know, not a design flaw of Internet2

Anyways, from what I understand, even if you get DOSed, and it gets filtered out by FloodGuard, you will still be charged the bandwidth used...

think that wil depend on where the FloodGuard are placed in the network if it cach it befor the switch were traffic are measured we won't be billed if it cach it after the switch we have to pay .
anyway i'm sure SM wil inform us about the matter

Can someone from ServerMatrix confirm the above?

Before FloodGuard, we understand that bandwidth consumed by flooding/DOS is charged to the customer. This is not suprising since all traffic (good and bad) are reaching the server.

Now with FloodGuard, the attacking traffic is supposed to be filtered out before it reached the server. So, is such traffic still counted toward our allocated bandwidth and we still get charged for it? Or would our bandwidth not be affected by any traffic already filtered out by FloodGuard?

No, but if it improves the situation at all, my server will still be reachable at a decent speed. I've been DoS'd by script kiddies before, though not IRC, probably somebody just decided they don't like me or my web site.

I agree that it's not a good idea to invite the attacks, but I think it is a likely situation that a script kiddie tries to attack you only to have it blocked.

FloodGuard will help, but it's not the end-all of (D)DoS attacks.

No, but it's a hell of a lot better than nothing, which is what my server had to protect it during the last attack

IRC servers are not allowed in Server Matrix.

If FloodGuard alarms, and starts protecting a DoS / DDoS attack against a server running an IRC service (which is prohibited in Server Matrix), the IRC server owner will be charged for the inbound DoS traffic.

Additionally, if the DoS is severe and consumes FloodGuard's time from protecting other customers who ARE in compliance with our AUP, we may allow the DoS through to your IRC server, in order to increase the available DoS protection to our business customers who are not violating the ban on IRC.

Thanks for clarifying

does bots that connect to IRC for server management count as IRC servers? i didnt think it did but a friend of mine said so :shock:

Very much so. No IRC Server, no IRC bot, no IRC clients here. Basically nothing connected or related to IRC here.

Contact Sales. They may tell you that you're allowed to run an IRC bot depending on what it is.

I got the go-ahead on a PHP IRC bot from both sales and CRodenberg.

Of course, it wasn't a general purpose bot, it was designed to expose shoutcast info onto IRC. And I was forced to stop using it since the guy maintaining it moved on.

Guspaz.. you mentioned several times in this forum that you suffered DoS attacks.... do you still have those problems?


On our gameserver, we made some code to allow IRC clients to connect (albeit in a very limited way and on a non-standard port). This was specifically intended so some in our staff can run trivia bots for the players. Would that be a potential issue for SM?

Nope. On the other hand, all DoS attacks I had occured BEFORE I ran the IRC bot. WHILE it was running there were no attacks.