QA Friday 2016-Jan-08

What are denial of service attacks? This week has been a rough week for the Take Up Code website and that has affected the podcast. I host the website and in turn the feed that makes this into a podcast on a server that sits in a big datacenter somewhere in Atlanta, Georgia. Well, that datacenter was put under so much stress due to a coordinated attack that the the entire datacenter had to be taken offline for several days while measures were taken to combat the attack. What happened? And what was done to make it better? That’s what I’m going to begin explaining today. This episode takes the form of an imaginary story set in a future world where everybody stays inside their homes and have automated bins that remotely navigate streets. The bins are used for shopping and communicating. I describe in the story how you can use the bins to order food from a restaurant one day just fine but then what happens when the restaurant is attacked? You’ll have to listen to find out, or read the full transcript below. Transcript What are denial of service attacks?. This week has been a rough week for the Take Up Code website and that has affected the podcast. I host the website and in turn the feed that makes this into a podcast on a server that sits in a big datacenter somewhere in Atlanta, Georgia. Well, that datacenter was put under so much stress due to a coordinated attack that the entire datacenter had to be taken offline for several days while measures were taken to combat the attack. What happened? And what was done to make it better? That’s what I’m going to begin explaining today. I hope you like stories because the episode today will start with the story of an imaginary world and then I’ll tie this story back into the real world with denial of service attacks. We won’t be able to finish everything this week but will pick up again next Friday with the same story. Ready? Okay, let me set the scene for you. You live in a future world run by a fierce dictator with rules for everything. All buildings are the same shape and color on the outside. Some are bigger than others. None of this matters because you never leave your home anyway except for very rare occasions when you need to move to a new home. You still remember the last time you moved and got a glimpse of the outside world. Endless buildings like dark cubes stacked on top of one another made the streets dark. The sky was cloudy with tendrils of fog that swirled around everything and the only thing you could see were the simple numbers stamped on each cube. The streets were full of automated delivery bins some open and some sealed and locked. You hurried to your new home and closed the door. Inside is like a new world. Here you have the freedom to add light and color and do whatever you want. You can even run a business if you want. The dictator controls the outside world as if the clouds and fog themselves were police always present and watching. But inside, is your realm to control. You use the delivery bins anytime you want something by placing your shopping list and payment inside a bin and sending it to the store. And after a while, the bin returns with your supplies. If you wanted to run a business, then other people would start sending bins to you to fill. Life’s not all gloomy and you have to admit that the dictator has solved a lot of problems. For one, everybody has a home. The days of homeless people wandering the streets are long gone. It was starting to get a bit crowded for a while until the new buildings were designed. That’s why you moved actually. Your new space is bigger and there are so many of them now that they really do seem endless. The dictator has also solved the trash problem and improved the reliability of the bin delivery system. It may be dark outside but it’s clean. No bins are ever allowed to build up in the streets. Sure, sometimes a bin will get lost but it somehow just disappears rathe