Combating Bad Bot Traffic to Improve Website Performance – A Case Study
Introduction
Recently, I faced a challenging situation where my website was experiencing significant performance issues due to malicious and unwanted bot traffic. The server was constantly overloaded, leading to slow response times and potential business losses. After thorough investigation and strategic actions, I successfully mitigated the issue and achieved a substantial performance boost.
Identifying the Problem
Initially, I observed:
- Symptoms:
- Website slowing down, frequent timeouts.
- Server CPU load consistently above 90%, despite low legitimate traffic.
- Investigation:
- Checking Nginx access logs revealed a surge in requests from known SEO marketing bots such as SemrushBot, AhrefsBot, and BaiduSpider.
Actions Taken
1. Hosting Migration to DigitalOcean
To ensure better control over server resources and scalability, I migrated my hosting to DigitalOcean, which offered:
- Improved server performance and resource allocation.
- Greater flexibility in implementing security measures.
2. Implementing Cloudflare Security Measures
I integrated Cloudflare to add an extra layer of security, utilizing:
- Security Level: Set to medium, effectively blocking suspicious traffic.
- Firewall Rules: To prevent automated bots and rate-limiting mechanisms.
3. Nginx Bot Protection Rules
In the server’s Nginx configuration, I applied custom bot-blocking rules to restrict known crawlers:
if ($http_user_agent ~* (semrushbot|ahrefsbot|petalbot|baiduspider|mj12bot|dotbot)) {
return 403;
}
Additionally, I optimized the Nginx configuration by setting appropriate request time limits to prevent overloading.
Results & Improvements
- Before Optimization:
- CPU utilization hovered around 90-100%, leading to slow page loads.
- After Optimization:
- CPU load dropped to a steady 10-20%, resulting in improved site performance and a better user experience.
Challenges Faced
One of the key challenges I faced was initially not understanding the root cause of the performance degradation. Thorough log analysis and strategic security implementations eventually helped me resolve the issue.
Lessons Learned & Recommendations
- Regularly monitor server logs to detect suspicious activity.
- Use a layered approach by combining Cloudflare and server-side security measures.
- Stay informed about the latest threats and bot trends to proactively block unwanted traffic.
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