AlexHost Suspended My Server … No Notice?

Hey folks,

We bought a dedicated server from alexhost.com to host our game server, which currently has about 40k daily users. Today, out of nowhere, they suspended our server with no prior notice.

This server has our DNS setup and domain connected, and we didn’t have any issues before on a VPS setup. We also haven’t received any emails from them warning us about any problems. Now they’re saying we can’t even access the server to get our backups.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any advice?

This is their reasoning for suspending the server:

They claim we violated some service agreement terms, pointing to a UCEPROTECT-Level3 listing.

Edit: We don’t use this server for mail; it’s just a REST API service.

Edit 2: When we asked for clarification, they said:

“If you violate our policy, we’re not obligated to notify you. We verify services before suspending, and this server won’t be reactivated.”

Totally lost here.

Whether UCE is reliable or not doesn’t change that it does flag spam. If you’re listed, it means something on your server got flagged as spam.

It can be a real hassle to get delisted. Unfortunately, this could be why your provider suspended the account. This isn’t about them; it’s likely your server ended up flagged because it was sending spam.

@HostingHero2
Exactly. If you’ve got a big user base, and didn’t set up proper server security, it’s easy to get compromised. Sounds like the server might have been hijacked for spam.

It’s common. You might want to consider a managed service or hiring someone with expertise in securing and maintaining game servers.

@HostingHero2
What do you mean by spamming? This server was only running a REST API.

Keaton said:
@HostingHero2
What do you mean by spamming? This server was only running a REST API.

Sounds like you don’t have much experience with securing a Windows server. A lot of times, they’re vulnerable to being hacked by spammers.

@Rory
How secure is IIS these days?

Martina said:
@Rory
How secure is IIS these days?

It’s as secure as you configure it to be. Security issues often come from things like outdated plugins or poorly written API code rather than the server itself.

@Rory
Windows servers can be tricky to lock down. A lot of people managing them don’t have much IT background, which can lead to spam issues.

Keaton said:
@HostingHero2
What do you mean by spamming? This server was only running a REST API.

Clearly something else was going on.

HostingHero2 said:

Keaton said:
@HostingHero2
What do you mean by spamming? This server was only running a REST API.

Clearly something else was going on.

Like what? Feels like anyone could just report a server, and the provider suspends without any warning.

@Keaton
Is it possible your server was hacked to send spam without you knowing?

Kaeli said:
@Keaton
Is it possible your server was hacked to send spam without you knowing?

That’s probably what happened. If you’re not monitoring security, this is pretty common.

HostingHero2 said:

Kaeli said:
@Keaton
Is it possible your server was hacked to send spam without you knowing?

That’s probably what happened. If you’re not monitoring security, this is pretty common.

It happens even on well-administered IIS servers.

UCEProtect is questionable at best. A Level 3 listing means the entire provider’s ASN got listed, so it’s not necessarily tied to your specific IP.

You could try asking for a review from a senior support member. There’s documentation showing that UCE often pushes for paid delistings, but it doesn’t always mean there was real abuse.

@Natalia
Tried, but they’re ignoring us. I even offered access to check the server, but no reply.

Keaton said:
@Natalia
Tried, but they’re ignoring us. I even offered access to check the server, but no reply.

That’s tough, especially over one report. Worst-case, try to move to another provider ASAP if they won’t respond.

Surprised AlexHost would bother with UCEProtect at all.

Ruby said:
Surprised AlexHost would bother with UCEProtect at all.

Agreed, UCEProtect is questionable.

UCEPROTECT is basically pay-to-play. A lot of our clients are listed there, but it hasn’t impacted email or site performance at all.

Winter said:
UCEPROTECT is basically pay-to-play. A lot of our clients are listed there, but it hasn’t impacted email or site performance at all.

We’re definitely switching once we get our data back.