FTP uploads timing out again

[#1]

A resumption of a mid-June problem:  FTP uploads to 'home pages' space either 'fail to connect' or time out waiting to upload, and this happens even late at night or before 08.00.
This has been going on for several days and I have raised the issue with PN.
I know that there is a limit on overall concurrent FTP sessions but it seems unlikely I keep bumping into it without others also being affected.
Has anyone else experienced this in the past week?   

[#2]

A quick glance at your account tells me it's FTP connections from the CGI platform to the Homepages servers that you're talking about, rather than the typical client > server FTP connection?
The problem has been raised with Hostopia, however we're yet to hear back from them.

[#3]

Thanks Bob - but I have two apparently separate problems:
- difficulty of initiating an upload to a Home Pages server, and
- almost impossibility of initiating an FTP from Hostopia CGI to Home Pages
I raised these issues separately because they manifest separately (and in the past they have occurred separately), but it is conceivable that Hostopia is getting timed out from connecting to Home Pages because it a Home Pages  FTP problem.
The first is 'PN in-house' and should be relatively easy to confirm.
The second needs support from Hostopia, as you indicate. This is why I created the PHP test script for PN on one of my webpages so that Hostopia can watch things time out for themselves. I would have liked to have created a mirror-image PHP script running from Home Pages to Hostopia, but for obvious reasons this is impossible! 

[#4]

I connected to Homepages (and did some file transfers) OK yesterday. No problem connecting and generating file lists just now.
This is using the Force9 servers.
David

[#5]

Hmm, I've just uploaded a 100MB file to the Plusnet Homepages servers without encountering any difficulties too. I've also checked our monitoring platforms and can't see any alarms there either

[#6]

Thanks for replies.
At 22.39 last night (wed) I tried to upload a 15KB index.shtml. Below is what Dreamweaver encountered. This is pretty typical.
However, I am going to check on Dreamweaver's FTP settings for my umpteen sites to see if passive FTP is unset or SFTP has got switched on something equally bizarre. Has been known!
Started: 12/08/2015 22:39
Connected to BH website.
Operation timed out. Cancelling...
Operation timed out. Cancelling...
Operation timed out. Cancelling...
Operation timed out. Cancelling...
Connected to BH website.
index.shtml - Put operation successful
Operation timed out. Cancelling...
File activity complete.
Files updated: 1
Finished: 12/08/2015 22:44

[#7]

This is obviously now rather than last night. However connecting to the Homepages server (using FileZilla) and listing a couple of directories was "instantaneous". Uploading an 88kB file took under a second and uploading an 6MB file took 30 seconds (running at a steady speed).
David

[#8]

Thanks David.
My first attempt with the same 15KB file before work this (Thurs) morning gave:
Started: 13/08/2015 08:16
Connected to BH website.
Operation timed out. Cancelling...
Operation timed out. Cancelling...
Operation timed out. Cancelling...
Operation timed out. Cancelling...
Connected to BH website.
index.shtml - Put operation successful
Operation timed out. Cancelling...
File activity complete.
Files updated: 1
Finished: 13/08/2015 08:22
Five minutes later, the same transfer was instantaneous.
Another one of the same small file two hours later gave:
Started: 13/08/2015 10:06
Connected to BH website.
Operation timed out. Cancelling...
Operation timed out. Cancelling...
Operation timed out. Cancelling...
Operation timed out. Cancelling...
Connected to BH website.
index.shtml - Put operation successful
Operation timed out. Cancelling...
File activity complete.
Files updated: 1
Finished: 13/08/2015 10:11
I don't have any obvious network problems : I synch at around 73Mb and network congestion is rarely noticeable and not a problem.

[#9]

When you have problems, are you able to replicate the issue from a command line?

[#10]

Yes Bob - it was the first thing I tried lest it was the usually reliable Dreamweaver (DW) being awkward.
However, I got to thinking about ports possibly being blocked - at either end -  and FTP trying and trying and...way hey...an unblocked port was found..
More specifically, I wanted to check whether if, in response to DW initiating a control connection on its port 1024 or higher to the server's port 21, the server responds in the usual way by trying to open a data connection from its port 20 to DW's port 1024 (or whatever) + 1 and this port being rejected somewhere (not in my software firewall but perhaps in the router) as incoming traffic to be blocked.
So this morning I told DW to switch to passive FTP for all connections and things seem considerably better   -  but I will carry on testing...

Vide my other current problem of connecting from Hostopia to Home Pages, I have always used passive FTP in such programmed PHP connections
But the PHP test script ran fautlessly several times earlier this morning so perhaps Hostopia (or PN - see below)have changed something overnight Wed/Thurs.
Both problems reek of either
a. total number of concurrent connections exceeding PN's cap, but this wouldn't explain why I should repeatedly hit the problem and other apparently not
or
b. randomly allocated FTP port numbers sometimes being accepted and sometime blocked (which sounds much more likely). In this case, changing from active to PASV in DW obviously changes the 'who  initiates sessions and issues what port numbers' process completely since both control and data TCP sessions are initiated from my end. But it wouldn't affect how Hostopia sessions to Home pages were being blocked unless Hostopia was insisting on using  some high-numbered ports which are blocked at the Home Pages server end....?

[#11]

Quote from: decomplexity

However, I got to thinking about ports possibly being blocked - at either end -  and FTP trying and trying and...way hey...an unblocked port was found.. More specifically, I wanted to check whether if, in response to DW initiating a control connection on its port 1024 or higher to the server's port 21, the server responds in the usual way by trying to open a data connection from its port 20 to DW's port 1024 (or whatever) + 1 and this port being rejected somewhere (not in my software firewall but perhaps in the router) as incoming traffic to be blocked.

A Wireshark capture would probably tell you the answer to that question.

Quote from: decomplexity

Vide my other current problem of connecting from Hostopia to Home Pages, I have always used passive FTP in such programmed PHP connections But the PHP test script ran fautlessly several times earlier this morning so perhaps Hostopia (or PN - see below)have changed something overnight Wed/Thurs.

Your Hostopia support ticket is void of any explanation but it has been closed.