By Paul Tero CHAPTER 8

Chapter eiGht · by paUl terO

how To fiX The web

obSCuRe baCK-enD TeChniQueS

anD TeRMinal SeCReTS

magine that you wake up one morning, reach groggily for your
laptop and fire it up. You’ve just finished developing a brand new
website and last night you were proudly clicking through the product
list. The browser window is still open, the Widget 3000 is still sparkling
in its AJAXy newness. You grin like a new parent and expectantly click on
“More details”. And nothing happens. You click again, still nothing. You
press Refresh and get that annoying swirling icon and then the page goes
blank. Help! The Internet is gone!
We’re going to cover a lot of ground in this chapter, from routers to
servers, from error logs to PHP hacks. I’ll start with the worst case scenario
and work inwards, exploring the infrastructure of the Internet and the
make-up of a Web server, imparting lots of little tips and commands along
the way, opening up a new perspective on how websites can stop working
— and be fixed.

The End of the World
It is unlikely that civilization has collapsed overnight, especially if you
are a light sleeper. You can verify this with a battery-powered radio. An
apocalypse would certainly make the news and perhaps qualify for a full-

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