What does web hosting have to do with a bomb from the Second World War?
On May 13, a 2-ton aerial bomb from the Second World War was found in Pforzheim. Extensive preparations are necessary for defusing the bomb on May 17. Almost 30,000 people have to leave their homes on Sunday.
In such situations, fast and reliable information is crucial. The population is informed via many channels: Radio, television, press, social media, warning apps and, of course, the city's website.
This is exactly where web hosting comes into play, because the website suddenly has to cope with many times more hits than usual. The number of visitors increases sharply within a very short space of time, especially after warning messages via the NINA warning app. The message links directly to the city's website.
As a technical service provider, we are in close contact with the web editorial team in such situations. Additional measures were taken at short notice to ensure the accessibility of the website. We are also available around the clock at weekends so that we can intervene immediately if necessary.
However, preparation for such emergencies does not just begin on the day of the incident. More than 10 years ago, a function was set up in TYPO3 that allows visitors to be shown a notification window with an important message on every subpage.
In addition, technical measures such as a CDN, an optimized database and static but still updatable pages help to reliably cope with sudden increases in traffic.
Emergencies in particular show how important a stable technical basis is. A website is then not just a source of information, but part of public communication.
We are now keeping our fingers crossed that the defusing process goes smoothly and that people can return to their homes as soon as possible.
Warning message for an evacuation of the population
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