Database Access Issue for Users in shared Network environments

[michael-mue]

Some users have reported issues accessing certain databases on the Relax page when many users are connected to the page from the same network (like eduroam). Users within this network can only access the test database, while attempts to connect to other databases fail.

Cause:

• Database connections on Relax rely on data served via GitHub Gists.
• GitHub enforces rate limiting when there are numerous requests from the same IP address, which is often the case within shared networks like the university's.
• Due to this restriction, GitHub blocks additional requests from the same IP, limiting access to the databases.

Solution/Workaround:

• Log into GitHub: Users can log into their GitHub account while using Relax. This may prevent rate limiting by associating requests with individual accounts rather than a shared IP.
• Access Outside the University Network: Users may also avoid this issue by accessing Relax from a non-university network.

[rlaiola]

Perhaps, this information could be added as a note to the part of the documentation about gist files.