Powerline’s servers went down yesterday after they got a Drudge Report link to one of their posts on Forgerygate. I had similar difficulties a few weeks ago, despite the laudable efforts of my web hosting company.

The Drudgealanche phenomenon is a wonderful thing to experience but it is also a problem–one that is likely to grow as the blogosphere commands more attention and influence. Drudge and other frequently-visited web sites aren’t going to link to blogs if our servers cannot handle the traffic. (For the record, I received 178,632 visits and 4,192,414 hits the day of my Drudge link.)

How can bloggers better prepare themselves for a Drudgealanche? Is there anything that can be done that doesn’t involve spending thousands of dollars every year? Do I owe Andrew Sullivan an apology?

Update: It’s not just bloggers. A Drudge link just shut down The American Spectator’s server.

Update II: To add some context on the traffic statistics I gave above, I should note that on the same day that Drudge linked to my site, I was on the Rush Limbaugh show and Hannity & Colmes. But more than two-thirds of the traffic came directly from Drudge.

Update III: Mincing no words, Sekimori says “suck it up.”