I did a little research on the error that was popping up. I this helps at all.
http://forums.alwayswebhosting.com/showthread.php?t=1296
"Apparently after the default number of Connect Errors, MySQL locks out that Host (ip address) for security reasons. The limit of max_connect_errors unfortunately was left at its default of 10, but its been significantly increased (100,000), so we should be in good shape!
Here's more details on the actual mysql error for the inquisitive "why?" type (like me!)
http://www.mysql.com/doc/en/Blocked_host.html
Quote:
Host 'hostname' is blocked because of many connection errors. Unblock with 'mysqladmin flush-hosts'
This means that mysqld has gotten a lot (max_connect_errors) of connect requests from the host 'hostname' that have been interrupted in the middle. After max_connect_errors failed requests, mysqld assumes that something is wrong (like an attack from a cracker), and blocks the site from further connections until someone executes the command mysqladmin flush-hosts.
By default, mysqld blocks a host after 10 connection errors. "