Server Slowdowns

[jamestl2]

Has anyone else been experiencing a bunch of these lately?

I keep getting the "Server is too busy at the moment, Please Try Again" type of message. I've probably encountered at least 10 of them this week, and 5 just today alone.

I'd think if the forum's traffic keeps increasing like this, it's time for Steve to upgrade his hosting plan....

[Tamra]

Experienced it today for the first time as I finally got into the posting mood.

[Steve Pavlina]

Yup, I'm already discussing an upgrade with my host. This place has gotten too popular for its own good, not so much with members but with lurkers.

[Angela]

Does that make a difference? Would it be even slower if lurkers converted?

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by Angela

Does that make a difference? Would it be even slower if lurkers converted?

It could slow down if more people joined and started posting, but right now it's just the sheer amount of page views being pushed that's slowing down the server.

[Angela]

There's just so stinkin' much here that's worth looking at!

[Steve Pavlina]

Btw today we broke the record for most forum visitors online at once. The new record is 1,182.

[Angela]

Prob'ly thanks to the Steve-Bashers!

[yogesh sarkar]

Steve what kind of server you have to host this forum and blog?

[cylon]

A few times I logged in and the forum was replaced with "Zen Optimizer" and that I need to install a plugin to view the forums. I registered to download it, but now it's working again. Do I need to install it?

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by cylon

A few times I logged in and the forum was replaced with "Zen Optimizer" and that I need to install a plugin to view the forums. I registered to download it, but now it's working again. Do I need to install it?

You can ignore the message. I'm doing some software maintenance/upgrades on the web server, so you may see a little screwy behavior or downtime from the forums today.

[Angela]

I got that, too. I loved the reminder from the Universe to install my ZEN OPTIMIZER! That's always good advice.

[Steve Pavlina]

It's actually Zend Optimizer.

[Brutha]

I got that, too. I loved the reminder from the Universe to install my ZEN OPTIMIZER! That's always good advice.

It's actually Zend Optimizer.

Perhaps in your reality Steve, I guess people always hear what they need to hear

[cylon]

Lol, had a moment of zen there.

[jamestl2]

I'm glad it wasn't just me

Steve, by "upgrading" are you changing your host plan, installing some more vB plugins, etc.?

I just wanted to make sure that my forum doesn't run into these problems in the future if there are some cache installations you're downloading or something.

[Steve Pavlina]

I made some optimizations to the forum software settings. This helped reduce the server load a bit, but a hardware upgrade is still pending.

The blog gets a lot more traffic than the forums, but the forums put more burden on the server. Since blog posts are relatively static, caching works great for them. When I disable caching on the blog, the server load spikes to about 4x its normal levels, and the site gets noticeably slower. Caching doesn't help the forums as much, but it does help a little.

Everything runs on a ServInt VPS Solo Plus right now ($219/month). I already talked to ServInt support, and after viewing my resource usage they agreed it's time for an upgrade. We'll be doing a 7-day trial in a few days, split between testing a SuperVPS as well as a SuperVPS 2X (double the resources and cost of a SuperVPS) to figure out the best option for an upgrade.

The main resource this site pushes is the CPU. The server has two processors, and during peak traffic periods, both are maxing out, so the site gets a little slower. RAM doesn't seem to be the limiting factor. We just need more number-crunching power.

The nice thing about a VPS is that we can upgrade or downgrade seamlessly, so I don't even have to configure the new server. They just transfer the whole environment to a new system. Downtime should be minimal (a matter of minutes usually).

Thank goodness for Moore's Law.