Anyone notice forum connections slowness recently?

Ben · 18th January 2009, 09:57 AM

I've noticed a couple of times when the site has been down, someone has complained about slow load times on the blog... anyone else experiencing any issues? Thanks, Ben

greytop · 18th January 2009, 10:10 AM

Occasionally I cannot access the site. 10 minutes later it seems fine.
Also when I search for New Posts or similar there is sometimes a long delay (20 - 30 secs maybe)
Ping times seem to be OK so I've assumed it is down to your server and just tried later.

Pippa · 18th January 2009, 10:17 AM

Same thing. A couple of times I have been unable to access the site, but 5m later was fine. It happened also last night.

gary · 18th January 2009, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greytop

Occasionally I cannot access the site. 10 minutes later it seems fine.
Also when I search for New Posts or similar there is sometimes a long delay (20 - 30 secs maybe)
Ping times seem to be OK so I've assumed it is down to your server and just tried later.

Same here

greytop · 18th January 2009, 03:08 PM

Today 1501 - 3 minutes to access different thread.
Today 1506 - 1 minute to access different thread

1510 - all seems normal again

Edith · 18th January 2009, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ben

I've noticed a couple of times when the site has been down, someone has complained about slow load times on the blog... anyone else experiencing any issues? Thanks, Ben

Yes, but this is not a recent problem in my case.

terina · 18th January 2009, 05:02 PM

Yes, I have had difficulty accessing the site and going from one place to another within the site, but it doesn't happen all the time, it appears to be sporadic.

However Ben, it's well worth the wait!

Ben · 18th January 2009, 08:25 PM

Thanks for the feedback. I shall contact our hosts and see what can be done.

mightykaboosh · 27th January 2009, 07:59 PM

I found the forum to be really slow today especially around 5pm I couldn't access the site at 4 ish either. (I had just re-installed adobe, which in general seems to crucify my pc, but who knows)

switch007 · 27th January 2009, 10:19 PM

Same as above.. been happening about the last 6 months on and off. Sometimes it just won't connect at all.

Forum software is notoriously resource intensive (lots of database queries on every page). Are you on a shared server? The way your enterprise is going I'd consider a more exclusive setup.

Or consider a more light-weight forum if you don't use any custom vB. There are a few good choices.
Or ask your host if your database can be tweaked at all. Or see if vB can be configured to use some kind of caching.
Or point your host at this http://www.linuxbox.co.uk/vbulletin_...nce_tuning.php

Ben · 28th January 2009, 09:39 AM

OK, first thing I'll do is get onto our hosts about moving server. We are on a shared server but it has been fine until now... perhaps we are outgrowing it and a VPS in the next step... I'll let you know what happens... Thanks for the Linux link too. One thing I'll do is to switch off the 'similar threads' links at the bottom of each thread, as I have a feeling that is pretty resource heavy... lets see if that helps...

Ben · 28th January 2009, 09:46 AM

OK, I have turned off the 'search for similar threads' option, that used to display similar thread links at the bottom of each page. This should speed things up. I'd be grateful if you let me know if there is a difference. If not, I'll get onto the hosts about changing servers again... which is fine, but a pain as posts always get lost in the process!

switch007 · 3rd February 2009, 06:24 PM

Still noticing a few performance issues. Timeouts and slow loading. Only occasionally though.

delgado · 3rd February 2009, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by switch007

Still noticing a few performance issues. Timeouts and slow loading. Only occasionally though.

I've been having the same problems too.

Ben · 3rd February 2009, 09:11 PM

What support said:

Quote:

Ben,

Your servers load and uptime is great, if people are complaining you may want to contact some user forums for the forum software you are using and find out some ways to speed it up.

Maybe remove some modules?

Cheers

Hmmmm... I think the forum has been pretty stripped down to essentials, so not sure about that... we will continue to monitor, and if necessary, move to another server/host.

gtappend · 4th February 2009, 12:36 AM

I have been having issues with a provider in the past few weeks with MySQL performance. It may be a similar problem...

I don't know how your provider sets up their MySQL, but if you had to change the DB_HOST in the wp_config.php for WordPress, then there's a good chance that the database is on a different server to the webspace.

And that's why it is difficult to locate. Pinging www.notesfromspain.com pings the webspace server, and not the database server. WordPress and vBulletin actually load, but then cannot access their data, leading to error 500 instead of 404.

It's important that the support people also look at the performance of the MySQL server, as it's likely that your database will be one of many on the server and whereas the web server may be setup for CPU sharing, the database server may not be. Meaning that someone somewhere is doing intensive database operations and slowing everyone else down.

In my case, the provider was doing maintenance on the database server, causing no end of problems with blogs and forums that I had running for various clients.

switch007 · 4th February 2009, 12:42 AM

I agree that the performance of the DB needs to be looked into. I think you need to press your host a bit more. Saying how the uptime and overall load of your is great is not very helpful.

You can't get away from the fact the forum executes many SQL queries, regardless of extra modules, so you need to optimise the database as much as possible.

gary · 4th February 2009, 09:56 AM

08.56 GMT and the forum is pretty snappy...

ValenciaSon · 4th February 2009, 12:30 PM

Fast forum at the moment.

Ben · 4th February 2009, 01:25 PM

I shall investigate further. Have to say though that it's always really fast for me! And the server is in the states!

18th January 2009, 09:57 AM	#1
Ben Hero Forero Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 4,421	Anyone notice forum connections slowness recently? I've noticed a couple of times when the site has been down, someone has complained about slow load times on the blog... anyone else experiencing any issues? Thanks, Ben __________________ Notes in Spanish: Get The Best Free Spanish-Learning Conversations On The Net!

18th January 2009, 03:08 PM	#5
greytop Hero Forero Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pego, Spain Posts: 3,363	Today 1501 - 3 minutes to access different thread. Today 1506 - 1 minute to access different thread 1510 - all seems normal again Last edited by greytop; 18th January 2009 at 03:11 PM. Reason: added 1510

18th January 2009, 08:25 PM	#8
Ben Hero Forero Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 4,421	Thanks for the feedback. I shall contact our hosts and see what can be done. __________________ Notes in Spanish: Get The Best Free Spanish-Learning Conversations On The Net!

27th January 2009, 10:19 PM	#10
switch007 Mega Forero Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 284	Same as above.. been happening about the last 6 months on and off. Sometimes it just won't connect at all. Forum software is notoriously resource intensive (lots of database queries on every page). Are you on a shared server? The way your enterprise is going I'd consider a more exclusive setup. Or consider a more light-weight forum if you don't use any custom vB. There are a few good choices. Or ask your host if your database can be tweaked at all. Or see if vB can be configured to use some kind of caching. Or point your host at this http://www.linuxbox.co.uk/vbulletin_...nce_tuning.php Last edited by switch007; 27th January 2009 at 10:30 PM.

28th January 2009, 09:39 AM	#11
Ben Hero Forero Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 4,421	OK, first thing I'll do is get onto our hosts about moving server. We are on a shared server but it has been fine until now... perhaps we are outgrowing it and a VPS in the next step... I'll let you know what happens... Thanks for the Linux link too. One thing I'll do is to switch off the 'similar threads' links at the bottom of each thread, as I have a feeling that is pretty resource heavy... lets see if that helps... __________________ Notes in Spanish: Get The Best Free Spanish-Learning Conversations On The Net!


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18th January 2009, 10:10 AM	#2
greytop Hero Forero Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pego, Spain Posts: 3,363	Occasionally I cannot access the site. 10 minutes later it seems fine. Also when I search for New Posts or similar there is sometimes a long delay (20 - 30 secs maybe) Ping times seem to be OK so I've assumed it is down to your server and just tried later.

18th January 2009, 10:17 AM	#3
Pippa GigaForero Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: San Lorenzo del Escorial Posts: 1,336	Same thing. A couple of times I have been unable to access the site, but 5m later was fine. It happened also last night.

18th January 2009, 05:02 PM	#7
terina Forero Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Mar Menor, Murcia Posts: 43	Yes, I have had difficulty accessing the site and going from one place to another within the site, but it doesn't happen all the time, it appears to be sporadic. However Ben, it's well worth the wait!

27th January 2009, 07:59 PM	#9
mightykaboosh Mega Forero Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Inglaterra Posts: 383	I found the forum to be really slow today especially around 5pm I couldn't access the site at 4 ish either. (I had just re-installed adobe, which in general seems to crucify my pc, but who knows)

28th January 2009, 09:46 AM	#12
Ben Hero Forero Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 4,421	OK, I have turned off the 'search for similar threads' option, that used to display similar thread links at the bottom of each page. This should speed things up. I'd be grateful if you let me know if there is a difference. If not, I'll get onto the hosts about changing servers again... which is fine, but a pain as posts always get lost in the process! __________________ Notes in Spanish: Get The Best Free Spanish-Learning Conversations On The Net!

3rd February 2009, 06:24 PM	#13
switch007 Mega Forero Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 284	Still noticing a few performance issues. Timeouts and slow loading. Only occasionally though.

4th February 2009, 12:36 AM	#16
gtappend Mega Forero Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Oberursel, Germany Posts: 260	I have been having issues with a provider in the past few weeks with MySQL performance. It may be a similar problem... I don't know how your provider sets up their MySQL, but if you had to change the DB_HOST in the wp_config.php for WordPress, then there's a good chance that the database is on a different server to the webspace. And that's why it is difficult to locate. Pinging www.notesfromspain.com pings the webspace server, and not the database server. WordPress and vBulletin actually load, but then cannot access their data, leading to error 500 instead of 404. It's important that the support people also look at the performance of the MySQL server, as it's likely that your database will be one of many on the server and whereas the web server may be setup for CPU sharing, the database server may not be. Meaning that someone somewhere is doing intensive database operations and slowing everyone else down. In my case, the provider was doing maintenance on the database server, causing no end of problems with blogs and forums that I had running for various clients.

4th February 2009, 12:42 AM	#17
switch007 Mega Forero Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 284	I agree that the performance of the DB needs to be looked into. I think you need to press your host a bit more. Saying how the uptime and overall load of your is great is not very helpful. You can't get away from the fact the forum executes many SQL queries, regardless of extra modules, so you need to optimise the database as much as possible.

4th February 2009, 09:56 AM	#18
gary Samuri Forero Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Yorkshire Posts: 2,711	08.56 GMT and the forum is pretty snappy...

4th February 2009, 12:30 PM	#19
ValenciaSon Hero Forero Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Silver Spring, Maryland, USA Posts: 4,915	Fast forum at the moment.

4th February 2009, 01:25 PM	#20
Ben Hero Forero Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 4,421	I shall investigate further. Have to say though that it's always really fast for me! And the server is in the states! __________________ Notes in Spanish: Get The Best Free Spanish-Learning Conversations On The Net!

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