The Attic is having difficulties with its current host. Our host says we’re bogging down the server with runaway scripts; we say that we've never had a complaint about this before they installed certain security measures, even when our board traffic was many times higher. I believe it's something they've misconfigured, an inherent incompatibility with our rather old software, or a combination of the two.
Last week's downtime and data loss was a result of this issue.
There appears to be no way for them or us to identify which script is causing the problem. Nor is there a way for us to monitor the load we're putting on the server. We're stuck with making changes, asking them to please check our load, and waiting for them to respond.
I've made arrangements to move to a more forum-friendly host that will, among other things, give us the necessary access rights to allow us to monitor our impact on the server ourselves. At this point, I cannot guarantee that we will complete the move before our present host pulls the plug. If we do complete the database mirror (hopefully sometime today), we will be locking down the board briefly, just like last time, to make certain we don't lose the last few posts when we switch to the new host.
I've tried very hard to find the problem without disturbing the forums. However, I do not have much time available to continue working on these problems, and I'd much prefer to devote the time I do have to the ongoing search for a usable story archive system. (More on that later today.)
So I wanted to give you all a heads up that it is very likely we will once again have some changes in Board service and possibly Board software. Once we're moved, if we have another resource usage issue, I will replace our current board with a version of PNphpBB with fewer features. If that solves the problem, I will begin adding features back one at a time, slowly, to make certain that we don't recreate the same problem.
The State of the Attic
Started by
Guest_Oyster Girl_*
, Jan 11 2005 10:24 AM
4 replies to this topic
#3
Weyoun
-
- Members
- 11272 posts
Transcendant
Posted 11 January 2005 - 11:01 PM
I gathered from your PM that there were some problems, but I never really noticed all that much going on in the background... Well, other than the occasional times when it seemed like the plug had been pulled.
Still, how can a server afford to be anti-boards, I wonder? This phpBB board software is practically universally used... everywhere. Oh, well, their loss...
What kind of features do we stand to lose (for a while), then?
---Weyoun
Still, how can a server afford to be anti-boards, I wonder? This phpBB board software is practically universally used... everywhere. Oh, well, their loss...
So I wanted to give you all a heads up that it is very likely we will once again have some changes in Board service and possibly Board software. Once we're moved, if we have another resource usage issue, I will replace our current board with a version of PNphpBB with fewer features. If that solves the problem, I will begin adding features back one at a time, slowly, to make certain that we don't recreate the same problem.
What kind of features do we stand to lose (for a while), then?
---Weyoun
TnT Enhanced Edition: http://www.fanfictio...rds-and-Tempers
---
Sith Warrior - Master, I can sense your anger.
Darth Baras - A blind, comotose lobotomy-patient could sense my anger!
---
"The New Age? It's just the old age stuck in a microwave oven for fifteen seconds" - James Randi
---
Sith Warrior - Master, I can sense your anger.
Darth Baras - A blind, comotose lobotomy-patient could sense my anger!
---
"The New Age? It's just the old age stuck in a microwave oven for fifteen seconds" - James Randi
#5
Guest_Oyster Girl_*
Guest_Oyster Girl_*
-
- Guests
Posted 12 January 2005 - 12:47 PM
So much for getting back here last night. I fell asleep in mid-post. 
Silrana and Rick, thanks.
I'm hoping that I can ease some of the resource usage pressure by reducing the size of our database. The new host is very, very generous with their disk space allowance, which will free us of the constraints that led to the decision to join the Attic and the Flat Dereth Society boards into one. That will give us an improvement in search efficiency, though I can't really predict how much, and most medium and large boards have their greatest demand while executing searches.
Another possible benefit from the move is that the new host runs dedicated database servers, which means that the processing load will be shared across two computers. I say "possible" because I can't determine for certain if our current host does the same or maintains the database on the same machine as the web server.
If I do have to replace the software, it will depend entirely on how long we've been able to keep going before I'm forced into it. I frankly don't know which features are customizations that we'll have to redo, which were customizations that have now been added to the core software, and which were core features in our current version of the software.
The customizations I do know we'll have to reinstall are threading, the subforums design we're using for the Cellar, and search (we use a mySQL-specific search routine instead) . Those are priorities for me to get set up with the newest version of PNphpBB and have ready if and when we need it. After that, we'll be experimenting with the new board on a test site to see what else might be missing. I think there's a couple of cosmetic fancies that were also mods, but "pretties" are kind of low on my priority list.
I don't want any further changes to the forum to come as a completely unexpected surprise, especially if circumstances (like last week) force me to take a while to get back here with an explanation.
BTW, I believe I have some, maybe all of the misssing posts from when we crashed the server last week. Our host was very helpful in recovering the database. We're currently running off a backup they made when they noticed we were about to go down. I'll try to get the missing posts restored once I'm reasonably sure gamejag won't crash again.
And now, I'm late for work.
*dashes out the door*
Silrana and Rick, thanks.
Yeah, it's pretty much absorbed my free time for the past three months.I gathered from your PM that there were some problems, but I never really noticed all that much going on in the background... Well, other than the occasional times when it seemed like the plug had been pulled.
If they choose to specialize in smaller websites, well, that's a substantial market, and I wish them well in it.Still, how can a server afford to be anti-boards, I wonder? This phpBB board software is practically universally used... everywhere. Oh, well, their loss...
I'm hoping that I can ease some of the resource usage pressure by reducing the size of our database. The new host is very, very generous with their disk space allowance, which will free us of the constraints that led to the decision to join the Attic and the Flat Dereth Society boards into one. That will give us an improvement in search efficiency, though I can't really predict how much, and most medium and large boards have their greatest demand while executing searches.
Another possible benefit from the move is that the new host runs dedicated database servers, which means that the processing load will be shared across two computers. I say "possible" because I can't determine for certain if our current host does the same or maintains the database on the same machine as the web server.
Immediately, I may disable search for a while, though it may be sufficient to just disable searching the entire forum at once. That depends on how long it will take me to split the boards apart.What kind of features do we stand to lose (for a while), then?So I wanted to give you all a heads up that it is very likely we will once again have some changes in Board service and possibly Board software. Once we're moved, if we have another resource usage issue, I will replace our current board with a version of PNphpBB with fewer features. If that solves the problem, I will begin adding features back one at a time, slowly, to make certain that we don't recreate the same problem.
If I do have to replace the software, it will depend entirely on how long we've been able to keep going before I'm forced into it. I frankly don't know which features are customizations that we'll have to redo, which were customizations that have now been added to the core software, and which were core features in our current version of the software.
The customizations I do know we'll have to reinstall are threading, the subforums design we're using for the Cellar, and search (we use a mySQL-specific search routine instead) . Those are priorities for me to get set up with the newest version of PNphpBB and have ready if and when we need it. After that, we'll be experimenting with the new board on a test site to see what else might be missing. I think there's a couple of cosmetic fancies that were also mods, but "pretties" are kind of low on my priority list.
I don't want any further changes to the forum to come as a completely unexpected surprise, especially if circumstances (like last week) force me to take a while to get back here with an explanation.
BTW, I believe I have some, maybe all of the misssing posts from when we crashed the server last week. Our host was very helpful in recovering the database. We're currently running off a backup they made when they noticed we were about to go down. I'll try to get the missing posts restored once I'm reasonably sure gamejag won't crash again.
And now, I'm late for work.
*dashes out the door*
0 user(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users
