Server beeing bogged down and search not working...

[Jan]

With the help of a friend I installed the VB on my server, imported members, forums and posts and was delighted when everything seemed to work.

Well, that only lasted as long as it took letting people in. Almost imdediately the board was slooooow and wasn't accesible half the time.

Part of the problem is that when requesting a page it seems to take the server some time responding to the request. Try clicking http://www.soccerforums.com/index.php and then wait the seconds it takes. I have never seen anything like it. The page itself is also huge and heavy, but the wait occurs before that and is only for the forum pages, but other php pages nor html documents.

Also I have to restart the apache every few hours because the board eats all the swap space and with 256mb of ram I thought I was well off. I also get database errors and have had to restart mysql twice today and yesterday.

If someone could advice what could create these problems and advice me what would elimate them I would be most grateful. You can see the specifications in my signature. The traffic on the old board was about 20,000 pageviews a day and in all the server have sites with around 100,000 pageviews a day.

Now, finally and in relation to the above its a minor problem, but nonetheless a problem, the search is not working. When traffic was low I build the index and got an "All done!" so it should be good. Now, what then can be the problem? I can see others having problems, but mine seem different as all I can get is a "document contains no data" error.

I am very happy with the way the board looks and the features and the users who have seen it is also positive so please hurry with the advice and help me stay happy :)

Jan

[Craig Antill]

Jan,
I get the same problem with the search - John has been looking into it by visiting my server - hopefully he will find the solution very shortly and maybe this will fix your problem too ?

[werehere]

How about posting the MySQL variable settings for us as well. I could not even get to the site because it was so slow.

[bira]

this sounds in part reminiscent of the problems I have, only I've got no problems (that I know of) in the search, and I have more ram (512).

[Parker Clack]

I took my bb out because the search isn't working. I have done fresh installs of 1.1.2 three times and each time the search does not work.

Hopefully, John will be able to resolve this soon.

Parker

[Jake]

Wow, Im having the exact same problems as you. With 512 Megs of ram. It is a decent speed sometimes, but during peak hours it crawls along really bad. Running latest version of mySQL and PHP4.

PHP Info: http://www.wrestlingtalks.com/phpinfo.php
mySQLvars: http://www.wrestlingtalks.com/mysqlvars.txt

[Jan]

As asked so suplied:

+----------------------------+---------------------------------+
| Variable_name | Value |
+----------------------------+---------------------------------+
| back_log | 5 |
| connect_timeout | 5 |
| basedir | /usr/local/ |
| datadir | /var/db/mysql/ |
| delayed_insert_limit | 100 |
| delayed_insert_timeout | 300 |
| delayed_queue_size | 1000 |
| join_buffer | 131072 |
| flush_time | 0 |
| key_buffer | 8388600 |
| language | /usr/local/share/mysql/english/ |
| log | OFF |
| log_update | OFF |
| long_query_time | 10 |
| low_priority_updates | OFF |
| max_allowed_packet | 1048576 |
| max_connections | 100 |
| max_connect_errors | 10 |
| max_delayed_insert_threads | 20 |
| max_join_size | 4294967295 |
| max_sort_length | 1024 |
| net_buffer_length | 16384 |
| pid_file | /var/db/mysql/pulze1.pid |
| port | 3306 |
| protocol_version | 10 |
| record_buffer | 131072 |
| skip_locking | OFF |
| skip_networking | OFF |
| socket | /tmp/mysql.sock |
| sort_buffer | 2097144 |
| table_cache | 64 |
| thread_stack | 65536 |
| tmp_table_size | 1048576 |
| tmpdir | /var/tmp/ |
| version | 3.22.27 |
| wait_timeout | 28800 |
+----------------------------+---------------------------------+

[werehere]

Jan,

I cannot even see your forums to tell how busy they are, so could you fill us in on the daily average of posts, page views, and members, etc...

All of your variables are set to default it appears, so you have to probably jump those up a bit (or a lot if they are busy). I am trying, but I cannot even get to your forums to see :)

[Craig Antill]

Warning: Too many connections in admin/db_mysql.php on line 29

There seems to have been a slight problem with the database. Please try again by pressing the refresh button in your browser.

An E-Mail has been dispatched to our Technical Staff, who you can also contact if the problem persists.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

[werehere]

bira,

I just have to say that this does not sound like your problem.:) Your forums are flying every time I go there, and this one is not accesable at all when I try.

[Jake]

Jan, we seem to be having the same problem as you. werehere advised us to change these mySQL variables and it sped up for a bit, but is still very slow for us. Although it might work for you better:

key_buffer=20M
max_connections=200
sort_buffer=4000000

[Edited by Jake on 06-12-2000 at 06:13 PM]

[werehere]

Jake,

Yes your forums were very busy by the looks of things (many members and guests on at once, like over 100 when I looked last), and I am not sure how to help right off hand. Keep in mind that I am just learning this to, just so you know. :)

Jan,

I did finally get into your forums and have to say I would bump those up if I were you. Here is what I was finding usefull for my forums (I posted the changes in this thread):

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=1054

My forums are speeding along, so you possibly should try the changes.

[Jan]

We have about 2500 members and used to have 20,000 pageviews a day, but are down to about half or less with the new forum because it cannot handle more as it is. There are more sites on the server which in all have 100k pageviews a day. They do not use this kind of ressources though even if the Central Ad Pro adscript is kinda hard on the server in peak hours.

I am gonna put in an order for a dual pentium 600 with 512mb of ECC RAM and a 1 gigabyte swap file to be on the safe side....

If that cannot handle it I am throwing in the towel :)

Jan

[werehere]

I would try changing some of the defaults there before ordering a huge server. I am not sure about the other sites on the server, but my server specs are very similar to yours and my forums are getting around 50,000 impressions a day, and I do serve up all advertising from this server as well (fairly hard on it also). Just seems you should invest a few minutes into trying to change the settings around a touch. :)

[UserName]

Hi Jan -
You mention that you are using CentralAd on the same server as vBulletin. Here is my CentralAd story:

I started using CA 4.0 when it came out. It was showing, according to its own stats, about 600,000 banners a day for me on a dedicated dual P500 with 512meg of ram. The server has both the site and the CA software. My host kept telling me that CA was hogging resources and I noticed that banners would occasionally be broken during peak traffic times. I finally relented and removed the CA rotation in favor of a third party solution (like DoubleClick). The day before I moved, the CA software showed that it had spun about 650,000 banners. The day after I moved, the third party software showed that it had spun about 1,100,000 banners.

I have been off CentralAd for over a month now and I am seeing a lot faster response from my server (load averages have dropped from 10-100 down to 1-10) and a lot more money from my banners. I really like the software, and I think that CA was doing a great job for me up to about the 400,000 banner a day level, but after that it choked and I never knew it. If I was you, I would take a long hard look at the SSIRAND.CGI script and see what kind of resources it's using. If it's becoming a hog, you should consider looking around at other options ASAP.

Hope that helps!

[Jan]

Thanks for the story :)

Its much similar to mine which is why I named my ad solution. My experience is that the CA counts to many rather than to few, but other than that I agree. Before VB the adscript was culprit number one.

I have looked high and low for other solutions, but so far I have only been able to find adjuggler as something which look better in terms of pricing and features. Whether it is more efficient I don't know, but I am testing it as soon as I have the new server in place.

Maybe you could tell me more about your experience since you seem ahead of me. In fact I am also interested in hearing from 10 Tenths Motorsport, Wrestlingtalks and We're Here Forums! who all must have some interesting stories we can learn from when it comes to advertising.

I know this is not the place, but maybe we can continue elsewhere on this board or somewhere else?

After talking to John last night I have decided to move to a bigger server. The main problem may be that php is wrongly installed, but with the adscript and the many other sites on the current server it's a matter of time before it's needed anyway and then rather now than later :)

Jan

[Edited by Jan on 06-13-2000 at 04:55 AM]

[UserName]

I started another thread about ad rotation, if anyone is interested in talking about it:

http://vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=1078