Nerf my 'PHP processing'

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  • chrisisonfire
    New Member
    • Apr 2005
    • 16
    • 3.0.6

    Nerf my 'PHP processing'

    Hi,

    I got an email from my webhost (Lunarpages.com) today saying that I use more server resources than I'm allowed, and that I need to sort it out within 7 days otherwise they will suspend my account. My package is a cheap $105/year shared server, and to be honest I've never had a problem with them until now. They were fine for what I needed and I was happy with the customer support, which was better than I've previously experienced with a couple other companies. Here are the figures they gave me:

    mysite.com CPU 2.54 MEM 1.61 MYSQL 0.1

    Top Process %CPU 58.0 /usr/bin/php
    Top Process %CPU 29.0 /usr/bin/php
    Top Process %CPU 27.0 /usr/bin/php

    Apparently I should only be using "1.0% average %CPU or less, 1.0% average %Memory or less and Top Processes below 20%."

    Right now, I feel cheated, because only last week I paid for another years hosting with these guys, and they go and do this! Nothing has changed on my website concerning the amount of php scripting I use, and the only major thing these days is my vB, which only has about 6k members. However, in the past year and a bit it has accumulated 165k posts in over 4k threads. Is this causing a strain on the server? Well, of course not the server, I mean, my pitiful server resources allowance.

    If I prune all the threads that, say, haven't been posted in in the last 6 months or so, would that ease off my php usage and get the server techs of my back? I don't know what I can do, which is why I'm posting here. If anyone has experienced similar problems with their websites and managed to sort something out, please share! I don't know how the hell I'm going to half my usage.

    They're trying to push their 'new' dedicated server package, which costs per month what I pay in a year. This isn't something I'm willing to pay, nor am I interested in spending so much on what started out 2 years ago as a hobby.
  • Curtis H.
    Member
    • Dec 2003
    • 97
    • 3.0.9

    #2
    For starters, how many "Active Users" do you generally have on at one time? Are guests allowed to search the forums? Are all the forums public?
    :cool:

    Comment

    • chrisisonfire
      New Member
      • Apr 2005
      • 16
      • 3.0.6

      #3
      Only between 20-30 active users on all the time. Forums are private, but guests can use the search function.

      Comment

      • Curtis H.
        Member
        • Dec 2003
        • 97
        • 3.0.9

        #4
        Normally, that amount of users should not be a problem. However, the amount of posts and threads seems high for some reason. Dunno. Bandwidth usage?

        I have one forum in shared server enviorment where 50-75 "active users" which includes guests (search function is disabled) is common. Not one complaint from the hosting provider. Current or past. And this has been going on for a few years.

        Dedicated server needed? Highly doubt that however, it may be time for a VPS solution which could cost you $45 and up per month. I can point you in that direction if need be but perhaps finding a more tolerant host may still work for you. Just plan on spending more $$$.
        :cool:

        Comment

        • chrisisonfire
          New Member
          • Apr 2005
          • 16
          • 3.0.6

          #5
          I have bandwidth to burn, so I don't think that's a problem. They have said themselves that it's due to PHP processing, but I'm not doing anything differently than I ever had whilst using that webhost. Of course my traffic has gone up substantially since I moved to LP, but we're kind of in the off season atm so content updates is slow. It's all about the forums and the online community right now. I shall turn off search access to guests if that might help. Is there anything else I can do? Will pruning as I suggested work at all?

          Also, what is VPS? I've seen it around these forums quite often tonight, but I haven't heard it before.

          Comment

          • Curtis H.
            Member
            • Dec 2003
            • 97
            • 3.0.9

            #6
            The reason I asked about bandwidth was to get a better idea as to the traffic your forums may be seeing. I doubt pruning threads (that have been inactive) will help solve the issues you're currently having especially if you disable the search function for guests. You might want to make a few forums private to discourage browsing by guests also in order to reduce the amount of resources being used until you find a solution to your problem.

            Being you haven't really heard about VPS before, I would say you would need a fully managed account vs. managed. From PowerVPS.com:

            What is VPS?

            Virtual Private Servers are the most advanced step in server virtualization technology. They are used to partition a single physical server into many isolated virtual private servers. Each virtual private server looks and behaves exactly like a real networked server system, complete with its own set of init scripts, users, processes, filesystems, etc. More...

            A new player in the VPS market is WiredTree.com which offers true fully managed VPS solutions. But, at a slightly higher cost.

            Again, you may be able to keep LunarPages happy but if this is a slow period for your forums and they are complaining, you'll most likely have to find another home. Just not sure if you can still do that in a shared enviorment or not. Hard to say from the details you have given me. You may want to check your logs and such to see if anything suspicious is going on.

            Are you running any forum hacks?
            :cool:

            Comment

            • chrisisonfire
              New Member
              • Apr 2005
              • 16
              • 3.0.6

              #7
              No, I'm not running any forum hacks. I turned off forum searching this morning, totally. I was taking your advice and was going to turn it off to guests, but when I saw the option in the ACP I jumped at the chance to reduce my server load that way. Another step I took was to block known spambot email extensions (like .ru) to hopefully reduce the traffic they generate.

              Thanks for the introduction to VPS. It sounds really interesting and I'll be checking that out immediately! It's obviously expensive compared to what I pay now, but it's much cheaper than an actual dedicated server, and it sounds worthwhile. :]

              Cpanel says my average bandwidth per day is 0.98-1.06gb/day.

              Comment

              • Curtis H.
                Member
                • Dec 2003
                • 97
                • 3.0.9

                #8
                Glad to be of help. Keep us updated.
                :cool:

                Comment

                • chrisisonfire
                  New Member
                  • Apr 2005
                  • 16
                  • 3.0.6

                  #9
                  I got an emaiil back this morning (after worrying the whole weekend!) and here are the new numbers:

                  CPU% 0.60
                  MEM% 0.87
                  MySQL Process 0.0

                  Top Process %CPU 15.6 /usr/bin/php
                  Top Process %CPU 4.2 /usr/bin/php
                  Top Process %CPU 3.0 /usr/bin/php

                  I will be kept on their 'abuse server' for another day and it will be revised in 24 hours, and if all is well I'll be back on my original server. For the time being my site if safe again, but next time, I'll take up on one of those VPS solutions. Thanks again! Made my day

                  Comment

                  • Curtis H.
                    Member
                    • Dec 2003
                    • 97
                    • 3.0.9

                    #10
                    That's good news. At the least, buys you some time to do some homework and find an affordable backup solution. Good luck!
                    :cool:

                    Comment

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