# Forum Access Becoming Increasingly Unreliable?



## Rackety Sax

Am I the only one who has noticed that the forum has increasing periods of unavailability lately? Just this afternoon it was inaccessible for a while (a half hour or so). Did this even register as an outage?


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## daigle65

Same here.


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## musicislove

I had the same problem, but after about 10-15 minutes everything was working properly..


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## littlewailer

yes yes and yes.

Mostly mid day. I think when everybody is logging on all at once.

It's real annoying when I have been typing up a post and then when I click submit it times out on me.

Then I gotta go back. Copy and then wwait 15 or 20 minutes. Find the thread again paste it and repost.


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## sonnymobleytrane

It has become worse.


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## fluteypiccolosax

sonnymobleytrane said:


> It has become worse.


yes ive noticed that also[Impnt]


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## saxphil

Carl has a thread going about it for the last little while.
It happens daily to me around 4:00 for an hr. or so.
I can't get on or, if on , frozen


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## MarchingAnt

Happened to me at like 4 today as well, it's probably because people are all logging on all at once.


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## jicaino

Ah thought it was my connection or something

I've noticed the same, freezes, sometimes on and off on the pages, does not load reliably, all that jazz.


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## saxphil

Checked just now Who's On Line
5 1/2 pages of members
10 pages of Guests


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## CooolJazzz

It's not a new problem, but it does seem to be getting steadily worse, and not just at certain times of day. I've mentioned this before, but I think it's time the owners of this forum seriously considered moving everything to a more reliable hosting company. There are definitely far more reliable servers out there, and the cost of transferring a site like this is far more reasonable than you would think.

I do hope it's something they'll consider.


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## A Greene

Just had one for about 10 minutes.


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## Blowhard2

CooolJazzz said:


> It's not a new problem, but it does seem to be getting steadily worse, and not just at certain times of day. I've mentioned this before, but I think it's time the owners of this forum seriously considered moving everything to a more reliable hosting company. There are definitely far more reliable servers out there, and the cost of transferring a site like this is far more reasonable than you would think.
> 
> I do hope it's something they'll consider.


I,too, have been havng trouble this week - I first thought it was my service provider, but it is just a slow response from the website- it's pretty annoying , but maybe it's getting just too popular!

Blowhard2


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## CooolJazzz

Blowhard2 said:


> I,too, have been havng trouble this week - I first thought it was my service provider, but it is just a slow response from the website- it's pretty annoying , but maybe it's getting just too popular!
> 
> Blowhard2


In this day and age, popularity (_traffic volume_) shouldn't have anything to do with it. The technology is there, and it's cheap. Remember...I'm not criticizing the owners of this site for the problem. It's an issue with the servers the site is hosted on...which makes it the host's problem. There is simply no legitimate excuse for there being this much downtime on such a regular basis regardless of how much traffic this site gets. A reliable hosting company could provide service with so little downtime that it wouldn't even be worth mentioning if it ever did happen.


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## BOPITY FUNK

Ditto to that--thought it was my old Mac playing up.


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## hakukani

Hmmm....I can ping the site during the outages.


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## Souportwenty

Same deal here. The site is not slow, it just freezes (sort of matches our current weather!).


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## NissanVintageSax

Good. I'm not the only one this has happened too! I talked to Harry one day about, and he said the power went out (plausible). But what about the other times? This is an awesome forum, just seems it's need of an update already (different server anyway).


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## AntonVonWebern

I noticed it too earlier, during the downtime I got the shakes real bad, looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.


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## Bebopalot

I seem to notice that is happens when a thread is being removed. Maybe it's just a coincidence.


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## LampLight

I also had problems about the same time as chi today. The site performance and reliability have degraded annoyingly, and there is another thread on this (as saxphil mentioned).


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## kcp

Bebopalot said:


> I seem to notice that is happens when a thread is being removed. Maybe it's just a coincidence.


During the timeout today, I doubt that was because a thread has been moved since no staff were able to access the forum - Really, it's a pain in the butt even for us


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## bandmommy

I used to blame it on my dial up connection.
Not anymore.


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## SuperAction80

bandmommy said:


> I used to blame it on my dial up connection.
> Not anymore.


Ditto.

Seems to happen everyday for about 30 minutes from the hours of 3pm to 5pm EST. Eh, no big deal for me. Instead of talking about playing the instrument, I just go and play the instrument.


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## Carl H.

I've begun copying my posts before attempting to post them. Odds are equal it will get hung up or double post lately.


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## SuperAction80

SuperAction80 said:


> Ditto.
> 
> Seems to happen everyday for about 30 minutes from the hours of 3pm to 5pm EST. Eh, no big deal for me. Instead of talking about playing the instrument, I just go and play the instrument.


Ironically, the site crashed about a half hour after I said this. So much for it being an afternoon thing.


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## warp x

Forum access not so good here either.


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## Kenneth

Count me in as another one having problems, usually around 1600 hrs GMT+1.


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## Grumps

For me, it takes an incredibly long time to load the site, and then also to log in. Once in, it seems to work, but not last night. Just way too slow.


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## Jonathan C.

Last night was a tough night for me. Its sometimes not even loading the site.


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## gary

warp x said:


> Forum access not so good here either.


...niet hier goed, ook niet.

Between approx. 11:00 and 19:00 Central USA time, I feel like I'm back to my good old 56K modem days. 

Of course I could always SUAP. Ooops! Acronym alert! :yikes!:


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## MartinMusicMan

OK, we've established that there's a serious problem. What can be done to fix it? Who fixes it? Harri?


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## Rackety Sax

MartinMusicMan said:


> OK, we've established that there's a serious problem. What can be done to fix it? Who fixes it? Harri?


Things seem much better today. Maybe we just have to keep complaining. :TGNCHK:


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## MartinMusicMan

chitownjazz said:


> Things seem much better today. Maybe we just have to keep complaining. :TGNCHK:


It was bad for me this morning. Couldn't get on. So I'm hereby complaining in the hopes that will make it better.


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## Jonathan C.

Same it was really bad this morning.


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## Blue Hodge

This is part of my routine! I haven't posted much, but I enjoy seeing what's going on in the saxophone community.


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## choochoo

more bandwidth, please


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## jrvinson45

It went down for about 20 minutes here in the Rocky Mt. time zone at about 2:45pm or so.


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## jicaino

this is getting worse by the minute. I have been getting trouble accessing the whole day today. server requests exceed timeout.


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## SuperAction80

gary said:


> Between approx. 11:00 and 19:00 Central USA time, I feel like I'm back to my good old 56K modem days.


Honestly, I don't mind using 56k for this site. Now Youtube on the other hand...[Impnt]




gary said:


> Of course I could always SUAP. Ooops! Acronym alert!





gary said:


> :yikes!:


:lol:


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## Carl H.

It went down just after this thread loaded.


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## martysax

Grumps said:


> For me, it takes an incredibly long time to load the site, and then also to log in. Once in, it seems to work, but not last night. Just way too slow.


Try taking the pill a half hour earlier.


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## LampLight

It's pretty slow right now. Probably being slowed down by the thread-hijack thread.


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## Harri Rautiainen

The problem has been recognized. As you all observed, it is happening now daily, most propably during peak hours.

I will be addressing the issue shortly. have to talk to some techie types.

meanwhile be patient,


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## gary

Thank you Harri. We all appreciate everything that you do for us!!!!
Cheers!


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## jrvinson45

When it came up earlier, the first 8 posts were from the U.K., U.S., and Australia... nobody sleeps anymore...


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## sonnymobleytrane

Harri Rautiainen said:


> The problem has been recognized. As you all observed, it is happening now daily, most propably during peak hours.
> 
> I will be addressing the issue shortly. have to talk to some techie types.
> 
> meanwhile be patient,


I also appreciate everything that you do here. No small task.


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## LampLight

Ditto Harri. Thanks.


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## bandmommy

I can't get into trouble when things are slow.
Is that good or bad?


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## BeyondSax

It seems synchronous with the times I am playing my soprano....


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## hakukani

BeyondSax said:


> It seems synchronous with the times I am playing my soprano....


Ah Ha! So it's your fault!


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## Harri Rautiainen

One possible culprit identified and removed.
We will see perhaps within 11-12 hours if this helped.

Please report your findings.


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## RootyTootoot

Harri Rautiainen said:


> One possible culprit identified and removed.
> We will see perhaps within 11-12 hours if this helped.
> 
> Please report your findings.


Thank you, Harri.


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## bandmommy

Thank you Harri.
I wondered if there may be a gremlin in the system.


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## fballatore

bandmommy said:


> Thank you Harri.
> I wondered if there may be a gremlin in the system.


There are always gremlins in the system, but we can't just go around banning those members for no good reason, can we??


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## bandmommy

Some of us prefer to be called 'Magwai'.


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## Rackety Sax

fballatore said:


> There are always gremlins in the system, but we can't just go around banning those members for no good reason, can we??


Right, that wouldn't be fair to Marty.


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## Kenneth

Harri Rautiainen said:


> One possible culprit identified and removed.
> We will see perhaps within 11-12 hours if this helped.
> 
> Please report your findings.


Thanks for everything, Harri.

FYI, I had a network timeout just a few minutes ago, 1530 hrs GMT+1. Related to the trouble-shooting you're doing?


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## jazzbluescat

It took three tries to get SOTW homepage to load. Then, I had to login because it won't remember me. Then, the site froze right in the middle of posting; I suspect a virus because my computer froze also.

It's getting to be a pain in the butt.


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## MartinMusicMan

I couldn't get pages to load last night, but so far this morning it's all good.


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## Bill Mecca

I had an issue earlier this morning (EST) but I can never be sure where they trouble lies since I'm behind some severe security measures here at work. Seems to be okay at the moment. 11:12 a.m. Eastern


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## Bill Mecca

I had an issue earlier this morning (EST) but I can never be sure where they trouble lies since I'm behind some severe security measures here at work. Seems to be okay at the moment. 11:12 a.m. Eastern

I take that back, it hung up while posting this message, thus the double post. Even an Admin can't catch a break! :lol:


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## martysax

Yes. I figured it was Carl's fault.


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## Sivari

same here


chitownjazz said:


> Am I the only one who has noticed that the forum has increasing periods of unavailability lately? Just this afternoon it was inaccessible for a while (a half hour or so). Did this even register as an outage?


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## martysax

fballatore said:


> but we can't just go around banning those members for no good reason, can we??





chitownjazz said:


> Right, that wouldn't be fair to Marty.


Ta Daaaaaaaaaa!

I'd like to thank those whose support has never gone unpunished.


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## Carl H.

Looks like I did it again. S L O W L Y


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## Harri Rautiainen

Carl H. said:


> Looks like I did it again. S L O W L Y


You are right. The fix I mentioned above did not solve this all. 
Will install new system software on Tuesday.


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## Carl H.

How much $$ is this going to put you out?

(How much do we need to donate?)


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## bluesaxgirl

This never used to happen to me, but now more than ever the forum will be not accessible for 15 minutes at a time. It's kind of frustrating...


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## Harri Rautiainen

Carl H. said:


> How much $$ is this going to put you out?
> (How much do we need to donate?)


No extra monies for the update except I have to pay in one form or another my son (the techie guy).

*No donation too small or too large. People donate something in relation how they feel SOTW Forum benefitted them.*


bluesaxgirl said:


> This never used to happen to me, but now more than ever the forum will be not accessible for 15 minutes at a time. It's kind of frustrating...


There is now a setting on saxontheweb.net that shuts down the http-service (apache) when the server load exceeds over a limit. When it decreases the service will be restored.

What causes these increases? One obvious reason was eliminated (Unix internal maintenance related), but there may still be internal processes running occasionally which are really that necessary.


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## Bill Mecca

so in other words Harri, the forum is a victim of it's own success?


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## DaddyRabbit

This site has been an enormous motivator for me to came back to playing after a very long absence. Now I log on here even more than www.teenage...Ooops, getting off topic again. :shock:

Seriously, instead of 3 or 4 times a day, now I try to get on 3-4 times a week. Lately, it just hasn't been worth it.

I'd be happy to kick in to help defray any cost involved.


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## SuperAction80

I'm not sure if it's related or not, but my subscribed threads do not seem to be loading when new posts are submitted. In several cases, I'm getting updates two or three days later, and up to 10 posts were left in the given thread before I recieved a notice in my User CP. No big deal to me, but the issue seems to have started a few days ago. It may have something to do with the change in the Unix system, or it's purely coincidence.

Aren't computers fun?


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## Jonathan C.

@Harri, if I donated by how much this forum helped me I would be in some seririous debt...


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## Harri Rautiainen

Bill Mecca said:


> so in other words Harri, the forum is a victim of it's own success?


If the overload is caused by an increased traffic to the SOTW site the solution would be easy. I will lease a more powerful server.

Yes, the Forum membership is increasing steadily and so is the traffic. However the average server load hovers around 1 when 2 is acceptable for a dual-core server. Thus, I hate to throw more money at the problem which seems not to be "payload".


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## jazzbluescat

I never logout. Why do I need to login everytime I visit?


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## Carl H.

Is your computer tossing your cookies?


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## jazzbluescat

Carl H. said:


> Is your computer tossing your cookies?


It must be tossing the SOTW ones. Don't have the problem elsewhere. Got any idea how I can rectify the situation? You reckon something can be done on the SOTW end?


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## sonnymobleytrane

Another one at 6pm EST!


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## bandmommy

Yeah, another one. I'm being patient. 
Harri is doing everything he can to get us up and running smoothly again.


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## sonnymobleytrane

I started a new thread and it didn't get on!!!:x


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## Carl H.

My clock is now on 24 hour mode as well.

I imagine it will go back to normal sometime, but just letting you know.

BTW I didn't change anything.


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## bandmommy

I'm glad someone elses' clock is messed up. 
I thought it was something I had done.


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## RootyTootoot

sonnymobleytrane said:


> I started a new thread and it didn't get on!!!:x


What was it about? You could hijack the hijack thread, I suppose..


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## SuperAction80

bandmommy said:


> I'm glad someone elses' clock is messed up.
> I thought it was something I had done.


Make that 3.


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## kcp

Harri Rautiainen said:


> You are right. The fix I mentioned above did not solve this all.
> Will install new system software on Tuesday.





Carl H. said:


> How much $$ is this going to put you out?
> 
> (How much do we need to donate?)


I think I know what the problem is...


> Most users ever online was 827, Today at 05:00 PM


:shock:

Right now there are 739 after yet another time-out. :shock: SOTW is the victim of its own popularity.


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## RootyTootoot

kcp said:


> Right now there are 739 after yet another time-out. :shock: SOTW is the victim of its own popularity.


We'll have to think of a way of making it unpopular again..hmmm..

Has anyone got any snaps of marty in a bikini?


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## Sigmund451

Yea, I logged on the other night. Everyone was here. I thoght there was a big party that I wasnt invited to....probably was 

I too find a number of time outs lately. Most the time its nice and smooth.


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## martysax

RootyTootoot said:


> Has anyone got any snaps of marty in a bikini?


NO. Too much disk space would be required.


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## jazzbluescat

RootyTootoot said:


> We'll have to think of a way of making it unpopular again..hmmm..
> 
> Has anyone got any snaps of marty in a bikini?


Not to worry, I just start posting more.:|


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## kcp

RootyTootoot said:


> We'll have to think of a way of making it unpopular again..hmmm..
> 
> Has anyone got any snaps of marty in a bikini?


:sign5:
I'm afraid that won't make the site unpopular


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## Dog Pants

RootyTootoot said:


> We'll have to think of a way of making it unpopular again..hmmm..
> 
> Has anyone got any snaps of marty in a bikini?


Here ya go.


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## bandmommy

That's gotta hurt.


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## Carl H.

AAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

MY EYESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!




After the third try this morning I gave up on getting on.




DP - Don't think I'll forget this!!!


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## jazzbluescat

It took three tries, just now, to get on. And, I naturally had to login BECAUSE THE BOARD WON'T REMEMBER ME/my cookies(?).


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## Carl H.

Same here, at least the clock is back.

What time is the event scheduled to take place, Harri?


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## DixieSax

Just plug a few more hamster wheels into the server.

But seriously. Have your techie guy look beyond what the apache server process is doing and look at the database load. There are some mysql tweaks that you can make that should help to handle overloads.

And look out for runaway processes that can quickly eat up all available server memory, then die without a trace.


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## Carl H.

Just had another outage.


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## MartinMusicMan

arrgghh. it's very frustrating.


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## jmathesonjr

I have noticed more and more problems here. For example, capital I's are almost impossible to type on this forum. Logging on and accessing the site is getting harder and harder. I had one posting repeat itself 4 times after taking almost 7 minutes to post. Sometimes I can't even open a new posting. Last week, I had the site shut down on me three times in one day. 

I would love to know what is happening here.


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## wisedude

I have been having a beast of time posting all night, getting tons of database errors


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## kcp

wisedude said:


> I have been having a beast of time posting all night, getting tons of database errors


Database errors or a message that says you don't have permissions? A lot of folks have been getting permissions erors tonight but that's in the Marketplace and because we applied some modifications to the Marketplace area - see *here* for more info.


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## warp x

Access is much better here since a couple of days.


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## Rackety Sax

Couldn't load the site first thing this morning.


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## RootyTootoot

I got cut off when I was about to hurl an insult at marty on the "describe in one word" thread earlier. Most irritating.

Access to the forum has definitely got trickier over the last few weeks.


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## spartacus

nevermind


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## Merlin

I've been having trouble getting the forum to load as well.


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## MartinMusicMan

"The server is too busy at the moment. Please try again later."


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## wisedude

I've been getting database errors since last night when trying to start a new thread in the member recordings section. Yes, database errors


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## bandmommy

The server is too busy at the moment. Try again later.
ERROR: The URL could not be retreived.


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## saxmanglen

Makes me spend more time on facebook or somewhere else.


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## Rackety Sax

The server is too busy at the moment. Please try again later.



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:51 PM.


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## saxphil

Didn't Harri mention that "something" was to be done last Tuesday??


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## Harri Rautiainen

saxphil said:


> Didn't Harri mention that "something" was to be done last Tuesday??


Actually that "something" did not take place afterall. The techie guy is travelling until the end of next week.

There are certain safeguards set against overloading the server and the database, but it looks more like hinder than help. I will look closer on the parameters on Sunday night.


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## MartinMusicMan

Harri, how do you pronounce your last name?

Thanks for all you do, and thanks so much for SOTW.

-MMM


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## jazzbluescat

Continuing saga...I had to I log in, as usual, but, I couldn't post. This was around 9:30 EDST. As The World Turns....


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## AltoRuth

bandmommy said:


> The server is too busy at the moment. Try again later.
> ERROR: The URL could not be retreived.


Yep! I've been getting these messages quite a lot over the past several days. And I've also had the site freeze up and "refuse" to go to the next page, or next thread. The most irritating is when it freezes up just when I try to post something or send off a PM.

That being off my chest, thanks to Harri and the other mods for all you do here.


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## RootyTootoot

I nearly went so far as to register with "The Woodwind Forum" earlier today until I realised that it was mainly populated by SOTW flotsam on their best behaviour..

..which isn't necessarily a bad thing. :twisted:


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## RootyTootoot

AltoRuth said:


> The most irritating is when it freezes up just when I try to post something or send off a PM.
> .


I've been copying my posts before I send in case the connection gets cut off to avoid that level of frustration.


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## saxphil

RootyTootoot said:


> I nearly went so far as to register with "The Woodwind Forum" earlier today until I realised that it was mainly populated by SOTW flotsam on their best behaviour..
> 
> :twisted:


... or jetsam... speaking of this shipwreck.


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## Perry Cobb

Yes! I've noticed!


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## saxmanglen

Why so many gripes.....I have no problems at all with access anytime. What's the big deal? :TGNCHK:


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## gary

saxmanglen said:


> Why so many gripes.....I have no problems at all with access anytime. What's the big deal? :TGNCHK:


Maybe most don't log on at three in the morning. :twisted:


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## MartinMods

I noticed that I'm cursing a lot more.


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## FZ1988bar

does bother me alot


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## Razzy

I haven't been able to get on at any point during the day until this very moment. 10pm here. :|


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## saxplayr2000

I'm having similar problems.

My guess is that the participation is growing (it's a great site!) and SOTW needs to upgrade their servers to handle the traffic. Otherwise, they will top out where they are and also lose people due to frustration.


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## DixieSax

It ain't the size of the server, it's how you use it.. 

Seriously, if what we've been told about this server's capacity is reality, then this should not be an issue. Some server parameters need to be adjusted. Also, the featured members page needs to be redesigned or eliminated. That one is one MAJOR, MAJOR server resource hog.


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## Chris S

DixieSax said:


> Seriously, if what we've been told about this server's capacity is reality, then this should not be an issue. Some server parameters need to be adjusted. Also, the featured members page needs to be redesigned or eliminated. That one is one MAJOR, MAJOR server resource hog.


Agreed. This is Harri's area, so I'll wait patiently for him to address the concerns.


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## DaddyRabbit

I've pretty much given up. I love this site, but I have better ways to spend my life than screaming at my computer.


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## The A Train

I came here to see if there was a thread about this and sure enough here it is,..now I know it's not on my end.


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## martysax

I've come upon a correlation between my initial postings in a session and the system overloading. After my first or second post in a day, it all shuts down.

I was under the impression that the server stops to censor me, then goes on if it's not objectionable. A sort-of martysax-failsafe system.


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## selmer

The last few days it's been terrible


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## selmer

The last few days it's been terrible.


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## AltoRuth

martysax said:


> I've come upon a correlation between my initial postings in a session and the system overloading. After my first or second post in a day, it all shuts down.
> 
> I was under the impression that the server stops to censor me, then goes on if it's not objectionable. A sort-of martysax-failsafe system.


Aha! That's probably been the trouble all along!  I just experienced a long delay even in trying to reply to your post.


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## ratracer

selmer said:


> The last few days it's been terrible.


You can say that again!


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## MartinMusicMan

ratracer said:


> You can say that again!


I would if I could post.


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## ratracer

MartinMusicMan said:


> I would if I could post.


Picky, picky, picky!! :shock: 

Hey, you just did!! :shock: :TGNCHK:


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## kcp

martysax said:


> ...I was under the impression that the server stops to censor me, then goes on if it's not objectionable. A sort-of martysax-failsafe system.


There's a plug-in that exists which does just that, but we don't use it here because there are risks of forum malfunction that comes with it, and because there are more "evil" ways to make someone's life miserable if we want to :twisted: This said however, even the guy who gave meaning to the term 'martysaxed' doesn't deserve such treatment... so why you worry?


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## jazzbluescat

kcp said:


> ......because there are more "evil" ways to make someone's life miserable if we want to :twisted: .....


Is this why I need to login everytime I visit, why SOTW won't "remember" me, hmmmm?


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## kcp

jazzbluescat said:


> Is this why I need to login everytime I visit, why SOTW won't "remember" me, hmmmm?


No. Granted that must be annoying for you but that's not evil.

These forum problems and timeouts have lasted for too long already, that I don't know what to say save for that I'm sorry for the inconveniences this is causing all of you and thank you so much for your patience.


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## spartacus

kcp said:


> This said however, even the guy who gave meaning to the term 'martysaxed' doesn't deserve such treatment... so why you worry?


Have you taken a poll on that?


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## hakukani

DixieSax said:


> It ain't the size of the server, it's how you use it..
> 
> Seriously, if what we've been told about this server's capacity is reality, then this should not be an issue. Some server parameters need to be adjusted. Also, the featured members page needs to be redesigned or eliminated. That one is one MAJOR, MAJOR server resource hog.


Do the outages occur when the featured members page is accessed?


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## kcp

Can't say if the outage occur when the featured members page is accessed but I think DixieSax is right in saying that could be a major server ressource hog. I can see how that could be part of the equation. I brought that observation to Harri's attention. It's nice to bring the community together with featured members but to what price? I'm sure that there are other ways that we can do so without causing the forum to shut down


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## hakukani

kcp said:


> Can't say if the outage occur when the featured members page is accessed but I think DixieSax is right in saying that could be a major server ressource hog. I can see how that could be part of the equation. I brought that observation to Harri's attention. It's nice to bring the community together with featured members but to what price? I'm sure that there are other ways that we can do so without causing the forum to shut down


I, for one, really don't think it needs to be pointed out to everyone how much time I waste posting.


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## Harri Rautiainen

DixieSax said:


> Just plug a few more hamster wheels into the server.
> 
> But seriously. Have your techie guy look beyond what the apache server process is doing and look at the database load. There are some mysql tweaks that you can make that should help to handle overloads.
> 
> And look out for runaway processes that can quickly eat up all available server memory, then die without a trace.


Will do.



DixieSax said:


> It ain't the size of the server, it's how you use it..
> 
> Seriously, if what we've been told about this server's capacity is reality, then this should not be an issue. Some server parameters need to be adjusted. Also, the featured members page needs to be redesigned or eliminated. That one is one MAJOR, MAJOR server resource hog.


I have noticed also that "_*featured members*_" turn very slowly. 
I will turn it off now, to see if any difference.

Thanks,


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## DixieSax

Forum is FLYING right now.. somebody must have shot some steroids into the hamsters. 

Incidentally, I got the web provider to send me a photo of the insides of the SOTW server. 

http://www.uinotebook.com/images/hamster_powered_computer_xsmall.jpg


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## RootyTootoot

DixieSax said:


> Forum is FLYING right now.. somebody must have shot some steroids into the hamsters.


What a good idea. I shall bear that in mind for the mid-life crisis thread..


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## jrvinson45

773 currently logged on and the response time is smokin' right now. What ever you did in the last hour or so seems to have worked wonders. Maybe we should give kudos to Dixiesax... just don't make him a featured member.


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## kcp

Maybe we could give him a pet hamster... I think Rooty volunteered


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## jrvinson45

I wonder if a "featured hamster" section would slow things down...?


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## MartinMusicMan

it would if the hamster couldn't keep up


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## DixieSax

Guys, if we keep talking about sax and hamsters, we'll have Richard Gere joining the board, and we wouldn't want that to happen.

(ok, I know, I know, that's borderline Marty territory)


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## jrvinson45

DixieSax said:


> Guys, if we keep talking about sax and hamsters, we'll have Richard Gere joining the board, and we wouldn't want that to happen.
> 
> (ok, I know, I know, that's borderline Marty territory)


Um... I don't think so... definitely over the line.:twisted:


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## DaddyRabbit

I don't even have to post to experience a freeze. Nowadays, I only log on about once a week. Is there really a techie guy, or just someone's brother-in-law?

I would be happy to chip in for a real fix.


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## Kenny Garrick

Yesterday I found the site unusable but today its flying so whoever did whatever a very big thank you.


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## jazzbluescat

I still needed to login.


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## fballatore

jazzbluescat said:


> I still needed to login.


"What, me worry?"


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## DixieSax

JazzBluesCat

I bet you have a security setting set somewhere in your browser settings to either not accept cookies, or to time them out quickly, or your browser is set to "clear cookies and cache data" when you exit.

Where you find this information varies browser by browser, but it's almost always the cause of the problem you describe. 

But if I looked like Alfred E. Newman, I wouldn't worry either.


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## saintsday

DixieSax said:


> Guys, if we keep talking about sax and hamsters, we'll have Richard Gere joining the board, and we wouldn't want that to happen.
> 
> (ok, I know, I know, that's borderline Marty territory)


Gerbils, not hamsters. Lord Toot would be offended.


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## RootyTootoot

saintsday said:


> Gerbils, not hamsters. Lord Toot would be offended.


Exactly. I didn't point it out earlier as I was too offended to speak.


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## martysax

saintsday said:


> Gerbils, not hamsters. Lord Toot would be offended.


So now we know that felching was behind everything wrong with this forum!


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## jazzbluescat

Hello, I'm back, after logging in...



DixieSax said:


> JazzBluesCat
> 
> I bet you have a security setting set somewhere in your browser settings to either not accept cookies, or to time them out quickly, or your browser is set to "clear cookies and cache data" when you exit.
> 
> Where you find this information varies browser by browser, but it's almost always the cause of the problem you describe.
> 
> But if I looked like Alfred E. Newman, I wouldn't worry either.


The settings haven't changed. Theys all on medium, just like always. SOTW is the only board out of four where this phenom happens. fun city
[Impnt]


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## fballatore

You may want to add SOTW to your trusted sites group to test out whether the settings are a problem.


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## CooolJazzz

Whatever changes were made, they seem to have helped a LOT! It used to be a daily thing that SOTW was next to impossible to get into...but I don't recalling having any problems at all for the last month.

Many Thanks to whoever did whatever to fix the problems!


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## Harri Rautiainen

*Forum Access Becoming less Unreliable*



CooolJazzz said:


> Whatever changes were made, they seem to have helped a LOT! It used to be a daily thing that SOTW was next to impossible to get into...but I don't recalling having any problems at all for the last month.
> 
> Many Thanks to whoever did whatever to fix the problems!


Thanks for your note.

I did not want to rock the boat too much before installing the new vBulletin version two weeks ago. One particular change that was made was uninstalling the "Member Index" third-party plug-in. It was used to highlight recent members and displaying avatars of the members contributing financially to SOTW Forum. The latter one is a crucial consideration, but the "Member Index" plug-in seemed to be a computing power hog. Anyway, the *donors are acknowledged* in member titles and color codes. *But is that enough?*

There is still a daily load peak which remains unexplained at this moment. However, the overall picture looks better at this moment.


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## harmonizerNJ

I will second CooolJazzz's comment, that since the upgrade the performance of SOTW is much better. Kiitos!


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## spartacus

*Re: Forum Access Becoming less Unreliable*



Harri Rautiainen said:


> Anyway, the *donors are acknowledged* in member titles and color codes. *But is that enough?*


It is for me.

No slowdowns or outages here in Donkey Doo, Texas


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## jazzbluescat

*Re: Forum Access Becoming less Unreliable*

I truly wish I could echo the improvements, but:

1) I still need to log in at every visit.
2) Quick Reply stalls, I need to click on 'Go Advanced' to post that route.
3) My Editing feature stalls/doesn't work.

Other than that I'm living the american dream.


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## Harri Rautiainen

*Re: Forum Access Becoming less Unreliable*



jazzbluescat said:


> I truly wish I could echo the improvements, but:
> 
> 1) I still need to log in at every visit.


You are not the only one. Everyone, including the administrators are logged out after 60 minutes of idle time.
This is a security and performance issue, non-negotiable.



jazzbluescat said:


> 2) Quick Reply stalls, I need to click on 'Go Advanced' to post that route.
> 3) My Editing feature stalls/doesn't work.
> ...............


There are three components in how you experience WWW services. The SOTW server, your computer and browser and the Internet between them. The two latter ones I have no control of, unfortunately.

Please check out (if you haven't done it already):
http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?t=20052


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## MartinMusicMan

*Re: Forum Access Becoming less Unreliable*



Harri Rautiainen said:


> jazzbluescat said:
> 
> 
> 
> 1) I still need to log in at every visit.
> 
> 
> 
> You are not the only one. Everyone, including the administrators are logged out after 60 minutes of idle time.
> This is a security and performance issue, non-negotiable.
Click to expand...

Hmm. I never have to log in. I seem to stay logged in on both my work and home computers.


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## Harri Rautiainen

*Re: Forum Access Becoming less Unreliable*



MartinMusicMan said:


> Harri Rautiainen said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> jazzbluescat said:
> 
> 
> 
> 1) I still need to log in at every visit.
> 
> 
> 
> You are not the only one. Everyone, including the administrators are logged out after 60 minutes of idle time.
> This is a security and performance issue, non-negotiable.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Hmm. I never have to log in. I seem to stay logged in on both my work and home computers.
Click to expand...

Thanks.
It looks like I have to do some more homework in this area. 
It is clearly dependent on your browser's security and cookie settings.


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## harmonizerNJ

For my home computer I checked the "Remember Me?" button to the right of the "User Name" entry field (I probably did this over a year ago), and this worked fine ever since, both before and after the recent upgrade. By "worked fine", I mean that I never have to log into SOTW on this computer. In case it matters, I use Firefox on this computer, currently at version 3.0.6.


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## jazzbluescat

*Re: Forum Access Becoming less Unreliable*



Harri Rautiainen said:


> jazzbluescat said:
> 
> 
> 
> I truly wish I could echo the improvements, but:
> 
> 1) I still need to log in at every visit.
> 
> 
> 
> You are not the only one. Everyone, including the administrators are logged out after 60 minutes of idle time.
> This is a security and performance issue, non-negotiable.
> 
> 
> 
> jazzbluescat said:
> 
> 
> 
> 2) Quick Reply stalls, I need to click on 'Go Advanced' to post that route.
> 3) My Editing feature stalls/doesn't work.
> ...............
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> There are three components in how you experience WWW services. The SOTW server, your computer and browser and the Internet between them. The two latter ones I have no control of, unfortunately.
> 
> Please check out (if you haven't done it already):
> http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?t=20052
Click to expand...

Yes, I've followed Saxpics' suggestions.

I don't understand these phenoms either. But, as I've stated before, all my security settings are set at 'medium,' as always and they haven't changed. And, I'm not having these, or any other difficulties on other Boards. perplexing


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