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whats wrong with dsmtalk?

2K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  WhoaTed 
#1 ·
Whats going on with the site? is it just me? it seems slow (i have cable modem), i get errers every other time i click on somthing, some times my post doesnt come up, but when i repost they both pop up. its been going on about a week or so. is it just me?
 
#2 ·
No it is not just you. I was going to post about it so that I can get some details of what users are experiencing so that I can better troubleshoot the problem. At this pont, I suspect some trouble with connecting with the mySQL database that the forum uses. (Strangely, almost no one has said anything - strange considering the heavy level of usage.)

If you or anyone else experiences problems, please tell me what happened, and also please copy and post the error message you get (if any). ALSO< please go the main page of the site ( http://www.dsmtalk.com )and see if you have the same slowness or errors. I suspect you won't - which would supprt my theory about connectivity issues with the database.

It will be fixed eventually, don't worry - posting here with specifics about your access problems will certainly help me fix it faster. Thanks.

[Edited by WhoaTed on 07-02-2001 at 04:22 PM]
 
#3 ·
Errors

I also have cable modem and have noticed some problems recently. I didn't say anything because I thought that it was simply because of the number of users that are logged on at the same time....Basically the problems that I have experienced have been sluggish connection. With that I mean that when I click on a link to go to a post or forum, it takes on average 30-40 seconds to connect (and I am COMPLETELY serious about the time it takes). Also the past few days I have randomly received the "Unable to find server" error when trying to connect to the site. And like you said Ted, I tried connecting straight to http://www.dsmtalk.com instead of http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums like usual, but even then it still gave the same error. I usually just wait 5 minutes and then try again...Hope this helps in your hunt to find the problem with the site. (although I doubt it will)
 
#4 ·
But how about the http://www.dsmtalk.com page itself? Does the main page load quickly? Next time you experience problems in the forums, if you could just click on the main page (or type it in your browser's address field). During the heavy usage times, I think the database connectivity experiences problems wayyy before the server has problems delivering regular html files. In fact, I do not think the main page ever expereinces any slow down. I am just trying to confirm that the main page still works properly when the forums problems crop up.

I think all the calls to the database from the forums creates a bottleneck - which can be improved if that is the case.
 
#6 ·
Ditto here. CM and the main page is quick.

The rest of the site seem to be waiting for a db connection thread to finish processing....then it either resolves or gives a server not found error....only happens now and again though. For instance, right now its all quick across my T (at work).
 
#8 ·
Tevenor said:
Ditto here. CM and the main page is quick.

The rest of the site seem to be waiting for a db connection thread to finish processing....then it either resolves or gives a server not found error....only happens now and again though. For instance, right now its all quick across my T (at work).
exactly whats going on with me.
 
#11 ·
seems that the connection got alot quicker now on my side. It was also this fast yesterday. Hey WhoaTed, i just wanted to let you know how good of a job you and all the moderators are doing in keeping this site smoothly running. Been here since almost the beginning and have seen this site grow into what it is today. Good job everyone.
 
#12 ·
Thank you Frank... I have to also compliment the moderating team for doing such a great job. Many do not realize that once an interactive site hits a certain usage level, there are a whole host of problems and challenges that crop up. It is not just a matter of installing a message board and letting it run itself. Technical issues crop up regularly, at the most inconvenient of times :), and most importantly, some of our moderators spend MANY HOURS per week (even PER DAY sometimes) simply handling administrative functions, as opposed to talking about DSMs. Anyway, thanks for the compliment, and for giving me the oppourtunity to get on the soap box. :)

The connection settings to the DB have not been changed yet... I want the server admin to execute a few commands before I change anything. I am looking at next week sometime now. When things don't clog up, the forums run just great, which is what you experienced. Then when things get busy, the connection to the DB totally bottlenecks.
 
#16 ·
BTW, what happened to the Donation button, Ted? (I have a few bucks to spare again
The donation button was taken down after a grand total of six people or so donated (I'd have to recount to be sure - THANK YOU to the few generous souls that felt obliged to donate - one donor even just PayPal'd me money before there was even TALK of a donor button! - That may have in fact been you... I'd have to recheck my records. I do remember you as a donor.). I was CONVINCED by many DSMtalkers that they and others would donate, so I put it up (it was not my idea). I took it down after the less-than-expected usage because I did not want people to think that the money was pouring in. The button was effectively NOT being used. It is amazing how many people assume that because a donate button exists, or ad banners exist, that the money is just flowing in. In fact, this site operates at a deficit. I pay all shortfalls. A 35 GB per month bandwidth, 1,000 MB disk space, CPU intensive site is expensive to host. No matter what.

I feel that this forum offers an excellent opportunity for vendore to donate to the cause via advertising sponsorships and get exposure to DSM enthusiasts. I still think that, and several vendors have discovered that to be true. I just have not had the time to persue additional sponsors.... I hope to have more time to do so in the future.

Anyway, you, or anyone, can always sent a paypal donation to business@dsmtalk.com I appreciate the donations and email a quick thanks... but I don't post the names of the users that donate. I dislike the rare accusations of bias that are made because of the vendor sponsorships ... and I don't want it to start with the personal donations . There are no plans for the return of the donate button anytime soon. Thanks again!
 
#17 ·
Ted

I noticed something today when it got a little slow. It seems on occasion to be waiting on a perl script to excecute from the ad banner. Specifically the x16.net/cgi-bin/ads.pl perl file.

Just something I noticed.

-Sean
 
#19 ·
Hehheh....I am a Web Developer. I use everything. :)

The problem I noticed was on 5.5 Exploder. Same issue on 4.72 Netscrape.

[Correction: On Netscrape it has the same issue but not as bad when its slow. So the slowness is not browser specific.]

[Edited by Tevenor on 07-18-2001 at 12:23 PM]
 
#20 ·
I us IE 5.00. The banners (served from x16.net) NEVER slow my load time for the forums... if the banner is slow to load, I just go about my business reading and posting while the banner loads in the background. Seems like anytime I was advised of an issue with this it was from a Nutscrape user. There isnt much that can be done in the short run regarding the banner speed. I have gone through several scripts and servers to find a good combo (just to serve banners) and this combo is the best so far. In the future new combos will be tried. Hopefully it will not slow for you very often.
 
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