Slowness of the forum =/

[Mr_Moo]

I know ive said it MANY times b4, but its come to the point where its SOOOOOOOOO frustrating waiting for the ghey pages to load!

Examples of a decent forum (speed wise)

http://community.clubtheworld.com/index.php

http://forum.sly-clan.co.uk

And dont tell me its fine for yot lot cos it isnt!

[Mr_Moo]

i know this should be in the styling room but i aint got enought time to put it in there, at work and on me dinner

:roll:

My point taken yet? :P

[MattyWoo]

Yeah kevs explained before that his servers CPU is maxing out, its not physically possible to have it running quicker, especially at peak times!!
I know what he's talking about, my server at home goes mental with just me and my sister accessing the internet, just think what the NL server is like when 30 people are tryin to use it!!

[Mr_Moo]

Oooooooooooooooooo

:D

[Will]

stop moaning you cnut, kev puts in loads of hard work and it doesnt cost you any time or money :P

Go and join the bacon, also then you can enjoy all its pop ups, lmao

[Aragorn]

the server really shount be maxing out even with this amount of throughput unless its either a, old and slow or B heavily loaded with about 10 other sites running similar sites

most webservers are running high end dual or even quad cpu systems with 1GB + or ram so unless this is a box that you personally own you shouldnt be having probs - if its an ISP giv em a call and tell em itys dieing at peak times

i run phpBB (just upgraded from snitz) and was having a problem where the entire board would randomly die and wouldnt come back untill i phoned the isp and asked them to do a manual reboot of the server

turned out some other site had some dodgy code that was putting the php engine into a loop and win2kserver was capping its CPU time because it was using too much - it wasnt physically maxing out the CPU, win2k was actaully limiting it to stop the rest of the system becoming unstable - might be summat similar here

if its your own box whats the specs? might just be a case of throwing a ?55 athlon XP at the problem or maybe some more ram?

[Aragorn]

ok scrap most of that

just did some "dig"ing on these here unix boxen and found that this sites DNS is running from a company called hn.org - who specialise in dynamic DNS

a little more digging uncovers the fact that its actually being run from a nildram DSL connection

so the REAL reason it runs slow is that the DSL line only has a 288kbit upload and this will quickly be saturated with even a small number of users browsing the site

unfortunately without going to the extremities of a leased line (8k a year for a constant 2mbit stream) there are no ways to achieve any more upload bandwidth in the UK at present (even a 2meg DSL line only offers the same 288k upload as the 512k home service so that would be a waste of cash)

the only feasible way of speeding it up during peak times would be to move it to an ISP with a proper high bandwidth line(ie expensive), or persuade the DSL provider some how to up the upload cap (ie line bonding) which i seriously doubt they will do

[wisewood]

Yep.

Novaload at present is built on technology which is designed to run most effectively on a unix based server - and right now it runs on windows, which slows it down... also the server cpu is not particularly quick and since kev is working on a new server running a massively improved tech spec and Linux once novaload is swapped over the site will be like LIGHTENING on steroids :D

Like micky said - the site is much better now than when it was hosted externally - there was loads of lag and downtime before. :o

[MattyWoo]

Any ideas when this great wonderous change is happening???

[Mr_Moo]

I knew Kev was building a new server....

I love posting here, just gets very frustrating waiting for it to load.... :cry:

[Aragorn]

the upload bandwidth of the DSL line will still be a limiting factor if the site is under heavy load tho

and running under windows SHOULDNT be a problem - my phpbb is running on windows 2k as well

[?Marty?]

Mr Moo. Do what i do.

1 - Open two internet browser windows.

2 - Find porn on one. Novaload on the other.

3 - look at the porn while you're waiting for novaload to load.

That way, you will allways have a permanent hardon whilst posting on novaload. Like me.

[Davo]

of coarse php is gonna be a problem for windows 2k, its not dersigned for it, as u have to download the plug in on the server to use php with IIS.

i prefered the old forums anyway, lol

Just put up with it, now u could have the right to complain if u were paying for the right to use novaload but ur not so stop complaining.

its the same posts every week on here, im waiting for the insurance ones to be posted again.

now i reckon it was much better in the old times when i used to leave long speeches about mind games, and my psyco babble, used to get into arguments with ian and ste. At least the site was generally interesting then.

Now it just seems crap. i know i dont have to use the site, but i am deal with it. i might make a few enemies on here just to spice the site up lol

micky do u remember the good old times?

[kevw]

yawwwwwnnnnnnnnnnn :roll:

novaload used to be hosted with a company called Fasthosts (www.fasthosts.co.uk) they are the cream of the crap... so I shut down my hosting account with them (hosting over 30 sites) and scrapped my big plans of building up a company (was self-employed at the time) and got a job...

It took me a while to offload all the sites and organise alternative hosting with their owners, eventually I was left with only my own domains, so decided to stick novaload onto the server which I had, like Micky says, under my bed...

It is running Win2k with PHP, the problem is coming from the fact that we're using a mySQL database, which doesent seem to use the resources very well, see pic below...

http://www.novaload.net/files/kev/CPU_usage.jpg

The machine is an AMD k6-2 500 with 320mb RAM

I personnaly have not encountered any problems with it, while at work I regularly test it on a 64k ISDN line, There has never been any evidence to show insufficient bandwidth, unless someone shows me different...
The bandwidth usage does spike up at certain times throughout the day, lunch time and just turned 5pm seem to be regular...

Just as it happens, I tested an old copy of novaload (the old blue/red & white one) which is written in asp, with an access database, it was much much faster than the current site... this again was tested from work on the old ISDN line...

The reason novaload is hosted this way is mainly due to the fact that I pay for it, and I was getting fed up of paying for it... also, as many of you know, I like to mess around with things lol.

Also, as I have [said many times before] please somehow describe the symtoms your getting... anyone...
Is everything slow to load in general?
Is it the images that are slow to load? (deffo bandwidth probs then)
etc... etc...

Moo please send me a copy of a tracert to "novaload.net" if you can (and know how)... anyone else too please...

[Nova1.6]

i agree with kev, the CPU and the DVRT altinator and the starter motor all interact with the mother ship and use each Killer megahuge bite to deliver the bandwidth of a 79k modem to each line of intercell hotwires!
So neeerr!

[kevw]

I just read through what peeps have posted previously... wisewood, and Mick in particular...

It seems that the current setup is better than the one before, right?

So...
that means were kinda one step up the ladder as they say...

[wisewood]

kev - i have encountered the following problems recently - was gonna let you know about them but never got round to it. :oops:

The site sometimes runs very slowly, not just the images but loading pages, and often says the page could not be found because it takes so long. (timed out?)

Also, I have had pages which are half loaded and an error message produced on the page saying something like timed out blah blah blah and then an address to the file which timed out - C:\novaload\forum\general\ blah blah for example.

Not all the time - today it's running perfectly... just ever now and then - and usually in the mornings - and sometimes mid afternoon - 2pm - 4pm.
Which is quite strange as this is usually when it is quiet.

Hope this helps you mate. :D

[wisewood]

I just read through what peeps have posted previously... wisewood, and Mick in particular...
It seems that the current setup is better than the one before, right?


i would say it is definately better than before.
100% better... less down time, faster loading, and it even looks nicer and has some lovely new features :D

[kevw]

When I win the lottery i will gladly donate a T3 line to the site.

Upto now tho I have donated..
A lot of time.
The best line (connection) I can get.
A lot of money.
A server (ok its not shit hot but it does the job).
And various ofther stuff.

The site does NOT produce any money at all btw.

[Dave_Hay]

ungrateful bastards

your lucky this sites even running and you get the chance to use it.

im sure if every donated shitloads of money to kev hed easily make things better but he doesnt get paid for this, tis just a hobby.

ps HOW many times have people complained :roll:

[MattyWoo]

I suppose the only other way people that are moaning can improve it is by paying for membership and as Novaload isnt an actual club that aint gonna happen is it!! So stop moaning :P

[kevw]

Right im back at home again now...

Even with a 10mb connection to the server, it still lags when loading forum pages (ones that access the DB heavily)...

It is very quick however, but its not instant like the other stuff I have hosted!

The CPU usage peaks to 100% very regular, esp when theres a few browsing the forums...

So, techie people, any hardware donations will be greatly recieved lol.

I know 256k of upstream bandwidth isnt much, but it does (seem to) do the job at a relatively low(ish) cost...

[Fester]

ive never had any problems even on modem, not that i can recall anyway, so tip in some money or keep schtum

[Breeny]

Always been fine on my 56k aswell. Very occasionally the page will not load fully but that is down to the ISP, does it with other sites too.

[Aragorn]

your running IIS im guessing

im not too hot on webservers especially for php use

BUT if u were to switch over to apache and run mysql on there u might find it would lower the load a bit?

either that or a full blown linux/BSD setup

ive got a fwe mates who know thier stuff so i'll try and find out if its just a pure lack of horsepower or some bug/glitch in the way the IIS - PHP mash works together

[Aragorn]

ok just been chatting in IRC

first thing they think you should check - and i dont know EXACTLY what this means - is that your not using the EXE version of php, supposedly there is a faster DLL based version u should use??!?

he thinks the PC should have enough power as long as your not logging every single php and IIS request through the server, so make sure all the debug and loggin settings are turned off

if youve got a virus scanner installed - disable it and see what happens

he suggested that if that still dont work then u should shift over to apache and php

or dump windows altogether and move to BSD or linux

(@GingaNutz^): but ultimaly small china plate > windows as server

[?Marty?]

Have you tried using the site to generate money?

[?Marty?]

Corporate sponsorship. That's w2hat we need! If only, eh Kev?

Novaload, brought to you in association with ..... !? :D

[Phil_G]

* IRC is a service, not a right.


I think the same can be said for the site itself as well as the excellent chat room. thanks to kev and the admin team for thier continual hard work on the site

Also we would all do VERY well to remember the following.

* Remember, Kev is the King, suck up to him at all times :lol: :lol: :P :P

Cheers

Phil

[kevw]

lol...

We've never put any real effort into generating money, not enough time. We all have day jobs, and I know mine doesent leave me with much spare time... what time I do have is purely for chilling out...

I'll be doing less overtime after christmas and will have more time for novaload then!

Aragorn, the servers set-up as efficiently as it gets, PHP isnt the problem, the CPU usage only shoots up when theres a lot of database querys (mySQL) happening, Ive tried a few things, even accessing the mySQL DB through ASP with ODBC returns the same symptoms...

Anyway the new box is gonna be running Redhat, with a much better spec...
(I decided on Redhat coz its proven and I use it a lot in my line of work!), I'll most probably have the Linux box running the websites and IRC, and keep the Windows one for the mail and some of gizmos Ive got there...

Ive actually got another server here under my desk thats running Redhat, its a very low spec machine that I threw together with bits lying around, think its a Cyrix 166 or sumthing (very very poor), I use it for any Linux stuff Im playing with...

Cheers for the comments people... nice to know novaload has a techie side!

[Aragorn]

hrm, ok then

just the folk ive spoken to seem to think that 15-20 users accessing the DB shouldnt really be maxing out the CPU

did u check if there were any silly logging settings turned on?

and are u running any more services from this box?