Request for performance feedback on new site

[Handruin]

I have a test version of our site up on the new server. If you want to spend some time playing, you can connect to it here (http://67.222.3.121/~sfuser/forum/index.php). This has an older database import, but is the same version of our forum software. Everything will be deleted at some point so do not post anything important here. As I mentioned in the other thread, we'll be moving to our own VPS so that I have more control on the resources. We have access to 4 cores (Opteron 2214 HE) and the machines we are on use RAID 10 for their storage. The datacenter is now located in Texas and we'll be using the Colo4Dallas network.

If you want to do a speed test, click on this download speed link (http://67.222.3.121/~sfuser/dl_test/test.bin) and let me know what your average speed is and roughly how long it took you to download it.

Let me know what you think...

[Bozo]

Did the download. 8 seconds at 1.1mb/sec.

Bozo :joker:

[timwhit]

I ran a web link validator and it took the old site 2:02 to complete 500 links.

The new server completed in 30 seconds. So, if that's any indication it's about 4 times faster.

I can test it again when you switch over for good and see how it performs.

[P5-133XL]

18 seconds, and subjectively, it feels much quicker.

[Handruin]

Wow, that is a hell of a lot faster, Tim. We're also not sharing mysql with anyone which helps a ton. I've also done nothing to adjust the performance of mysql (since now I get root access to the virtual host). It's also using php 4 and I believe there are some performance benefits in php 5.

[ddrueding]

It downloaded here at pretty much my maximum DL speed (~11 seconds @ 500KB/s)

[ddrueding]

...and it is much, much faster just surfing around and posting crap.

[udaman]

If you want to do a speed test, click on this download speed link (http://67.222.3.121/%7Esfuser/dl_test/test.bin) and let me know what your average speed is and roughly how long it took you to download it.

Let me know what you think...

Geeezsuuus, holy E'fn Christ! This is the fastest dialup d/l I've ever seen! :p

7:54 sec for 10MB!!! (ooops, sorry, got too excited, I meant 7:54 minutes per Camino under OS X 10.3.9, cause even Safari 3.01 under 10.5.2 didn't seem much faster on a dialup connection on my older lappy :( )

I've seen software d/l's start at the browser estimated ~22kb/sec, but they always slow down pretty fast after the 1st MB or so, dropping down to more typical 5-6kbs range. This one ran ~21kbs the entire d/l. impressive. I could have even beat the 4hr time-out on the dialup acct. and d/l'd the OS X 10.5.2 184MB update...nah, was a little under 1hr on a slow DSL connection and that was bad enough.

10yrs from now, they might actually install that ancient FIOS tech in my neighborhood, maybe after another LA riot?


:tgif::thumbright::thumbright::thumbright:

[timwhit]

Uda, can't you get ADSL or cable? If you can't get either of those there is always satellite.

[ddrueding]

Around here we also have a local wireless company, almost DSL speeds for %125 the cost.

[sechs]

It downloaded here at pretty much my maximum DL speed (~11 seconds @ 500KB/s)
I didn't get much past half of my maximum, but nonetheless, the site is far more responsive. I don't expect to be downloading a lot of 10MB files anyway....

[LunarMist]

The download speed is fine, being maxed out on my mediocre connection.

[timwhit]

Testing the maximum download speed of a single file is only a very small part of ISP performance. That's why I ran the link validator, because it goes through the whole process of requesting a URL, waiting for a response, downloading the source, finding every link on that page and then sending in new requests for each new URL that it finds. It also opens multiple threads to the server, which is similar to multiple simultaneous users. I believe that this better represents actual performance we will see on the new server. This test also takes into account processor power since all those php pages needs to be run, all the DB queries need to be run, etc. It also takes into account response time over several hundred requests.

I should have a commercial link validator in the next week or so, if you want me to run some larger tests. There are also many other server performance tools that you could try out to see exactly how much better the performance is.

If you want to play with this you could try out Apache JMeter (http://jakarta.apache.org/jmeter/).

[Drakantus]

Downloaded about 1MB/sec here. So I guess it took about 10 seconds.

[e_dawg]

I've had intermittent performance problems -- usually when trying to edit a post, during which it times out until the 5 minute period has elapsed.

But these days, including the last couple weeks, i have noticed a general slowdown on SF that I haven't seen with any of the other sites that I frequent. I've had a couple double posts recently, which rarely happens to me. Saw one from dd too a couple days ago.

[ddrueding]

Yup, it's dragging. I'm sure Doug will get us some place better when he can. It has only been unusable a couple times.

[Santilli]

161 KB/sec, on a 1.2 mb/sec connection...

[e_dawg]

Maybe it's not so much the connection speed, gs... perhaps the database or database server is getting bogged down?

[ddrueding]

That is what it seems like to me. The page loads fast enough, if it loads at all.

[LunarMist]

It is very sluggish tonight. :(

[LunarMist]

It is very sluggish tonight. :(

[LunarMist]

It is very sluggish tonight. :(

[LunarMist]

It is very sluggish tonight. :(

[LunarMist]

It is very sluggish tonight. :(

[LunarMist]

It is very sluggish tonight. :(

[Handruin]

I'll admit I've been procrastinating the move for us and spend the time to figure out the remaining steps to move everything over. The new server is in place, I just need to find a block of several hours to test everything some more and then transfer everything over to it.

[ddrueding]

No worries. It's not like we're going to fire you or anything ;)

[blakerwry]

just FYI, I tried to submit a post and it took over a minute (likely 2 or 3) to complete... pages are now also loading slowly (although not as slowly) at around 30-60 seconds per page.

------------------
E:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>ping storageforum.net -n 10

Pinging storageforum.net [64.18.205.119] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=71ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=69ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=73ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=76ms TTL=48

Ping statistics for 64.18.205.119:
Packets: Sent = 10, Received = 10, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 69ms, Maximum = 76ms, Average = 70ms
------------------


Seems that the connectivity is fine, the server is just slow...

[blakerwry]

just FYI, I tried to submit a post and it took over a minute (likely 2 or 3) to complete... pages are now also loading slowly (although not as slowly) at around 30-60 seconds per page.

------------------
E:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>ping storageforum.net -n 10

Pinging storageforum.net [64.18.205.119] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=71ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=69ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=73ms TTL=48
Reply from 64.18.205.119: bytes=32 time=76ms TTL=48

Ping statistics for 64.18.205.119:
Packets: Sent = 10, Received = 10, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 69ms, Maximum = 76ms, Average = 70ms
------------------


Seems that the connectivity is fine, the server is just slow...

[blakerwry]

I really only did click submit once... Any double posting is an error on the part of the forum software.... no. really.... but seriously...

[LunarMist]

I really only did click submit once... Any double posting is an error on the part of the forum software.... no. really.... but seriously...

Really, how could that happen? :D

And yes, the server appears to be hosed.

[blakerwry]

I'm going to guess a timeout and retry on the part of php

[Handruin]

They do a large backup every night. I've complained in the past, they said too bad. I need to get us moved over to the new server and this will no longer be an issue.

[Bozo]

They do a large backup every night. I've complained in the past, they said too bad. I need to get us moved over to the new server and this will no longer be an issue.


Thanks for all your work on the site!

Bozo :joker:

[Handruin]

Thanks Bozo, but I haven't been doing that much. ;) I'm already behind on migrating us to a more stable environment. At least the spam has mostly been halted.

[LunarMist]

New server or new hosting company?

[Handruin]

New hosting company (and new server). I'm paying for a VPS service so that we are provisioned resources so that we don't get trampled on by others.

[Handruin]

I'm in contact with the guys at my new hosting company and they are helping with the transfer right now. I'll let you know when we are switching over, but I'm working on it with them.

[udaman]

I'm in contact with the guys at my new hosting company and they are helping with the transfer right now. I'll let you know when we are switching over, but I'm working on it with them.
:thumbleft:

Last night @3AM your time, I did a preview post, then when finished editing and hitting the submit button...the whole site froze (transferring to new server?), waited for several minutes before my browser came up with a 404 error message window from the new/old server?

Came back 10-20 minutes later and saw my post at the top of the P&B forum, so figured it went through after all.

Come here this morning, looks like it got lost in the fray :(

at least I didn't hit the submit button several times and get the dreaded double post ;).

[timwhit]

Seems much faster, did you transfer the site?

[Handruin]

No, it wasn't moved yet. I would have mentioned it if it was done. They ran into problems moving this site because this current host was timing out from being overloaded (surprise surprise). I'll be working on it more soon and I'll let you guys know.

[udaman]

As previous night noted, last night @2AM your time, forums where inaccessible (not sure for how long as I just left and did not return...previous night was inaccessible for less than an hour or so), I could get the index page, but could not go into any subforums.

[Handruin]

They do a large backup every night. I've complained in the past, they said too bad. I need to get us moved over to the new server and this will no longer be an issue.

^^^It's because of their backups. I know it's a pain, and I'm working on moving us over.

[udaman]

^^^It's because of their backups. I know it's a pain, and I'm working on moving us over.

What I thought, but kind of weird you lose a post while they're doing the backups. My post took, was displayed, thread moved to top of the P&B, then later after site was accessible again, poof, post gone.

[sechs]

They do a large backup every night. I've complained in the past, they said too bad. I need to get us moved over to the new server and this will no longer be an issue.
I'm officially calling this old. These guys are schmucks.

I actually thought for a second that maybe my Internet was foo'd up.

[LunarMist]

I having much difficulty tonight with the site. Anyone else notice?

[ddrueding]

Yup, I'm dying as well. In addition to some double posts, it's actually timing out from time to time.