Why is the site always slow?

[Stereodude]

Am I the only one who finds SF slow? It seems like no matter from where or when I get on the site it's very frequently quite sluggish to respond. Today seems even worse than normal.

As an example of what I'm talking about it can take anywhere from 5 to 10's of seconds after I click a link before anything happens.

Edit: Now after posting this the site is nice and quick :confused:

[jtr1962]

I've been experiencing the same thing for a long time but ironically today everything appears fast. :scratch:

[ddrueding]

Typically it is a bit slower than others, but reasonable (1-2 seconds). Just now it was timing out on me.

Edit: Right now it is quick.

[P5-133XL]

Sometimes the site is very bad (typically at night): I think that's when they do backups. You can tell when it is at its worst when there are lots of double posts. Most of the time it is sluggish, but acceptable. Right now it is quick. The pattern has been that way for years.

[LunarMist]

It is practically hopeless today. :( This is the first day I've had functioning internet for a while, yet it has been lousy for a few weeks. I think Doug is working on another IP.

[ddrueding]

Right now it is kicking butt for me (18:39PST)

[LunarMist]

Sure, it is fine at the moment. The slowdowns are intermittent and always seem to occur when I am trying to reply to a thread. Very annoying.

[Handruin]

I need to figure out how to get the new site up and going. I think it's going to mean some downtime for a day or two when I do the switch.

[ddrueding]

I don't know if I can hold my breath that long! ;)

[timwhit]

I need to figure out how to get the new site up and going. I think it's going to mean some downtime for a day or two when I do the switch.

Can we access the new site through an IP address or something during that time?

[Handruin]

I'll see if it's possible. I tried a few things last night and when I try connecting via IP, it gets redirected to the domain name which obviously doesn't help if propagation hasn't yet occurred.

All the accounts I have are already copied to the new server with the bulk of their data. The issue with the downtime is getting the changes moved over and then changing my name servers to point to the new hosting provider.

[timwhit]

I'll see if it's possible. I tried a few things last night and when I try connecting via IP, it gets redirected to the domain name which obviously doesn't help if propagation hasn't yet occurred.

All the accounts I have are already copied to the new server with the bulk of their data. The issue with the downtime is getting the changes moved over and then changing my name servers to point to the new hosting provider.

I think downtime will be necessary to move all the data, but once that is done, the major delay will be waiting for the DNS records to update. If you schedule the downtime for the data move and then tell us when we can connect via IP it will probably work, as long as it doesn't try to forward us back to the domain.

We could also update our HOSTS file to point storageforum.net at the new IP, then forwarding wouldn't break anything.

[ddrueding]

I know that a DNS change can take 48 hours to replicate globally, but I typically see the results within hours. You could make it even faster by changing the TTL of the DNS entries.

[Handruin]

Just to keep you guys up to date, I'm planning for the end of this month to make our transition to the new server.

[timwhit]

Just to keep you guys up to date, I'm planning for the end of this month to make our transition to the new server.

Awesome. Thanks Doug.

[timwhit]

The board is extremely slow right now. About 3-4 minutes for a page to load.

[LunarMist]

This site is slow for me now, but other sites are not. Am I the only one?

[Stereodude]

It's seemed a little slow at times recently, but seems ok now.

[ddrueding]

It has taken a hit in the last week or so. Not nearly as bad as it used to be, but I'm actually seeing pages load now.

[BingBangBop]

I haven't seen any slowdowns recently.

[Handruin]

I think the drive ran out of space. I'll clean it up tonight. If it still seems slow, I'll reboot the system.

[LunarMist]

The slowdowns are intermittent and not nearly as severe as those last year. However, I thought it best to comment now before the situation deteriorates. The new host has been great overall.

[Handruin]

After 735 days of uptime, I decided to restart the entire server. The site seems to be running ok from what I can tell. Let me know if you notice problems again.

[ddrueding]

That is a healthy time between reboots. Not a record, but well above average certainly.

[LunarMist]

That is a healthy time between reboots. Not a record, but well above average certainly.

It has been nearly two years already since the new host was implemented? Wow. :cyclopsani:

[timwhit]

It has been nearly two years already since the new host was implemented? Wow. :cyclopsani:

No. I believe Doug had the new host for quite some time before moving SF onto it.

[Stereodude]

The site seems lightning fast since that reboot. :thumbright:

[LunarMist]

:bravo:It is back to normal. Great.

[Handruin]

No. I believe Doug had the new host for quite some time before moving SF onto it.

I did have it for a while, you're correct. I procrastinated the move for far too long.

[CityK]

wow! For over a year and a half (maybe more), the site has been dog ass slow for me* (just getting to the site would take ~10s). Now its back to how it used to be, and as fast as all other sites. Note to Doug: reboot server more frequently.


* I really don't understand the expression "dog ass slow", given most dogs I've ever encountered are several times faster then myself

[LunarMist]

I only noticed the slowdown a week or so ago.

[Handruin]

Wow, I'm really surprised that the reboot fixed that issue for you. Let me know if it happens again and I'll reboot.

[timwhit]

Rather than restarting the whole server you might try restarting Apache using a cronjob. Apache is designed to be restarted quickly and frequently.

[timwhit]

You can also try setting MaxRequestsPerChild (http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/mod/mpm_common.html#maxrequestsperchild) to a lower value in httpd.conf to configure how long httpd will allow each child thread to run before recycling.

[LunarMist]

No. I believe Doug had the new host for quite some time before moving SF onto it.

10.5 mo. if I calculated correctly. :study:

[Handruin]

Rather than restarting the whole server you might try restarting Apache using a cronjob. Apache is designed to be restarted quickly and frequently.

I have restarted apache several times since we've been on this server. That has fixed a few issues we've seen during that time. I checked to see what the value was for MaxRequestsPerChild and I couldn't find it defined within the httpd.conf, so I'm assuming that means apache uses the default value of 1000.

[CityK]

ugh ... seems to have slowed down a far bit again -- took about 10s again just to get on the site...first couple of page loads were also slow ... though, the last couple of page loads have been fine :dunno:

[Handruin]

Think it has anything to do with DNS resolution? Can you try accessing via IP and see if this does anything different:

http://67.222.3.121/~handruin

I can try rebooting again to see if it fixes the issue. I'm not seeing any slowdown from my location like you've describe.

[CityK]

Think it has anything to do with DNS resolution? Well, that's what I was thinking for the past year or so, but once you rebooted the server, it became a speed demon again. I just don't know how highly coincidental the two events could be.


I'm not seeing any slowdown from my location like you've describe.yep, no one seemed to report the same problem I had been observing over that year and a half, so I was thinking that it was simply DNS related ... but, now wondering if there is more to it then that.


Can you try accessing via IP and see if this does anything different:

http://67.222.3.121/~handruin (http://67.222.3.121/%7Ehandruin)yes, I will test it out over a couple of days.


I can try rebooting again to see if it fixes the issue.Meh..if we can't figure it out easily enough, I wouldn't want you to spend any much time on it ... I'll just suffer with the lag/wait .... woe is me :pale: ... but I'm sure I'll get over it :grin:

[timwhit]

Think it has anything to do with DNS resolution? Can you try accessing via IP and see if this does anything different:

http://67.222.3.121/~handruin

I can try rebooting again to see if it fixes the issue. I'm not seeing any slowdown from my location like you've describe.

I just got redirected back to storageforum.net when I went to that URL. Try this instead: http://67.222.3.121/~handruin/forum/

[CityK]

timwhit's supplied address has worked fine, every time ... the regular way/address -- not so fine

[Bozo]

Isn't there a way to flush the DNS cache on your computer?

( don't know if thats right )

[timwhit]

Isn't there a way to flush the DNS cache on your computer?

( don't know if thats right )

In Windows: ipconfig /flushdns
In Linux: restart nscd

[CityK]

rcnscd restart is ineffective in regards to the "problem"

hmm, I'm wondering if my dd-wrt based router is doing something wakey with the address .... I do have an issue with Google (and a couple of other sites) periodically that I know is related to the firmware ... [just don't know exactly what ... nor that knowledgeable in regards to networking stuff ... or inspired to dig deeper] .. so that's about my only other thought as what might be the problem

I'll live with the status quo...besides, I can use timwhit's provided link from now on, which always provides a "bang on" connection.

[LunarMist]

Speed is the same for me regardless of the link. :p

[timwhit]

Cityk, have you tried specifying a DNS server directly on your machine?

[CityK]

sorry for the delay (was on holidays)

yes, have tried changing DNS in the past (was ineffective at the time). Will look into it again soon.

[CougTek]

Access to the forum is currently very slow. I don't know if someone else experiences the slowdown too, but it is annoying.

[Stereodude]

I've been getting long waits for the past few weeks at times myself.

[Handruin]

I haven't noticed anything huge, but I'll take a look tonight and give it a reboot to see if things improve.

[Stereodude]

FWIW, today it seems quite quick. :confused:

[Handruin]

I don't really know. We are in a VPS environment and maybe something went bad with the setup or software. I don't really know how much someone else's virtual environment can affect ours if at all. The network could have been having issues also. I get notifications but don't recall seeing anything in the past few days.

[CougTek]

For what it's worth, the forum restarted to be slow at times for the last three days. It is intermittent.

[MaxBurn]

I'm getting it once and a while now too. Seemed to be the main forums like pub and computers but then one thread took like 30 seconds to come up too. Course now it is fast as ever.

[LunarMist]

The site is slow and stalled when I tried to post a reply. Then the post appeared in triplicate. Something is amiss. :(

[Handruin]

I actually rebooted the entire setup 3 days ago, but it doesn't seem to have made a difference. I'll have to start looking more at their network status and see if their having issues with the server.

[timwhit]

I haven't noticed anything wrong. Have you?

[ddrueding]

No problems here.

[Handruin]

I've noticed an occasional lengthy time to load a page or two, but nothing that's bothered me or consistent. I also may not be visiting as frequently as others are. I've been very busy with home reconstruction (much like you ddrueding).

[Striker]

The site is pretty slow right now.
I noticed LM post was about the same time last night. Is there something running on the server every night at 9EST that's causing it?

[LunarMist]

It was struggling a while ago, too.

[Handruin]

It seems ok now. I wasn't on here earlier so I didn't see it happen.

[CougTek]

The site is sluggish righ now. There's definetly something happening at this time of the day.

[LunarMist]

Yes it was. I don't know what the deal is with the host.

[Pradeep]

The site is pretty slow right now.
I noticed LM post was about the same time last night. Is there something running on the server every night at 9EST that's causing it?

Potentially the opening of a backup window that increases load on network or system.

[LunarMist]

It is still intermittently slow in the evenings.

[sechs]

It is still intermittently slow in the evenings....Apparently depending on where you are, since it's always "evening" somewhere....

[Handruin]

I did contact support tonight to look into some of the problems. I logged in and one of the management panels was missing all the controls. They had to reboot them and now that's working again.

[BingBangBop]

I think a good objective measure of frequency of slow periods and their seriousness is the number of duplicate posts that happen. A good running setup will post quickly enough that people do not feel the need to press the submit button again. That really only shows a fraction of the problem though because most threads have far more passive readers than posters. So you know that there are serious problems, and need to do something about them, when duplicate posts start showing up with consistency

It would be interesting to see if one could plot duplicate threads over time to see if you can find any long-term patterns.

[LunarMist]

...Apparently depending on where you are, since it's always "evening" somewhere....

CDT, which is close enough for NA viewers.

[Handruin]

Verizon is calling tomorrow to discuss the cost of their business service. I may have more information after that.

[Handruin]

I'm noticing the site being very slow right now. I don't know yet what's causing it.

[Striker]

It was very slow this morning at about 8:20 EST.
It's more tolerable now at 8:39 EST.

[LunarMist]

It is very slow now. :(

[Handruin]

Strange, because for me right now it seems pretty fast. :confused:

[Handruin]

I've tried rebooting the system. I've also opened a ticket for performance problems to see if they can check into the hardware of the machine we're on. Since we're on a vps, there are others on this system. We're supposed to have a guaranteed slice of the resources, but maybe something happened.

[Bozo]

Could this help? (http://news.yahoo.com/s/mashable/20101103/tc_mashable/google_helps_autotune_your_web_server)

[LunarMist]

It's really slow now. Is it only me?

[Stereodude]

Seems quick now...

[LunarMist]

SF has been fine lately. I'm never certain of the problem. I know that some sites are plenty fast when SR is slow.

What was that deal with the internet being composed of a series of tubes? Perhaps something is clogged. :rofl:

[LunarMist]

Right now it is a sluggo. :(

[LunarMist]

Right now it is a sluggo. :(

Right now it is a sluggo. (

[Mercutio]

The site has been horrible for the last hour or so. This page took about six minutes to load so that I could post this.

[LunarMist]

It sure was awful this morning, but is better now.

[Handruin]

There was some internet outage:


Here is the message that has just been posted:
***************
It appears that there is a problem on the link between Level3 and Colo4Dallas. Here is a copy of the reply received from them:

*********
We experiencing network issues at this time, we will provide an update as soon
as information becomes available.
*********

This thread will be updated as soon as any additional status notification will be received from Colo4Dallas.



An FIB TCAM exhaustion issue was experienced this morning on the Premium Network. The initial incident resulted in a small number of routes entering a software-switched state. However, as the morning went on, this issue cascaded and required rolling reboots of our border routers.

At this time, the issue has been resolved.

[LunarMist]

My FIB TCAM was feeling exhausted this morning too after clinking refresh a few dozen times. :)

[LunarMist]

It is very slow this evening.

[Handruin]

The site seems to be quicker than normal for me right now. Maybe something just happened and it's done?

[LunarMist]

The slowdowns come and go. It was fast and then slowed again a couple of minutes ago. I don't think there is anything wrong with my system because other sites are loading quickly at the same times. Sorry if it sounds like I'm complaining.

[Handruin]

No, you're not complaining. I need to find a cheaper host that doesn't have all these issues. As it is, I don't really want to pay for hosting any more. I don't have the time to figure this stuff out.

[BingBangBop]

No, you're not complaining. I need to find a cheaper host that doesn't have all these issues. As it is, I don't really want to pay for hosting any more. I don't have the time to figure this stuff out.

Is this simply an indirect way of passing the hat to pay for the site? Is it that you are not interested in the job any longer and want someone else to take over?

[Handruin]

Is this simply an indirect way of passing the hat to pay for the site? Is it that you are not interested in the job any longer and want someone else to take over?

It was a complicated statement. I don't have the will/time to track down why this host is having performance issues at odd hours, nor do I have the time to try a bunch of other hosting service to figure out which ones would be better. In part I'm not feeling like the money spent on this current host is worth it any more. I'm not indirectly asking anyone to pay for the site, but I've also recently (in the past few months) been debating not wanting to run/manage this site any more.

[LunarMist]

Oh that is terrible. First the MBF now this. :cry: Anything that I can do in the next months?

[ddrueding]

Well, I'm sure many here would be happy to contribute to keep the place alive (as many have in the past). I would volunteer my services to keep the place running, but I do not have the necessary skills. Perhaps additional steps could be taken to reduce the workload?

[timwhit]

I am happy to help as well, monetarily and with time.

[Handruin]

Oh that is terrible. First the MBF now this. :cry: Anything that I can do in the next months?

There is nothing terrible happening. I wouldn't just turn the site off without at least making efforts to offering it to someone else withing the community to continue. That would be a huge dick move. I haven't made up my mind one way or another, I was just speaking out loud. There's nothing to worry about at the moment.

[ddrueding]

We can start discussing ways to make it easier for Doug and faster for all of us.

Require registration to start with an e-mail to a mod?
Colo a dedicated server?

I'm assuming the bulk of the admin duties are dealing with SPAMers?
This place is important to me. I would happily send $10-25/mo to make it better, and could donate a rather beastly machine for the purpose.

[Handruin]

We can start discussing ways to make it easier for Doug and faster for all of us.

Require registration to start with an e-mail to a mod?
Colo a dedicated server?

I'm assuming the bulk of the admin duties are dealing with SPAMers?
This place is important to me. I would happily send $10-25/mo to make it better, and could donate a rather beastly machine for the purpose.

I looked into colocation many times but the cost of the service was the issue, not the hardware, though I do appreciate the offer to donate a beastly machine. If we can find a reasonable colocation area, maybe we can build a dedicated machine through donations or something?

Spammers are an issue and I've been trying to find better ways to reduce them. There are improvements that can be made. I spent a few hours last Saturday troubleshooting some code, but I made no changes or progress yet. I have a list of things I need to change/implement to make it a little better.

This topic should move to its own thread for better visibility.

[ddrueding]

Not sure what to call it? We already have a "changes..." thread as well?

Perhaps "2011 refresh"?

[timwhit]

spent a few hours last Saturday troubleshooting some code, but I made no changes or progress yet. I have a list of things I need to change/implement to make it a little better.

If you want help I have a decent amount of PHP development experience (though Java is much preferred for me).

[Handruin]

If you want help I have a decent amount of PHP development experience (though Java is much preferred for me).

Thanks timwhit, I'll let you know. The problem is more related to figuring out the vbulletin environment more-so than php specifically. I haven't spent enough time with their plugin system yet to call it quits. The forum doesn't run anything which contains java, so there's nothing to work on there.

Which leads me to my next issue. Due to some fiasco with vbulletin changing owners and a change in their licensing structure, I've not upgraded anything in a while. Since they've migrated to version 4.x, they've cut off support and updates to 3.8 owners unless if we buy a license for 4.x. I don't feel the need to spend several hundred dollars to upgrade to the latest version because we don't really need any of the new features and changes.

Which leaves me at a loss on how to update and advance. One alternative would be to move over to an open source forum software that has continued development and support. I would like to change as little as possible because I know people don't like change. I also don't want to change just for the sake of changing, but we should be getting updates to software as they find issues.

Another complication is I really like the plug in I'm using right now for spam management. They even have updates but they require vbulletin 4.x which puts me out of luck unless I take the code and hack it to work with this current version.

[Handruin]

I've tried to update a few items and I also made some changes to the database server to make use of more memory. I hope it'll help the performance a bit.

[timwhit]

I've done some admin work with phpBB3. It has a large community of developers and many free plugins. I bet there are even vBulletin to phpBB3 migration scripts out there.

[Handruin]

I'm going to setup a demo of phpbb3 and try importing our database. The area where I would need to research and possibly receive help with is the registration system.

Upon registration of new accounts I would want the username, IP address, and email checked against an API to see if they exist in the StopForumSpam database. I understand the code which does this now in vbulletin, but I'd need it to do the same in phpbb3.

[Stereodude]

I just wanted to post and say I appreciate all the work / time / effort / money Doug has put into the forum and will help out in any way I can.

[time]

I bet there are even vBulletin to phpBB3 migration scripts out there.

Yep (http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=1722325). At least one person on the second last page of that thread successfully converted from VB3.82 to phpBB3. HTH.

[Handruin]

Yep (http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=1722325). At least one person on the second last page of that thread successfully converted from VB3.82 to phpBB3. HTH.

I actually have been running that all morning to test an import. :-) Sadly it failed with this error that i need to track down.



General Error
SQL ERROR [ mysqli ]

Out of range value adjusted for column 'poll_option_id' at row 1 [1264]

SQL

insert into phpbb_poll_options (poll_option_id,topic_id,poll_option_text,poll_opt ion_total) values(128,6666,'Yes',9)

BACKTRACE

FILE: includes/db/mysqli.php
LINE: 163
CALL: dbal->sql_error()

FILE: install/convertors/functions_vb30.php
LINE: 56
CALL: dbal_mysqli->sql_query()

FILE: install/install_convert.php(1654) : eval()'d code
LINE: 2
CALL: vb_import_polloption()

FILE: install/install_convert.php
LINE: 1654
CALL: eval()

FILE: install/install_convert.php
LINE: 799
CALL: install_convert->jump()

FILE: install/install_convert.php
LINE: 203
CALL: install_convert->convert_data()

FILE: install/index.php
LINE: 409
CALL: install_convert->main()

FILE: install/index.php
LINE: 286
CALL: module->load()

[time]

Doug, vBulletin upgrade pricing is $175 + $80/year for email support.

I'm guessing that you've become increasingly unhappy about the product or the company over time?

[time]

Sadly it failed with this error that i need to track down.

Casting problem?

[Handruin]

Doug, vBulletin upgrade pricing is $175 + $80/year for email support.

I'm guessing that you've become increasingly unhappy about the product or the company over time?

I'm actually happy with the forum we're using right now. I didn't like the events that unfolded when they sold the company. The move to vbulletin 4.0 (at that time) wasn't much of an upgrade for what they were charging and then they required the larger upgrade price in order to even get the older forum updates. For me to even get patches and updates to 3.8.x (which is where we are), I'd have to pay the full upgrade. I'm happy to consider the latest version of 4.1.x but I was making a guess people would hate how it looks.

[LunarMist]

I could donate a couple hundred dollars in June.

[Handruin]

Casting problem?
I don't think it was a casting issue. I looked in the DB and that phpbb3 field is set to tinyint(4) and the value the converter tried inserting was '128,6666'. I'll need to see why the value is so high or maybe something was parsed incorrectly.

[Handruin]

I'm wrong, the poll_option_id value was within the correct range.

(poll_option_id,topic_id,poll_option_text,poll_opt ion_total) values(128,6666,'Yes',9)

[Handruin]

I tried to manually add the value into the database and I do get an error:

1 row(s) inserted.
Warning: #1264 Out of range value adjusted for column 'poll_option_id' at row 1

it is out of range:
tinyint allows for a value between -128 and 127 when signed.

[Handruin]

Google found me the fix (http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopic.php?p=12498695#p12498695).

[Bozo]

If there is anything we can do to help, please let us know.

What are the hardware requirements for a web site server?

[time]

i.e. you were inadvertently trying to cast a SmallInt as a TinyInt.

Out of curiosity, is the value 128 because it's part of a sequence for all possible poll options in the data? Cause on the face of it PhpBB is using a compound key of topic_id + poll_option_id instead. I guess it shouldn't matter because the key will still be unique.

[Handruin]

If there is anything we can do to help, please let us know.

What are the hardware requirements for a web site server?

Thanks Bozo. The requirements are rather minimal. One to two CPUs (2-3GHz), 512MB-1GB memory and 30-100GB of disk space (RAID 1 preferred) and less than 100GB transfer per month.

[Handruin]

i.e. you were inadvertently trying to cast a SmallInt as a TinyInt.

Out of curiosity, is the value 128 because it's part of a sequence for all possible poll options in the data? Cause on the face of it PhpBB is using a compound key of topic_id + poll_option_id instead. I guess it shouldn't matter because the key will still be unique.

I haven't looked into what it's actually for, but the number range seems rather small to me. I was able to complete the conversion and things seem to be working. If you want to check it out, it's here (http://www.storageforum.net/phpBB3/index.php).

[time]

What are the hardware requirements for a web site server?

It really isn't practical or affordable for us to use our own hardware. Rack space at an ISP ain't cheap and they may not allow anyone onsite to maintain the hardware.

[Handruin]

We can start discussing ways to make it easier for Doug and faster for all of us.

Require registration to start with an e-mail to a mod?
Colo a dedicated server?

I'm assuming the bulk of the admin duties are dealing with SPAMers?
This place is important to me. I would happily send $10-25/mo to make it better, and could donate a rather beastly machine for the purpose.


I looked into colocation many times but the cost of the service was the issue, not the hardware, though I do appreciate the offer to donate a beastly machine. If we can find a reasonable colocation area, maybe we can build a dedicated machine through donations or something?

Spammers are an issue and I've been trying to find better ways to reduce them. There are improvements that can be made. I spent a few hours last Saturday troubleshooting some code, but I made no changes or progress yet. I have a list of things I need to change/implement to make it a little better.

This topic should move to its own thread for better visibility.


If there is anything we can do to help, please let us know.

What are the hardware requirements for a web site server?


It really isn't practical or affordable for us to use our own hardware. Rack space at an ISP ain't cheap and they may not allow anyone onsite to maintain the hardware.


David also offered hardware, but like time mentioned, it's not the hardware or cost of hardware, it's absolutely the hosting which is expensive. I did look up some colocation hosting in Mass last night and it looked to cost around $150/month for bare minimal space (1U) and very limited bandwidth (less than 5Mb/sec).

[Stereodude]

What about hosting at home on your FIOS?

[Handruin]

What about hosting at home on your FIOS?

I explored that at one time, but my concern would be reliability. I recently had an outage when the cable fell off the poll some how and it took FIOS about a week to get it fixed. This isn't a normal thing, but an example of how long the site could be down. I can investigate this option again. I expect it would cost a bit more than paying for hosting, but if I applied what I pay now into my internet bill, it might only be slightly more.

[Stereodude]

I'd go for the don't ask don't tell policy. Just start hosting with your current plan and let them complain to you if they actually notice. Then you can play dumb, apologize, and pay the extra.

[Handruin]

I'd go for the don't ask don't tell policy. Just start hosting with your current plan and let them complain to you if they actually notice. Then you can play dumb, apologize, and pay the extra.

Since my current plan is DHCP enabled, what's the best way to manage the domain name updates in a case like this? I'm currently doing this with a dynDNS service so I know it works fine, but it's a made up DNS name. I can give it a try, I don't think we consume that much bandwidth if there is a way for DNS to be updated when DHCP changes.

[Handruin]

Is this what I'd need to use (http://www.dyndns.com/services/dns/custom/)? My router already integrates with this service, so any time DHCP changes it could apply the change to DNS.

[Howell]

Since my current plan is DHCP enabled, what's the best way to manage the domain name updates in a case like this? I'm currently doing this with a dynDNS service so I know it works fine, but it's a made up DNS name. I can give it a try, I don't think we consume that much bandwidth if there is a way for DNS to be updated when DHCP changes.

Custom DYNDNS supports updating from an agent.

[Howell]

Is this what I'd need to use (http://www.dyndns.com/services/dns/custom/)? My router already integrates with this service, so any time DHCP changes it could apply the change to DNS.

Yes, that's what I use too.

[Handruin]

$30/year seems reasonable for this service. Maybe I'll give it a try with a temporary domain name that you guys can try accessing and see if the performance will be reasonable. I have a dedicated machine I can use for this (at least a little while until I figure out a better setup).

I'll need to start a new post regarding that once I have something setup. I'll see if I can get this going Sunday.

[Howell]

$30/year seems reasonable for this service. Maybe I'll give it a try with a temporary domain name that you guys can try accessing and see if the performance will be reasonable. I have a dedicated machine I can use for this (at least a little while until I figure out a better setup).

I'll need to start a new post regarding that once I have something setup. I'll see if I can get this going Sunday.

You can go ahead and set everything up at dyn and just not change dns at your registrar yet.

[Handruin]

You can go ahead and set everything up at dyn and just not change dns at your registrar yet.

Sure, but then how do we test this? Just use one of their dynamic names for now or give out an IP?

[Howell]

Sure, but then how do we test this? Just use one of their dynamic names for now or give out an IP?

We can modify our hosts file.

You will want to use their DNS servers for resolution for an authentic testing experience.

[Stereodude]

That sound like too much trouble...

FWIW, the one domain I have is registered with NameCheap. They allow updating the IP dynamically as part of the cost of the domain (~$10 year). My router supports their update "protocol" so it updates the IP (when it rarely changes). So, depending on who you have storageforum.net registered with you may not have to pay anything extra.

[Handruin]

That sound like too much trouble...

FWIW, the one domain I have is registered with NameCheap. They allow updating the IP dynamically as part of the cost of the domain. My router supports their update "protocol" so it updates the IP (when it rarely changes). So, depending on who you have storageforum.net registered with you may not have to pay anything extra.

I'll take a look into that also, thanks for the idea. I can always move my domain name to NameCheap if that option will work for me. I'll have to see if it's possible to update using my router (the one you hate).

[Howell]

I'll take a look into that also, thanks for the idea. I can always move my domain name to NameCheap if that option will work for me. I'll have to see if it's possible to update using my router (the one you hate).

Many of the dynamic dns services have agents that run on a machine behind the router.

[Stereodude]

I'll take a look into that also, thanks for the idea. I can always move my domain name to NameCheap if that option will work for me. I'll have to see if it's possible to update using my router (the one you hate).Heh... I know namecheap isn't the only domain registrar that supports dynamic DNS either so there should be other options. I don't think the D-Link supports namecheap in their firmware though. At least in the case of namecheap you can also have the server run an agent program that updates the IP also. But using a program on a PC is a little more complicated since it doesn't know when the IP changes (whereas the router does) so you end up scheduling it to update on some periodic interval.

[Handruin]

Many of the dynamic dns services have agents that run on a machine behind the router.


Heh... I know namecheap isn't the only domain registrar that supports dynamic DNS either so there should be other options. I don't think the D-Link supports namecheap in their firmware though. At least in the case of namecheap you can also have the server run a program that updates the IP also.

Hopefully they have a Linux agent/software (I'll look into this more). :-) I would opt for a Linux machine since it'll be exposed to the internet.

[timwhit]

Hopefully they have a Linux agent/software (I'll look into this more). :-) I would opt for a Linux machine since it'll be exposed to the internet.

DynDns has a Linux agent, but it's a pain in the ass to get working. I just run the Windows agent on a Windows machine that's on the same network.

[Mercutio]

Wow. I missed a lot of thread.

It goes without saying that SF means a lot to me and I'd be willing to bear out the costs for keeping it going. I do have internet service that explicitly allows hosting, though at the moment I'm not paying for a static IP and I have a tendency to redline the upsteam bandwidth. Still, it's an option.

At one time, phpBB had a very poor reputation for security. Have thing really gotten better in the last few years?

[ddrueding]

For less than the price of colo we could manage another business-class internet connection at your place, and even manage some redundancy.

If we were able to take the hosting cost and responsibility off Doug, and some of the others can help him with the admin stuff, and make the site stupid fast at the same time, I think this would be better for all.

[Handruin]

Wow. I missed a lot of thread.

It goes without saying that SF means a lot to me and I'd be willing to bear out the costs for keeping it going. I do have internet service that explicitly allows hosting, though at the moment I'm not paying for a static IP and I have a tendency to redline the upsteam bandwidth. Still, it's an option.

At one time, phpBB had a very poor reputation for security. Have thing really gotten better in the last few years?


For less than the price of colo we could manage another business-class internet connection at your place, and even manage some redundancy.

If we were able to take the hosting cost and responsibility off Doug, and some of the others can help him with the admin stuff, and make the site stupid fast at the same time, I think this would be better for all.

I have a thought...and it's something you (David) mentioned some time ago. What if we coordinate an environment that is mirrored in two places. I can try the plan to host it here via FIOS. I might (but not sure) get more upstream than mercutio with my 25/25 Mb internet and I also don't torrent even a fraction of what he does.

Mercutio can continue as normal, but perhaps have (if willing) a system (maybe even a VM) that allows mysql to use as a remote and we coordinate synchronizing the files between the two. The static files don't change very often and at most it would be missing the uploads until it finished synchronizing. If my ISP goes down and blocks me, Merc's takes over in the mean time.

This is what my ISP is at right now from MA to NH:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1186697810.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

From MA to CA:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1186699386.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

From MA to Melbourne:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1186700170.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

From MA to Toronto:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1186701296.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

[ddrueding]

Sounds good to me, of course it doesn't involve much effort on my part ;)

I also lack the skills to do much of anything in this scenario. My contribution may just be financial/hardware.

[Handruin]

I'll see if I can get two VMs up and running and if it works, the remote VM could in theory be given to anyone to host. I was was going to try using a bare centOS 5.5 x_64 configuration to start with.

[timwhit]

The static files don't change very often and at most it would be missing the uploads until it finished synchronizing. If my ISP goes down and blocks me, Merc's takes over in the mean time.

You could also synchronize the static files fairly regularly in a couple ways.

1. Use rsync to copy deltas on a schedule.
2. Setup a version control system and commit any new/changed files to this on a regular basis (crontab). The standby system could then poll the VCS (also crontab) on a regular basis to pull down the new files. I like this option because everything is backed up and versioned. git, svn, or cvs would work well for this.

[timwhit]

Mercutio can continue as normal, but perhaps have (if willing) a system (maybe even a VM) that allows mysql to use as a remote and we coordinate synchronizing the files between the two.

Would you plan to use MySQL replication for this?

[timwhit]

The site is unbearably slow right now.

[timwhit]

The site is unbearably slow right now.

Performance is back to normal now.

[Handruin]

There was a note from the hosting service regarding an issue. Sorry I wasn't able to post before now.

[Santilli]

Why would going from 20mbps to 80 mbps make a huge difference in perception about how fast this site loads?

[LunarMist]

Why would going from 20mbps to 80 mbps make a huge difference in perception about how fast this site loads?

Because it is your perception, not reality. As well the site is running decently at the moment, but we know that it varies quite a lot.

[Santilli]

Might also be because the path is very clean, with double digit only ms.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f99/Socrates28/tracertstorageforumnet-1.jpg

[LunarMist]

None of mine are near 100 either, and I probably have about the slowest sustained internet speed of anyone at SF. None of that matters when the website is slow. It doesn't exactly take huge bandwidth to download some paragraphs of text and a few small graphics quickly when the site is running well as it is now.