We're doing some upgrading and maintenance today

[admin]

Nice try Greg...

LMAO...not Greg

[nissangirl74]

Just a word of advice...know what the f*** you're talking about BEFORE you spout off

Virtualization was not going to solve this issue. The hard drive I/O is not the issue. I don't know where the f*** you came up with "two databases" 'cuz there's only one for this site. The problem is purely an issue of hitting the maximum number of connections available for Apache AND MYSQL. Part of this is due to the type of table being used for the posts on the forums. We have been testing different ideas to make that work better too, but there's a trade off. Either we read from the tables quickly or we write to the tables efficiently, but neither MyISAM and INNODB seems to have been a perfect solution. Moving to 2 servers was the next logical step. If we played with virtualization, it would just f*** us even quicker because Apache alone has been needing 8-10GB of RAM to keep things going. With all the various settings and mods we've added to the forums to keep people happy, it's going to take some resources like that. This site gets more traffic than your mom's bed. As many as 200k page views a day across the server starts pushing the limits of a single server regardless of the setup. So chill man...obviously whatever servers you run for whatever you do work fine with virtualization. I've run hundreds of sites on dozens of servers with dozens of different configurations (including using virtualization which caused issues of its own, so it's not some magic bullet).

Nice try Greg...

That's not Greg

[numbnuts240]

don't panic.

i have just hit panic level 9. at 10 i dookie my fruit of the looms.

i love nico.

[AZhitman]

Clean undiez on teh way.

FedEx haz package for ur package.

[numbnuts240]

[AppleBonker]

Uh, slight thread jack, but this made me think of something. We need NICO underwears. I'd rock them all the time. Just sayin. Screw that tshirt noise, I need another excuse to drop trou!

[admin]

Clean undiez on teh way.

FedEx haz package for ur package.

Not sure he wants a pair from your midget underwear collection.

[admin]

Uh, slight thread jack, but this made me think of something. We need NICO underwears. I'd rock them all the time. Just sayin. Screw that tshirt noise, I need another excuse to drop trou!

Your He-Man underwear not doing it for you?

[AppleBonker]

You're wrong. Spongebob. And no, they aren't doing it for me anymore. They're yellow and I washed them with the reds once. Now spongebob's eyes make him look high.

[numbnuts240]

can i have them? bring on the awkward.

[AppleBonker]

You want my Spongebob boxers? I still use them, I'm just less likely to expose them to others. Plus, the button on the fly is gone, so if I take mah pants off I'm more likely to have a visitor popping out from between Spongebob's eyes. This, in turn, makes me giggle and usually ruins the moment.

[RCA]

At first I was like

But now I'm like

[numbnuts240]

You want my Spongebob boxers? I still use them, I'm just less likely to expose them to others. Plus, the button on the fly is gone, so if I take mah pants off I'm more likely to have a visitor popping out from between Spongebob's eyes. This, in turn, makes me giggle and usually ruins the moment.

text video for my personal enjoyment or i disown you as mah nukka.

[AppleBonker]

But video makes me feel so lacking...

[numbnuts240]

i thought the camera automatically added 10 pounds, or something like that.

[AppleBonker]

I need it to add 10 inches...

[numbnuts240]

lulz, you have an innie.

[AppleBonker]

[PoorManQ45]

We're constantly maxing out the RAM (12GB...which according to the datacenter is the max for that motherboard) with just running Apache and random other processes, not counting MySQL. If we have several people use egosearch or edit posts at the same time, tables get locked because of how the database is set up, which creates a delay since MySQL gets next to no resources, then it starts using swap and things slow down, processes build up, connections max out and then the site dies. To some extent, the issue is with how phpbb is set up, but since we're basically doing this for free, it's kind of hard to get motivated to rewrite some of the core of phpbb to make it scale properly.

Now that makes sense

Have you asked about having your host(who are you using? I've got a buddy that works at Gatorhost) if you can implement your own system? Typically this will cost you less as it will free up one of their systems and typically take up the bottom of a server rack(usually there's a few open depending on the layout). This would allow you to build a completely new system. I'd say $1k would get you guys a killer i7 based system that could handle 24~32GB of ram.

Hell, if you're interested, I could probably hook you up with some Dell servers on the cheap

If possible, add a SSD with a high 4k read speed and assign it as swap only. This would keep the system from grinding to a complete halt when memory runs out. I know you've already split to a second server, but it sounds like the issue will persist at a later date due to inherent issues in the software being used.

Actually, I see that Brien has met our webd00d... I don't have the heart to tell him that "admin" is a well-respected and highly sought-after (and well-compensated) expert on SEO, e-commerce and website construction.

I'm actually a bit surprised that he'd take the time to indulge our resident know-it-all ni discussion - Then again, we're lucky to have his help.

Indeed, I do feel honored that Mr Admin is taking the time to talk to lowly ol' me

[PoorManQ45]

(who are you using? I've got a buddy that works at Gatorhost)

That would be Host Gator not Gatorhost...and their hosting options are extremely entry-level compared to hosting requirements that NICOclub needs and their service SUCKS.

No wonder your advice is so wrong.

interesting... got information on this? they seem offer better deals the dreamhost...

[admin]

Hostgator sucks. I have dozens of friends who have sites there or have had sites there and it's pretty much just a cesspool of oversold servers and poor customer service.

We only use Dreamhost here to host the ad images because their bandwidth is pretty much free and we're only paying a few bucks a month for like 20GB of images being served a day. There's a good chance we're going to end up moving them off of there though and putting them on something a little more robust.

The main servers are managed servers at Pair and with the deal they're giving us on them, we're still paying a fair bit less than what you're saying we could get at hostgator. The main benefit of using a place like Pair is that Greg and I don't have to f*** with playing server admin at 4 in the morning if some piece of hardware fails. Been there, done that...it suuuuuuuuuucks

[AZhitman]

LOL @ Gatorhost.

Their top-line server couldn't handle our traffic. Not even close.

[krimsonviper]

I still don't have a different color SN or edit posts of other members.

[Dattebayo]

Well, it hasn't crashed yet. It doesn't seem as fast as it was before when it was working, but it appears to be more reliable now.

[AZhitman]

I still don't have a different color SN or edit posts of other members.

Lies.

[krimsonviper]

Is this really happening? Hey Obi, sorry if I fooled you man. I'm not really apart of the staff. However if that has changed, I will gladly accept. :evilhaha

[Razi]

I still don't have a different color SN or edit posts of other members.

Lies.

[krimsonviper]

EXCELLENT PARTY TIME!!! :

I luz you Greggy Poo. <3

[AZhitman]

Did that seriously just happen?



KV, in my office. Dammit.

[krimsonviper]

Did that seriously just happen?



KV, in my office. Dammit.