Forum slow page creation

[debiwebi]

For the past two days I've had a problem with my site's pages taking up to several minutes to load. There have been two "Internal Server Error" messages in the past two days. I've tried 3 diff browsers. Nothing new has been added to the site other than posts. I have other php-based sites running in my hosting account, even a couple of SMF test sites, and they are all loading quickly, so it's just my main forum that's having problems. No errors in the log.

I'm not a techie, but now I'm wondering if there's something funny going on with just the one db. If there is something wrong with the db and it's not a hosting issue (don't ask  )...
Quick question: is there some sort of diagnostic I can run? Or am I off-base with my guess?

http://speakingofseth.com/       smf 2.0.10

Not sure what info you need—from my latest backup:

-- phpMyAdmin SQL Dump
-- version 2.11.11.3
-- Server version: 5.5.43
-- PHP Version: 5.1.6

[Illori]

-- PHP Version: 5.1.6

are you sure that is accurate? that is an unsupported php version. if that is really correct i would be looking for a new host that runs at least php 5.3 if not 5.5.

[debiwebi]

are you sure that is accurate?

Well, that's something I didn't understand so I copied the info right out of the db. The control panel says PHP Version 5.3. Why would it say something different? Which do you suppose is correct?

I looked in 4 different dbs from my hosting, two Wordpress, two SMF. They all say 5.1.6. There are three different server ips, but my forum has the same ip as my blog and the blog is fine.

I guess I need to call the hosting company once again. I'd like to switch, but I've been a reseller of theirs for years and it would be a real problem at this point.

[Illori]

the php version is not stored in the datbase. run http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Phpinfo()_-_What%27s_that,_then and it will tell you what version of php is running on your server.

[margarett]

You should be looking into a slow query somewhere, or maybe an overloaded MySQL server. Who is your host?
Anyway they should be able to at least identity the slow access and the cause for the internal server errors

[debiwebi]

they should be able to at least identity the slow access and the cause for the internal server errors

No, they probably won't. Because they're GoDaddy (gawd, I knew I was going to have to fess up  ). But I will call them even though they say they don't customer-support dbs. Maybe my blog, which is on the same server, loads instantly because it's less complex than SMF...

I just visited my forum and it only took 7.585 seconds to load this time. Login took 0.269, so things are looking up.

Attaching screen captures from this morning, just for the record.

Thanks!

[Illori]

strange... that line should only show up one time to tell you the time it took to create the page.

[Kindred]

You are running SAVE....   does that page have video or audio content on it?
Are you running a chat box?

[debiwebi]

strange... that line should only show up one time to tell you the time it took to create the page.

That was a Photoshop compilation of four different pages, sorry I should have explained.

[debiwebi]

You should be looking into a slow query somewhere, or maybe an overloaded MySQL server.

BTW how would I look for a slow query?

[debiwebi]

You are running SAVE....   does that page have video or audio content on it?
Are you running a chat box?

The times I showed in that attachment were for the home page and just a couple of posts that have absolutely no video or audio. One small (60k) .doc attachment, but they've never been a problem before. I had the Google Analytics mod, but disabled it today thinking sometimes their apis stuff gets hung up. But it didn't make a difference.

I do have Chat, but it's never used. I've had it for a couple of months and the problems just started yesterday. I'm now thinking it's the server...

I need to leave for an appointment, will address any responses later. Thanks all!

[margarett]

BTW how would I look for a slow query?

Your host can help you in this. MySQL can log queries which take too long to execute but it has to be configured at server level.

How many users do you have online at the same time? What what's the size of your forum? (users, posts, topics).
In any case, knowing that it's GD, we are biased to say that the MySQL server you're on is just overbooked.

[debiwebi]

How many users do you have online at the same time? What what's the size of your forum? (users, posts, topics).
In any case, knowing that it's GD, we are biased to say that the MySQL server you're on is just overbooked.

Honestly, I don't think there's been more than 3-4 real users at a time, most online 14 and they were mostly bots. My form is not very big, only 25 members, 2000+ posts, 250 topics. You're right about the hosting problem, but they're saying it's me. This is why:

I spent about an hour on the phone this morning with GD, one of those rare occasions where I got a service rep that knew what he was talking about and was willing to do everything possible to figure it the problem. From the error logs, which turns out contain errors for both my WP blog and SMF forum, repeated "can't apply process slot for...," timeouts and a few "End of script output before headers..." Final conclusion was that I'm overloading the server and maxing out # of processes permitted. Does that seem right? Make sense?

Why that would suddenly happen, out of the blue, is beyond me. But, looking at my analytics from both sites shows excessive bot referrals for my blog and my 1-page html site (by floating-share-buttons.com, buttons-for-website.com, etc). So those two sites may be hogging # of permitted processes and there's nothing left for the forum. I need to figure out how to block the bots. I've also deleted the couple of test SMF forums I had on the server that may have been getting some bot activity. My forum seems to be running a little better already.

Last questions (I think): Is there anything else I can do to speed up my forum? I don't have many mods. I've never done any of the things listed under "Forum Maintenance." Should I be doing any of those on a regular basis?

Thanks so much!

[Illori]

godaddy will ALWAYS blame the software you are using, or how you are using it etc. they will never take the blame. decide who you trust more, us or them. stay with them or take our advice and move elsewhere that is not oversold.

[margarett]

I'm sorry, but that's soooo GD...

This

Final conclusion was that I'm overloading the server and maxing out # of processes permitted.

And this

I don't think there's been more than 3-4 real users at a time, most online 14 and they were mostly bots. My form is not very big, only 25 members, 2000+ posts, 250 topics

In the same paragraph, only combine in GD's world...

Why that would suddenly happen, out of the blue, is beyond me.

Probably because they stuffed some more accounts into your already overloaded server and it's coming down to its knees.

I'm sorry, there is just no other way to put it...

Is there anything else I can do to speed up my forum?

Yes. Get a real host.

[debiwebi]

Well what's been keeping me with GD is that I'm a reseller and get deluxe hosting for "free" with my yearly renewal. So switching hosting would be messy and I'd lose my customer base and the small income that generates. But I'm getting to the point where free comes with its own price and I'm beginning to tire.

You probably can't endorse a specific host, but is there a hosting company that you, ummm, like?

[margarett]

Any host listed in our "Hosts" board is known to be reputable
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=155.0

Check also the "Reviews" board for other references
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=158.0

[debiwebi]

Any host listed in our "Hosts" board is known to be reputable

Thanks, I will head on over there.

I'm sure you're getting tired of my saga, but I just got off the phone with GD again because I just received some emails that SMF was unable to connect to the database—completely—for a few minutes. (I was sent this link http://kb.odin.com/en/121491, Apache is loading very slowly - can't apply process slot for error )

Of course he was insistent that my forum is putting out too many processes for the server to handle, said shared hosting might be the problem because I don't have control over settings in the php.ini file. We went around and around a bit (I pointed out that a LOT of people use SMF, even on free hosting, and it works) but he did say there was a possibility that some of my files may have been hacked and might have things running on the site that are not part of the SMF software. That's one thing I didn't consider and could explain why this happened so suddenly.

So, last question, I PROMISE: Is there any type of SMF mod for checking my files for hacks, malware, whatever? Not being a techie, these are all new concepts for me. This whole problem has been a struggle, but I've learned a lot. Always learning.

[margarett]

/facepalm

If you continue to insist they will now tell you that you should upgrade your hosting package. Heck, a VPS is the real deal!!!
(Note: if they offer you a VPS for a 25 members forum, please pleeeeease curse the dude )

We've seen this unfortunately too many times.
Anyway I'll humor them and check your "hack" for you: please zip and download all your forum files from GD control panel to your computer. Then unzip and zip them again, this time setting a password on the zip file. Upload it to a file sharing service (Dropbox, yousendit, etc) and PM me the download link and the password of the zip file. I'll compare the files for you.

[debiwebi]

/facepalm

If you continue to insist they will now tell you that you should upgrade your hosting package. Heck, a VPS is the real deal!!!
(Note: if they offer you a VPS for a 25 members forum, please pleeeeease curse the dude )

Yes, well, I'm a reseller... I could sell it to myself, get a break on the price and make money on the deal.

I'll compare the files for you.

Thank you! I've always liked you best, lol. As soon as I find a host that's cheap, reliable and lets me have a few subdomains, GD will be a pleasant memory (not). It will be a bit of work, I'm hosting a few sites for friends. Oh well, no pain, no gain.