Slow?

No matter where I've access this site from over the past few days, it has seemed really, really slow. Anyone else noticed this? What's going on?

Yeh I notice it sometimes. Same with Myspace.

Posting and editing seems slow for me, but everything else is normal. By slow, I mean upwards of 2 minute delays.

I'm not finding ANYTHING slow. Everything's fine!

It has indeed been a bit slow over the last couple of days. I've submitted a support request to our host by way of inquiry, but it may be that there isn't really a lot that can be done. We share a server with several other sites, which means our speed is somewhat dependent on what they're all up to at the time. However, that still doesn't mean that the host won't intervene if another site is unfairly soaking up the server's resources through some means, so we shall see.

Good to hear. At least I didn't break anything this time.

Mike, it seems like the forums are getting sluggish again.

Yea, I just got my first real bit of lag tonight.

Quite a few (>40) are on though.

We might have to upgrade the hosting package? I mean if that happens for the music management anyway, then there might be something we can work out .. but thinking about it, the lag isn't too bad, so on its on it probably doesn't warrant an upgrade..

Our number of active members is steadily increasing though.

Yea, I just got my first real bit of lag tonight.

Quite a few (>40) are on though.

We might have to upgrade the hosting package? I mean if that happens for the music management anyway, then there might be something we can work out .. but thinking about it, the lag isn't too bad, so on its on it probably doesn't warrant an upgrade..

Our number of active members is steadily increasing though.

The problem probably lies not in this site's activity, but as mentioned before, the rising activity of the server overall.

Hmm.

Could also be to do with whoever we share the server with.

Yeah the delays are quite bad atm.

Could also be to do with whoever we share the server with.

That's what I said.

Sorry then :mellow: - I couldn't remember your post.

The last time I contacted the host about this, they replied and said that it was no use getting in touch after the event, I had to submit the support request while the slowdown was actually happening. Obviously that isn't much help, as I can't be on hand 24/7 to monitor the speed of the site.

(The other) Michael and I have in the near past had some brief discussions on the subject of hosting arrangements, and it may well be that some time in the future we will either upgrade the class of VPS (Virtual Private Server) we are hosted on currently, or we will move to a dedicated server solution.

My only reservation, however, is that this occasional slowdown is: a) well...occasional (and, as far as I can tell, a lot more occasional than it once was); b) something that may not be rectified simply by upgrading to a better VPS. When you share a server with other sites, sometimes they can briefly hog resources for any number of reasons. Going dedicated is probably the only way of ensuring 100% reliable uptime, and that's expensive.

Just wondering, you made mp3-files only usable for subscribers, just to make the forum faster, some how I get the feeling that it went the opposite way :P

There are no subscribers (yet?). Nobody at all can upload MP3s onto the YC server. I don't know where your fixation with this issue stems from: MP3 upload support was discontinued months before you were even a member here, as far as I recall, plus the reasons for doing so have been explained to you on more occasions than I can recall.

Regardless, we removed support for MP3 uploads not to increase server performance, in particular, but to increase the long-term financial viability of the site. I won't go into detail because I dare say I'd be wasting my time.

Lastly, I don't believe anything has gone any "way" at all. We don't really know why the server has become so slow as of late, though it's impossible that disallowing MP3 uploads could actually reduce performance. We're theorizing that the problem could be another instance on our machine absorbing too many of the resources, but then again we could be playing a part too. What makes the situation all the more difficult to tackle is that our host can be quite cryptic and political in their responses to us, so it's hard to tell where we stand. Hence, the new-found interest in finding new hosting arrangements of some kind.

Over the past couple of days (and prompted by the loss of service trying to post something this morning) the site has had a few hiccups. Unless I'm missing a trick, the functionality is the same as the earlier system but the response times/down times are worse. Over the past week I've "given up" several times.

I can't remember YC being as bad earlier in the year when I joined. Is anyone doing a post implementation review?

This morning, YC was completely dead for 2 hours.

Earlier tonight, it was extremely slow, when there were supposedly only three users logged in.

Yeah, today and yesterday, there have been periods of extreme slowness for me.

Although it seems ok at the moment.

We're now looking into moving the site onto a different server (a different physical machine, that is - it'll be the same spec with the same hosting company). That may help. The other option is to switch hosts altogether, of course, which we are also still looking into.

I took away the site speed poll recently, because I made the decision to switch hosts completely after seeing the results. We are switching from our current host to a higher end host with better specs and better support.

I am happy to say that our bandwidth will greatly increase, and so will our memory. The site should be fast at all times (these guys seem to have a great reputation, and should work with me as the site changes).

I am sorry for all of the downtime we have had lately. I am not going to blame our current host because I have heard worse stories in the past, at least we didn't get screwed over. Mistakes happen all the time, and I would rather pay a little extra for a better support team. Some webmasters don't need the support. We really didn't need it until we started to expand the site and problems like site speed arose. Time to move onto better things now.

By the beginning of the next month, expect the site to be much faster and more reliable. For those of you who stuck with us during the slow times, thank you for your patience, and glad you are still here.

It seems its worst at 9am BST. I tried to edit a post, anticipated delay so clicked "send", went off to the kitchen, made some tea, drank it - and it was still waiting so I escaped by leaving the site.

Are they doing housekeeping things at that time (what? 4.00am in New York)?

It would help to know because I'll avoid posting around this time. However, it looks so regular now that I suppose I answer the question myself!

Hmm. Perhaps one or several of the instances are scheduled to perform a backup at that time, though there is no way to verify this information from our end. We would have to ask the host. And there's no guarantee that they'd even tell us, as it doesn't directly pertain to our own instance.

Even so, I think the change of hosts will be for the better. I'm impressed so far with the customer service provided by the new company we're looking at, and we're not even official customers of theirs yet, making it all the more exceptional. Plus, their prices are lower. What we'll probably do is start off on their plan that provides equivalent specs to the machine we're on right now, then if we continue to experience load issues, they can move us to the next one up.

Has this place seemed slow loading to anyone else lately?

Yes, it has. Sometimes I am not able to access the page, although that could be a Firefox issue, no?

It has been a little slow recently, at least from time to time.

However, at the moment it happens to be running quite speedily...

I've added a little device that records the average generation time for all pages served. As of now, it seems to be a little bit over 0.25 seconds, which is fine, but if there are any more problems then they should be flagged up.