Network Problems

Hello everyone,The new RAM hopefully brings this episode to a close, and in my subjective assessment it seems a bit peppier, too. I don't know why 2GB of RAM suddenly became insufficient after years with no problems, but my guess is the MySQL database, which grows with every new message. It's probably nearing 1.7GB now, I won't know the exact number until the next backup.My vague understanding of the specific cause of the 503's is that Apache, using Fastcgi, will occasionally try to start new processes to service new requests (each process can successively handle many requests over time - I'm not sure why these processes don't persist indefinitely, but they don't last forever), but if the system is out of resources then the request just gets dropped on the floor, resulting in a 503 Service Unavailable error at the user end.

just had another ...

They're back.

Haven't had a 503 yet, but page loading has definitely slowed again.This reminds me of the annoying "memory stack" problems in earlier versions of Windows which required regular, fairly frequent reboots.So, I googled.I've been away from nuts and bolts too long to know if this is relevant, but it matches the symptoms:Forbidden

We're on a Linux server. I've reengaged with the Webhosting company and we're exploring other avenues. We'll eventually get this fixed, but one of the nice side effects is that we now have 4GB instead of 2.--Percy

I am still experiencing 503s this morning.I found the advice about adding RAM a bit curious. How can your host tell what resource is lacking? And hasn't your machine held up well in the past under much higher loading?

Just another datum for you.Several times when I have been getting 503s I checked Down for Everyone and each time it showed the server up and running. My suspicion is that this is a dB error, maybe simply indexes that need rebuilding.Edited by Admin, : Fix URL.

I know the problem persists, so thank you, everyone, for your patience.I just wanted to let everyone know that I just increased the memory limit for PHP processes. This actually makes sense as a possible cause of the problem. As the MySQL database for the site has grown, it is possible that there is an impact on PHP processes that query the database.It's also possible that the mysqld process (services MySQL queries) needs a higher memory limit, so that's the next candidate for something to try.There's no need to post here if you observe the problem. I use the site, too, and the site gets slow a while before we start getting 503's, so I'm bound to notice if the problem isn't really fixed.

When trying to read messages or submit a post I am frequently getting time out messages suggesting a busy site or maintenance. Perhaps the issue has to do with my own section of the internet, but I am not having trouble accessing other sites.If you could just confirm that there don't seem to be any problems on your end, that would be useful information for me.

When trying to read messages or submit a post I am frequently getting time out messages suggesting a busy site or maintenance. Perhaps the issue has to do with my own section of the internet, but I am not having trouble accessing other sites.If you could just confirm that there don't seem to be any problems on your end, that would be useful information for me.ABE:Having some difficulty submitting this message.

duplicateEdited by NoNukes, : accidentally posted after receiving 503.

Same for me all day. I finally gave up trying to post anything. But now it's quite zippy. Somebody must have fixed it.

I noticed a bit of an improvement shortly after posting my message. Not having any problems today.

I have been working on the performance problem and have not been able to find a solution. It comes and goes without giving any hints why. It affects only dynamic pages, so that implies a problem with PHP or MySQL, or in their interaction with Apache. Restarting the daemons helps for less than a minute, and the same is true of rebooting the server. Possibly there's been a break-in and someone is co-opting server resources, but if that's the case then they're hiding their tracks very well.Another possibility is that our server is getting long in the tooth and needs to be upgraded. Software upgrades affecting the control panel (the server's control panel, not EvC's) occur on an ongoing basis, so possibly the new control panel and the older software are not playing well together. Software upgrades cost nothing or almost nothing (except time), but it can be risky putting the newest software on old hardware. Upgrading to a new server, which will have to be done eventually, would be costly.

Forum is unusable today - 8.30am UK time - a time that there can be virtually no load on your machine. I've seen this before and I'm sure it's a hosting problem.503
The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later.