Had Almost Made it to 50,000 Members...

Just a few numbers shy of 50,000 members and everything was running beautifully.  The site was amazingly fast even with 80-90 members online.

At times I had as many as 85 people just in my chat rooms, with dozens of them making use of the audio/video.  It was AWESOME.

And then it all came crashing down less than two days ago.

On Thursday afternoon my site was still lightning fast.  When I went on again Thursday evening the thing was painfully slow.  It is now so slow it is pretty much useless.

I've ruled out the server as being the issue.  The issue seems lie elsewhere.  The only clues I have are the Cron Daemon errors that are being sent to my email about every minute for the last two days.  I have received thousands of them over the last two days (since the site totally slowed down).

I thought I would post these errors if anybody has any clues as to what they might mean.  Thanks.

Database access error. Warning: mysql_error(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL-Link resource in /home/ustillup/public_html/flash/modules/global/inc/db.inc.php on line 71 Description: Database access error. Warning: mysql_error(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL-Link resource in /home/ustillup/public_html/flash/modules/global/inc/db.inc.php on line 71 Description: Database access error. Warning: mysql_error(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL-Link resource in /home/ustillup/public_html/flash/modules/global/inc/db.inc.php on line 71 Description: Warning: mysql_num_rows(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/ustillup/public_html/flash/modules/video_comments/inc/classes/BxDolCronVideoComments.php on line 67

Warning: mysql_error(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL-Link resource in /home/ustillup/public_html/inc/classes/BxDolDb.php on line 447 Fatal error: Call to a member function getParam() on a non-object in /home/ustillup/public_html/inc/db.inc.php on line 83

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thank You.

Was this after an upgrade or is it just out of the blue ?

Completely out of the blue.  However i did install a new module I had purchased (here on Unity) around the time the problem began.  However, I quickly removed the module and all the files after the problem began.  The problem remained.  I will refrain from mentioning the module as it may not have anything to do with the problem, and I did completely uninstall and remove it (along with all files I had uploaded).

Just out of curiosity, how many records do you have in the sys_sessions table?  Can you PM me with the module name?  I get identical sql errors (with somewhat less than 50kmembers)  I'm curious if we have the same module.

hmm  dedicated, vps, or shared hosting ?

i know simple questions but just trying to put some clues together.

i also see alot of Description: Database access error

Seems like the database is going away for a split second on you.

Talk to your host and see if they can confirm that the database is not dieing out on you.

It is a PV200 with Hostupon.com... it's $80/month and it's called private hosting but it is shared...funny eh?

I am in the process of selecting a VPS to move my site to.

Here's the funny thing.  A few months ago they actually moved my databases without my consent.  They said they were taking up too much room so they moved them to another location.  I was a bit upset but the site did continue to run fast and smooth (average loading time of 7-8 seconds).  That is until now.

I have been pestering them about this all day...but I keep getting vague responses about how they will look into it.

i am on your site now and it is a bit slugish...  i would have to guess that the the remote database is the problem.

If you like we can do some testing on one of my servers with your site just for the hell of it ....

Find out how many records are in the sys_sessions table, and the size of it.

dolphin_jay

That would be awesome.  The only thing is that I really have to run right now.  If I could get back to you tomorrow...  I would really appreciate it.  I'll send you a pm tomorrow and perhaps we can work something out.  Thank you soooooo much.

houstonlively,

Okay I will look into this.  Thank you.  I will keep you updated.  I appreciate your help.

did a test  on your site

TOTAL_HTML - Congratulations, the total number of HTML files on this page (including the main HTML file) is 1 which most browsers can multithread. Minimizing HTTP requests is key for web site optimization

TOTAL_OBJECTS - Warning! The total number of objects on this page is 137 which by their number will dominate web page delay. Consider reducing this to a more reasonable number

TOTAL_IMAGES - Warning! The total number of images on this page is 109 , consider reducing this to a more reasonable number. Recommend combining, replacing, and optimizing your graphics. Replace graphic rollover menus with CSS rollover menus to speed display and minimize HTTP requests. Consider using CSS sprites to help consolidate decorative images. Use CSS techniques such as colored backgrounds, borders, or spacing instead of graphic techniques to reduce HTTP requests. Replace graphic text headers with CSS text headers to further reduce HTTP requests.

TOTAL_CSS - Congratulations, the total number of external CSS files on this page is 2 . Because external CSS files must be in the HEAD of your HTML document, they must load first before any BODY content displays. Although they are cached, CSS files slow down the initial display of your page. Remember to place CSS files in the HEAD and JavaScript files at the end of the BODY to enable progressive display.

TOTAL_SIZE - Warning! The total size of this page is 495558 bytes, which will load in 126.16 seconds on a 56Kbps modem. Consider reducing total page size to less than 100K to achieve sub 20 second response times on 56K connections

TOTAL_SCRIPT - Warning! The total number of external script files on this page is 25 , consider reducing this to a more reasonable number. Combine, refactor, and minify to optimize your JavaScript files. Ideally you should have one (or even embed scripts for high-traffic pages) on your pages. Consider suturing JavaScript files together at the server to minimize HTTP requests. Placing external JavaScript files at the bottom of your BODY, and CSS files in the HEAD enables progressive display in XHTML web pages.

• HTML_SIZE - Congratulations, the total size of this HTML file is 8576 bytes, which less than 50K. Assuming that you specify the HEIGHT and WIDTH of your images, this size allows your HTML to display content in under 10 seconds, the average time users are willing to wait for a page to display without feedback.
• IMAGES_SIZE - Warning! The total size of your images is 336261 bytes, which is over 100K. Consider switch graphic formats to achive smaller file sizes (from JPEG to PNG for example). Finally, substitute CSS techniques for graphics techniques to create colored borders, backgrounds, and spacing.
• SCRIPT_SIZE - Warning! The total size of external your scripts is 129913 bytes, which is over 20K. Consider optimizing your JavaScript for size, combining them, and using HTTP compression where appropriate for any scripts placed in the HEAD of your documents. You can substitute CSS menus for JavaScript-based menus to minimize or even eliminate the use of JavaScript.
• CSS_SIZE - Warning! The total size of your external CSS is 20808 bytes, which is over 20K. Consider optimizing your CSS for size by eliminating whitespace, using shorthand notation, and combining multiple CSS files where appropriate. By using labeled container cells and descendant selectors you can target chunks of HTML content efficiently without the need to embed extra claases and styles.
• MULTIM_SIZE - Congratulations, the total size of all your external multimedia files is 0 bytes, which is less than 10K.
  
  

looks like you got some work ahead of you :)

Looks like those are the same stats on a defualt dolphin install so i would have to say that the boonex staff has some work ahead of them.

Have you ran this by your hosting company?  Maybe they could take a look into it as this would be a quality issue, especially since the site was fine one day then horribley sluggish the next.  Even if it is nothing, at least you can eliminate the server side...once again.  I would look at the server 1 more time to make sure no restrictions were put in place, the server wasn't updated with changes in settings, etc.

How long did it take to build your 50,000 membership base?

I've sent so many tickets to my hosting company in the last four days that I think they are sick of me.

They are convinced that it is an issue with the database and that the database needs to be optimized.

I guess I will have to pay someone to examine the database and see if there are issues there.  I don't know enough to do this.

The whole site works great.  There is only one issue.  There is a significant delay whenever you load a page.  It is like the site is looking for something ...looking...looking...looking...looking...looking...found.  Once it finds what it is looking for the page uploads very fast.

It took my about 6 months to build up to 50,000 members...but with a lot of downtime and issues as a result of many, many difficulties.  I think my site is somewhere around #3 in Google.com for "Chat Rooms", although it depends on the location from where you are searching from.

Well my offer still stands if you like....

dolphin_jay,

If you could let me know what you need, that would be awesome.  I'll pm you tomorrow with whatever you need.

The only issue is that I don't know how to make a copy of my database since it was moved to a separate server and is no longer located on my cPanel.

I will have to request assistance with this from my hosting company, and nobody is there right now.  That is why I won't be able to send you everything you need until tomorrow.

Thanks again.

My dolphin test site has only 200 members. It loads slow as well.

It was painfully slow today as i was writing a mod for someone and was getting frustrated waiting for the page to respond.

I have been through my database a dozen times at least, emptying data that does not normally purge. I removed the desktop, messenger and simple messenger modules and it's still slow.

Funny thing is with my site, sometimes the page loads within seconds, other times i fall asleep waiting then end up having to refresh anyway because the page looks all screwy.

I have been chasing my ghost for weeks.

deano92964,

That's crazy!   I have a dolphin 7 site that also only has a few hundred members.  It's on a $5/month shared server.  The site is always "fairly" fast.

The site I'm talking about here (UstillUp) was "fairly fast" at least 95% of the time, that is until this past Thursday.  I realize that Dolphin 7.0.2 will never be super fast no matter what the server, but my site was pretty good these past few months.  If there was an issue with a sudden slow down, it was always a server issue.

What I am experiencing here is a sudden slowdown that is not server related.  It has now lasted almost 4 days.  What is happening now is not normal for my site.

With the amount of activity on my site, and without having ever cleaned out the database, maybe it's a wonder that the site stayed so fast all these months.  I wish I knew how to "clean" and "purge" my database.  It's probably way easier than I imagine.

For anybody who was following this thread...  THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN RESOLVED!

Here is a small excerpt from a ticket I got today from my hosting company:

"The reason you experienced issues stemming from the past 7 days is because we had you on the remote MySQL server and your site was seriously pumping it to a point where we had to cap it to 2000CPU units. That is when you started feeling the slowness because we capped it..."

According to this ticket, my MySQL is actually using 5,000 - 7,000 units.  To make a long story short, they had tried to move me to their best VPS, but it was not nearly enough resources for my site. 

Right now my database is on a server with 8 processors and 32GB of RAM.  I'm obviously paying more now to have the cap removed.

What's a CPU unit?

I guess it's the numeric system by which they measure your mysql cpu usage.  Maybe he wrote it wrong.  In another place in the same ticket he used 2,000mhz units. 

Yeah, yet another story. We start seeing more and more growing Dolphin sites and we know of a few resource hogs. We're all on it. 7.0.3 will bring some ease and 7.1 should get it sorted. Meanwhile - try to use minimal amount of running modules and monitor your server to see which parts are loading it most.

Also feel free to email me at uno@boonex.com with your server details (if you're comfortable with us logging on it) and we'll take a look at what can be improved.

Awesome!  Thanks Andrew.

 I think that is the best forum post i have seen on here yet !

would the use of commercial mysql make any difference in performance? I think Oracle is in for the monies.

Besides JasonVan, how many of your members using FB connect? Would be nice to get an idea about that.

Thanks

It looks like you are out of allowed mysql processes. The possible solution is to increase max_connections in MySQL.

Also it will be great if you can provide me root access to the server via PM to investigate slow page load.

I've been wondering for a year about when someone was going to do some load testing on Dolphin.

Nice, your site http://www.ustillup.com is really good.