Traffic / Server Overload / D7???

When I had the previous version of Dolphin I had over 3,000 users and never had an issue I switched to this version and my server consistantly overloads and I only have 60 users.....    Same server....  

I have tried every setting I coudl think of and each day my server overloads two to three times...

D7 is quite a monster. I'm on VPS with 16 cpus 3 gigs of ram. I get a quite load even with 2 active users.

Maybe turning off a few blocks would help, like some blocks on front page.

When you say "blocks" do you refer to modules?

This is what I did, as it was recommended to me by my agent to help speed things up (and lessen the load).

Besides, who needs the ads and sites modules.  Why do I want to have a free one-way link directory on my site, and why does a chat and dating site need "ads".  This is an invite for spam.

I'm also thinking  of uninstalling my shoutbox.  I'm getting nothing but spam on this thing - "Hey, check me out on yahoo..."

You are correct.

Who needs the shoutbox when it has to make database calls everytime someone opens the front page. Make front page more static than dynamic would help speed things up.

Yeah, I just got rid of my shout box (aka spambox) and now my index page loads even faster.

At first I wanted to keep all the bells and whistles, but now I realize that speed is more important.

glad you found a way to speeed up your site :)

Try to use 'Profiler' module to find bottlenecks. It can report if some page, query or module is taking too long time to load. After you find bottleneck post it here for investigation.

A PHP op code cache can really speed things up, and reduce cpu load.

Would php accelerators really benefit dolphin sites or it cause more problems with caching information than the benefit itself? I am using VPS so I can install anything I wish but just want to weigh the risk and benefit of using php accelerators.

one way to find out install it and let us know :)

Unfortunately, I can only do basic SSH commands as well as following instructions on what to do next. Only for SSH commands... but working with web pages, basic server administration, FTP, monitoring, and latest Cpanel features, I can do :)

Thinking of Linux/SSH for dummies book.

APC is working well for me. http://php.net/manual/en/book.apc.php

Apache2 process where averaging 20% CPU before I installed APC. After installing APC the avg dropped down to 8%.

2.5x improvement is not bad in my book.

I have also had xcache working, but that requires more work to install under Ubuntu. Also, it looks like APC will be included as an official part of PHP6.

There are lots of step by step guides for Ubuntu to install APC or Xcache.

I was just wondering about this.. I was pretty much forced to take, (what I'd consider to be) a small network to a dedicated server to handle the load.. and now i'm being told by my host that their server I'm now paying $$$$$$ for may not be able to handle it. When I go on the site tho, there are 15 active users, and as I'm talking with the host (Arvixe), the site load is rising, 24%-27% in a matter of seconds! It's not the server.. it's the software.. They set me up with some tips on how to monitor the load and processes, but I can't see how this issue was missed during beta..

Dolphin's got some really great and competitive features, I'd say after trying close to 50 different sites and software for social networking, it's one of the best and most promising out there. However, reading this page makes me a bit upset that I may have to water down some features in order to get a better load time, even if it is off of the front page. I'm going to try, the shoutbox has caused some issues in the past, so I won't mind taking that off.. Maybe I can minimize the number of vids, sounds, and pics that show up as well.. Hopefully this helps.. but optimizing the code sounds like it'll be the best long term solution..

When I'm more awake, I'm definitely going to have to try the APC, thanks for the tip and info LeatherSportB

7.0.1 will have some optimizations related to friends SQL queries.

Also you can find bottlenecks using Profiler module after you find it please provide results back, we will investigate it and find some solutions.

Also, the modules architecture is not the best way of doing things performance wise. Just having a lot of modules has its own overhead.

If you are not using a module, make sure its not enabled. Do your users really use the whiteboard, desktop, chat room, two messengers in additon to site mail?...

Spy, chat, messenger, and simple messenger are all very chatty and will create additional load on your server if members leave you site open.

Removing the shoutbox speed up my network! I also removed some of the features from the front page and limited the results from others... now my network runs very quickly and has not overloaded my server like it was doing..  I don't mind not having the shoutbox up.. it was a cute feature, but if having it off means quicker network, then I'll deal without it..

You must be an Arvixe customer. They're known for accepting intolerable abuse.

Yes I am lol