M.A.I.L. :: View topic

Semi-Retired Website Admin

Hi Folks,

there have been a lot of posts on this, so I'm going to stick this for visibility.

Here, hopefully for the last time, I will explain the issue:

1) Our site is horribly complex, and overuses server resources significantly.

2) Our database (including discussion posts, gallery submissions, etc) is very large, and we can't really reduce its size without throwing away posts or submissions.

3) Our database server is very slow, and every page on the site has to access it, so our entire site is slow.

4) Our webhost is completely uninterested in helping us discover the problem. Their final word on this issue, after three weeks of arguing, is "It must be something your site is doing.".

5) We would very much like to move to a new webhost, but certain issues stand in our way:
a) See point 1 - this site is built from a frighteningly convoluted amalgam of php,perl,mysql,and html code. Trying to move it without losing any data is almost impossible.
b) Even if we knew HOW to move it, the amount of work involved is stupendous (I'd estimate 3 man-weeks), and since I'm pretty much the only tech-guy around, and I can really only manage an hour or two a week of real technical work on the site, that means we'd be ready to go in 60 weeks, or just over a year.
c) Even if we knew how AND had the manpower, without redesigning the site to stop it from doing whatever it's doing "wrong", it would just start doing it again at the new host, and we'd end up in exactly the same boat, a year down the line.

6) Given 1-5, the only solution I can see is to find an actual, professional database expert who can troubleshoot our database for us, so I can find the root cause of the problem. I am currently attempting to find said expert, and trick, erm, I mean persuade, them to volunteer the time to look into it for us...

I apologize for the hardships in the meantime, but there IS work being done on the problem, even if there's been no percieved change in the site's performance, or lack thereof.

In the meantime, if you get page denied, zero length document, or connection refused errors from MAIL, please try again in a minute or two, and you should get in. It seems to make getting into the fora easier if you go directly to the index, instead of via the M.A.I.L. homepage, and then move around from there. - http://www.mailleartisans.org/board/index.php

"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one."

� George Bernard Shaw
___________________________________

Maille Code V1.0 T5.7 R5.1 Fhd MCu Wc Cd G2.03/.56 I9.75/3.25 Pn Dacdjs S97 CCi

Mouth · Posted on Fri Nov 11, 2005 2:12 pm

i'll ask around and see if i can't rustle up some sort of expert.. maybe other members know someone who might be able to help on a volunteer basis also.

thanks for being here for us, mr. runsitall.
Smile

kim

PSA: remember to stretch.
3.o is fixing everything.

Cynake · Posted on Sat Nov 12, 2005 5:16 am

Yeah, thanks a lot for all the support Blaise, and for fighting to solve this. A big kick in the nuts to our host.

While your shanghai'd help is at it, maybe someday, someday, we could talk him/her into cleaning up the code or making some changes, so that things run better Smile

I know some people, but they're very.. profit.. oriented.

*sigh*

If we had a better bank account it would be nice to be able to pay someone for this, but, we'd be looking at $40-$80/hour.. and, like you said, 60 hours just to move the site... that'd take $10 from practically every member Sad

tipo mastr · Posted on Sat Nov 12, 2005 4:04 pm

Here's an idea: Try and raise money so we can get the profenssional in here. I'm sure that many members would be more than willing to give a couple bucks to a good cause. Smile

http://chainmaillebookproject.ninjatails.com/index.php --Please contribute! Existing members, put this in your signature to increase publicity!

Aristabulus · Joined: March 22, 2005 Posts: 12 Submissions: 3

Mouth · Posted on Sun Nov 13, 2005 1:14 am

a pro is being sought out, from my understanding..

kim

PSA: remember to stretch.
3.o is fixing everything.

hanelyp · Joined: July 13, 2004 Posts: 97 Submissions: 6

Semi-Retired Website Admin · Posted on Mon Nov 14, 2005 9:22 pm

Actually, our images are no problem at all, we are well within our limits both for disk quota and bandwidth. Our issues are strictly database related (Well, that and the overall design of the site). What we need is someone who could first determine what is slowing down the DB so much (so we don't do that any more), and then redesign the site with that information in mind.

I myself simply speak a little PERL, PHP, html, and MySQL, so while I might be able to manage the re-design/implementation, I can't figure out the damned database problem! What we need is a MySQL wizard who speaks a bit of PERL, PHP, and html.

If you are that wizard, by all means, let's talk...

"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one."

� George Bernard Shaw
___________________________________

Maille Code V1.0 T5.7 R5.1 Fhd MCu Wc Cd G2.03/.56 I9.75/3.25 Pn Dacdjs S97 CCi

hanelyp · Joined: July 13, 2004 Posts: 97 Submissions: 6

Semi-Retired Website Admin · Posted on Tue Nov 15, 2005 8:07 pm

Funny you should mention that, I just spent the morning adding column indices to the db tables to try to speed things up. Please, everyone, report any behaviours you see that are WORSE than they have been, but also let me know if this makes things BETTER...

"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one."

� George Bernard Shaw
___________________________________

Maille Code V1.0 T5.7 R5.1 Fhd MCu Wc Cd G2.03/.56 I9.75/3.25 Pn Dacdjs S97 CCi

Mutterbutt · Joined: March 31, 2004 Posts: 254 Submissions: 8

Hopefully it isn't just the time of day, but things are loading a LOT faster. Smile

Title Needed · Posted on Wed Nov 16, 2005 5:59 am

Never seen things load so fast. Coif Cool Smiley

We need the :cheers: smily they have over at TRL! Thanks Blaise!

"Do not go where the path may lead,
go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
� Ralph Waldo Emerson

My blog: The (New) Eclectic Dragonfly. Some of my stuff at CafePress!

Siege · Posted on Wed Nov 16, 2005 11:03 am

Last couple of days have been fine for me...no problems at all. Whatever you did it worked.

Siege

John Lennon once sang a song where he imagined a world with no religion at all, and how all the people would be living life in peace, which sounds like a pretty terrific philosophy to follow - but then again, John Lennon also sang a song about how he was an eggman and a walrus goo goo g'joob, so i'm not sure he was always 100 per cent reliable.

Cynake · Posted on Wed Nov 16, 2005 11:14 am

Yeah, I'll also have to say that, hot damn, it loads fast now! *clap clap* Well done Blaise. Assuming this, and continuing this procedure, fixes the problems, is there still a plan to move the site to a new host that doesn't suck as much?

Hanelyp - To play the role of recruiter here for a bit, we *really* need coders badly to make improvments to MAIL. Not sure if you've been around long enough, but there's a big wishlist of ways we wish the site worked, but our current coders can't handle that kind of workload.

I'm not sure if you were interested in the work for pay only, but, there's the possibility of using MAIL funds to pay a coder to improve the site too, not just to pay someone to repair it so it can be moved. Of course, free, or discounted would be fantastic too. Would that be something you are interested in helping out with?

MysticMailler · Posted on Wed Nov 16, 2005 12:57 pm

Sure seems faster to me. Surprised

Great job!