Forum Crash...

[craigr]

The forum database had a failure. To clean it up I purged some users that have not logged in for a long time, plus removed locked topics, etc. to try to get it smaller and more manageable. If you see any problems, let me know and I'll see what can be done.

If you have not logged in a while, I'm sorry but your account is MIA and you will need to re-register, probably under a new name. Your old posts are still present, but they are not linked to an active username any longer.

Thanks,

-- Craig

[EdwardjK]

Success has consequences.

[ochotona]

I set up an open PP group on LinkedIn, The Permanent Portfolio / North America. There is another PP group, but no one is attending to it, membership requests aren't being answered, so I just set up my own. We can go to LinkedIn in the event of a future outage.

Or, we can temporarily chat on Twitter, #permanentportfolio

[Pointedstick]

That's a shame. Thanks for bringing it back, Craig. The load is only going to rise over time, though. Is there a plan for moving to a more performant set of hardware and software? I'm quite sure that we could rustle up some donations to offset the cost.

[barrett]

That's a shame. Thanks for bringing it back, Craig. The load is only going to rise over time, though. Is there a plan for moving to a more performant set of hardware and software? I'm quite sure that we could rustle up some donations to offset the cost.

I'd be happy to donate. One bit of unaccomplished business I have is that PS is supposed to convince me that gun ownership is a good thing! But that is for another thread. Craig, thanks for cleaning stuff up and getting the forum back up and running. It is much appreciated.

[ILoveMoney]

Happy to see the forums back! Would be happy to donate a few bucks if needed.

[Bean]

Thanks for the revival, I was going through withdraw. 

[Tyler]

I appreciate the work you do to keep the place running, Craig.  Thanks!

[dualstow]

Thanks, Craig.

[dragoncar]

Timing of forum crashes is suspicious.  Anyone have a chart?

[l82start]

Since this seems to be happening more frequently [most of yesterday, again], is there a way to contact TennPaGa or L82start outside of the forum PM? Perhaps at least by a couple of the heavy posters, so we can get things back up and running as quickly as possible?

  there is an email i can be reacted at posted in my profile for anyone who needs to contact me outside the forum..    unfortunately it wont do much good unless tenPaGa and myself haven't noticed the crash yet...  our area is handling forum side problems, for server crashes/server side trouble we can only send notification to Craigr and medtex.. 

[l82start]

Since this seems to be happening more frequently [most of yesterday, again], is there a way to contact TennPaGa or L82start outside of the forum PM? Perhaps at least by a couple of the heavy posters, so we can get things back up and running as quickly as possible?

  there is an email i can be reacted at posted in my profile for anyone who needs to contact me outside the forum..    unfortunately it wont do much good unless tenPaGa and myself haven't noticed the crash yet...  our area is handling forum side problems, for server crashes/server side trouble we can only send notification to Craigr and medtex..

You must have removed it; there is no longer an email associated with your profile.

it seems to have been hidden to others.. i could see it just fine i think it should be visible now...   

[Xan]

Thanks, Craig, for bringing things back up again!

[Mark Leavy]

Hey Craig - just a quick note to thank you for keeping the forum going.

I don't know how long it will be worth your while to keep doing so, but I've really appreciated the high quality of thought that permeates every post on this forum.  I'm not sure what you've done to be able to attract such serious thinkers... but, if/when this place is no longer viable for you, I will be keeping my eye open for where you, Lawson and many others tend to post your thoughts.

Best wishes in everything.
Mark

[craigr]

Hey Craig - just a quick note to thank you for keeping the forum going.

I don't know how long it will be worth your while to keep doing so, but I've really appreciated the high quality of thought that permeates every post on this forum.  I'm not sure what you've done to be able to attract such serious thinkers... but, if/when this place is no longer viable for you, I will be keeping my eye open for where you, Lawson and many others tend to post your thoughts.

Best wishes in everything.
Mark

Thanks for that. Tex is the one with the keys to the place. He is going to decide if we want to do a server service upgrade or not. The DB is just too big for the plan being used so it goes down more and more it seems.

[dutchtraffic]

Hey Craig - just a quick note to thank you for keeping the forum going.

I don't know how long it will be worth your while to keep doing so, but I've really appreciated the high quality of thought that permeates every post on this forum.  I'm not sure what you've done to be able to attract such serious thinkers... but, if/when this place is no longer viable for you, I will be keeping my eye open for where you, Lawson and many others tend to post your thoughts.

Best wishes in everything.
Mark

Thanks for that. Tex is the one with the keys to the place. He is going to decide if we want to do a server service upgrade or not. The DB is just too big for the plan being used so it goes down more and more it seems.

How big is the DB?

With the traffic this site gets, which is definately not alot, this should run totally flawless on a $10 vps, if it's setup properly at least.

I see it's hosted at Arvixe, better get someone to setup a proper unmanaged vps, there's really zero reason this is crashing nonstop, the traffic is minimal.

[MediumTex]

Hey Craig - just a quick note to thank you for keeping the forum going.

I don't know how long it will be worth your while to keep doing so, but I've really appreciated the high quality of thought that permeates every post on this forum.  I'm not sure what you've done to be able to attract such serious thinkers... but, if/when this place is no longer viable for you, I will be keeping my eye open for where you, Lawson and many others tend to post your thoughts.

Best wishes in everything.
Mark

Thanks for that. Tex is the one with the keys to the place. He is going to decide if we want to do a server service upgrade or not. The DB is just too big for the plan being used so it goes down more and more it seems.

How big is the DB?

With the traffic this site gets, which is definately not alot, this should run totally flawless on a $10 vps, if it's setup properly at least.

I see it's hosted at Arvixe, better get someone to setup a proper unmanaged vps, there's really zero reason this is crashing nonstop, the traffic is minimal.

The DB is about 140 MB.

"My SQL Processes" is what is hurting us.  The CPU and memory usage are well within the hosting plan we are currently on.

The problem for me is that I don't fully understand what is driving the My SQL Processes issue, so I don't know what to do to fix it.  The numbers are so high in this category that even going to a higher hosting plan might not address it.  It can be like five times what the current hosting plan supports and that has been the thing that has been taking the site offline periodically.

Anyone want to take a stab at addressing this issue?  I've done all of the obvious stuff listed in discussions of how to optimize the Simple Machines platform and I'm sure Craig has done other things I would never even understand.

[craigr]

Sometimes the site exhausts the entry processes available (50 out of 50). This is related to the PHP calls from the forum. So if that happens I suspect it causes the DB to go tits up as the forum processes are out of resources and the tables aren't accessed cleanly. Mostly the main messages table is what is crashing, but sometimes it's the sessions table. So there is some thrashing going on somewhere. The traffic isn't bad, but I think the calls to the DB sometimes are slow enough that we exhaust the server limits and then the crashing begins.

The other option is to try another forum package. I've not looked at them years myself so if people want to suggest something we can take a look. Problem is many of them have a lot of features so that means more server resources, maintenance, etc. What we want is something simple and low maintenance as the forum needs to mostly be on auto-pilot as the mods/admins are not full-time of course.

[craigr]

Hey Craig - just a quick note to thank you for keeping the forum going.

I don't know how long it will be worth your while to keep doing so, but I've really appreciated the high quality of thought that permeates every post on this forum.  I'm not sure what you've done to be able to attract such serious thinkers... but, if/when this place is no longer viable for you, I will be keeping my eye open for where you, Lawson and many others tend to post your thoughts.

Best wishes in everything.
Mark

Thanks for that. Tex is the one with the keys to the place. He is going to decide if we want to do a server service upgrade or not. The DB is just too big for the plan being used so it goes down more and more it seems.

How big is the DB?

With the traffic this site gets, which is definately not alot, this should run totally flawless on a $10 vps, if it's setup properly at least.

I see it's hosted at Arvixe, better get someone to setup a proper unmanaged vps, there's really zero reason this is crashing nonstop, the traffic is minimal.

And yes, Arvixe may be the problem. We are on the lowest service plan because we believe in nothing but the best.

They are likely cramming too many people on single servers and that has been a problem in the past. So if anyone has a provider that offers good value and works well with forum software, let us know.

[MediumTex]

Craig/MT,
If each of the regular members contributed $20/50/100/X per year, would that be enough to move the forum to whatever platform would solve these issues? I value this place immensely and would be proud to share in the cost of upkeep if it would improve performance.

I'm working on an answer to that question and we may have an NPR-style pledge drive to raise the funds if necessary.

[Xan]

I would think the cheapest option here ($10/month) should be able to handle everything.  It's unmanaged, so somebody would have to be in charge of installing security patches every so often (you can set up an email alert to let you know when there is one) and update the OS every couplethree years.  But that might be less work than you're having to do now.

[PP67]

You could set up a poll on who would contribute $0, $5, $10 $15 $20/yr pledges...

[bedraggled]

I contributed $10 in May.  Being here since September, I felt it was time.

A free ride does not appeal to me.  I am not saying "hey, look what I did."  I just thought it was time.

I am up for $25 per year, easy.  If it takes more....

The fees on a $5 donation, I believe would be harsh.  So, think twice on tiny recurring donations.

Agreed, this site is a great benefit.  Let's all make it easier for Craig and MT as they probably have less taxing and more fruitful things to do.

BTW,  i have 2 rotary phones  that work perfectly in NYC blackouts.  You can use one, if you  want, but my grandmother's 6 pound,  Bell System, circa 1947, desk phone is decidedly unavailable.  It is glorious example from when USA remenbered how to manufacture.

Cheers,
Bedraggled/ Kevin

[MachineGhost]

The other option is to try another forum package. I've not looked at them years myself so if people want to suggest something we can take a look. Problem is many of them have a lot of features so that means more server resources, maintenance, etc. What we want is something simple and low maintenance as the forum needs to mostly be on auto-pilot as the mods/admins are not full-time of course.

No way.  All of the other ones suck donkey balls are a confusing mess to use and navigate!  Serious overkill that will turn off n00bs.

I still think its worth changing webhost providers to a business with better infrastructure instead of rinky dink Arvixe.  May I suggest https://www.bluehost.com/ ?  $3.95-$6.95 a month and they will migrate the whole enchilada for you for $99.

[dragoncar]

I'll contribute $10 for every percent the portfolio increases per year.  :-P