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And so you should :)

 

Well, not just you, but ALL members using multiple windows/Firefox tabs are taking up connections that stop other users from viewing the site.  Yes, it may help you do several things at once, but each one of those "things" is a user that is being "bounced" from the site.

 

The problem is that at the moment, demand is MASSIVELY high and finance is low.  These two factors are mutually exclusive which is leading to outages for some users.

 

And don't think that this is because us owners/admins/moderators are over-using the site - even I have had a job connecting this fine evening which added an hour to various admin tasks and left me with one fewer hour of sleep tonight. :(

 

Anyway, upgrades are being considered at the moment and improvements are being tabled.  Until they are put in to place though we have to take account of the fact that this site's popularity has grown beyond all expectations and beyond all other internet web sites.  They say there is a price to be paid for fame and popularity.  For us it is the occasional 5 minutes of outage here and there.  For others it is either hounding by the paparazzi or death on a toilet.  Personally, I am happy to stick with the occasional outage :)

 

Rest assured, as server upgrades are planned or implemented you will be the first to know ;)

 

If I knew this I wouldnt open every picture thread in a tab :(

 

I wont do it anymore.

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At the end of the day, this is a free service provided off Arnie's own back for us. Even Arnie's detractors have to give him that much.

 

As a result, we have to make do with what Arnie can afford, and indeed be grateful for it - hosting certainly doesn't come cheap usually. Although the service can be down occasionally during peak times, it's not down as much as it was it seems, so long as it remains free, any access at all is a bonus. :)

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I know this might be a really stupid idea but whats going on is the Hosts server is getting overloaded pretty much right ? Wouldnt that work if you hook up 1-3 hosts on the arnies domain and have it host the site on 3 different servers ? Like having 3 hosts up with the domain hooked onto each one and it has the same exact files on the site on each hosts ftp. just a little idea but meh

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I know this might be a really stupid idea but whats going on is the Hosts server is getting overloaded pretty much right ? Wouldnt that work if you hook up 1-3 hosts on the arnies domain and have it host the site on 3 different servers ? Like having 3 hosts up with the domain hooked onto each one and it has the same exact files on the site on each hosts ftp. just a little idea but meh

 

Wouldn't that cost 3 times more?

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Would shutting down the Gallery help?

 

:zorro:

 

Unfortunately not, no. This one has already been looked at and the Gallery option uses bandwidth and storage space on the server - neither of which is being too badly taxed.

 

The problem is being caused by the constant slamming of the memory and processor on the server. This is being caused by the sheer number of processor and memory hits caused by loading a forum page or a review.

 

Example, for your browser to load one page from the forums, the server's processor has to...

  • Look up & process the header (including links to additional features, etc...)

  • Look up & process the skin and all components of the left hand sidebar

  • Look up & process forum headers & names

  • Look up & process thread title and subtitle

  • Look up & process every post text

  • Look up & process every member name of every post on that page

  • Look up & process every member sub-title of every post on that page

  • Look up & process every member location of every post on that page

  • Look up & process every member description of every post on that page

  • Look up & process every member post-count of every post on that page

  • Look up & process every member avatar of every post on that page

  • Look up & process every member rep total of every post on that page

  • Look up & process every custom icon of every post on that page

  • Look up & process the security levels for the viewer's group

  • Build all of the above database query results in to an HTML page

  • Notify your browser that the page is ready for download

  • Clear the memory taken up by the request and log the request as "completed"

  • and a whole lot more.

 

Essentially what it means is that every time a user clicks the "next page" button in a thread, all of the above has to be done for that one request. Imagine that happening several hunded times over at the exact same instant, and you quickly realise what is causing the problem.

 

 

Wouldn't that cost 3 times more?

 

Indeed. From what I have been told, the server is already a very high specced one and upgrading it wouldn't give much of an advantage, so that really means that load-sharing across multiple servers is the way to go.

 

As such an upgrade would cost many hundreds of pounds extra every month, the money will have to be found for it to go ahead. Options are available and the issue is being looked in to.

 

As and when any upgrades are implemented, you all will be notified. ;)

 

Cheers. :)

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I notice that it has to look up alot of stuff, is it at all possible to have the option to view the forum without alot of the carp of it?

 

Such as just having the member name and nothing else?

 

Maybe cut some other parts as well. I would probably use this if I thought it was helping the server run faster.

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The options are...

  • 1. Have options to "display all" or "Display minimal", etc... which will require re-coding a massive amount of the forum engine. That would take an insane amount of time and is most likely legally prohibited by the people who originally wrote the forum engine.

 

2. Just remove all the extras. That leaves us with a very basic forum engine that looks naff, has far less functionality and is vastly inferior to the top quality site we all love.

The only other option is '3' - Upgrade the server and keep the top quality site we want. That is currently being looked at. ;)

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why dont you turn off or increase the time that the forum automatically refreshes itself in?

 

I dont remember it doing it a year ago offhand, but the page will refresh itself if you idle on it for too long.

 

could save bandwidth at the very least.

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I don't think its the whole page that refreshes automaticly, just the AKmos exchange rates.

 

They say there is a price to be paid for fame and popularity.  For us it is the occasional 5 minutes of outage here and there.  For others it is either hounding by the paparazzi or death on a toilet.

UhHuhu...

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Hi peeps,

 

Okay, I have spent a fair few hours on the phone with the server operator tonight and we are narrowing down the search.

 

After a lot of second-by-second monitoring of the server and all its processes, I have witnessed the server stop responding with only 3 active connections!!!

 

Basically, what seems to be happening is that the server operates as usual for a period of time (tonight this has been about 5 minute periods maximum), then something on the server stops processing requests and the requests just start piling up. After a few minutes, the number of queued requests gets to around the 500 mark and then the server gives in and re-boots. At this point, the initial 3 requests are still at the head of the queue, waiting to be processed.

 

This new information has been passed to the server managers and they will hopefully be looking in to things very soon.

 

To my mind this either indicates...

  • 1. A runaway PHP process that once activated, starves the server of all resources (this is currently being looked in to),

 

2. A totally undetectable DOS (Denial Of Service) attack (not possible given the technology of our monitoring system),

 

3. A system service that is crashing without telling the server itself that the service is no longer available (possible if the server has corrupted libraries, hardware issues, or another type of unforseen problem).

 

My money is on number 3, and I am erring toward a hardware problem on the server. You see the server is located in Florida. As Florida is starting to heat up this time of year, and as the bulk of our problems during the period where the Florida afternoon is at its hottest, I am inclined to believe that this may be a hardware problem brought on by either an inadequate air-conditioning system in the data-centre that houses this server, or a faulty cooling-system on the server itself. Unfortunately as all the management of this site are based in the UK, we can only rely on remote communication with the feet on the ground at the hosting company. They have been alerted to the situation though.

 

Rest assured though, we are looking in to the problem most urgently and will post more as we get more results.

 

Thanks for reading and apologies for the outages we are currently experiencing - we are doing everything we can. ;)

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Hi peeps,

 

Okay, I have spent a fair few hours on the phone with the server operator tonight and we are narrowing down the search.

 

After a lot of second-by-second monitoring of the server and all its processes, I have witnessed the server stop responding with only 3 active connections!!!

 

Basically, what seems to be happening is that the server operates as usual for a period of time (tonight this has been about 5 minute periods maximum), then something on the server stops processing requests and the requests just start piling up.  After a few minutes, the number of queued requests gets to around the 500 mark and then the server gives in and re-boots.  At this point, the initial 3 requests are still at the head of the queue, waiting to be processed.

 

This new information has been passed to the server managers and they will hopefully be looking in to things very soon.

 

To my mind this either indicates...

  • 1. A runaway PHP process that once activated, starves the server of all resources (this is currently being looked in to),

 

2. A totally undetectable DOS (Denial Of Service) attack (not possible given the technology of our monitoring system),

 

3. A system service that is crashing without telling the server itself that the service is no longer available (possible if the server has corrupted libraries, hardware issues, or another type of unforseen problem).

 

My money is on number 3, and I am erring toward a hardware problem on the server.  You see the server is located in Florida.  As Florida is starting to heat up this time of year, and as the bulk of our problems during the period where the Florida afternoon is at its hottest, I am inclined to believe that this may be a hardware problem brought on by either an inadequate air-conditioning system in the data-centre that houses this server, or a faulty cooling-system on the server itself.  Unfortunately as all the management of this site are based in the UK, we can only rely on remote communication with the feet on the ground at the hosting company.  They have been alerted to the situation though.

 

Rest assured though, we are looking in to the problem most urgently and will post more as we get more results.

 

Thanks for reading and apologies for the outages we are currently experiencing - we are doing everything we can. ;)

 

 

 

Wait, isn't the reason we cant talk about 328+ fps because the site is hosted in the UK? If its hosted in flordia then shouldn't we be able to discuss this?

 

 

I know the staff, or majority of them, are in the UK, but really this is no longer a UK site, it is a world site. An INTERNET site. Just food for thought, however little you may need...

 

 

 

~P

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Wait, isn't the reason we cant talk about 328+ fps because the site is hosted in the UK? If its hosted in flordia then shouldn't we be able to discuss this?

I know the staff, or majority of them, are in the UK, but really this is no longer a UK site, it is a world site. An INTERNET site. Just food for thought, however little you may need...

~P

 

No prometheus, It still doesn't change the fact that it's is a 328 limit in the Uk and if someone upgrades past this, in the uk, and either Hurts someone badly or Damages a skirmish site, that we were not to blame because we didn't tell him how to. It's the home office that suggests the 328 limit, and the home office which is currently trying to ban airsoft. Do you effing well think it would look good as 'Violent Gun groups using lethal replica's ' ? Because I can almost 100% guarantee you that somewhere, some one would get caught by the sun. Before you give the counter argument 'But you can find out on google..' This is a site with many users, and some, ofcourse, are unscrupulous, Which I'm sure you know. Besides, This is a 'co.uk' site, based at the british, for the British. Your being here is because we let you, and that does not change the fact that it's Airsoft: The British Way Frankly, there are many US airsoft forums out there, if you want to talk about how to upgrade your gun to sodding 500fps, go there.

 

 

/Rant, Because I've had enough of people whining about the 328 rule.

Edited by Lord Jebus
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Just as a btw, I noticed that you said it can't be a DOS attack 'cos of your monitoring system. Good to know, given that a certain other site is screaming about people taking it down with deliberate DOS attacks - and then behaving like little tin gods and banning everypne they think was responsible and threatening legal action etc etc.

 

And they wonder why Arnie's is so popular.....

 

And this might just get me banned elsewhere.....

Edited by R1200RT
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Wait, isn't the reason we cant talk about 328+ fps because the site is hosted in the UK? If its hosted in flordia then shouldn't we be able to discuss this?

I know the staff, or majority of them, are in the UK, but really this is no longer a UK site, it is a world site. An INTERNET site. Just food for thought, however little you may need...

~P

 

The problem is that the site is Owned, Maintained and Managed by English people. As such it is us that can get a legal slap if such information is posted up and subsequently used by another Brit to get himself a firearms conviction.

 

As such, the 1 Joule rule stands. ;)

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Well, we could always start a petition. ;)

 

Right, some tests have been run on the server and it has been determined that "memory" was to blame. The high usage has been maxing out the available memory on numerous occasions causing the dead-spots we have been experience (barring yesterday's exceptionally bad service - the hosting company had centre-wide errors on all servers during that period).

 

Not to go in to detail but some virtual memory management was needed as a temporary measure, and a rather expensive memory upgrade will be needed soon to maintain the service effectively.

 

Some tinkering with the server has been done about 3 hours ago and so far it looks to be effective. I have been running tests and the server has been running fast and reliably during this period, even under load.

 

I'm not saying everything is fixed, just that significant changes have been made to the architecture of the server and initial findings indicate that they have been successful.

 

Translation for Sledge: The pixies are now better fed so the strike is off for now ;)

 

I will be watching progress as and when I can but hopefully this issue should be resolved at least in the short-term.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------

 

IRONIC UPDATE: As I hit "Add Reply" to the above post, the server crashed. Okay, so the fix might not have been as effective as I had thought. At least things are better now than they have been. Oh well, back to the drawing board <_<

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