Server busy message

**admin** · 29-03-10, 11:37 AM

Apparently some have been receiving this message for quite a while. But as no one reported it , I have known nothing about it because I have never seen it. Anyway....

The reason that you would receive this message is due to heavy server load. Austech has been set at VBulletin's recommended default of 5.00 to send people away with the server busy message. In general , Austech runs at an average of about 2.00.

In recent days , Austech has had a huge rise in server load. As an example of how serious , it peaked at 27 last night. This is not due to a mass increase in users from what I can see.

I am looking in to any recent changes that have been made to see if any of them can be responsible and a number of features may be turned off on occasion to rule them out as culprits. However our load is running at around 2.00 again now and has been for hours , so it is also possible that someone is launching a deliberate attack in an attempt to put our server offline.

So I will be monitoring our loads and will be checking and testing some of the things we have installed. I would ask that members take this in to account before posting about items that are currently not working.

Thanks
Sanity

**Godzilla** · 29-03-10, 01:36 PM

Shyite, there has also been a major theft.

Everyone's game room cash has been stolen.

I wonder is it has been a hacker attempt? Forum was great till a few days ago.

**jimbo123** · 29-03-10, 01:41 PM

Could it coincide with this eBay thingy that was added ?

**gordon_s1942** · 29-03-10, 03:26 PM

I have noticed in the last few days that the type in a reply box has been slow in appearing on screen.
For example I might be typing in the word 'Clever' but only 'cle' has appeared but after a few moments the 'ver' appears on screen.
I am not touch typist and a 2 finger speller so I cannot watch the screen as I type.
Also when posting a reply, I have had the little magic circle show rotating merrily to acknowledge the key press but after a few moments it disapears and the reply is still there.
Mostly it will 'post' on the 2nd try.
I was going to post both this and the 'Busy Server' message but I wasnt sure where was the best place for it then I saw that the 'Server Busy' message had been posted on the 'Home' page.
If some jerk is playing about, I hope all their cybers fuse the layers of their HD together.

**admin** · 29-03-10, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by gordon_s1942

I have noticed in the last few days that the type in a reply box has been slow in appearing on screen.
For example I might be typing in the word 'Clever' but only 'cle' has appeared but after a few moments the 'ver' appears on screen.
I am not touch typist and a 2 finger speller so I cannot watch the screen as I type.
Also when posting a reply, I have had the little magic circle show rotating merrily to acknowledge the key press but after a few moments it disapears and the reply is still there.
Mostly it will 'post' on the 2nd try.
I was going to post both this and the 'Busy Server' message but I wasnt sure where was the best place for it then I saw that the 'Server Busy' message had been posted on the 'Home' page.
If some jerk is playing about, I hope all their cybers fuse the layers of their HD together.

That is due to server overload.

So far today things have been where they should be with a number of options/features disabled. I will be looking at our load tonight for comparison.

**admin** · 29-03-10, 03:52 PM

Originally Posted by jimbo123

Could it coincide with this eBay thingy that was added ?

It could be a number of things, just have to rule them all out one by one.

**Bibliophile** · 29-03-10, 05:40 PM

Also, the PM limit has been raised to 600!

**admin** · 29-03-10, 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by Bibliophile

Also, the PM limit has been raised to 600!

Your a Premium Member , thats how many you get

**viewer** · 29-03-10, 07:41 PM

Now cannot gain access from my favourites link..Http not found"

If I go into my history, load that page up, and click new posts, I get back in.

Go back to my favourites link, and hit with message again.

Hope this report assists?

Deleted short cut in favourites, redid the shortcut again, all good now.

**paul911** · 29-03-10, 09:13 PM

getting lots of "server busy come back later" messages.
Really slow to load

**Godzilla** · 29-03-10, 09:51 PM

FYI, tonight's been a killer Sanity, server busy messages for the last 2 or so hours, real hard staying on.

**Mods** · 29-03-10, 10:10 PM

Strangely this post came up ok for me (after one retry), but the 3 ads that are supposed to appear (I changed my card - will upgrade soon) have the error message

instead of the google supplied ads.

Cheers.

PS, having problems posting this reply

about 1 min so far... make that 2 (I'm not this patient)
PPS -OK after about 3-4 minutes (and 50 clicks - which probably doesn't help) I've given up and will go and do something else, and post this later when the 'traffic' has died down.

**rewstar** · 30-03-10, 01:44 PM

since you have been looking into this "server load error".
A new bug has come up where if i open up a new tab from the austech website it makes me sign in again and if i open up a new tab again from the newly opened tab i will have to sign in again ect ect

Cheers

**admin** · 30-03-10, 02:01 PM

After hours of testing I still havent been able to find the cause of the problem. It is now looking to be a possible hardware fault on the server and a ticket has been filed to ask them to perform some diagnostics. Leaseweb are usually pretty poor from a support point of view ( you may remember they lost our hard drive 2 years ago ) and you cant get them to work any faster unless you pay a large SLA payment.

Paul ( Admin ) has advised he is not prepared to pay them an SLA payment and is looking to move the site off the current server and on to another as quickly as possible. It was on the cards for mid year but this is probably just as good a time as any to do it. I will post more information when I know more about exactly whats happening.

In the meantime the site has been turned down to " minimum stress " settings. You will more than likely still receive a server busy message if you are on the site at night as that is the peak time. I have upped the time before it turns people away a bit , but although it may let you in performance will probably be average so I would recommend avoiding the say 7.30 - 10.30 time period if possible.

**admin** · 30-03-10, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by rewstar

since you have been looking into this "server load error".
A new bug has come up where if i open up a new tab from the austech website it makes me sign in again and if i open up a new tab again from the newly opened tab i will have to sign in again ect ect

Cheers

You will need to change whatever you have done to your PC or browser that blocks our cookies. Browser settings , firewall etc

I have opened 6 windows in IE and Firefox without that problem.

**admin** · 30-03-10, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by Sanity

I will post more information when I know more about exactly whats happening.

Ok , the site will be moved off the current server to a new Intel Quad Core Xeon 2.53 HT server physically located in Malaysia , data will also shoot back and forth a lot quicker than what it does at the moment to Europe with Malaysia being closer.

This current server appears to have a crook hard drive so unfortunately we will have to persevere with it while the new server is being deployed ( quoted time frame of around 24 hours until its ready ). Fixing the current server isnt an option as it would take longer for hardware replacement , operating system reinstall , reinstall of forum and database than what it would take to move to a new one.

**gordon_s1942** · 30-03-10, 05:52 PM

I was going to suggest earlier if this current problem could be more to do with the Internet in general rather than 'here'.
Even after Sanity's posting of the current servers hardware problems, I thought posting this may still be relevant.
A chat friend in Southern Vic has Optus wireless B/Band and Optus tried to tell her that it was a 'Nation Wide' computer/server causing her connection/surfing problems, many of us on IPSTAR have been having hassles and they cant seem to pin down to an actual cause.
As I understand the Inter NET it is exactly that, a WEB or NET intended to find a 'Path' from one computer to another and maybe in doing so if there is a 'Delay' somewhere in that path, this may cause a surge of Data to be directed at a 'Server' that simply isnt intended for such Traffic ???
The Internet is like 'Topsy' who just 'Growed and Growed' untill its now simply choking on the traffic its being asked to handle.
I hate to think just how the Internet is growing each week and some of the systems in place must be bursting at the seams.
My computer has the annoying habit of if it cant find a site, IE seems to cache that 'path' and If I dont clear it by doing something else, it will take the easiest path and just pop up the 'Cant find Page' message when I try to revisit that site so why not data flowing from one server to another do the same thing but in doing so, it becomes too much to be handled efficiently?
This was just an Idea I had which might explain why there seems to be nothing untoward going on but there is a problem.

**viewer** · 30-03-10, 06:28 PM

I find I always get the busy message.

What I do now is go to my history, pull up a thread I have read, then click new posts, and get in every time.

Hope this may help some of you.