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Service Interruptions and Explanation

TWDeac

TWDeac

Resident Astrophysicist
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Location
Cincinnati, OH
Our host has 4 levels of VPS hosting


Tier/CPU/Memory


Tier 0 - 1 CPU - 750mb
Tier 1 - 1 CPU - 1750mb
Tier 2 - 2 CPU - 3500mb
Tier 3 - 4 CPU - 7000mb




The night of the NC State game, we decided to upgrade to the next level of hosting(Tier 1.) We have been on Tier 0 since we moved to our new host in March 2012.


The slowness started with the first migration and has been occurring ever since. I've been talking with support for a few hours a day since Tuesday. They first suggested that we move to the next level(Tier 3), because we had uncovered a CPU bottleneck when our memory increased. This was plausible, because we were having memory issues on Tier 0. We moved to the next level and it didn't alleviate our problems. Tonight, during the GT game, our site was performing like dog shit, and people were complaining. I quick re-sized our server to the next level of hosting(Tier 3) During this process, server load and memory usage dropped to pre-upgrade(normal) levels. Very intriguing because the Tier 3 CPUs and memory hadn't been engaged at this point.


I, of course, inform our hosts of this chance occurrence. I had been yelling at them all week because the only thing that had changed on our site was the fact that we upgraded our server. Of course, they told me that it wasn't their fault. Well, as soon as things returned to normal during our upgrade tonight, I emailed them to look into it.


They have since responded that we shouldn't change anything because load/memory usage is perfect. Tier 3 hosting for OGBoards.com is like killing a mouse with an atomic bomb. It isn't necessary. We would need 2,000 more active users to need this type of hosting. In addition, it would cost $300/month. That type of monthly expenditure isn't responsible or sustainable.


Here are some of the graphs from our backend.


http://i49.tinypic.com/344bm2u.png - Load Average 2 weeks
http://i48.tinypic.com/sfkt8y.png - Bandwidth Average Month
http://i46.tinypic.com/5v3g7.png - Ram Usage 2 Weeks
http://i46.tinypic.com/sfdz4n.png - Active Process 2 weeks
http://i47.tinypic.com/11ltr1z.png - ACtive Process 2 weeks


Basically, these graphs show that the issues were on our hosts side of the fence and that they have been dicking me around all week. The steady pre-spike values are all Tier 0 hosting.


It's 1am on Sunday morning and I've started the reversion to the Tier 1 server. Ideally, we will pick up where we left off tonight, but if there is any indication that performance is suffering, we will revert back to Tier 3 and continue working with our hosts to figure out the problem.


I hope this has cleared some things up for you all. We sincerely apologize for the service interruptions over the past few days.
 
How are the costs covered? I would be willing to pitch in. I enjoy our community and would pitch in money to do my part.
 
You're the man, TW. Just make sure to thank them for their effort at the beginning of each of your responses to them, even if you're pissed at them. Catching more flies with honey and all that.

What's the cost by level? Would Tier 2 be an option if Tier 1 can't cover our usage?
 
I think the forum drop box has disappeared. I'm just curious if this is a change or something being worked on.
 
Costs were initially covered in a donation drive we held about a year ago. We still have around $600. Our only costs are hosting related.

Obviously, our decision to keep our site add free has made us rely exclusively on donations from members and the moderator team.
 
BacktoBack said:
How are the costs covered? I would be willing to pitch in. I enjoy our community and would pitch in money to do my part.
Click to expand...

Mbadvisor said:
this
Click to expand...

We did a fundraiser a year or so ago that gave us enough cash to survive for up to 18 months. As long as we can stay with our current package, we are good through the summer. In a month or two we are going to kick off an aggressive fundraising campaign. If you want to wait until then, that is fine, but if you'd like to contribute before then, shoot me a pm.
 
I must have missed the last fundraiser. I'll be on the lookout for the next one.

Thanks to all for their efforts.
 
I am likewise happy to contribute and will watch for the fundraiser info. Thanks for the updates.
 
We'll post it as an announcement across all the forums so everyone can see it. Previously, anyone who donated was granted permission to changed their custom title whenever they wished, but we're throwing around the idea of selling something with our name on it, like coozies or stickers. Would there be interest in something like that? It'd help us raise the operation funds and also be a good way to get our name out there.
 
I hope that we are able to stay up with direct fundraising, but if the opportunity comes up for you all, I would not be adverse to an ad banner or 2, as long as they weren't malicious.
 
I would also be totally down with some swag with this guy on it
ogboardslogo.png
 
tsywake said:
We'll post it as an announcement across all the forums so everyone can see it. Previously, anyone who donated was granted permission to changed their custom title whenever they wished, but we're throwing around the idea of selling something with our name on it, like coozies or stickers. Would there be interest in something like that? It'd help us raise the operation funds and also be a good way to get our name out there.
Click to expand...

Yeah!
 
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