Apologies for downtime - Tuesday

[robf]

Sorry about the site being down a lot on Tuesday folks.

To explain - it turned out that the forum was crashing the server, yes, even the new super-powered server because every time someone posted it was using nearly all the server memory.

The solution was to install some new software on the server and switch on a cache for the forum which will massively reduce the load.

However, it was tricky to do as it's a long job for the technical support team and with the site crashing, it was tricky to get it online for long enough to do it all.

The good news is that it is now all done and I am hopeful of a much improved performance from now on.

So, sorry for the issues hopefully this is the end of them!

Rob

[robf]

UPDATE: sadly the cache isn't working yet. I have disabled it for now which takes us back to the problem of OVF running out of memory and crashing.

However, I am working with two technical teams (one for the server and one for the forum) to find out what settings are wrong. 

Hopefuly, once I am told what is wrong and correct it then the forum will run faster and we'll have a more stable site.

But for now, bear with me, this is a longer process than I first thought...

[robf]

OK, I spoke too soon earlier so hope I am not doing so.

There were multiple issues which the technicians have been working on. But at time of writing all looks OK again.

Fingers crossed it does but if OVF disappears again, rest assured I will be working on fixing it!!!

[Playa Amodores]

10 minutes ago, robf said:

OK, I spoke too soon earlier so hope I am not doing so.

There were multiple issues which the technicians have been working on. But at time of writing all looks OK again.

Fingers crossed it does but if OVF disappears again, rest assured I will be working on fixing it!!!

Rob, thank you, it must be a nightmare for you. Well done

[robf]

19 minutes ago, Playa Amodores said:

Rob, thank you, it must be a nightmare for you. Well done

Thanks @Playa Amodores It was a cross between an away trip to Swindon and toothache... 

Lots of interconnected issues all compounded by the site not being active for long enough to correct them.. every time we found an error, the site went down and we couldn't correct it in time.

Hopefully, sorted and everything a lot faster. There is now a cache on the forum which should really help with the speed.

I just hope it's all OK in the morning. If it is then I will be hopeful that the changes are all sorted and nothing else has cropped up.