Slow, Slower, S l o w e s t

[DickH]

I hate to bring this up again, but when it takes 84 seconds - yes, 1 minute 24 seconds - to open this site, it's time for someone to address the problem.
In the past we were told it was our computer. Well, I went out and got a DSL connection to replace my old dialup and, wonder of wonders, it improved - from a minute or so to open to only 30 to 40 seconds. But that number has been creeping up.
Another thing I heard is it's because RR is so large. Well, I have news for you. RR is tiny compared to some vBulletin sites I use.
So just for fun, I got out my watch and compared the times of some other vBulletin sites.

The RadioReference.com Forums - Powered by vBulletin
It took 84 seconds for RR to open.
It took 23 seconds for this thread to open "Programing with Starrsoft.com".
That thread is very small with only 2 replies.

JetPhotos.Net Forums - The Friendly Way to Fly - Powered by vBulletin
It took 21 seconds for this site to open.
It took 19 seconds for this thread to open "Yemeni Airliner Down in Comoros (Indian Ocean)".
That thread has 361 replies.

RailroadForums.Com - Powered by vBulletin
It took 8 seconds for this site to open.
It took 6 seconds for this thread to open "UP's Special Locomotives Traced".
That thread has 453 replies, including many links to photos.

SkyscraperCity - Powered by vBulletin
It took 16 seconds to open.
It took 7 sec for this thread to open "Japan Mass Transit Thread".
That thread has 1695 replies. (I saw one thread with more than 54,000 replies).

A final comparison.
RadioReference:
Most users ever online was 2,495, 07-28-2009 at 06:29 PM.
Skyscraper City:
Most users ever online was 14,344, June 1st, 2009 at 10:44 AM.

[DDan]

I just checked and it takes me less than 3 seconds to open the forum and about the same time to open a thread. This is using an old Dell laptop with only 512meg of memory hooked to a cable modem through a wireless network. That kind of delay has got to be your DSL network.

[DDan]

Dick here is a ping from my computer to RR? What does this look like when you do it?

C:\>ping radioreference.com

Pinging radioreference.com [66.135.49.33] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 66.135.49.33: bytes=32 time=79ms TTL=54
Reply from 66.135.49.33: bytes=32 time=65ms TTL=54
Reply from 66.135.49.33: bytes=32 time=66ms TTL=54
Reply from 66.135.49.33: bytes=32 time=65ms TTL=54

Ping statistics for 66.135.49.33:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 65ms, Maximum = 79ms, Average = 68ms

[Bentley]

Same here...under 3 seconds to open this site using a old wireless laptop on a public connection, even quicker to open threads. Have you cleared your cookies and browsing history etc? Sometimes that may slow you down?

[Chauffeur6]

The site has definitely been ridiculously slow the past couple of days and nights. In fact, my thought was that someone has been launching a DoS attack on the RR server(s). The live feeds have also been negatively impacted by these issues.

And no, this is most certainly not an end-user issue caused by individual computers or ISP connections or "browser cookies". It's a very real issue with RR's server(s) or network connection(s).

[Chauffeur6]

For what it's worth, the site is running fairly briskly at the time of my making these posts. The slowdowns occur at random intervals, but have been especially apparent the past 2-3 days and nights. It's even gotten to the point the site won't load at all, and you get hit with a "Server unreachable" error message from time to time.

[bezking]

I have seen this too. It occurs mostly after 8pm EDT for me... The main site as well as the forums and wiki won't load... However pings are returned. This site is hosted a datacenter called ServerBeach (or so says the Netcraft toolbar), which according to NANOG experienced a DNS outage on 8/8

[blantonl]

We had 2 outages this week that were my fault

Don't worry, I'm planning a HUGE expansion in server resources over the next few months that should help you out Dick.... I hope.

We are growing by leaps and bounds, and we're also a little different then some of these other sites you mentioned that are traditionally vBulletin only Web properties. We run all three components integrated together (Main Site, Forums, and Wiki) which introduces complexity into the architecture, but also ease of use for the users...

As we progress into fall, you'll see lots more changes especially focused on high availability and the best response times we can possible provide.

But, as we all know, YMMV on the Web......

[bezking]

Arright Lindsay, fess up. What happened?

Don't worry, it happens to the best of us *looks away in shame*

[DickH]

Originally Posted by blantonl

... we're also a little different then some of these other sites you mentioned that are traditionally vBulletin only Web properties. We run all three components integrated together (Main Site, Forums, and Wiki) which introduces complexity into the architecture, but also ease of use for the users...

Good try Lindsay, but I don't buy it. Have you been to the Skyscraper City site? There are hundreds of thousands of posts and much more complexity than RR. As I mentioned, one thread had more than 54,000 replies.

[MFD4305]

Originally Posted by blantonl

We had 2 outages this week that were my fault

Twenty lashes with a wet noodle for you!

Just for the record, I never wait more than 1 - 2 seconds for the site or a thread to open, using my 5 year old HP laptop, wireless modem, and Comcast Cable router.

[MPSCS]

Working great in S.E. Michigan Lindsay. Very good response.

[blantonl]

Originally Posted by DickH

Good try Lindsay, but I don't buy it. Have you been to the Skyscraper City site? There are hundreds of thousands of posts and much more complexity than RR. As I mentioned, one thread had more than 54,000 replies.

Dick, please don't be a dick.

I'll quote again.........

"We are growing by leaps and bounds, and we're also a little different then some of these other sites you mentioned"

That means that we are not those Web sites, we are RadioReference.com. The forums homepage loads in 2.7s (with my cache turned off) right here in San Antonio, TX, and loads in 3.4s at my home in Montana. Both locations are on DSL, the Montana location being on a terrible quality DSL.

AND as I previously indicated...

"As we progress into fall, you'll see lots more changes especially focused on high availability and the best response times we can possible provide."

Read that last sentence very carefully.

Sheesh.....

Would you like me to translate that for you? Here goes...

"We are working hard on it."

I'm not denying that we are seeing some performance issues during peak times but understand that we're doing our best to address them.

Let me re-emphasize that our efforts this fall should help out tremendously.

[blantonl]

Originally Posted by DickH

Good try Lindsay, but I don't buy it. Have you been to the Skyscraper City site? There are hundreds of thousands of posts and much more complexity than RR. As I mentioned, one thread had more than 54,000 replies.

I'd love to understand how Skyscraper City is "more complex" than RR...could you expand upon that statement?

If I ran only a vbulletin site... things would be so much easier...

If it relates to Posts and Threads..........well, you've headed down an alley that isn't dark and spooky, it's quite easy and apparent.

RR is a different ballgame.

[jblake76]

Here in Jersey about 2-3 seconds for a load.

[Highpockets]

Originally Posted by jblake76

Here in Jersey about 2-3 seconds for a load.

Do you have comcast cable? I have problems at times with the forums.

[jblake76]

Nope. I use Verizon DSL....

[zzdiesel]

The site is very fast here in the Bootheel of Missouri on Windjammer Cable's Turbo service. It must have been down Sat night. I kept getting the 404, but it was right back up working well on Sunday.

[zz0468]

Why is it that people who pay the least, complain the most?

FWIW, it works just fine in the zz0468 household.

[colby4601]

Up here in the Great White North- Regina, Saskatchewan- The site loads in a good 2 seconds.