Oftentimes can't get into these forums. Why would that be?

[Marie]

Sometimes I have an awful time getting into these forums. Does this happen to other people as well?

For instance, today I tried getting in via a bookmark, but the page wouldn't load. The little hourglass thingy just kept going round and round.

Then I tried getting in just by typing http://www.wellspouse.org into the address bar, but that wouldn't load either, and eventually I started getting this message:

"General Error
SQL ERROR [ mysql4 ]
Too many connections [1040]
An sql error occurred while fetching this page. Please contact an administrator if this problem persists."

Some nights I get so frustrated trying to get in that I just end up not bothering. Any suggestions?

I should also note that I don't have this problem with any other site.

Marie

[rotton50]

It's not you Marie.

I have the same problem on occasion.

Have you tried reloading the page? Usually that fixes it for me.

[gburns]

"General Error
SQL ERROR [ mysql4 ]
Too many connections [1040]
An sql error occurred while fetching this page. Please contact an administrator if this problem persists."

SQL is a language (Structured Query Language) for accessing data in a database. (My database teacher said "Can you imagine an unstructured query language?")
They are using the database MySQL.
It is possible to up the number of connections allowed by changing a value in a system variable. Anybody know an administrator?
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/too-many-connections.html
Now this may or may not be desired because of the capabilities of the box this is running on.
Sometimes this site is dragging. It doesn't seem like there's that much traffic here so I assume there are several sites hosted from the same box.
I recommend putting the site on a bigger box and upping the max_connections system variable.

[Peggy]

gburns, thanks, T M I , just make it work when I click the little thingy...

[gburns]

gburns, thanks, T M I , just make it work when I click the little thingy...

I make my living making it work when you click the little thingy.

[rotton50]

Well that's a new one on me.

Clicking the little thingy to make it work.

Who woulda' thought?

[jacknsue]

I, too, am very frustrated by the slow speed and "too many connections" messages.

Erin: What if anything is being planned to better serve our growing forum community?

How much would better performance cost?

Jack

[LarryB]

You should enter the forums through the main WSA page, not through a bookmark - that will help a lot.

I believe we recently installed a new server but will ask Erin et al to check.

Thanks

Larry

[tundra lodger]

I've tried all the usual tricks but am still having trouble getting here, as well. On cable and T1. Glad to know it's not just me...

Clicking the little thingy to make it work.

Who woulda' thought?

Ray....this is NEW NEWS to you???? C'mon....

[Kronberg]

What a timely post. I've been giving our provider a bad time for several days because I'm having so much trouble - usually here. But then WC is having trouble upstairs as well and I know he's not here. I always get here by typing in http://www.wellspouse.org. When things don't seem right, I usually check the connection by clicking "send and receive" in Outlook Express. If it goes fast like it should I know I'm connected and it's a site problem. Sometimes I get the message that email is not connected so that tells me I'm not connected, right?

Techies - I can stream Netflix - sometimes stops to rebuffer (is that a word?). I can be streaming Netflix nonstop and still have trouble opening web pages or email. My provider was about to put up a new antenna today until I told him the Netflix streaming worked today when web pages didn't. That's not always the case but now I'll have to convince our provider I mis-spoke. There are times Netflix streaming stops several times too. Any other ideas why my connection comes and goes several times an hour - from 30 sec. to several minutes off at a time? Just enough to be a real pain.

[adelle]

I also have a problems and just have to reboot.

[easygoingeric]

You should enter the forums through the main WSA page, not through a bookmark - that will help a lot.

I always get to the forums from a bookmark and most of the time it works well for me.
I have just recently gotten the too many connections message as well a few times. I just close the tab and start over and usually get in on the second try.
I have been experiencing some slow load times for some pages.

Eric

[gburns]

I have just recently gotten the too many connections message as well a few times. I just close the tab and start over and usually get in on the second try.
I have been experiencing some slow load times for some pages.
Eric

the too many connections problem is always a problem with too many connections to the database.
The reason it works again quickly when you reload is that the connections are quick. Just refreshing the page will do the same thing. A particular connection or set of connections only lasts as long as a page is loading. When you are reading a page the connections that were needed to display the page are released. The number of connections is changing constantly. If I recall correctly the default for MySQL is 100.

Do you notice that it takes longer to load things like peoples profiles and private messages? I think many of the main pages are cached in the servers memory and it goes to disk to get the profiles and PMs.
It seems like disk access is slower than it should be. Is the disk pretty full? Does in need defragging?

OK. I have more info.

It looks like the site is actually being served from a location in Franklin, Wisconsin.

http://aplonis.com is the web host.

Sales is in Portland OR

anyway....

There may be many web sites using the same instance of the database.
You might want to whine to customer service.

TMI

[gburns]

Techies - I can stream Netflix - sometimes stops to rebuffer (is that a word?). I can be streaming Netflix nonstop and still have trouble opening web pages or email.

If you are streaming Netflix the issue with email or web pages in general is going to be on the server you are hitting to get the stuff. Web pages on sites like this are next to nothing compared to streaming video, data volume wise. Same with emails unless they have a really big attached file or files.
The problem is not your connection.
I program web apps at work. My main site has 46,000 user accounts and is growing.

[Kronberg]

What a mystery! My SIL checked out our equipment when he was here at Thanksgiving. (He's also IT and flies all over to fix this kind of stuff.) He said our equipment is fine ... he installed most of it. So it's not the service and it's not the equipment. Hmmm?