Site/posts sometimes take a while to load

[Dino]

This has been going on for several weeks now and I'd like to know if others have this issue.  It does not always happen but lately when I click a post or a reply link in my email, it takes forever for the site to load.  Most of the time I have to click the link twice or more.  I've tried three different browsers and even tried my laptop at school with the same results.  At other times it loads right away with no issues.  Has anyone else encountered this?

[tan top]

yeah it takes a long time for me , also when adding pictures  click post ! the screen says page cant be displayed like it does when loss of internet connection    

[Dans 68]

It only seems like forever to load.    But yep, I've noticed it also.

Dan

[Mopar Nut]

Mine is slow ever since I had to upgrade to Windows 8 then 8.1 when my other computer took a dump.  XP and Windows 7 was fine. Do you have windows 8?

[tan top]

 yeah windows 8  , not too sure what i'm doing  with computers  took me  10 years to figure out windows XP set up   

[Dino]

Windows 7 here

[70 sublime]

I have noticed the same thing
Stuff takes a long time to load but it seems that it is worse later in the day
I check stuff first thing in the morning and every thing just pops up
Could it be a greater number of users on the board making it slower later in the day ?

[Dino]

If user volume is the issue, can we please make this a registered user only site?  As I write this there are 36 users and 169 guests on this site.  It should at least clear up some room and all those that want to join, even just for reading, can do so by simply registering.   


Troy do we need to set up a fund to increase bandwidth?  I spend a ton of time on here so I'll happily pitch in.

[Troy]

Stop clicking!!! If the site is slow (and no other sites seem slow) then it's likely that the server is overloaded. Clicking the link multiple times sends even more requests that the server has to process - even though you will only see the final result once. If everything seems slow then it's probably your computer or internet connection.

For several months it seems as if we've been under attack by the Chinese search engine Baidu. While not really an attack in the sense that they're trying to knock the site off line they've had as many as 500 connections at once "crawling" the site to index content. Since I have 90% of China blocked already due to Spam and other malicious things, it seems unlikely that any real user of Baidu's search will be able to access the site any way. So, today I firewalled (blocked) the entire network. We'll see if that helps things for "real" users.

In addition, our server is currently outdated and we are long overdue for an upgrade. It's a big job and I just haven't had time to do it. That isn't necessarily going to cause a speed issue but running a server is not all about speed. The site continues to grow (seemingly exponentially) so periodic upgrades to the hardware are necessary to maintain the same performance. It may not seem like it to some but this site is actually fairly large in terms of content and bandwidth when compared to most forums out there - and that's even with the limits on attachment types and sizes!

I'd rather have ads than limit the availability of the site.

There are times throughout the day where I have to delete Spam accounts. Unfortunately, this is a slow process and drags down the servers. It should only last for a few minutes each time but it does "stack up" all the other requests. The best solution is to block the Spammers before they create the account but that's easier said than done.

Troy

[Troy]

The site seems significantly faster now. Hopefully that was the bulk of the problem. The next upgrade should provide a huge boost - if I ever get to it...

Troy

[Mopar Nut]

I believe my problem started when I switched to a new computer, this is the best forum out there.

[Homerr]

Troy, are the attacks still happening?  Lately this is one of the slowest sites I visit and it seems to be getting worse again.   

[440]

It's slow here too at times.. It's like the site hangs occasionally. Sometimes I have to go back and try again.

[Mopar Nut]

Same problem here too.

[JB400]

I believe the problem relates to how many people are on the site at any one time.  I have the same problem sometimes, but just log back on at a later time.  All is well.

[Mopar Nut]

I believe the problem relates to how many people are on the site at any one time.  I have the same problem sometimes, but just log back on at a later time.  All is well.

I wish that was my problem, mine is worst around 1:00AM


Update: This only took 45 seconds to load, 50+ seconds to modify/update and 1min/5 seconds to post.