Subeta -

April 16, 2009 12:13 pm

Hi everyone! For once I am not posting to forewarn you about some calamity about to befall Subeta. I thought I should explain some of the problems that we're currently having. If you're not interested, you will lose nothing by not reading, so don't worry about it :)

SQLs: There are actually 3 causes for SQLs, and you can tell them apart by the timing. The main cause for SQLs is when the database locks up because of too many queries at once. Those SQLs result in the site starting to time out, before our script realizes the problem and restarts the database, resulting in a SQL page for about 40-60 seconds before the site comes back up. This type of SQL will be made extinct (hehe) as we work to improve the efficiency of the site.

The other two are more worrying. One is a "quick" SQL, which shows up suddenly, without the site slowing down, and disappears within 15 seconds or so. This means that the database has crashed (and automatically restarted), which is usually a result of some part of the DB having become corrupted. Eventually, the server will crash immediately after it restarts itself, and this will cause a long SQL, which will persist until we're able to restore the database from a backup.

We're currently working on this problem and we think we are close to discovering what is actually going on here.

Images not showing: One of our three web servers was having problems, becoming unresponsive and having to be restarted every night. When this happened, the image server on it had to be started manually, and so images that were routed to that server would not load until this happened. We've since identified what was happening (runaway backup script) and fixed it, so this shouldn't be an issue any more.

Please-wait timeouts: A number of people are reporting getting "please wait 30 seconds" or such timeouts when it's they've waited minutes, hours, or days. We are still trying to figure out this one, so if you're having this problem and you're willing to work with me on debugging it, please let me know.

Anyway, just thought that might help explain some things that are going on.

-Alex

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks for the explo. that helps alot its so great to finaly know what's going on. Thank you Alx

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks for the explanation

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

All you people that don't understand what he is talking about can just take a moment to go google it and find out!

Anywho, thanks alx.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks for the explanations Its good to know u are working on the things going buggy and its nice to get a heads up about them so we know u are working on them daily Hang in there I hope its all better soon

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thank you so much for the explanation. I like that you take time out to explain what is going on and why to the users. Thank you very much.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks so much for taking the time to explain - it certainly makes the issues a lot less frustrating~!

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Well said Sirenia. Thanks heaps for all the time you put in Alex.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

hey alx thank you for all your hard work and time you take to lets us know even if we do not understand it i do understand those pesky squirrels ok im trying to get them believe me but as yet fail to catch one.your hard work never goes unnoticed and from all os us i can say (i hope)well done and yes what would we do without you.have a great day ok..

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Oh Alex, what would we do without you ! Thanks.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks for the informative updates, Alx, we really appreciate them!

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

thanks for the update Alex, seems your the only one that ever has given us updates.. and thanks for your hard work but my question is, why all these problems.. if months ago Keith upgraded everything to supposed solve all these issues why are they still here and even worse than they were before.. I dont understand this situation.. and of course I keep feeding his pockets with my cash but dont ever see any real results.. thanks for any answers you can give..

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Hi Alex, though my account is running just fine now, I had that wait 5 seconds problem twice. I know nothing about debugging but if I can help in anyway I will. Thanks.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

That actually helps a ton! Now I can be prepared if a long, or quick one comes along

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I really like that you keep us well informed. Thank you!

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks for the explanation

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks Alex for the simple and easy to understand explaination about what has been happening with the errors. It's good to know what was causing the problems and that they can be fixed in time

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks, and good luck on fixing the site problems. I believe it must be kinda difficult to work with this XD

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

thank you for explaining the situation to us. =) i know personally it makes me feel included whenever i am informed about the the happenings. =)

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks for telling us It's always nice to know whats going on.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Let's go SQLhunting.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thats what makes you so awesome alex. I love that you include us and let us know what the issues mean.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks for the heads up and letting us know whats happening

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

It is refreshing to be kept up to date, it shows excellent respect for users. Thank you very much.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks for the updates. Those SQL errors are so annoying. At least I know the reasons behind them now.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Even though I have no clue what that means, I want to thank you for explaining things to us. Well, trying to explain, anyway. <3

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Wow! Thanks for the update. I had a please wait for 4 days.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I guessed as much about the pictures, since the rest of the site was working when that happened.

I've never had the problem you mentioned in the end. When I do, I'll know who to bother with it

And the big corruption thingy ... well, I'm used to the fact that Subeta crashes once in a while. But I know you are always tinkering at the site to make it better. Keep on tinkering

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I don't mind much, the Sql that pops up on the screen is cute anyway

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks for keeping us informed. I never realized the pattern of the different SQLs... These SQLs are persistent little buggars, aren't they? x'D I wish you the best of luck in whipping the servers back into shape.

I used to lag a whole lot everywhere and many things didn't work, but now everything is much better. This site is really buggy and laggy at times, but it's great to know that it's being worked on.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thank you for keeping us updated

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks for the update ^^ I'm sure you'll be able to find out what's going on soon. c:

If I was any good at that kind of thing, I'd try and help XD;;;

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks as always for the update! It's always good to know what's going on!

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks for letting us know whats going on !!! I hope it ends soon !!

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thank you for the update! It is nice to be kept in the loop!

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks. Also I dont think the autopricer is working properly. Maybe thats apart of this?

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks a bunch for the explanation!

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks so much for keeping us up to date!

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thaks for the explanations

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

thanks as usual It's good to have some info. Yay

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks for letting us know! While I don't have much tech knowledge, I appreciate that you are allowing us to be aware of what the problems are.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I appreciate the update! Thanks a lot!

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thank you so very much for keeping us up-to-date, its real nice to know whats going on instead of always being in the dark. Thanks again for the explanations !!

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

that WHOOSH sound? everything you said going right over my head.

What I do notice, though, and appreciate VERY much, is having a site programmer who gives us advance warning and explanations for downtime - as opposed to, just for example, taking the site down every weekend for months on end and no one any the wiser. You rock.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by