When the system is performing well I think it’s a good system, but that one aspect really brings it down a notch in my opinion.
I’m really not knowledgeable about BB/Forum software so I wouldn’t know if there are packages that have conversions written from other packages. There is always the option of writing a conversion, but I understand that takes time and money.
First off, the board seems fast to me now.
Secondly, most other message board packages will have conversion utilities from the most popular message baord programs: vBulletin, phpBB, and Invision Power Board at a minimum.
Of the three, phpBB is the most popular, but it’s also filled with security problems that need constant attention, and administration is far more awkward than with vBulletin. Invision Power Board has its fans, and it’s known for having a very good admin control panel. However, it’s not considered as secure or speedy as newer versions of vBulletin by many.
PunBB seems to have a lot of respect among those that like no-frills message board systems, but there are no boards even close to the SDMB’s size that use PunBB. It’s very fast, but can it scale up to a message board the size of vBulletin?
UBB is still around. It’s not really a major player on the message board scene.
Really, if you took a vote among message board administrators of what the best message board program, you would probably find that, discounting fanboys, vBulletin would probably score at the top.
Hm, well I guess that the SDMB is one of the most posted to boards on the internet. I would have to wonder if there are any bulletin systems even made for this many active users. 99% of all BBSes have twenty posts per day as maximum, I would bet. We probably have a few hundred or more.
or more, yes. 
Is there any way to know if all posts are stored in the same table? Or more importantly, if there’s a way to ask vBulletin to give each forum it’s own table if they are not?
It might be worth emailing the vBulletin developers. Even if there isn’t a configuration option that will work for us now, they might be able to create a fix for the next version. Certainly it seems like the problem isn’t that the server isn’t fast enough serving, rather that something is getting locked and we’re having to wait for it.
According to Big Boards, the SDMB ranks 112 according to number of posts, just above ‘Outdoors Best’ and ‘RC Groups’. The top 25 boards along with the number of posts, members, and type of software used are listed on their front page.
I have not noticed any long lags or time-outs either yesterday or today, but I would hardly say it’s been fast. Much better than over the weekend though.
Well, after 1 week, the server finally seems to have settled down. Certainly not as slow as last weekend, but also certainly not as fast as most (of the pollyannas wanted it) thought it could be.
I’d say it’s lightning fast now.
Except when it stalls or hangs. But the stalls and hangs are less frequent and of shorter duration.
Wonderful when it works.
30 minutes after I posted my messsage, I get a “time out”
(well, not really…1 waited 45 seconds for it to load and it did not, but all other webpages, except youtube on a bad day, load faster. I am not going to wait for IE to tell me the page cannot load if I can load 5 other pages first.)
Interesting how many ‘rate this person’s photo’ forums are in the top 100 - as well as how many Honda fans are fond enough of their machines to participate in forums
(I love mine but am not that crazy about it). [/hijack]
I’ve encountered lags yesterday and this morning. From my POV, the boards are marginally better but not spectacularly so. I do enjoy the edits, though; mad props to the Dopers who add extra giggles via edit messages.
I’ve noticed a very substantial improvement since I submitted my OP. Turning off the RSS feeds seems to have (mostly) done the trick.
No, it’s not perfect. Yes, I do get occasional timeouts. Overall, however, things seem to be far better than they were on the old server.
Thanks, Jerry!
Now, if you can simply tweak things to absolute perfection, and restore the old threads, you will be a god among (IT) men. 
I’ve had no troubles the last several days. An occasional hang is nothing compared to the way it used to be. Glad it seems to be shaking out.