# Only ten timeouts today, Straight Dope! Well done! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 15, 2007, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840 "2007-07-15T08:06:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/41 "2007-07-15T19:58:47Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] Same here… random slowness, some timeouts. It definitely doesn’t seem like a bandwidth issue, because [http://www.straightdope.com](http://www.straightdope.com) comes right up. I’m guessing that they do database maintenance too often and it kills the database. Even if this database has a few million rows, there is no reason it’s this slow. How many people are reading it at a given time? Maybe 200 at the most? How many are posting? 15-20 at the most? There is no way that should cause the database to underperform. Either that, or it’s just crappy thrown-together code. [/QUOTE] At 3:56 EDT, US, there were > [@](#): > > 390 Users Online (190 members and 200 guests) During the weekday hours of 9AM-6PM , EDT, US time, there are usually 400-700 people online. The split between members and guests is usually about equal. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/42 "2007-07-15T20:04:43Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] At 3:56 EDT, US, there were > [@](#): > > 390 Users Online (190 members and 200 guests) During the weekday hours of 9AM-6PM , EDT, US time, there are usually 400-700 people online. The split between members and guests is usually about equal. [/QUOTE] But isn’t the Chicago Reader’s stock value going to plummet now that you’ve let out this trade secret? heh. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/43 "2007-07-15T20:07:52Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] At 3:56 EDT, US, there were During the weekday hours of 9AM-6PM , EDT, US time, there are usually 400-700 people online. The split between members and guests is usually about equal. [/QUOTE] From an application architecture perspective, that’s still in the same category when it comes to number of users. Applications, when built properly, usually aren’t scaled to varying hundreds of users. That’s not very good performance, especially when we’re just talking about database READS, and with 400-700 people on-line, I can’t imagine there being any more than 100-150 READS happening simultaneously (your number I’m sure is a report of how many existing TCP connections are your web server and is not indicative any actual activity). I would estimate that my actual number of 15-20 WRITES happening at a given point in time is pretty accurate. A question: If the database contains to many rows to perform well, why not archive into a different database? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/44 "2007-07-15T21:14:56Z")
**Johnny** , you’re obvuiously not happy here, what with all the moderator kiss-assery, and timeouts and whatever else you might have complained about that I missed. Why not just write off the $14.95 and walk away? ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/45 "2007-07-15T21:54:34Z")
I’ve been trying to post to this thread for 10 hours but the site timed out! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/46 "2007-07-15T21:59:53Z")
[QUOTE=don’t ask] I honestly cannot remember when I last had a SDMB time out. Could be years now. [/QUOTE] Me neither. Back before it went paid, I remember when it timed out. But that was quite a while ago. I’ve been lurking in the last couple of years and recently decided to pay for membership, and it seems faster than ever. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/47 "2007-07-15T22:02:19Z")
[QUOTE=Zoggie] it seems faster than ever. [/QUOTE] Same. I mean, it still occasionally lags or times out, but not particularly often. Certainly not as bad as Livejournal, or a couple other (much smaller) boards I’m on. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/48 "2007-07-15T22:02:48Z")
It times out on me quite a bit, even with my nice fast computer, but it’s not like I can’t find other ways to amuse myself if the board is slow or down. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/49 "2007-07-15T22:04:52Z")
[QUOTE=bigbabysweets2000] I’ve been trying to post to this thread for 10 hours but the site timed out! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: [/QUOTE] Hopefully, you’re being facetious. ? ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/50 "2007-07-15T22:05:49Z")
[QUOTE=Zoggie] Me neither. Back before it went paid, I remember when it timed out. But that was quite a while ago. I’ve been lurking in the last couple of years and recently decided to pay for membership, and it seems faster than ever. [/QUOTE] In all honesty, I am surprised when I see members say that this site doesn’t time out for them. Living in Boston, with a very good internet connection at work and home this site does have times when it pitches a fit and refuses to load. And mind you, when I’m on this site at work it means I’m logged on during 11PM-7AM EDT, so there probably isn’t as many people logged on. Even still, I just renewed. Just one of those things I’ve got to live with. ETA: On edit Sam, yes, sorry for the confusion. When in doubt, assume snarky sarcasm. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/51 "2007-07-15T22:08:24Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] From an application architecture perspective, that’s still in the same category when it comes to number of users. Applications, when built properly, usually aren’t scaled to varying hundreds of users. That’s not very good performance, especially when we’re just talking about database READS, and with 400-700 people on-line, I can’t imagine there being any more than 100-150 READS happening simultaneously (your number I’m sure is a report of how many existing TCP connections are your web server and is not indicative any actual activity). I would estimate that my actual number of 15-20 WRITES happening at a given point in time is pretty accurate. A question: If the database contains to many rows to perform well, why not archive into a different database? [/QUOTE] Well, that’s all well and good, for an architect. I would _suspect_, although I’m a pretty technology impaired guy, that message board software ain’t got nothing to do with architecture. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/52 "2007-07-15T22:12:45Z")
And, I’ll add, as a member here, that the Board has been rather unpredictable(to be polite) the last three days. 🙂 There definitely was a problem at some point. I’m not in the know, but it seems to have been corrected at this point. And, yes, it’s maddening to me as a poster/reader, never mind as a Mod. I hope it gets fixed forever, sometime. I DO have faith that it will. But Mods/Admins have NO power over this. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/53 "2007-07-15T22:15:05Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] But Mods/Admins have NO power over this. [/QUOTE] Can we still hurl stones at you? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/54 "2007-07-15T22:19:44Z")
[QUOTE=bigbabysweets2000] Can we still hurl stones at you? 😃 [/QUOTE] Like telling you “No” would make a difference? ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/55 "2007-07-15T22:20:14Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] Well, that’s all well and good, for an architect. I would _suspect_, although I’m a pretty technology impaired guy, that message board software ain’t got nothing to do with architecture. [/QUOTE] [201,000 Google Hits](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=QZr&q=applications+architecture&btnG=Search) for “applications architecture.” ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/56 "2007-07-15T22:21:55Z")
(Actually, the stones aren’t that bad, but the brickbats have those jagged edges that sometimes break off in the wound, and, of course, they get brick dust all over our shirts.) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/57 "2007-07-15T23:11:01Z")
[QUOTE=bigbabysweets2000] I’ve been trying to post to this thread for 10 hours but the site timed out! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: [/QUOTE] Some people just can’t take a hint. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/58 "2007-07-15T23:17:44Z")
[QUOTE=Small British Shop Owner] As a practical solution which does help, might I suggest you adjust your browser to make less concurrant connections to a server (or do I mean more)? [/QUOTE] At the risk of being off-topic (since this is the Pit after all, and not GQ), how do you do that? For those of us who may have average tech-savvy or none at all? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/59 "2007-07-15T23:23:15Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] [201,000 Google Hits](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=QZr&q=applications+architecture&btnG=Search) for “applications architecture.” [/QUOTE] Yeah? [643,000 Google Hits](http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=irregardless&btnG=Google+Search&meta=) for “irregardless”. Seriously though, you should look at [the thread I linked earlier](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8529930). ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2007, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840/60 "2007-07-16T00:32:21Z")
[QUOTE=minlokwat] I thought it all went to the exorbitant salaries that make up the moderators’ payroll. Am I mistaken after all these years? [/QUOTE] Don’t forget the secret orgies for the exclusive benefit of the charter members. The cost of pie alone runs into six figures. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-ten-timeouts-today-straight-dope-well-done/411840.md?page=4)