# Recent server timeout errors — anyone else getting them? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 7, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514 "2019-12-07T16:13:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/401 "2020-01-24T18:22:52Z")
I just got a bunch of errors today. Have y’all tried turning it off and back on again?:o ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/402 "2020-01-24T20:07:37Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Three full days now without a server error. What am I doing right? It seems pretty random on the surface. I went many days in a row without seeing an error. Then I saw a handful yesterday and today. But not enough to really infringe upon using the board. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/403 "2020-01-24T21:59:05Z")
curious what has been tried to fix it? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/404 "2020-01-24T23:29:39Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Who knows if it’s happening to some users more than others? Maybe the people working on it know, but we users don’t. Just because a few users are posting regularly to this thread, doesn’t mean they are the only ones getting it. It may be happening to most or all other users too for all we know. I missed out on these errors throughout December, but I’ve gotten them repeatedly this week. I’m home this week due to an injury, which is different from being home during my Christmas vacation because then I got a whole lot done offline because my knee wasn’t immobilized. Maybe people who notice the errors the most are here the most when it’s happening? ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/405 "2020-01-25T07:06:37Z")
Since editing posts is such a dumpster fire nowadays, could we get the editing window extended to 10 or 15 minutes? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/406 "2020-01-25T08:43:39Z")
As a workaround, we’re asking the mods to close down two long Thread Games threads, Bakers Dozen (70,415 posts) and Trivia Dominoes (46,187 posts). They are being replaced by continuation thread games, Bakers Dozen II and Trivia Dominoes II. [https://is.gd/dtT24W](https://is.gd/dtT24W) \>\> end of Bakers Dozen thread game \>\> [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=22099500#post22099500](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=22099500#post22099500) [https://is.gd/MinlcC](https://is.gd/MinlcC) \>\> end of Trivia Dominoes thread game \>\> [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=22099599#post22099599](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=22099599#post22099599) [https://is.gd/rS2B7M](https://is.gd/rS2B7M) \>\> start of continuation thread, Bakers Dozen II \>\> [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=888975](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=888975) [https://is.gd/OpeZoN](https://is.gd/OpeZoN) \>\> start of continuation thread, Trivia Dominoes II \>\> [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=888987](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=888987) Hopefully THAT will avoid the performance bottleneck resulting in 502 / 504 errors! ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/407 "2020-01-25T16:08:53Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Since editing posts is such a dumpster fire nowadays, could we get the editing window extended to 10 or 15 minutes? I second this idea ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/408 "2020-01-25T17:43:17Z")
This morning I got server timeout errors on the brand new Trivia Dominos II thread and later on this thread. I get them so often that I’m surprised when I DON’T get them. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/409 "2020-01-25T18:18:49Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I get them so often that I’m surprised when I DON’T get them. This is where everyone’s experience seems to differ – frequency of getting these errors. I can say that I have noticed that editing seems to be especially hard on the hamsters. Even when the edits go through the first time without an error message, there is typically a noticeable lag. I find it interesting that upon editing, it seems to be a “wait 60 seconds” message that pops up (as opposed to the 502/504 ‘I’m busy, dammit!’ errors). The 60-second thing was meant to control frequency of posting (by bots?) and help prevent double-posts. So … is something out there fooling the server, somehow, into thinking that two or more posts are being sent in quick succession? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/410 "2020-01-26T12:16:52Z")
to me double posts sounds like more of a server problem than a DB problem . But there could be server and DB problems. Or the interaction between the server and DB is the problem. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/411 "2020-01-26T15:14:00Z")
Several problems yesterday, after none for a while: briefly errors in the morning about loading a couple of pages, then problems with a couple of posts in the evening. Seems OK so far this morning. All the errors yesterday were temporary problems, and straightened themselves out in short order. The posts did as usual turn out to have gone through, or at least I think so – I thought one of them hadn’t, but then wasn’t sure whether it had blocked on an actual post, or only on an attempt to preview. I do think it would be useful to increase the edit window. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/412 "2020-01-26T21:06:02Z")
For goodness sake, feed the hamsters! Three times today I’ve tried to enter a post or a note, and all three times I got a gateway timeout at least twice before it posted. Pages are slow to load, and this one also timed out once. Running through Chrome on Wndows 10. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/413 "2020-01-26T23:44:55Z")
1. Go to [https://tools.pingdom.com](https://tools.pingdom.com) 2. Enter [https://boards.straightdope.com](https://boards.straightdope.com) in the URL field, and press “START TEST” 3. [Cringe](https://i.imgur.com/TMKD1h4.png). Let’s try another page speed/optimization site. 1. Go to [https://gtmetrix.com](https://gtmetrix.com) 2. Enter [https://boards.straightdope.com](https://boards.straightdope.com), or [just click on this link](https://gtmetrix.com/reports/boards.straightdope.com/d1zSPymj). 3. [Ouch](https://i.imgur.com/jxEF13z.png). How about another one? 1. Go to [https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/](https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/) 2. Enter [https://boards.straightdope.com](https://boards.straightdope.com), or [click on this link](https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fboards.straightdope.com). 3. [Fuuuuuu](https://i.imgur.com/z1VXPiG.png) ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/414 "2020-01-27T00:21:00Z")
For what it’s worth, the SDMB forum home page loads up 1.5 MB of content (5 MB uncompressed). [Cite](https://gtmetrix.com/reports/boards.straightdope.com/bjr3wNBe#waterfall). That’s a LOT of bandwidth for a vBulletin site. The home page of Giraffe Boards, in comparison, loads [128 KB of content (265 KB uncompressed)](https://gtmetrix.com/reports/www.giraffeboards.com/cQH65hO1#waterfall). GB runs vBulletin 3.8.7, same as the SDMB. The forum home page of Garage Journal, another legacy vBulletin site, loads 740 KB (1.7 MB uncompressed) with Google Adsense ads. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/415 "2020-01-27T02:58:24Z")
That’s very good info from the tests. On the bright side it’s D or E, not F 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/416 "2020-01-27T15:39:45Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > On the bright side it’s D or E, not F 🙂 I can tell someone is not an Asian parent! ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/417 "2020-01-28T13:50:57Z")
have they tried a simple server reboot? It can’t hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/418 "2020-01-28T18:54:23Z")
Loading threads and pages is often a 10-15 second experience in the past week. Posting takes a long time. Posting an edit is painfully slow. I often get timeout errors and have to re-do posts. It’s a constant thing, too. Every page load takes a long time. Every posting, every edit, etc. takes a long time and often fails. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/419 "2020-01-28T19:41:08Z")
FWIW, I’ve only had a few errors in the past week, and all of them cleared up quickly. None today at all. So I do think some people are having a lot more problems than others. Why this is, I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/420 "2020-01-28T20:11:26Z")
errors might be based on when you post. If you post at busy times you probably get more errors. Or it could be random. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514.md?page=22)