# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/101 "2019-12-21T02:04:03Z")
> [@margin](#): > > Now I’m being told I have to wait sixty seconds between posts. I had cut down the system default to 0 but then we started having problems and the techs bumped it back up. I hesitate to try sliding it back down again in light of the current problems. And I do apologize, it’s frustrating to everyone. As we are coming up on Christmas and people get days off and take vacations and whatnot I am pretty sure we’re just going to have to batch it for bit here. This is an old install of vB and we’ve beaten it like a rented mule over these years so I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise. I would look forward to some fixes and I know you do too. Maybe Santa has something for us, we’ve been good little boys and girls, no? 😃_Ho-Ho-Ho!_ In the meantime, what’s it gonna be, eggnog or champagne punch? Maybe both. Wishing you Happier Holidays. Jenny your humble TubaDiva Administrator Because booze heals. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/102 "2019-12-21T10:32:33Z")
I opened up New Posts, and as my wont, opened up new tabs for the threads I wanted to read. The first 10 or so, did not load. The next 10 did. When I got to each tab, which didn’t load at the beginning, it loaded after refreshing. Perhaps this method is stressing the board a bit much, but normally it doesn’t have issues. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/103 "2019-12-21T13:59:27Z")
Here, too. Plz, get some IT people. The site’s becoming difficult to use. ---
**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:** [December 21, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/104 "2019-12-21T15:16:21Z")
I was on a sports site and I could tell if the team won or lost by the state of the message board. When the team won , no problems. After a loss, the board crashed every time since fans were mad. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/105 "2019-12-21T17:56:32Z")
nm ---
**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:** [December 21, 2019, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/106 "2019-12-21T18:11:11Z")
would deleting old posts help? The database is very large and deleting stuff older than say 5 years might help. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/107 "2019-12-21T18:15:48Z")
Taking forever (especially today). I’m not getting error messages as I just quit my browser and try again a dozen times or so. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/108 "2019-12-21T18:23:40Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > would deleting old posts help? The database is very large and deleting stuff older than say 5 years might help. I hope it doesn’t come to that. I very much like having access to older threads. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/109 "2019-12-21T18:32:11Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > would deleting old posts help? The database is very large and deleting stuff older than say 5 years might help. Probably not. Assuming VB uses a B-Tree kind of indexing, doubling the database size results in only one additional search call on average to find something specific. Not a significant load. ---
**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:** [December 21, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/110 "2019-12-21T18:32:44Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I hope it doesn’t come to that. I very much like having access to older threads. Definitely. Please do NOT delete our history! ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/111 "2019-12-21T18:45:53Z")
I doubt it’s a problem of database size. If it were, the boards would have slowed down gradually over the years, rather than suddenly become unusable. Also, it would be a problem for all users. One odd thing is that this problem doesn’t affect everyone. I joined this thread ten days ago when I was having timeouts. Since then, I’ve had the problem only a couple of times, and only briefly. Yet other users have the problem consistently, and over many days. I think we need more info on the users who are seeing timeouts. Answers to these questions might help: What OS and browser(s) are you using? What firewall do you use? What virus protection do you use? Who is your ISP? Are you using a VPN? What is your location? My answers: What OS and browser(s) are you using? Windows 10 Pro Chrome Version 79.0.3945.88 (Official Build) (64-bit) What firewall do you use? Windows firewall What virus protection do you use? Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2020 Who is your ISP? AT&T Are you using a VPN? No What is your location? El Cerrito, CA ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/112 "2019-12-21T19:52:47Z")
AFAICT, the problem is extremely intermittent and usually short-lived. I had a 504 Gateway timeout a few seconds ago, and now things are back to normal. This makes this kind of problem admittedly hard to analyze. It does not SEEM to be related either to location or client configuration, though obviously I can’t be sure. I have the impression that it tends to happen more often late at night, but whether it really does or not happen more often, it definitely happens, which argues against system load being the issue. The slowdowns and the various errors being reported are probably all the same thing – that is, if the lack of response is sufficiently long, things time out and you get the message, otherwise you sit there waiting for a while and you eventually get a response. Also interesting is that postings don’t seem to have a problem getting through, only responses. That’s why we have so many double posts when the problem is happening fairly frequently. Posters submit a post, get no response, and assume that it hasn’t gone through, but it has. It’s the response (the confirmation of the post) that has failed to come back. Whether this is the exact same problem that has been plaguing the site for months now I obviously can’t be sure, but all the symptoms are exactly the same. I still wonder whether one or more disgruntled former users are launching random denial of service attacks. Those who may think this is a fun form of entertainment will note that denial of service attacks are a criminal offense under federal law. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/113 "2019-12-21T20:52:21Z")
Might we suppose that TPTB would just as soon see this board fade away from benign neglect? ---
**Author:** ![atimnie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atimnie/32/11_2.png) [@atimnie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atimnie)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/114 "2019-12-21T20:59:57Z")
Past posts seem to suggest that. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/115 "2019-12-21T23:42:27Z")
Just passing along info: I get roughly five minutes of Dope time and then the board stalls out. This has happened about nine times today (also yesterday) and it’s really pissing me off. Let’s see if this actually posts. Woo hoo! ---
**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:** [December 22, 2019, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/116 "2019-12-22T01:10:10Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Also interesting is that postings don’t seem to have a problem getting through, only responses. In addition to posts I’m having problems with threads loading in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/117 "2019-12-22T02:02:59Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > In addition to posts I’m having problems with threads loading in the first place. Me, too. This is happening lots today. ---
**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:** [December 22, 2019, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/118 "2019-12-22T02:23:57Z")
It could be the database hit a size that is causing problems rather than a gradual problem getting worse. I’ve seen that kind of problem. on linux systems there are various freeware programs that can run to show all kinds of stats about performance to help fix problems. I can’t recall the name of the main one but when I do I will post it . Of course if it is not linux then that won’t help. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/119 "2019-12-22T02:51:29Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Might we suppose that TPTB would just as soon see this board fade away from benign neglect? I’ve wondered about this. I’ve been on some message boards that have started to experience crashes - not timeouts but actual crashes that last a day or so. In more than one instance, the board gradually went downhill, until it just disappeared one day, presumably because they just didn’t register. ---
**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:** [December 22, 2019, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514/120 "2019-12-22T04:06:15Z")
I had the board time out in the middle of making a report. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recent-server-timeout-errors-anyone-else-getting-them/844514.md?page=7)