I’ve been trying to search out a topic on here for the past hour but keep getting timeout errors, what gives? It isn’t like I can’t read the board or anything as me being able to post indicates… I just can’t search.
It’s driving me nuts.
Maybe a momentary hiccough, Aesiron, seems to be working now. Search is a slow function, takes a lot of the hamsters’ efforts – much more so than just reading the boards or posting. Try a more focused search – like titles only, or a specific forum, or narrowed date range, or something?
Well, I was on here at the time of Aesiron’s timestamp (about midnight, US Central Time) and I was getting timeouts just trying to read, so it wasn’t just the search function hiccuping at that time. It cleared up eventually, though.
Hm… I’ve tried narrowing it down as far as it’ll go and it still refuses to comply. My board reading ability is totally unhampered though.
As Dex has pointed out, the search function is about the most system intensive thing we have. We ask our members to use it judiciously and carefully, mindful of the load it puts on the system.
I should also mention that it has never been a robust and full purpose engine, even at its best. This is not google. (Unfortunately.) The engine is what vb has packaged with the message board software and is the best we can do at the present time.
Since the installation of the new server in November, usage has risen approximately 65%. Even the strongest server (and in our case, the fastest hamsters) cannot keep pace with this never-ending demand. When the system is taxed to its very limit, all function suffers, including search.
I’m afraid there is nothing that can be done here, short of buying another server. I can promise you that’s not going to happen.
Sorry.
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
I also note, Aesiron, that you are on AOL. Are you using the built-in AOL browser? It is, to use the technical term, a POS and frequently times out even for routine things.
Try switching to an outside browser, such as IE, Netscape, or Mozilla. (I like Mozilla of late, it’s compact and works well.) I suspect you will find that things work much better.
Also, again, all AOL users – reboot frequently and keep your Temporary Internet caches cleaned out. AOL is not well engineered and collects system RAM like crazy, refusing to release it back to your computer. It’s also a drag on your system to have to run through the mutiples of TMP files AOL collects and holds for no good purpose.
Hope this helps.
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
Wow. Performance has been much improved too, with only a few periods of slowness. TubaDiva do you have a figure at hand for longer periods - back, say, to the introduction of vB? One certainly gets the impression of a much larger Board.
Thank you both for your help and I apologize if my posts came off as whiny and petulant… that wasn’t my intent at all.
And yes, AOL is horrid.
I’m sure we have spot stuff here and there, but there’s been so much that has happened over so much time and Jerry the Tech God has no time to go looking stuff up, so the answer really is no, I suspect. Not that it matters, the outcome is always the same; it’s a large and ever-increasing group of users in a small and ever-diminishing pool of available resources.
I should also mention that chances are that board performance will only degrade over time. It took us a long time to get that server upgrade and we’ve blown right through it already.
I’m still stunned over the fact that in a few short weeks we are essentially right back where we started, with not enough computing power for all tasks the Teeming Millions want to do.
I should also mention this is why we have had to disable all the other bells and whistles that vb offers (instant messaging, etc.). We’re doing good to have a board that halfway works, everything else is pie-in-the-sky.
So all the old rules again apply. Please be considerate of your fellow Dopers. Share what we have and use our resources reasonably. For example, those of you that use the search engine for every teensy mention of your name somewhere (and you know who you are), knock it off, wouldja?
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator