denise: Image: Me, facing away from camera, on top of the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome (Default)
Denise ([staff profile] denise) wrote in [site community profile] dw_maintenance2011-12-30 07:53 pm

Site slowdowns and internal server errors

Hello, my lovely Dreamwidthians! I bring to you information about several site issues this afternoon/evening/other-time-of-day-as-appropriate-for-your-timezone, and the steps we're taking to fix them:

* Some people have noticed intermittent site slowdowns today. This is partially because of increased traffic, and partially, as we feared, because the import queue, and the speed at which we're processing import jobs, is putting a lot of load on the database servers. Short-term fix: [staff profile] mark is juggling things around to reduce database load and trying to direct some queries to the backup database machine. Long-term fix: we have a ticket in with our hosting provider to upgrade the database machines to make them bigger, better, faster, and more.

* You may get some "internal server error" messages when submitting data to the site, or messages saying that the site sent no data or the connection was reset. This is almost certainly related to the new load balancing solution we put into place last night, and Mark is doing some configuration tweaks and fixes that will hopefully stop it from happening. We're not 100% sure on the exact cause -- there are a few things it could be -- but we're going to keep whacking at it until the errors go away.

As part of these fixes, Mark may need to take the site down for a brief maintenance window -- he's hoping he'll be able to make the fixes without having to put the site into maintenance mode, but he might not be able to. The site may be slow for a while in the next few hours, and there may be brief periods of downtime. We're working to fix the problems as fast as we can!

(Well, okay, Mark is working to fix the problems. I'm cheering him on and passing him towels and Gatorade.)
gwendraith: (Default)

[personal profile] gwendraith 2011-12-31 11:21 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you for keeping us all in the loop. It's appreciated!
kj_svala: (Default)

[personal profile] kj_svala 2011-12-31 11:37 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you for the update!
ladydrace: (There's your problem!)

[personal profile] ladydrace 2011-12-31 02:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Just wanna add to the chorus here. It's so awesome to get these little heads-up notices. Even if it just says: "Something is going wrong, but we're trying to fix it!" Just knowing that you're there and making an effort makes it worth every single penny!
setissma: (pic#50517)

[personal profile] setissma 2011-12-31 05:31 pm (UTC)(link)
As another LJ refugee, I just wanted to say that I find the clarity and openness refreshing. It's nice to know what the actual problem is behind the errors, and that people (OK, ) are working on it. Thanks again for being so on the ball and for working to keep us informed!
setissma: (spn - brother times)

[personal profile] setissma 2011-12-31 05:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Oops, my refugee status has lead to a coding error! Thanks for the hard work, [staff profile] mark!
mark: A photo of Mark kneeling on top of the Taal Volcano in the Philippines. It was a long hike. (Default)

[staff profile] mark 2011-12-31 08:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Heh, yeah, a few things are different on the coding/user linking/etc we use. I hope it's easy enough to get used to, though. And welcome to DW!
akacat: A cat holding a computer mouse by the cord, wearing a stocking cap. (cat & mouse Santa'd)

[personal profile] akacat 2011-12-31 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm sorry you're getting slammed with this right in the middle of the holidays! I hope once things calm down you'll all get some downtime yourselves.
Edited (Spelling fail) 2011-12-31 18:19 (UTC)
lyrangalia: (XKCD boomdeyada)

[personal profile] lyrangalia 2011-12-31 07:40 pm (UTC)(link)
I just want to join the chorus of people who really appreciate the amount of work the Dreamwidth team has poured in over the holidays. The fact that the only real site hiccups I've seen has been slowed loading times is phenomenon given all the changes happening behind the scenes, and DW's continued professionalism and transparency has been an absolute joy to behold.

So thank you, [staff profile] denise, [staff profile] mark, and the rest of the DW team. Thank you for sticking by your principles and working tirelessly to give us something I'm proud to support. (I know, the irony of posting this from a non-paid journal, but I have bought paid time for my RP journal).

And just a bit of curiosity, is there any talks among the DW team to someday offer a la carte userpics for free accounts? I know some people who couldn't dream of scraping together 100 icons, but could easily fill 30 or 40.
emptynight: (Default)

Same user, multitasking accounts.

[personal profile] emptynight 2011-12-31 08:07 pm (UTC)(link)
That's too bad from one perspective, but great to hear the logic behind the business decision. Thanks!
sophia_gratia: (Default)

[personal profile] sophia_gratia 2011-12-31 07:45 pm (UTC)(link)
As a recent convert to DW, can I just say that I love it here, and thoughtful, thorough, clear service updates like this one are exactly why? ♥
pixelzomblina: (MJ Red)

[personal profile] pixelzomblina 2012-01-01 08:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you for always sharing such information with us and keeping us in the loop about things! ;D
pixelzomblina: (MJ Peace)

[personal profile] pixelzomblina 2012-01-01 08:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh and Happy New Year! ♥
tameiki: Cody Smile (Default)

[personal profile] tameiki 2012-01-01 09:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Happy new year to all of you wonderful people on DW! Several more of my friends have migrated to DW lately so I'm taking names to gift them with some paid time to show off your awesomeness :)

Denise, are you still having some issues with the site being slow for some people? Um... I think I might be one of them. I'm on broadband with 20 mbps download connection through Comcast, and that's working okay for other sites. Only DW seems to load slowly. I've tried the logging out/log back in, close browser (Firefox 9.0.1), more than likely it's something dumb I've done but, if you could check it for me I'd appreciate your help :)
tameiki: (FMA - Leg Rub)

[personal profile] tameiki 2012-01-02 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
Ha! I think the powers that be on the 'net heard me ratting on them and decided to straighten up. DW is just as speedy as it should be now. Thank you! :)

Hope your internet speeds up soon. Having a slow connection is the pits.
throughworlds: (Default)

[personal profile] throughworlds 2012-01-02 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
I love you, guys. Can I stay here forever? ;_____;
fyreharper: (Default)

[personal profile] fyreharper 2012-01-04 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
totally offtopic but - Batman tights!!!! that is awesome!
wytchcroft: heavent sent (lost room)

[personal profile] wytchcroft 2012-01-03 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
passing him towels and Gatorade...

now i know why he disabled his comments. -snort!-

ninetydegrees: Art: self-portrait (Default)

[personal profile] ninetydegrees 2012-01-03 10:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Just noting that the site is really slow for me again; has been for a while.
medpacksapunch: Sakura: expectant/curious/explaning (See?)

[personal profile] medpacksapunch 2012-01-03 10:22 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm sorry to post this here, but I'm honestly not sure where else to go with it-- I submitted a support request just a bit ago, and while I got a confirmation email, the 'track progress & make changes' link gave me an 'unknown support request number' error.

I actually tried submitting a second support request to ask about the error, but was given the same error. I just wanted to make sure my support request(s) did actually submit! ^^a

Sorry again for posting off-topic!
medpacksapunch: Sakura: pleased/teasing/v-for-victory (you are the one)

[personal profile] medpacksapunch 2012-01-03 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah, got it! Thank you :)
13th_captain: (Default)

[personal profile] 13th_captain 2012-01-04 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
Hey, since I didn't get the chance to say so on the support request itself, I just wanted to say thank you so much for the quick answer to my question and the paid time! I have been nothing short of amazed by the incredible service in the few days since I've moved to this site and let me just say that you've earned yourself a very loyal user here already. :)

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