Server high load message occurs too frequently lately

[vevy]

Sorry but you cannot use search at this time. The server has high load. Please try again later.

When trying to access Active topics.

[Andrew Lee]

Sorry but you cannot use search at this time. The server has high load. Please try again later.

When trying to access Active topics.

Yes, I noticed that as well and have been trying to make some tweaks since a couple of days back.

I have made another tweak. Please let me know if it has gotten better. Thanks!

[Midas]

Noticed that sporadically, too -- just thought it was due to high user presence, which has also been above average. (600+ against the more usual ~150...)

[Andrew Lee]

No, I suspect it is due to some recent update to mariadb, but haven't really nailed down anything yet. I have implemented some workarounds, and am monitoring the situation to see if I can find out more.

[joby_toss]

This problem becomes increasingly annoying for me too, as I am often not able to use any of the forum's "Quick links", especially "Unread posts".

[Andrew Lee]

It was OK for a couple of days, but seemed to have gone downhill again

Basically, the symptom is that mariadb is exhibiting extremely high load (>150% CPU) for reasons unknown to me.

Please be patient! I am trying my best to troubleshoot this, but it is turning out to be a very difficult problem. If you guys have any ideas or leads, do let me know.

[lwc]

First of all, if it happens there should be a way for you to take everything down and instead just write a simple HTML of sorry, we're down. Otherwise it looks like the site was hacked or gone for good.
As for the high load, maybe try and see if it's specific IP addresses that cause this and block them?
Last but not least, you don't seem to use Cloudflare - it might be able to protect the site from such matters, maybe even for free.

[joby_toss]

I have no knowledge about this issue, but I found this online:
"Set admin -> search settings -> Search page system load limit to 0 to disable that check, or to a higher value to allow it with a higher load on the server."

[Andrew Lee]

First of all, if it happens there should be a way for you to take everything down and instead just write a simple HTML of sorry, we're down. Otherwise it looks like the site was hacked or gone for good.

Don't think the web server has gone down despite of the high CPU load? The issue is that phpBB will disable certain functions when the CPU load goes above a certain limit.

As for the high load, maybe try and see if it's specific IP addresses that cause this and block them?

I have done some diagnosis and there is no sudden surge in web traffic. That's why I am trying to look into any problem with recent updates to mariadb.

Last but not least, you don't seem to use Cloudflare - it might be able to protect the site from such matters, maybe even for free.

This is a good idea. I will look into that as well. Thanks!

I have no knowledge about this issue, but I found this online:
"Set admin -> search settings -> Search page system load limit to 0 to disable that check, or to a higher value to allow it with a higher load on the server."

Yup, there are actually 2 other places in the admin console where the load limit needs to be changed, so I have done that in all 3 places and basically removed the load limit to see how things hold up. You should be able to detect the website has done a tad slower due to this, but at least all the functions are still available.