Using too much server load on shared host with vBulletin

I hope this is the correct forum. We've been told by our shared server host that we are creating too much server load. They said it's php and mysql processes from us that's keeping the load high...mainly php.

I realize that a lot of hosts oversell shared hosting, and maybe they are just trying to get us to upgrade. We haven't ruled out that stuff. But, they said if we can get our server usage down we can stay, so I want to try everything I can. We don't really have the money to go vps or dedicated yet. And a few admins of other similar sites have said that it doesn't seem right that we should be responsible for so much of the load. So it seems that either there is something fundamentally wrong with our forum causing more server load than it should, or the host is pulling a fast one on us.

I've gone through and shut off most of our plugins/products/mods. I've changed some vb settings to optimize. It didn't seem to have any effect on the server load. I realize that the server load that shows in the admin cp is the load for all the sites hosted on our shared server. But, since they told us that it was us using nearly all of the resources, I figured if I fixed it, I'd see some kind of drop. Either I didn't fix it (likely, haha) or they were lying.

A couple questions:

1. How can I tell how much of the server load is because of us?
2. How can I find what specific processes are problematic
3. Any good links on optimizing vb, mysql, etc? (I realize that's probably broad, but a place to start would be nice)
4. How can I find out how many other sites are hosted on our server? I tried a reverse IP search (myIPneighbors.com) but it only listed our site.
5. Any ideas on what to do next?

About our forum:

* vBulletin 3.8.1
* Intel Xeon CPU 3065 @ 2.33GHz
* Total memory: 4148904 kB (Free: 179680kB)
* Linux / litespeed
* PHP 5.2.6
* MySQL 5.0.37-standard
* Direct Admin 1.33.6
* Most if not all products/mods temporarily disabled
* Currently active users 238 (41 members and 197 guests)
* Server load 2.91 2.48 2.48 (sometimes gets up to 5 during peak times)
* If anything else is needed, let me know.


Thanks for any ideas. We have 8 days left to fix the problem or find a new host.

 

I think you can hardly do anything from your end. Ask them to provide the processes list which are using high resource on the server. In meantime, try to find new host, in case if they do not allow your site in their server.

Kailash

 

Yes it is the correct forum

Who is your host? I doubt any reputable host would do anything like that

you need to login via SSH and check it. ask your Host for SSH access if you don't have.

try following commands

$top
$ps aux
$vmstat

Code (markup):

try this
http://www.vbulletin-faq.com/optimize-vbulletin-server.htm

you must be on dedicated IP then.

With this amount of users online as the same time,you will have lot of concurrent mysql connections.and that really eats lot of memory.

it should Mysql that should using most resources. it quite strange that you mentioned PHP is causing high server load.

Before doing anything, Try seeing what exact process are causing high server load from the commands i have given you.

I hate to say this, but you are reaching limits of shared hosting. and sooner or later you need to move on with VPS. even you do all the optimization still you have to move to VPS as traffic would only count to rise.

High traffic = more horsepower required = Not suitable for shared hosting

 

Thanks guys. Great info Gary, exactly what I needed! We do have SSH available, and I'll try that out and probably report back (never had to use it before actually).

I actually figured that one out after posting. I know a few other sites on our host and realized we are all in the same range xxx.xxx.xxx (with the last set being unique). So i searched that range with a wildcard, and found 383 other sites. Is there any way of telling how many of those belong to that host? Not that it really matters at this point. I'm just curious.

As for moving to a vps or dedicated, I was hoping not to hear that, haha. But, in the back of my head, I knew that's what the answer was going to be. I'm just hoping that we can get the load down enough that we can stay for a bit. We've only now started to pull in a little money, but not enough to upgrade hosts. But, if we have no choice, I guess we have to put some money in and hope it comes back.

Thanks again guys

 

Ok, now how do I interpret that data that i got via those commands, Gary? Have a link to what the various stats mean? CPU and RAM are obvious, but what about the others?

 

Hello,
if you need to interpret the commands you have mentioned, check
http://www.manpagez.com/man/1/top/ for top
http://www.manpagez.com/man/1/ps/ for ps
http://unixhelp.ed.ac.uk/CGI/man-cgi?vmstat for vmstat


Regards,

Natcoweb

 

RTFM ~!
Read the Fucking Manual

#syntax: man [I]<command name>[/I] for example
$man top
#do the same for other commands as well

Code (markup):

everything is already documented there, still if you any specific ask it here. I would try to reply

 

Thanks guys

 

If you are running a VB forum that regularly sees 200+ active users, your site is not really a good candidate for a shared hosting environment. All hosts that offer shared hosting have to make sure that each customer has fair access to server resources, and a moderately busy forum like that would eat far more than your share, assuming you are on a normal shared account and not some type of premium account. You need to seriously consider moving up to a VPS or small dedicated server.

 

We've worked out a deal with our host. And, in the meantime, we'll probably look for a VPS. Thanks guys

 

Good decision, a VPS would do justice to kind your traffic you get.

 

Go for a VPS, will be faster and they wont complain about high server load or any of that rubish you get from shared hosts. Also they arn't that expensive $5-10 now and with a control panel.

 

It sounds like siteground. I cannot recommend them.