MySQL errors - site issues

[gtmtnbiker]

There was an outtage on racketboy.com where MySQL was reporting max_user_connections being exceeded? I've seen the issue before. Has the problem been resolved? What is the cause of it?

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

I once got shut out of the site for two days with those errors, in the end it turns out that my router kept creating a new user connection every time it loaded a page for some odd reason. I re-installed it and havent had any problems except for like you I also got 'max user connections' and 'database error' when I tried to connect a few minutes ago.

[MrPopo]

Every once in a while the site might get slammed and you will just see that happen. ModMan's is an interesting and different case. There's not really much we can do to alleviate it, since raising the cap just delays it from happening. If the site starts hitting the cap on a regular basis then I'm sure Racket will raise it to accomodate the site's popularity.

[racketboy]

Sometimes its cause by spambots flooding the server.
I do my best to send support tickets to my hosting company to fix it.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Thanks for the info guys, I don't find it to be a big issue though as it only happens every 2-3 weeks or so and goes away after a few minutes.

[gtmtnbiker]

Is the user limit for the number of named user accounts? Someone who is unregistered (anonymous) wouldn't affect the limit, right?

Are these spambots creating actual new user accounts?

[racketboy]

Number of users doesn't matter. It's the number of open database connections.
Sometimes connections don't get closed out for one reason or another so they just kinda build up sometimes.

[Niode]

Is the user limit for the number of named user accounts? Someone who is unregistered (anonymous) wouldn't affect the limit, right?

Are these spambots creating actual new user accounts?

It's the total amount of connections to the database. When you access the forum regardless of being signed in or not you are accessing the database where all the posts are stored. If the amount of people viewing the forum (anonymous or not) exceeds the limit set in the mysql.cnf file IE max_user_connections=100. This means that the amount of user connections the database allows is set at 100 and is a collective total for all users so some users may have two or more windows open accessing the same forum. These all count as 1 connection each not just 1 connection for the user. Technically you are a user when you aren't logged in, you are just considered a Guest, therefore the same rules apply.

[MrPopo]

You always have to carefully maintain the size of your connection pool for the DB. If you make it very large then you can generally avoid max connections issues but then you have to deal with the increased load on the DB. It's a hard balancing act to maintain.

[Mozgus]

On a related note, we cant attach pictures anymore.

Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached.