Avoiding site suspensions because of large queries?

David Biggins · 5-4-12, 03:02 AM

I have been a powweb member for several years now and my Joomla site has been slowly growing over the years. There is weekly organic growth mainly from entries in the forum and the occasional comment.

The site is using the latest Jooml1 1.5 and I am trying to upgrade to 2.5 when all the extensions have versions available.

My total site size is around 5GB. New posts per day about 10.

Out of the blue I keep receiving site suspension notices that inform me that my site has been suspended because large queries are being executed and this is consuming disc space and affecting performance.

I seek to stay within my hosting agreement but I am struggling to understand the reason for the suspensions so that I can take appropriate action to remedy them. I have altered my site in a few ways to try to mitigate the problems but, without understanding the root cause, these efforts represent guesses at best and, given the continuing suspensions, are evidently not solving the problem.

Requests to powweb for more information to help me on this result in the suggestion to upgrade my site. That's not really helping.

I wondered if others are in this situation and what actions have been taken the remedy issues such as large queries or tools that have been used to identify the problem/component etc?

With thanks
David

**Croc Hunter** · 5-4-12, 05:58 AM

Joomla is a resource hog. Uprading may help. Old installs quicky become targets for automated attacks. Just because spam posts don't appear does not always mean they are not generating queries. Check whats happenng in your logs upto an hour before each suspension.

David Biggins · 5-4-12, 06:05 AM

Croc Hunter,

Thank you for this. Are the logs to check the files with the name 'access_log_20120503.gz' etc?

Regards
David

**Croc Hunter** · 5-4-12, 06:27 AM

Yes unzip and check those, haven't really checked in awhile but I think Powweb still offers both HTTP and MySQL logs. The MySQL logs are what you really want if there are bogus queries. Your stats may also give an indication, perhaps you have just grown to popular for shared hosting like Powweb.

EDIT:

HTTP logs: http://www.powweb.com/webControl/LogFiles.bml
MySQL error logs: http://www.powweb.com/member/cgiMana...giErrorLog.bml

Keep in mind the MySQL logs only show errors not all traffic.

David Biggins · 5-4-12, 08:37 AM

Thank you. That's really helpful. I will investigte the logs.

What are the criteria for looking for a new host?

**IanS** · 5-4-12, 01:08 PM

We can't really advise on what is the best alternative host for you as this is a Powweb sponsored forum area. Look carefully at reviews, especially those citing the speed with Joomla and MySql query limits.

David Biggins · 5-4-12, 04:54 PM

IanS,

Rather than alternative hosts I was thinking more about the criteria that might be applied for different hosting providers. For example, that powweb is ideal if your site is of type x, average visits < y, ...

I'm sure that would be a difficult and subjective list to compile but it would help people like me who are struggling with a hosting agreement.

With thanks
David

**IanS** · 5-5-12, 04:51 AM

Any referrence here to other hosts names are removed by very zealous moderators so posting that <<removed>> is great wouldn't help. This isn't the place for that type of comparison.

**snowmaker** · 5-5-12, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanS

Any referrence here to other hosts names are removed by very zealous moderators so posting that <<removed>> is great wouldn't help. This isn't the place for that type of comparison.

I agree.
Hosting - PowWeb Community Forums

David Biggins · 5-7-12, 03:00 AM

IanS, Snowmaker - Just to clarify, I am not seeking the names of alternate hosts. Instead to better understand how the current host meets my requirements.

Croc Hunter - I asked for the logs but was told these are not available on a shared platform. All Support could say was the size of my largest table and that the incident was connected to the registration. That information did not really help.

Something else that happened on my site recently was that I exceeded the MySQL query limit. Exceeding this limit meant that my site was again unavailable. I don't know what is generating these queries and have asked Support for more information. Luckily the limit is reset hourly so the site was not down for too long but my inability to measure/control this usage means the problem is likely to recur.

Regards
David

**IanS** · 5-7-12, 04:59 AM

You need to remember, if looking for alternative hosts, that many different 'names' of hosting companies are really the same company. Powweb is one of around 10 (or more) 'properties' (ie hosting companies) owned by one group. This pattern applies to many hosting 'names'. Shared hosting will come with similar issues no matter which company or 'group' you're with.

David Biggins · 5-7-12, 06:54 AM

I didn't realise that. Thank you Ian

Seawitchartist · 5-8-12, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanS

You need to remember, if looking for alternative hosts, that many different 'names' of hosting companies are really the same company. Powweb is one of around 10 (or more) 'properties' (ie hosting companies) owned by one group. This pattern applies to many hosting 'names'. Shared hosting will come with similar issues no matter which company or 'group' you're with.

Flag of Convenience shipping springs to mind!

5-4-12, 03:02 AM	#1
David Biggins Registered Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: UK Posts: 12 Reputation: 6	Avoiding site suspensions because of large queries? I have been a powweb member for several years now and my Joomla site has been slowly growing over the years. There is weekly organic growth mainly from entries in the forum and the occasional comment. The site is using the latest Jooml1 1.5 and I am trying to upgrade to 2.5 when all the extensions have versions available. My total site size is around 5GB. New posts per day about 10. Out of the blue I keep receiving site suspension notices that inform me that my site has been suspended because large queries are being executed and this is consuming disc space and affecting performance. I seek to stay within my hosting agreement but I am struggling to understand the reason for the suspensions so that I can take appropriate action to remedy them. I have altered my site in a few ways to try to mitigate the problems but, without understanding the root cause, these efforts represent guesses at best and, given the continuing suspensions, are evidently not solving the problem. Requests to powweb for more information to help me on this result in the suggestion to upgrade my site. That's not really helping. I wondered if others are in this situation and what actions have been taken the remedy issues such as large queries or tools that have been used to identify the problem/component etc? With thanks David

5-4-12, 05:58 AM	#2
Croc Hunter Mod.. with bite.. Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Australia Posts: 7,295 Reputation: 442	Joomla is a resource hog. Uprading may help. Old installs quicky become targets for automated attacks. Just because spam posts don't appear does not always mean they are not generating queries. Check whats happenng in your logs upto an hour before each suspension. __________________ Croc Hunter MSC :

5-4-12, 06:27 AM	#4
Croc Hunter Mod.. with bite.. Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Australia Posts: 7,295 Reputation: 442	Yes unzip and check those, haven't really checked in awhile but I think Powweb still offers both HTTP and MySQL logs. The MySQL logs are what you really want if there are bogus queries. Your stats may also give an indication, perhaps you have just grown to popular for shared hosting like Powweb. EDIT: HTTP logs: http://www.powweb.com/webControl/LogFiles.bml MySQL error logs: http://www.powweb.com/member/cgiMana...giErrorLog.bml Keep in mind the MySQL logs only show errors not all traffic. __________________ Croc Hunter MSC :

5-4-12, 01:08 PM	#6
IanS Former Spam Filter (EU) Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Washington (THE original UK one!) Posts: 12,805 Reputation: 470	We can't really advise on what is the best alternative host for you as this is a Powweb sponsored forum area. Look carefully at reviews, especially those citing the speed with Joomla and MySql query limits. __________________ This is a Powweb customer helping Powweb customer forum. I am a customer just like you!! Some matters can only be answered by staff or support. Give it a go - ask here first!

5-5-12, 04:51 AM	#8
IanS Former Spam Filter (EU) Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Washington (THE original UK one!) Posts: 12,805 Reputation: 470	Any referrence here to other hosts names are removed by very zealous moderators so posting that <<removed>> is great wouldn't help. This isn't the place for that type of comparison. __________________ This is a Powweb customer helping Powweb customer forum. I am a customer just like you!! Some matters can only be answered by staff or support. Give it a go - ask here first!

5-4-12, 06:05 AM	#3
David Biggins Registered Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: UK Posts: 12 Reputation: 6	Croc Hunter, Thank you for this. Are the logs to check the files with the name 'access_log_20120503.gz' etc? Regards David

5-4-12, 08:37 AM	#5
David Biggins Registered Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: UK Posts: 12 Reputation: 6	Thank you. That's really helpful. I will investigte the logs. What are the criteria for looking for a new host?

5-4-12, 04:54 PM	#7
David Biggins Registered Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: UK Posts: 12 Reputation: 6	IanS, Rather than alternative hosts I was thinking more about the criteria that might be applied for different hosting providers. For example, that powweb is ideal if your site is of type x, average visits < y, ... I'm sure that would be a difficult and subjective list to compile but it would help people like me who are struggling with a hosting agreement. With thanks David

5-7-12, 03:00 AM	#10
David Biggins Registered Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: UK Posts: 12 Reputation: 6	IanS, Snowmaker - Just to clarify, I am not seeking the names of alternate hosts. Instead to better understand how the current host meets my requirements. Croc Hunter - I asked for the logs but was told these are not available on a shared platform. All Support could say was the size of my largest table and that the incident was connected to the registration. That information did not really help. Something else that happened on my site recently was that I exceeded the MySQL query limit. Exceeding this limit meant that my site was again unavailable. I don't know what is generating these queries and have asked Support for more information. Luckily the limit is reset hourly so the site was not down for too long but my inability to measure/control this usage means the problem is likely to recur. Regards David

5-7-12, 04:59 AM	#11
IanS Former Spam Filter (EU) Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Washington (THE original UK one!) Posts: 12,805 Reputation: 470	You need to remember, if looking for alternative hosts, that many different 'names' of hosting companies are really the same company. Powweb is one of around 10 (or more) 'properties' (ie hosting companies) owned by one group. This pattern applies to many hosting 'names'. Shared hosting will come with similar issues no matter which company or 'group' you're with. __________________ This is a Powweb customer helping Powweb customer forum. I am a customer just like you!! Some matters can only be answered by staff or support. Give it a go - ask here first!

5-7-12, 06:54 AM	#12
David Biggins Registered Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: UK Posts: 12 Reputation: 6	I didn't realise that. Thank you Ian