The Reason There Have Been Access Problems

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Well, there's good news and bad news.

The good news is the forum is a VERY popular place online.

The bad news is the forum is a VERY popular place online.


Today I learned from our forum's host that the reason there have been problems accessing the forum for the past few days - but particularly today - is that over the past 25 days the forum has surpassed the host server's high resource limit of 10GBs and our share of the server's CPU usage passed 10%.

Our host does offer us unlimited bandwidth, but apparently the forum has been using server resources to such an extent that we're jeopardizing server performance and resources for our host's other customers. Therefore, access to this domain has been severely curtailed to different high traffic areas of the country, like the East Coast, or the domain has been shut down outright, as it was earlier today.

So, what does this mean for those of you who are reading this post? Well, hopefully not much because you're all registered members. However, for the time being I've completely shut down guest access to the forum so we can judge how much bandwidth guests are generating. Frankly, I suspect it's a whole lot because typically our access log shows that guests outnumber registered members anywhere from 3/1 to 5/1. I hate to have to do this. But our main priority has to be to provide the best service to the people who support us most - and that's all of you.

[Maria_Merriweather]

I miss this board when I can't get to it!    I guess that's what happens when you have too much of a good thing.  By the way, I like the board's new look.

Yes, I'm trying to boost my posts so I can access the Member's Archive.

[Misty]

:)Thank you for the explanation. I was devastated today when I thought I would never access this board again!!!. I can see why it is so popular. It is not only amusing, but extremely informative. Thanks again.

                                          Misty

[dom]

I don't understand...

MB,

I am having an access problem of a different ilk. I am able to enter the gateway but I have not been able to access the archive.

Please advise.

Dom

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Dom,

Check out my post at the top of Testing. 1, 2, 3...

[RingoCollins]

Thanks for the explaination, and the good news/bad news. I was having the same trouble, and it was concerning!  Why wouldn't any guest regsister after a couple of visits??  Is it something I said?

You guys do a great job with everything here, and it's getting better all the time [from Sgt. Pepper, ya know ].

I also like the boards new look, and all the new bells and whistles.

Is there anything we can/need to do to make things easy for you or the others??  [up to removing the photo of TLATKLS and myself! ]

[Cassandra]

Thanks for the explanation MB.  You and Midnite are doing a fantastic job here and I know that you're doing all you can to keep this board running smoothly.   I had tried earlier this afternoon to log on, but could not get here also. At night though, I never have a problem. I had just assumed that there were too many people trying to access the board during the day.  I find it so strange that the guests out number the registered members, I had always thought that there were more members here than guests.

I love the new look here also and think that you and Midnite deserve a medal for all that you do here!!  

[Josette]

Point of curiosity - you say that you shut down access to guests, but when I checked who was logged in, there were guests listed - at one point 3, later 2, and recently 1.

Also, in connection with that, one would have to come in as a guest first in order to sign up!

As to the number of guests, I think it makes sense in almost any forum that there are more people who come by and read but don't actually sign up or post.  And, in this case, they can still post as guests, which many have done.  And, look at how many new cousins there have been lately.  I'm sure they are former guests who decided to become part of the family.

[ROBINV]

I'm really glad to see you guys!  That ominous, impersonal screen that kept coming up unnerved me, and made me wonder if there was suddenly an incompatibility between the DS Forums web site and my computer.  If that turned out to be the case, well, I'd miss the computer. . .

Good to see you folks back in action.  

And while I experienced problems when I initially signed up, was there any doubt that I would?

I didn't think so!  

Love, Robin

[Gerard]

Thanks, MB.  I only had a problem once trying to get on, but I just figured it was a temporary we're-experiencing-technical-difficulties....... so I didn't panic.  But I do miss not being able to save your wonderful montages anymore.  I have an entire disc containing nothing but them!  I guess sometimes good things don't last forever.

Gerard

[Craig_Slocum]

Point of curiosity - you say that you shut down access to guests, but when I checked who was logged in, there were guests listed

They were members who logged out but hadn't left the board yet.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I do miss not being able to save your wonderful montages anymore.  I have an entire disc containing nothing but them!

You'll be able to save them again as soon as I fix the problems people are having accessing the archive boards. That's the reason the montage hasn't changed since the upgrade.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Point of curiosity - you say that you shut down access to guests, but when I checked who was logged in, there were guests listed - at one point 3, later 2, and recently 1.

Guests can still access the domain - they just can't get into the forum.

Also, in connection with that, one would have to come in as a guest first in order to sign up!

Whenever someone who isn't already logged in to the forum comes here, they see this screen:

And since that notice was put up, eight more people have registered with the forum.

[MrsJ]

Well I'm glad to see it wasn't due to the AOL incompatability issue, which was my first thought.

I suppose I will just have to post more often to get access to those archives...  

MrsJ.

[WileyS]

Thanks for letting us know about the changes. I love reading the board and hope to post more often.