The server is too busy at the moment

[Red5]

The server is too busy at the moment. Please try again later.

That message is due to a setting in the forum software which tries to protect the forum and server from excessive loads. Basically, once the number of users on the forum (and therefore the load on the server) increases beyond a certain limit, further users trying to access the forum are shown that message. Users already on the site will not see that message. This allows as many users as possible to have uninterrupted access the forum. Without this protection, if the load goes beyond a certain limit then the entire forum and site would crash, spoiling it for everyone.

This is what the forum software's help says:

On certain *NIX setups, including Linux, vBulletin can read the server's load as reported by the operating system. vBulletin can then use this information turn away users if the server load passes this threshold. Load on *NIX systems is measured in numbers. Usually load should stay below 1, however spikes can occasionally occur, so you should not set this number too low. A setting of 5 to 7 would be a reasonable threshold.

I previously had this setting set to 8. I've just changed it to 10, which should prevent this message from being shown so frequently. However, please note that the higher the load on the server, the slower the forum will be...

I'll obviously be looking into better and longer-term solutions with Tdol, but in the meantime please accept our apologies and trust that we will be doing all we can to resolve these issues as soon as possible.

[euncu]

Thanks for the explanation.

Users already on the site will not see that message.

On this one I disagree, I've been seeing the message even if I'm on the site.

[Red5]

Heh, I meant that people who have logged in before the server gets to a high load level should be able to continue using the site. New users trying to log in after the server has already exceeded the load limit will see this message.

[ulya]

Thanks for information..I was thinking that I was the only one who had this problem..
Thanks euncu for help...

[Anglika]

Hi, Red - had an hour off yesterday around 6.30pm, and at least an hour today around 3.30pm [At which point I went and watched mindless telly as a relief!]. It certainly hasn't gone away.

[Raymott]

Hi,
Does being logged onto the forum without using it slow it down?
With the spread of broadband, it's possible for more people to stay logged on to this site 24/7 - if that is their wont.
Or is it only activity on the site that causes the delays?

[Red5]

Just letting you know that I'm still working on these issues with our server administrators and that I haven't forgotten the troubles people are facing at this time.

Initially we'll be investing in additional hardware to increase our memory capacity, and will be instructing our hosts to perform additional tweaks as required.

More updates to follow...

Does being logged onto the forum without using it slow it down?

No.

[anishjp]

Hi,

That happens to me too!. Even refreshing the page doesn't help sometimes.

[mmasny]

I get this message quite often too. What's more, the forums sometimes slow down very much for me. Everything seems fine, I click something and it gets stuck. Most of the times, firefox simply refuses to wait any longer and displays an error message.

[Red5]

Hi, we are aware of the issues and as mentioned previously we are taking steps to address the speed problems and the restricted access to the forum.

Initially we thought that we would only need to increase the memory on the server, but it actually makes more sense to perform a complete server upgrade. We are currently finalising the server specification with our hosts and will keep you all informed of any progress.