ASP forum and s l o w n e s s . . .
I'm running an ASP discussion forum which I've had a few troubles with previously. However, it's all been going well of late until yesterday when I removed one of the main forum topics from the Access database (ensuring all related threads and posts were removed along with it). Since then the forum has been working and there have been no error messages, but the main page is extremely slow to load (25-30 seconds-ish).
I've tried to compact and repair, and then re-uploaded with no change. As the forum topic I deleted was the 5th in 6 topics, I've also tried uploading a version of the database with the 6th topic and all threads and posts also deleted - no change. Finally, I compacted and repaired this version of the database, re-added the 6th topic and its posts (but now listed by the AutoNumber as 5) - but this made the download time even slower.
Sigh ... Any clues?
Thanks!
Bug
PS. Have since tried rebuilding the database from an empty version to ensure that there are no breaks in the autonumbers as a result of deleted posts/topics. This took quite some doing! And download time is still around 30 seconds ...
Peter J. Boettcher posted this at 14:17 — 7th March 2002.
They have: 812 posts
Joined: Feb 2000
What is queried on the main page? How large (file size) is the database? It must be something in the query that is making it take so long. Having breaks in the autonumbers shouldn't effect performance.
PJ | Are we there yet?
pjboettcher.com
Sparklebug posted this at 22:10 — 7th March 2002.
They have: 54 posts
Joined: Oct 2001
Hi Peter. The database filesize is only about 570k. On the front page it presents the list of central forum topics, numbers of posts in each, and the name of the most recent poster. There is also a section listing the 5 most recent posts, and another which tells you how many posts there are in how many forums, when the last post was made and by whom. You can see all of this in action at ethics.org.au/new_forum
To present all of this information the forum uses four different tables (forums, topics, threads & authors) and also refers to a table containing basic formatting information plus date and time format preferences. There is a separate ASP 'language' file from which is called most of the wording used.
To me this sounds like quite a lot going on ... but the forum was working at a reasonable speed until I removed some information and I have seen it working elsewhere (on a vastly more busy forum than ours) and it seems to be fine.
Thanks!
Bug
Peter J. Boettcher posted this at 13:34 — 8th March 2002.
They have: 812 posts
Joined: Feb 2000
That first page is pretty slow! I can't understand why this is happening after simply removing data. Can you maybe try creating a new empty database in Access then using the "Get External Data" command to import your tables and data? Maybe there is something pooched in that .mdb file.
SQL Server is so much better for this stuff!
PJ | Are we there yet?
pjboettcher.com
detox posted this at 14:13 — 10th March 2002.
They have: 571 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
I have to agree with Peter there, I do not see why a forum would be developed with an access backend, apart from cost etc. I assume this was all done by that bad dev firm you guys were having probs with at the end of last year?
Best bet would be to follow peters lead and reload the db. It took me 40 seconds to load the page.......
Sparklebug posted this at 23:45 — 10th March 2002.
They have: 54 posts
Joined: Oct 2001
Hi Detox! This forum was actually put in after our bad development agency experience - it is a free one from webwizguide.com and the only free ASP one we could track down and implement ourselves. The one our agency left us with was actually far worse in terms of functionality and nobody used it at all!
Anyway, the reason for using Access is partly because I believe we need new software (and skills?) to work with SQL databases and currently we're very poor. Also, we already have one SQL database on the site (created by someone else) and are only permitted one with our hosting package without paying an additional amount. However, I'm wondering how difficult it would be to add the forum files onto the same database and run it that way. Would that be difficult?
Bug
Peter J. Boettcher posted this at 13:17 — 11th March 2002.
They have: 812 posts
Joined: Feb 2000
You can add your tables to the existing SQL database. Just use the import wizard in Enterprise Manager to import from your existing db (Access) into the SQL database.
PJ | Are we there yet?
pjboettcher.com
Sparklebug posted this at 14:34 — 4th April 2002.
They have: 54 posts
Joined: Oct 2001
Thought I'd add a PS to this thread. The forum has mysteriously cured itself of slowness and is back to normal. This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened either. It seems that when we get inexplicable error messages or extreme slowness that the trick is to completely ignore it for a few days ... and then it will all just go away without anyone from our end doing a thing (and our hosts claim they know nothing about what the problem could be).
Does anyone else think this is a bit weird? It's happened about three times now in slightly different ways and nobody has been able to explain it thus far. Do we have a ghost in our machine maybe?
The link seems to be when the Access database has been re-uploaded one or more times - then it starts running really badly, then after a few days it goes back to normal. Maybe the database gets traumatised in the transfer? Maybe it just hates me!
Anyway ... just thought I'd fill in anyone who might be remotely interested.
Bug
detox posted this at 02:40 — 9th April 2002.
They have: 571 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
Access is so temperamental! I only develop on SQL server MySQL or msde 2000.
Too many unknown errors. I remember reading somewhere that access was never intended for use on the web....
someone correct me if I am wrong...
Abhishek Reddy posted this at 03:22 — 9th April 2002.
He has: 3,348 posts
Joined: Jul 2001
Reminds of that story..whatsit? "The Shoemaker's Elves" or something.
I agree with detox. Access really isn't much of a DB. Not a good choice for something as heavy as a discussion board (even one with as few as 10 users).
I'd seriously consider switching databases.
Want to join the discussion? Create an account or log in if you already have one. Joining is fast, free and painless! We’ll even whisk you back here when you’ve finished.