I got an email from the hosting company today...

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I got an email from the hosting company today...

By teal_dx
- Thu May 21, 2009 2:56 am #117967 Seems that starting in January, after they moved the site to a different server to remedy the "could not connect to database" errors that would happen once in a while, they have had all kinds of problems hosting this site.

I'm no network administrator, so I'm not able to discuss specifics, but they originally told me it was the .php requests that were using up too many resources on their server and causing other sites on the same server to be down sometimes. It seems that the viewtopic.php was the biggest problem, probably because it is the most common, loading every time someone or any bot views a page.

So I partially blocked bots out of non tech areas of the site (profile, junkyard, vide, photography, garage etc.) using a robots.txt file (they were going crazy in the junk yard). I didn't want to block them out completely or we would lose places in google results.

I asked them if there was any way I could monitor the resources used from .php files since there is not a way to follow that in cpanel, but they said no there is not. They would let me know if I was exceeding system resources. I hadn't heard anything in a while so I figured it was all good then I got this today:


Hello Brian,

We're needing to come to a conclusion on how we would like to situate your account. As you are aware your account has been notified over 3 times to date and we have informed you both times previously that there is possible misconfiguration with your web app and or but not limited to your database. To date we're still seeing an average of roughly 41 queries per second from your account.

2006-09-18 15:06:49 - URGENT NOTICE: Adult Content Violation - ******* - InMotion Hosting, Inc.
2009-01-12 01:23:15 - Account Move Complete - ******* - InMotion Hosting, Inc.
2009-01-18 23:33:13 - Notice: Account Resource Overage for 6thgearadvertising.com - InMotion Hosting, Inc.
2009-02-16 02:21:06 - Notice: Account Resource Overage for 6thgearadvertising.com - InMotion Hosting, Inc.
2009-03-03 13:27:42 - Emergency Account Move Complete - 6thgearadvertising.com - InMotion Hosting, Inc.

At this time your site is solely responsible for consuming an excessive amount of memory and which severely puts a number on our server for both yourself, your shared server neighbors, and system administration.

We love the fact that your website maybe growing and would like to see your site bloom. With that said, your website either is coded inefficiently, your database architecture may need restructuring, and or a combination that the users creating transactions are far exceeding the limitation of a shared environment and the system is just trying to catchup. Your account may be suspended if it continues to rise in memory utilization.

The only way we can continue being your host is to be on a minimum of VPS 512m solution or a Dedicated Essential server. I would be more than happy to move you there if you wish to proceed hosting with us. Had this been the first occurrence of this issue, we would move you to a less populated server (which you are on now) but please consider this a final attempt to work with you and your team to remedy this issue on the shared platform.

For additional information regarding VPS512 and Dedicated Essential:

Dedicated Server solutions
http://www.inmotionhosting.com/dedicated_servers.html

VPS Solutions
http://www.inmotionhosting.com/vps_hosting.html

I do apologize for having to constantly having to resort to turning off your account and hope we can productively work together to coincide with our service level agreements and what we think is growing pains for your website. I look forward to your response on how you wish to proceed.

Please let us know anytime at your convenience between today, May 20th 2009 – end of business day, May 26th 2009. Should we not receive your correspondence during this time, your account may be suspended indefinitely and you may have to seek other hosting arrangement.

Please contact us if you have any questions or need any assistance.


The packages in the links they gave begin at $39-$149/mo for virtual private server and go up to $199-299/mo. for dedicated server.
Obviously I would get the cheapest avail.

The plan I'm on now "Power Plan - $8.95/mo" is very reasonable, but even the next sep up from that is not an option.
http://www.inmotionhosting.com/hostingplans.html


So what I'm wondering is it true that the .php requests are causing that much of a strain on their server that I would have to upgrade to a Virtual Private Server for $40/mo. Or does it sound like bs?
I'm happy with the uptime that this site has had and the speed of load times. I'm 100% unsure how I would even begin to export the database to move it to a new host. Not to mention the downtime during the switch. My main concern is not losing anything from this site. I'd pay $40/mo just for that piece of mind. But $480 a yr is pretty steep and this place would need some heavy advertisers who would stick around for more than the 1 month trial period.
I have a few days to think things over before they suspend my account... I'm open to any suggestions and any advice from someone with experience in hosting.
Don't worry - Civic-EG.com is not going away!

edit: I misread their email. Civic-EG.com will require 512 MB package on the VPS which is $89/mo. I have been trying to resolve the issues but do not think I will meet their deadline of May 26th. I will be buying at least 1 month of their VPS 512mb while I look into a new host.
For those who want to donate, there is a link on the portal page.
Or a purchase of shirts/stickers will also be a great help.
thanks!
Last edited by teal_dx on Sun May 24, 2009 1:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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By chrono404
- Thu May 21, 2009 3:37 am #117975 https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/

Awesome webservice, Pay for what you use. Check them out. :thumb:
I have had only good things about them, I use them for my personal use.


And Yes .php requests can tax a server. Especially if its not that powerful of a server.

Every page load is multiple requests on a database, If the server isn't that powerful a Site as large as Civic-eg can take put quite a load on a server.
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By smokinsoljah420
- Thu May 21, 2009 6:23 am #117993 :( damn bro. i had a vision lol. Well like i said im down to make some donations! lol! :thumb:
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By teal_dx
- Thu May 21, 2009 12:50 pm #118017 I've never believed in taking money without selling them something in return, but if I play it safe and stick with this hosting company then donations are not out of the question.
I'd much rather give something in return, so if you are going to donate, consider buying a shirt if you want one. Or even consider advertising your own company/service, I'd be glad to set up a customized advertising package for any member.

If the site is using up resources on this server then I'm guessing that it will happen on a different host. If you look at the url at the top of almost every page of this site, it is a .php file.
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By hatchie
- Thu May 21, 2009 1:07 pm #118019 not gunna lie but if everyone on here paid $1 a month this site would be well paid for x10 i mean think about it


that would only be (per each member)
1.00 a month
12.00 a year

you said 40 a month

so im pretty sure there is 40 or more members willing to pay 12.00 a yr to make sure this amazing site stays in play


just an opinion! 8)

pretty sure that like if you had enough ppl you could bring the price maybe even down to .50 a month thatd be pretty frickn easy for every single member to pay idc how poor you are.
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By JUICE
- Thu May 21, 2009 1:54 pm #118022 the awesomeness of this site is that its free. thats what attracts people to join everyday. i'm sure most active members would be more than happy to make a small donation.
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By hatchie
- Thu May 21, 2009 2:00 pm #118024 yeah thats kinda what i was trying to get at i mean if there was like a special thanks to the ppl that do help out that'd be good enough i think
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By Chance
- Thu May 21, 2009 2:06 pm #118025 I'd be down to hit ya with some cashola Brian. Just let us know what we need to do to help you AND us out!
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By chrono404
- Thu May 21, 2009 3:27 pm #118032 Maybe you could make a new user class, say "VIP's" and we have a different set of icons below us, or all the wrenches or whatever and have a different user color. I would pay 12bucks for a year to be a Civic-eg VIP. I am sure I am not alone either.
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By teal_dx
- Thu May 21, 2009 3:46 pm #118034 The VIP idea came up a long time ago in the moderator forum...
Just like you said, users would pay a small fee and would have a special icon etc. but also to make it worth it, we discussed having a special section of the forum dedicated to the vip members.
But then what would be in that section? It wouldn't be cool to put tech articles or diy's in there, that should be available to everybody for free. It might be a place where vip members can hang out and post, but that is kind of like a second junk yard.
I'd like to hear some more thoughts on this, as it may end up being a possibility down the road.
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By Mr. Pink
- Thu May 21, 2009 3:55 pm #118037
teal_dx wrote:The VIP idea came up a long time ago in the moderator forum...
Just like you said, users would pay a small fee and would have a special icon etc. but also to make it worth it, we discussed having a special section of the forum dedicated to the vip members.
But then what would be in that section? It wouldn't be cool to put tech articles or diy's in there, that should be available to everybody for free. It might be a place where vip members can hang out and post, but that is kind of like a second junk yard.
I'd like to hear some more thoughts on this, as it may end up being a possibility down the road.


we have something like this on a local site that i am a moderator on, we have effectivly whats called "the Den" its for paying members only. But our "basic" non paying members dont have the ability to have an avatar or a sig pic. only text, so effectivly if you want either you have to upgrade your account. We have Deluxe($10) and Premium($20). both with different options.
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By Chance
- Thu May 21, 2009 4:02 pm #118041 Random thought - I hate pic sigs!!!!!! I'm down for the VIP idea...
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By hatchie
- Thu May 21, 2009 4:07 pm #118043 may seem lame but maybe NSFW things could go into the VIP section
making the site a little more parental controled i guess


idk i seen it on a site to where you have to have soo many post in order to get into vip and it included many things but i mean thats prolly somthing we could seperate?


just and idea may sem lame but givin it a shot :?
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By Chance
- Thu May 21, 2009 4:11 pm #118044 To tell ya the truth (even though I've posted nws stuff) I don't think NWS shizzle should be allowed. I mean its not really a big deal on this site but there are other forums ive been on that just got out of control with threads/posts/avatars it was just ridiculous idk just my thoughts. 8) So having that specific section would be good to seclude the NWS chit!
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