Greetings one and all.

I am two or three days away from purchasing Links SQL because I much prefer the database approach. The question I have is about system resources.

Several ISP's forbid the use of Links (non-SQL) stating the "enormous resource usage" of the system. My current links DB is about 300k itself, so I certainly understand their concerns.

One of the primary reasons I want to move to a SQL version is to allow for MUCH greater customization and usage of the data (top 10 lists and such) across the entire site.

Will moving to the SQL version solve, help, or make the problem of resource usage worse?

Sincerely,


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Wayne Hunt
Amiga.org
http://www.amiga.org

Trick question.

Trick Answer

Links SQL uses less CPU to get a job done. IT doesn't have to suck the database into memory, and then read through it for every action.

Also, MySQL is written in optimized C and runs a heck of a lot faster. Most ISP's who are offering MySQL have it running on a separate server, so it doesn't interfere with the "web serving" processes.

Most ISP's did not shut links off for the build routines, but for the jump.cgi.

You won't have that problem with Links SQL since search.cgi jump.cgi and their ilk only make a database call or two, not attempt to read and parse it.

The trick part is that the ease with which you can make mods to Links SQL means that you'll be asking it to do more and more, and you'll probably start increasing the size of your database... etc.

So, Links SQL uses significantly less resources to get the same job done (provided MySQL is installed and running of course) as with Links 2.0.

Under mod_perl, jump.cgi and search.cgi -- the two most active scripts in the program -- are really just pass-throughs for user input, and probably end up using almost trivial resources except for the database calls themselves. All jump.cgi does in it's native state is take the ID passed to it, do a database look up, do a database update, and send you to the page. Search.cgi's behavior is similar. They don't themselves manipulate the data or do a lot of server-intensive stuff.

Around christmas we were getting 60,000 to 80,000 hits a day, and the server never got above a 5% load (and I was running MySQL and mail off the same server). I was following it very closely at that time because I was wondering about performance. The way my database is structured, Links 2.0 could not have handled that volume of traffic period. I was already getting major slow downs, and file problems long before that with the 2.0 version.

Dan, Pugdog.

Thanks for the speedy replies, that's exactly what I thought when I asked the question...

A lesson I learned with DBMan/SQL long, long ago is to build static pages from the database for the users to look at, rather than parsing the db EVERY time the page gets loaded. With 80,000 hits a day, I was dead in the water and Hiway.com/Verio did nothing but hand me an extra anchor..

I figure, as long as the data is in SOME MySQL format, it's far more easily manipulated for top 10 lists, random links, etc. Not to mention the uses I might have for it on other sites as my business grows. I just don't know how you guys ever handle dedicated server prices (my pocketbook yells when I hit $50 per month for this "hobby").



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Wayne Hunt
Amiga.org
http://www.amiga.org

That's the difference... it's not a hobby, this is my business, and I'm banking on it for the future. My Grandfather owned a passport photo studio in Rockafeller Center NY for 50 years, and photography is in my family blood going back to at least around WWII.

I've just moved it from the darkroom and gallery walls to the computer and the Web.

I believe SQL will utilize significantly less resources overall. I know this is true for building, and I think it's true for searching and anything dynamic.

The only aspect I can think of that would require more resources is that it allows your links site to grow much bigger and more complex.

Dan

Yeah, but this is the Amiga, as in old, as in Commodore... There's little besides hobby left...





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Wayne Hunt
Amiga.org
http://www.amiga.org

Are you sure you are in the right place? This isn't the "Antiques Roadshow" you know.

HAHAHAHA

Seriously, supporting the Amiga is the strangest niche I've ever fallen into. I've been doing it for over 10 years, and even 5 years after Commodore went bust, there's still enough interest to generate 74,000+ hits per day. There's just no market behind it. No money to be found. Even developers are down to doing it for a hobby.

Then again, there's a new 'Amiga Inc' company now promising us new systems, new cool toys and an audience. I guess these promises are the only reason I'm still around, well, that and providing punchline material in public forums...

Enjoy, and thanks for the fish.



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Wayne Hunt
Amiga.org
http://www.amiga.org

That's a whale of a story