Gossamer Forum
Home : Products : Gossamer Links : Version 1.x :

Search to slow...

Quote Reply
Search to slow...
Hi,

Can anyone tell me how to make the searches peformed on http://www.nobags.com faster? If you go to my competitor http://www.shopsmart.com who I know use a different system is way faster.

This is letting me done, if it was faster it would be allot better.

Thanks.
Nobags.com
Quote Reply
Re: Search to slow... In reply to
What hardware are you using?

Is http://www.shopsmart.com on a very large powerful dedicated server, and you are on a shared virtual machine?

Or, do they have a cluster of machines, and you have one?


Could be all sorts of reasons for the speed difference.

Quote Reply
Re: Search to slow... In reply to
I am using a shared server, but got told that this has nothing to do with it.

They are a huge company and so I do assume they have everything needed to make it fast (they have had £20 Million investment just for marketing and advertising)

Is there any way I can speed it up though?

Cheers
Quote Reply
Re: Search to slow... In reply to
Just because they told you it wasn't their problem, doesn't mean it isn't.

I have a very large database (record SIZE wise, not # of records) and have very good performance. The indexed searches are are almost instant on a fast connect.

I've checked out your site, and do see there is a delay at times.

This could be for several reasons. One, you have a problem with the resources they've given you on the virtual server. Another is there is a bandwidth/connection problem with your ISP.

How big is your site?

If you'd like to settle this once and for all, I can download your site to my server, and try the same searches. If the performance varies, then you know it's your hosting company.

I ran my same searches today on your site, and got quite good response -- a lot better than the last time.

This leads me to believe it's at your HOSTING COMPANY, since in 24 hours the searches should have reset (and I ran similar, but not the same searches) and still got good performance. I even ran these on my dial up connection (while I ran the other searches on my DSL connection) and still got better.

I really believe this is a problem with your ISP.

Without really trying to insult anyone, ISP's tend to think the glass is half full when it's got some humidity in it, and they don't call it 'empty' until the glass is broken. This is why I've been so pleased with my ISP. Absolutly no games, no performance problems, and ample warnings and explanations if there was something beyond their control. After 7 years of jumping around the Internet from one ISP to another, I've found a home for the past 11 months (it will be a year June 2nd.) I have had _NO_ issues with this ISP at all on performance. I've gotten everything I've paid for, and that they've promised.










------------------
POSTCARDS.COM -- Everything Postcards on the Internet www.postcards.com
LinkSQL FAQ: www.postcards.com/FAQ/LinkSQL/









Quote Reply
Re: Search to slow... In reply to
Also, you should switch to mod_perl if performance is your largest concern. This does require a dedicated server though, so you will need to resolve any issues with the hosting company.

Cheers,

Alex
Quote Reply
Re: Search to slow... In reply to
Thanks Alex. I have tried this and I got the following error message:

nobags: {49} % time perl search.cgi query=shoes
Can't open perl script "search.cgi": No such file or directory
0.0u 0.0s 0:00.23 4.3% 0+0k 20+0io 0pf+0w
nobags: {50} %

Thanks
Quote Reply
Re: Search to slow... In reply to
You'd need to do that in your cgi-bin directory, or give perl the full path to the search.cgi program.

BTW.. unless . is in your path (and it's not in mine for security reasons) you'll need to type:

time perl ./search.cgi query=term

even if you are in the same directory.




[This message has been edited by pugdog (edited May 09, 2000).]
Quote Reply
Re: Search to slow... In reply to
Oh, and to ignore the download time to display the html try:

time ./search.cgi query=computer > /dev/null

which on a 45,000 link database on a pentium 233/256 mb of ram (our web server) returns:

1.91user 0.23system 0:01.91elapsed

or 1.91 seconds. Remember though, to get best performance, use mod_perl as you eliminate:

1. Loading perl
2. Compiling the perl script and associated modules.
3. Connecting to the database
4. Disconnecting to the database
5. Forking a new process
6. Cleaning up.

which adds up to a significant overhead.

Cheers,

Alex
Quote Reply
Re: Search to slow... In reply to
Hi,
We are contemplating moving a couple of our sites over to a new server, basically their configuration is a cobalt, 128mb ram, 15gb hard drive and 400gb transfer per month for $250.00 per month.

My question is this, where can I find more information regarding mod_perl and how to install it, and will I need to do any configuring to LInks SQL to use it with mod_perl or is that purely a server thing and Links SQL will run just like it normally runs only faster and more capable of handling a larger database?

Thanks for your time
Harrison

"I've got if's pretty good, but that's about it"
Quote Reply
Re: Search to slow... In reply to
You can find the home of mod perl at:

http://perl.apache.org

http://www.postcards.com
FAQ: http://www.postcards.com/FAQ/LinkSQL/