Could you please show me the result of your slow query log? I'll try to have it fixed for the next version :)


Fillip

Hmm... how many members does your forum have?

A 30x increase in load doesn't sound normal at all...

Iain

I'll re-enable it later and post up some results - I already flushed the log file, sorry. :(

Not used to this kind of quick response. I do appreciate it and will come back with data for you.

10,000 +/-
About 1.5 million posts.

No, I was struggling with server performance all last night and this morning, tweaking MySQL cache settings, etc. I didn't think a vBulletin mod could have that dramatic of an effect. I've got plenty of hardware behind the site for its relative size.

I finally enabled the slow query log to see what was putting such load on my processors and it was this mod, which really surprised me.

Ok, I just tested again. This is in a very slow time of the day with only 100 +/- connections to the site.

Prior to enabling mod:

0.47 0.43 0.38 | 112 Users Online (74 members and 38 guests)

Immediately after enabling mod:

1.18 0.63 0.45 | 118 Users Online (78 members and 40 guests)

a few minutes after enabling mod:

2.12 1.36 0.80 | 113 Users Online (72 members and 41 guests)

This trend will continue until server load goes out of control and connections start getting throttled.

After mod is disabled for a few minutes:

0.57 0.81 0.76 | 111 Users Online (70 members and 41 guests)

My slow query threshold is set to 10 seconds. The mod is pumping queries that take 10 seconds or more into the queue every 2 seconds, this causes MySQL to backlog severely until the entire site runs like molasses. Eventually the system starts rejecting connections due to high processor load because MySQL is running away with all 4 processors.

Attached find the slow query log after just a couple of minutes of running with the mod enabled.

It pumps an entry like the following into the log about every 2 seconds:

I've just re-uploaded the zip file without the offending query.
What this means for the product is, for the next 24 hours your Activity rating might spike a bit higher (:p) but your forums shouldn't bog down like that again.

If it does, please let us know and we will fix it as soon as possible. Your feedback is quite invaluable in this, none of us have access to such a huge forums as yours, so it's great that you're willing to help out :D

Just re-upload all the files, no need to do anything with the XML :)


Fillip

I have uploaded the zip and it has been enabled for about 30 minutes.

Load averages are 0.80 0.76 0.60

Looks like you got it. Thanks!

Also, is it possible to add userid= as a criteria - with that one feature, your mod can completely replace the other "awards" system I have running.

There's a feature for making awards and giving them to users in the Pro version (we call them Medals) :)
That system's due for an overhaul in v1.1 as well, when it'll be able to give the same award to the same user multiple times.

Glad to hear the problem has been solved, in the next version we'll take care of the Activity formula problem, which should bring this mod out of Beta.

Btw, could you leave the Slow Query Log on overnight, so that it can log the "Daily Points" Cron job?
I worry that that's a performance hit, and you're the only big-board user I know of ;)

Thanks in advance :)


Fillip

I've left it on for exactly that reason - I'll post it up tomorrow.

Thanks :D

The cron job runs at midnight GMT though, so it may need to be left on for another 24 hours to be fully sure.
But at least leaving it on will catch any other potential resource predators xP


Fillip

another update with the same name as 1.0.2? please change the name when you update this plugin. thx