Close Forums during peak times to members and or during high server loads.

[Snapperhaed]

This may have been requested before, and their may even be a hack thats already been made for this ... I tried searching high and low, and either I cant read, cant see, or its not around. :nervous:

Problem:

I run a high traffic forum. Once I get around 850 simul. users online, the load goes thru the roof, and the server crashes. Just cant handle the load.

Solution: (In my feable mind):

Have the forums detect the high server load, and automatically shut down, and be restricted to members only use. Either this, or shut them down by hand ... However its done, they need to be closed briefly to eliminate all that mass traffic. I think that by restricting the forums for members only use during those times, I will reduce my traffic by 2/3 and eliminate the unsightly crash.

What im running:

I am currently running Apache ... On a dual processor P3 with 2 gigs of ram, on a single machine. I guess I may have to upgrade to a dual P4, which will help, and maybe offload the DB only, over to its own machine.

I dont wish to restrict to members only, but looks like that may be the route to go for a short term solution. Im open for anything.

Any help/comments/critics/directions are appreciated! Thanks!