Thread

:exclaim:

We are running Expression Engine 1.6.8 with MSM and have 7 sites managed under it.

- Basic server settings are Windows Server 2000 with IIS5

All static content runs fine, however EE tends to max out the server resources and crash the server on an almost regular basis now. Tests performed show that the exact same traffic on a static hit resolve fine but the same test performed on an EE hit max to 90%-100% and stall/shut it down.

Our IS team is looking into resolutions, but any help on the issue would be welcomed as this is truly detrimental.

:exclaim:

Thank you,

Brian

Brian,

What kind of resources does the box have available to it?
What in particular does it max out?
What are your versions of PHP, MySQL etc?
How many other sites are on the server?
Are you getting any server error logs?

Are these licenses under a different username Brian?

John,

Thanks for the response. I just got a notification from my team that they are going to provide some “beefier” servers for the time being since we will be migrating/rebuilding the site in EE2 on new servers within the next few months. The tests show that the content I have built on EE2 in this environment are stable. It seems to be an issue with the legacy site that was previously built in EE1.6.8. There are several issues at hand with the current configuration. There are also several things out of whack with the current EE1 install that were wrong when I came on board. I have a feeling it has to do with a rogue plug-in that was implemented at one time, but I can’t manage the plug-ins because it brings up a blank screen. I am scared to remove any of them to trouble shoot because of the frail web that is holding things together and not knowing what reliances are on them.

On that note, if you have any pointers on how I can reclaim control over my plug-ins being used, I am all ears. This take over has been interesting because of some unique setups that have taken place in the past. (Coding has been fun)

- Brian

Brian,

I have a feeling it has to do with a rogue plug-in that was implemented at one time, but I can’t manage the plug-ins because it brings up a blank screen.

The blank screen is usually a suppressed error. Try enabling error reporting here and see what appears

How much PHP memory do you have? You can find that as memory_limit under PHP info in Utilities.

I enabled error reporting like the link described, but no errors showed. I also tried going through Admin to the plugins manager again but it showed a blank screen still.

For memory, I have 128M.

Since you’re not able to click on the plugins tab, can you check via FTP which plugins you’re using?

Are you going to be getting a Windows server or a Unix server for your EE2 install?

Sue,

Everything is hosted in-house and both are on Windows servers. Because of the state of the current site, I am completely rebuilding every site in EE2. I think this will resolve many of the issues I have been facing.

When you suggested checking FTP which plugins I am using, I can go directly to the server folder and look at all of the plugins in the folder that were there. These were there from a previous developer and I am unsure which, if any, are being used in what pages. I can list them below. I think some were used, and some were just tested, but unfortunately, they weren’t checked to see which ones might have been “breaking” things.

As far as the new server, I have begun testing the performance issues, etc. and they prove to be much better than that of the current setup.

I’m adding a list of the plugins that ship with EE1.7.0, but when it comes to all those extra plugins, you’ll need to see which ones are being called in your individual templates. You can do that by searching your templates for them one at a time.. very time consuming, but necessary. Or you could do a more of a brute force method and rename your plugins directory, make a new one, add in the 1.7.0 plugins that ship with EE, then try visiting the site. EE will tell you right away which ones it needs, but only one at a time. With each plugin you add back in again,  you’ll check to see if the plugins page still works, so you can figure out which is the buggy one.

Make sense?

That makes sense, but being that this is a high traffic corporate site, I have been hesitant to do such. The site is operational right now, but on shaky legs. This is why I am rebuilding the entire site, “cleanly” in EE2 on the new servers. If I do decide to go brute force, I will need to do it at night when the traffic is low, just in case.  😊

Hi Brian,

The only alternative might be to create a dev copy of the sites/installation that you can test more easily without impacting the users. Have you also made sure that the IS team has enabled all possible logging on the server? It’s possible that notices or warnings in the logs could point you in the right direction.

Cheers

Greg

Greg,

Thanks for the ideas. I have checked, but no indications. There wasn’t a dev site or a replication location setup on this site when it was built and it is way too large and complex at this point to do. I think the best thing at this point is to cut my losses and focus on the rebuild.

Brian,

Ok if you are happy then we can close this thread if you wish? We of course welcome any other questions you have in a new thread if you wish to do so.

That’s fine John.

Thanks guys…

Hi Brian,

Okay, closing this thread out. Please open another thread if required.

Cheers

Greg