Our server config is no secret. You can get a run down:
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137986

We actually had a 2nd server up doing round robin serving of the web stuff, but the issue didn't get resolved. This happened after we had already did an upgrade on the db server to a new Raid config.

Next step is to totally upgrade the DB server to the next gen processor. WE also moved a number of images (all review covers) to the ad server (at images.dvdtalk.com).

It's a constant process that involves MANY people, all trying to figure why the hell VB has extreme spikes at some times and is OK at others.

I had similar problems in a system that I was working on. It turns out that it was just a really horribly processed query that bogged the whole works down. We found a way to trick the system into using a proper index for that query.

Now, it may be coincidence, but I have noticed that, any time of day or night, it seems that I can get the "searching disabled" error message (well, usually I see it 1-2 minutes later) by kicking off a "search for threads started by user" search for someone with many started threads (yesterday I did for Buford and Wooderson) and I think I break the forum each time... Is there a way to track what searches might be running when the system gets boggy?

OK we did another big upgrade to the web server and a ton of tuning to php based on the advice of the VB folks. Hopefully this will be another step in the right direction.

Response has been good so far today.

Still consistently good.

Thank you, I've not been having any trouble with it today. Although sometimes I have to hit my refresh button a few times to get an updated screen...weird.

I have not had a single time today when response was bad.

So far, so good for me as well.

I just noticed that something was very wrong with this joint...I haven't experienced a lock up for a couple of days! Looks like you may be on to something.

that's good to hear

It's been a few more days and I haven't noticed anything remotely resembling the problems we were experiencing before. Looks like you may have hit upon whatever it was.

Damn, just got hit with a bout of slowness.

Had a reply hang for over a minute before going through.

All's been well for the last week until the last hour or so. Random hangs when going to forums and posting.

yup. Geoff is ..doing something to fix...

Sorry to report that I've been hit with several stallouts today when changing pages. One at 9:31PM CST actually gave me a page not available error.

I've gotten a few hang ups as well over the past couple days.

Not near as frequent as in the past though, so it's still an improvement.

The site does seem to be improving. Keep up the good work.

Oh....no! Now our....individual posts....are slowing...down...and...cutting...

We are aware of some sort of issue w/ the hosting provider's switch. I have a call into him and hopefully it'll be addressed soon.

should be all fixed now.

Not sure if it's related but it just took a little over 2 minutes for me to load up the sports forum main page (12:36pm PST). Opened up another browser and non-DVDTalk pages were loading fine.

It's taking forever to get the embedded ad in each page to load.

When it finally loads, it just says "Sponsored Links" and there is nothing there.

agreed, I frequently have problems with the media rich banner ad. That "The Fallen Ones" ad grinds my slower PCs to a halt.

I was having this problem around this time last night too, but I think that was a Google issue and not a DVDTalk one. I couldn't even get the Google homepage to load at that time.

Yeah this is a google issue. We use their ad network for some of our banners in the forum.