4 ms·

Something is wrong with the database, it's a PHP site...

geocrasher 5y ago
It's WordPress, and the database can't be connected to because it's probably maxing out the number of MySQL connections. If you're the owner of the site: Get some caching installed. I like WP Super Cache and Autoptimize, they're a great combo. For reference: My WordPress site got hugged on the front page of HN yesterday, didn't bat an eye.
- rrdharan 5y ago
  Kind of boggles the mind that some form of these aren’t yet the defaults / built-in after all these years.. is it just too hard to integrate into the core out of box install for some reason?
  - joecool1029 5y ago
    Many different kinds of server environments where cache configuration isn't the same and many kinds of sites where some things really shouldn't be cached (shopping carts, admin panels).
    - coding123 5y ago
      I don't know, Wordpress had like what, 1 billion years to wrap it's connection manager to do auto-caching for anonymous users - I mean a 15 second cache internally managed by files on the disk in the temp folder would have instantly made Wordpress be fault tolerant during a hug of death.
      - joecool1029 5y ago
        I get the criticism but looking at the history of caching plugins' security issues and the commonality of screwed up caching, it's obvious there isn't a one-size-fit-all solution. Rather than dynamic caching, most users wanting to survive getting hugged on a simple blog would probably best be served by one of the static site generators for Wordpress. Takes out the main bottlenecks and leaves a lot more flexibility in how to serve it.
  - geocrasher 5y ago
    One of WordPress' primary strengths is that it's extensible and does not do anything big by default. One of its weaknesses is that its so easy to use. No difficult configuration is necessary and most web hosts have an auto-installer for it that configures it with default settings. The web host I work for does have a plugin that fixes a lot of these things (caching, wp-cron, basic security issues, etc) but it's not a panacea. There just isn't one.
    - TchoBeer 5y ago
      Ease of use is a weakness?
      - maweki 5y ago
        I think they meant that not having to think about anything makes people not think about anything.
      - geocrasher 5y ago
        Technologically speaking, yes. The default configuration works but there are problems when the site becomes busier that show up. For example: WordPress has its own scheduler called wp-cron.php. Part of the ease of setup is that you don't need to create a cron job. It will just run wp-cron.php every time there is a page load. While that makes it very convenient it doesn't scale well and so when a site becomes busy it starts to fall over. So in that sense it's ease of use is also a downfall at times.
  - throw_m239339 5y ago
    > Kind of boggles the mind that some form of these aren’t yet the defaults / built-in after all these years.. is it just too hard to integrate into the core out of box install for some reason? Because not all hosting providers compatible with Wordpress are compatible with these caching addons, it's as simple as that. Wordpress runs on the lowest sane PHP+Apache+Mysql environment. Now I can't access this website but it looks like it doesn't need to run on PHP, it should be using a static site generator.

It's WordPress, and the database can't be connected to because it's probably maxing out the number of MySQL connections. If you're the owner of the site: Get some caching installed. I like WP Super Cache and Autoptimize, they're a great combo. For reference: My WordPress site got hugged on the front page of HN yesterday, didn't bat an eye.

rrdharan 5y ago
Kind of boggles the mind that some form of these aren’t yet the defaults / built-in after all these years.. is it just too hard to integrate into the core out of box install for some reason?
- joecool1029 5y ago
  Many different kinds of server environments where cache configuration isn't the same and many kinds of sites where some things really shouldn't be cached (shopping carts, admin panels).
  - coding123 5y ago
    I don't know, Wordpress had like what, 1 billion years to wrap it's connection manager to do auto-caching for anonymous users - I mean a 15 second cache internally managed by files on the disk in the temp folder would have instantly made Wordpress be fault tolerant during a hug of death.
    - joecool1029 5y ago
      I get the criticism but looking at the history of caching plugins' security issues and the commonality of screwed up caching, it's obvious there isn't a one-size-fit-all solution. Rather than dynamic caching, most users wanting to survive getting hugged on a simple blog would probably best be served by one of the static site generators for Wordpress. Takes out the main bottlenecks and leaves a lot more flexibility in how to serve it.
- geocrasher 5y ago
  One of WordPress' primary strengths is that it's extensible and does not do anything big by default. One of its weaknesses is that its so easy to use. No difficult configuration is necessary and most web hosts have an auto-installer for it that configures it with default settings. The web host I work for does have a plugin that fixes a lot of these things (caching, wp-cron, basic security issues, etc) but it's not a panacea. There just isn't one.
  - TchoBeer 5y ago
    Ease of use is a weakness?
    - maweki 5y ago
      I think they meant that not having to think about anything makes people not think about anything.
    - geocrasher 5y ago
      Technologically speaking, yes. The default configuration works but there are problems when the site becomes busier that show up. For example: WordPress has its own scheduler called wp-cron.php. Part of the ease of setup is that you don't need to create a cron job. It will just run wp-cron.php every time there is a page load. While that makes it very convenient it doesn't scale well and so when a site becomes busy it starts to fall over. So in that sense it's ease of use is also a downfall at times.
- throw_m239339 5y ago
  > Kind of boggles the mind that some form of these aren’t yet the defaults / built-in after all these years.. is it just too hard to integrate into the core out of box install for some reason? Because not all hosting providers compatible with Wordpress are compatible with these caching addons, it's as simple as that. Wordpress runs on the lowest sane PHP+Apache+Mysql environment. Now I can't access this website but it looks like it doesn't need to run on PHP, it should be using a static site generator.