Busy server for the first time in almost 5 years?

[Keld Denar]

So, tonight in no fewer than 3 times, I've come across messages thay say that the server is busy, and to try again later. Usually goes away in a minute, but yea.

Just thought I'd let the admins know. I first noticed it at about 9:30 PST. Hope this post helps you guys figure it out! Best of luck!

[arguskos]

I've been seeing those screens for awhile now, maybe a few months. They don't pop up much, but they do show up every now and then when it's fairly late (12 AM-3 AM, EST). Not sure why right then. Haven't given it much thought honestly, figured it was natural server lag.

[Keld Denar]

Just for reference, it is different from the 503 error page. Its an actual forum screen similar to the backup page.

[arguskos]

Just for reference, it is different from the 503 error page. Its an actual forum screen similar to the backup page.

Yeah, I know. It says "The server is too busy at the moment. Please try again later." in a little box with the standard forum bar (User CP, FAQ, Members List, etc) at the top and the news, comics, stories, etc on the side. Trust me, I've been seeing it for awhile now. Just didn't think anything of it.

Ironically, I got it while posting this.

[Rockphed]

Wait, did you really say 5 years? That screen was pretty popular about 1 - 2 years ago. I must admit I was surprised when I saw it today, about 12:30 EDT, but I didn't really think much of it.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Yeah, it's been a couple of months since it slowly popped up occasionally, again.

SMEE told me the moderators have indeed noticed and that's enough for me. Since they'l either be working on that then, or on higher priority things.

[Prime32]

Got one a few minutes ago.

[jiriku]

And again today. Periodically yesterday too. GIANTITP: TOO POPULAR SEXY FOR OUR OWN SERVER!

[KerfuffleMach2]

I got it at around 11:00 PM EST last night, and again this morning at about 9:00 AM EST.

For those who are keeping track of such info.

Last night's lasted a couple of minutes, and today's was less than a minute.

[Yuki Akuma]

It keeps happening today.

It may be time for another server upgrade - the site's getting more popular, apparently.

[Mauve Shirt]

Almost 5 years? The upgrade was like 2 years ago at most!

And I got one yesterday, but not today.

[Claudius Maximus]

I've seen this too. I'm pretty sure this is not the same kind of error we would get back when the server needed to be upgraded. At least for me, it was a failed connection page rather than a message presented by GitP.

So I guess it's either not the same problem, or they just have a real error message for it now.

[Kobold-Bard]

I've seen this too. I'm pretty sure this is not the same kind of error we would get back when the server needed to be upgraded. At least for me, it was a failed connection page rather than a message presented by GitP.

So I guess it's either not the same problem, or they just have a real error message for it now.

I thought it was a GitP message last time too

[Keld Denar]

I got the 503 error at about 3:30 PM PST, and just got the "server busy" error at about 4:03 PM PST.

Just lettin y'all know.

[The Bushranger]

I thought it was a GitP message last time too

No, it was a "The Forums have been shut down due to server overload" message before (usually when there was a new comic). When the server crashed those times, you'd get failed connections, then they'd take the forums down and you'd see that.

Since we're getting something different, and it's not New Comic Syndrome, I suspect it's a different problem.

[Snares]

I've had this screen several times today. It's been appearing sporadically for the last few weeks too.

[Cealocanth]

First time today. For the record, 5:40 PM CST.


These are fairly new to me too. Is the playground undergoing reconstruction or something?

[happyturtle]

Spammer attacks? General forum traffic? Squirrels chewing on the internet tubes?

[Gourtox]

Dirty rotten squirrels. Also I have seen this a few times.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Just got it a few minutes ago over here. And yesterday too.

[The Giant]

I don't know what's going on, but we are aware of the problem now. Further "I got one too!" messages don't tell us anything at this point. Please only post if you have more information, such as a different type of message or a server error (rather than the "server is busy" message).

[Obrysii]

Giant, every time I've gotten a "Server too busy" is when you post new comics.

I don't know if the comic is hosted on the same server as the forum, or if the forum becomes exponentially busier as we all rush to make our opinions known about the comic (most excellent #755, btw).

Or it could be purely coincidental.

[Drolyt]

Not sure if this helps, but when it happens to me (I see a "The server is too busy at the moment. Please try again later." error when I go to user cp) refreshing doesn't seem to help. I click on something else and then back on my user cp and it works, but not refreshing for some reason.

[The Bushranger]

Giant, every time I've gotten a "Server too busy" is when you post new comics.

I don't know if the comic is hosted on the same server as the forum, or if the forum becomes exponentially busier as we all rush to make our opinions known about the comic (most excellent #755, btw).

Or it could be purely coincidental.

That's how it used to be with NCS (New Comic Syndrome) before the last upgrade. It hasn't been happening that way this time. It's happening at all hours, although mostly at night, and when #755 came up, that was one time it wasn't doing it.

[F.H. Zebedee]

I just had one in the middle of the day, half an hour past noon. Went and ate a nice post I'd spent half an hour whipping up, so I'm slightly saddened. Just saying this since it seems to wildly diverge from the typical "midnight" happenings of these errors. It was a "Server is Busy, Try Back Later" message.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

That's how it used to be with NCS (New Comic Syndrome) before the last upgrade. It hasn't been happening that way this time. It's happening at all hours, although mostly at night, and when #755 came up, that was one time it wasn't doing it.

Aye. It got so bad that they preemptively took down the boards for a good little while after a comic first went up, to dissuade people from just posting "great job!" and stuff like that in the comic thread.

[Silverraptor]

Giant, every time I've gotten a "Server too busy" is when you post new comics.

I don't know if the comic is hosted on the same server as the forum, or if the forum becomes exponentially busier as we all rush to make our opinions known about the comic (most excellent #755, btw).

Or it could be purely coincidental.

I just got one, yet Giant hasn't updated the comic when I got it. So maybe its not entirely the New Comic Readers causing the problem...

[Cealocanth]

If this helps, all of mine have occurred between the hours of 8 and 10:00 PM.

[Prime32]

I've got them at various times, and when comics have been out for a while.

[Lhurgyof]

It seems to happen to me around early morning in school (about 8-10 EST) and late at night (around midnight EST). And, it only happens for about 1-5 minutes at a time.

It doesn't occur every day, just here and there, although it seems to be happening more often lately.

I hope this is of help to you, Giant.