Scheduled Maintenance - Thurs, Dec. 17

[tiralie]

FWIW, around 10:00 AM this morning refresh/reload/login took 2-3 seconds, now I timed the 3 same events at 1 1/2 to 2  minutes...

Same here. On both win 10 and iPad 2. Extremely poor user experience. Reflects badly on the brand.
[quote author=Richard/RMWlink=topic=44051.msg433819#msg433819 date=1450628269]
Looks like the maintenance removed the option to post image attachments inline/thumbnail/etc - was this planned?
[/quote]

Figures...another sign that Festool is not putting enough resources into this site. Disappointing.
Tim

 

[Locks14]

Yeah, ridiculously slow on a range of devices.

Getting the impression this forum is hosted on a shoe string budget, with limited expertise. Maybe it's time the forum was migrated to a more main stream hosting software like vbulletin where there is greater support and resources to manage.

 

[peter halle]

Apparently there are some tweaks that need to be done to enhance the performance of the forum right now.  I know that Shane had to do some of those when he was changing servers many months ago.  The fact that the forum runs much quicker at some times and slower at others is an oddity and I am sure that there is some head scratching and much investigation going on.  I am sure that it will be worked out.

The software has been updated to a newer version.  Unfortunately there might be changes to posting images that are pretty consistent to what other forum software is doing.  Change is inevitable.

That be said I am going to say that some of the comments here have surprised me with both their comment and tone.  I probably love this forum as much or more than most, but some of the comments go way beyond whatever I could imagine.

Carry on.  I am not trying to change your feelings or thoughts.  Just expressing mine.

Peter

 

[AlexThePalex]

1

 

[tiralie]

Seems to be loading much faster now.
Tim

 

[AlexThePalex]

Picture posting is completely broken. Me no like at all.

And yeah, it's slow, very slow.

 

[sae]

That be said I am going to say that some of the comments here have surprised me with both their comment and tone.  I probably love this forum as much or more than most, but some of the comments go way beyond whatever I could imagine.

Carry on.  I am not trying to change your feelings or thoughts.  Just expressing mine.

Peter

I don't think it's too out of line, can you imagine if Bosch's forum went down? There's no question that it looks bad on the company.

I'm also surprised Festool Germany hasn't really put forth much effort and it's Festool USA that's driving the entirety of the forum. Festool isn't an IT company, why are they trying to cheap it out with freeware forum software with zero end user support? I run the same software myself on a few forums, but I'm not a multi-national corporation or supporting any business.

Anyways, back to the problem at hand, my guess is the httpd daemon is over-saturating the number of available connections to the database. Once things start queueing up, delays grow exponentially from there. It usually better to queue the users at the daemon than the daemon to the database, because one user can generate 10-100 queries in one page load.

 

[peter halle]

That be said I am going to say that some of the comments here have surprised me with both their comment and tone.  I probably love this forum as much or more than most, but some of the comments go way beyond whatever I could imagine.

Carry on.  I am not trying to change your feelings or thoughts.  Just expressing mine.

Peter

I don't think it's too out of line, can you imagine if Bosch's forum went down? There's no question that it looks bad on the company.

I'm also surprised Festool Germany hasn't really put forth much effort and it's Festool USA that's driving the entirety of the forum. Festool isn't an IT company, why are they trying to cheap it out with freeware forum software with zero end user support? I run the same software myself on a few forums, but I'm not a multi-national corporation or supporting any business.

Anyways, back to the problem at hand, my guess is the httpd daemon is over-saturating the number of available connections to the database. Once things start queueing up, delays grow exponentially from there. It usually better to queue the users at the daemon than the daemon to the database, because one user can generate 10-100 queries in one page load.

The forum has been owned and operated by Fetool USA since its acquisition from the founding owner. 

Peter

 

[ScottW]

All:

I'm working to solve the slowness issue.  I can assure you that, in the end, this server will be several orders of magnitude faster than what it was running on.  I've had to read through the server logs and analyze the data to make an informed decision.  I apologize for this taking a little bit of time on a Sunday.  I had several family obligations that prevented me from making big changes mid-day.

With that being said, I've just pushed some changes that should solve the slowness issue.  This configuration update is applying now, but will take a bit of time to complete.

Please don't hesitate to reach out to me, one of our great moderators, or [member=57769]TylerC[/member] if you feel that your issue hasn't been addressed appropriately.

Thanks,
-Scott

 

[TylerC]

Figures...another sign that Festool is not putting enough resources into this site. Disappointing.
Tim

The fact that Scott and others are spending their weekend on fixes suggests otherwise. We upgraded the server because we're trying to make it better. As with most web upgrades, it has bugs, and we're working on them.

 

[tiralie]

I'm working to solve the slowness issue.

Please don't hesitate to reach out to me, one of our great moderators, or [member=57769]TylerC[/member] if you feel that your issue hasn't been addressed appropriately.

-Scott

Thanks Scott, will do.
Tim

 

[tiralie]

The fact that Scott and others are spending their weekend on fixes suggests otherwise. We upgraded the server because we're trying to make it better. As with most web upgrades, it has bugs, and we're working on them.

I am fully aware of Scott's efforts and they are appreciated. While I understand that you may take comments personally, they are not directed at staff or volunteers who are dedicated to solving them. They are doing the best with the resources available. I accept that change is inevitable, but please find a better way to upgrade the site so there is less impact on the current users and the legacy content.
Tim

 

[grbmds]

C'mon guys. . . So what if it's a little slow. They said they were fixing it. It's not like we do banking business on this site.

 

[Stephen B]

I think the days when this forum was run and supported by 'enthusiasts' are long gone. Surely Festool could make a real effort to support FOG members in what in the end is sales promotion. Slowness does not invite participation.

The FOG should be sufficiently supported without staff having to solve problems in their own time. It might be time for Festool HQ to provide additional support to Festool USA.

Having said this; Peter, Seth, Phil, Scott and Tyler - thank you for your dedication in what must be difficult times.

Edit: up and downloading in micro seconds at the moment just to add to the confusion,

 

[tiralie]

The FOG should be sufficiently supported without staff having to solve problems in their own time. It might be time for Festool HQ to provide additional support to Festool USA.

Exactly.

Having said this; Peter, Seth, Phil, Scott and Tyler - thank you for your dedication in what must be difficult times.

Yes, thanks for everything you guys do.
Tim

 

[grbmds]

Pretty sure that we all are in this forum to get advice and possible give suggestions and advice based on our experience. If that doesn't happen completely or as efficiently for a day or two, the world really doesn't end. I came from an environment where over 20,000 demand response trips were booked and automatically scheduled and dispatched every week day of the year. Now, if that system ran slow or it went down, and it did sometimes, that's a real problem as people with disabilities traveling throughout the Chicago metropolitan area were impacted significantly. So what if we aren't able to shoot the "s___"  as quickly as we normally do for a couple of days. I didn't see anyone asking questions that require significant medical treatment or put them in jeopardy of losing all their money if they don't get an answer immediately. Just take this in stride. If the ultimate end result doesn 't match what has been suggested the end result will be, then maybe there is room for some dissatisfaction. Even if it's close to what the intent was and getting better, cut everyone some slack. After all, the whole point is to use your tools, Festool or not, to either make a living or for satisfacdtion, fun, or to make furntiure or pieces for your friends and family. What difference does it make if the site slow temporarily. It just doesn't have that level of "life and death" significamce for me.

 

[ScottW]

please find a better way to upgrade the site so there is less impact on the current users and the legacy content.

I can assure you that I've tried to take all precautions to protect legacy content during my tenure with Festool USA.  The inline attachments mod failure was 100% out of my control (outside of choosing not to take an important security update, which I cannot do).  The mod creator had abandoned the mod, and no alternative was readily available.

I've tried very hard to keep actual downtime to a minimum.  This is actually the reason I decided to move the FOG to a different hosting company.  The previous hosting company's support team hadn't been as responsive as I needed them to be.  I've chosen a new hosting company that allow's me a great deal of control over how we will run this site going forward.  I will admit that I'm still working out the 'kinks'.  I simply ask that you bear with me.  I'm doing what I can, all while trying to protect the legacy pieces and parts of the FOG that we all value.

I sincerely hope that the FOG experience is a positive one for all of our visitors going forward.  [member=57769]TylerC[/member] and I are both relatively new to the company and I can assure you that we take the FOG seriously and will do what we can to make it a great online haven for all Festool lovers.

Take care,
-Scott

 

[Stephen B]

C'mon guys. . . So what if it's a little slow. They said they were fixing it. It's not like we do banking business on this site.

[member=19734]grbmds[/member]
For me there have been problems with FOG speed when compared with other sites I visit, for around 6 months. So what happens in the hrs after a major rebuild - it gets incredibly more slower, almost impossible to use - yes I know it's not a bank site - but my and others FOG experiences have been deninished for much longer than the last few days.

And remember, although it runs upon considerable volunteer effort, in the end the FOG represents a major international tool company.

[member=50814]ScottW[/member] [member=57769]TylerC[/member]
Thankyou for your Reply #77 Scott in which you outlined your objectives in moving the FOG to a new host. Given the speeds reached at lunch and after work today [AEST], some of your objectives may now at last be realised. [Hopefully this improved speed is not due by timing to most members in the Northern Hemosphere being asleep!?]

 

[Phil Beckley]

Figures...another sign that Festool is not putting enough resources into this site. Disappointing.
Tim

The fact that Scott and others are spending their weekend on fixes suggests otherwise. We upgraded the server because we're trying to make it better. As with most web upgrades, it has bugs, and we're working on them.

Hi
Thanks for the work on this guys and it is appreciated - never easy to work on while everyone wants to use the forum. I am sure the work will pay off and all will benefit from it.
rg
Phil

 

[ear3]

Still not able to post pictures.  The in-line attachment option does now appear, after having disappeared for a while, but no matter what I try to do (even if I just keep it on the default of end-of-post-expandable-thumbnail), I get a server error after the pictures upload and the topic I have been trying to create does not get created.