PerlMonks is *slow*. What do we need to fix?

Hello

Perlmonks is very slow. I have tested this site from many locations, and although network connection is bad from some locations, it seems that it's the site itself that is slow.

[rebel@hydrus rebel]$ /usr/sbin/traceroute www.perlmonks.org   
traceroute: Warning: www.perlmonks.org has multiple addresses; using 2
+09.197.123.153
traceroute to perlmonks.org (209.197.123.153), 30 hops max, 38 byte pa
+ckets
 1  192.168.123.254 (192.168.123.254)  1.181 ms  1.109 ms  1.962 ms
 2  10.33.96.1 (10.33.96.1)  9.433 ms  9.131 ms  18.006 ms
 3  pos0-1-nycmnyb-rtr2.nyc.rr.com (24.29.97.113)  9.216 ms  8.780 ms 
+ 9.920 ms
 4  pos3-0-nycmnyd-rtr1.nyc.rr.com (24.29.97.21)  10.215 ms  10.408 ms
+  10.445 ms
 5  pos5-3-nycmnya-rtr2.nyc.rr.com (24.29.97.38)  9.291 ms  24.512 ms 
+ 10.025 ms
 6  pop2-new-P3-1.atdn.net (66.185.137.29)  10.729 ms  9.779 ms  10.44
+8 ms
 7  bb2-new-P0-1.atdn.net (66.185.137.18)  10.051 ms  10.336 ms  10.91
+9 ms
 8  bb1-nye-P4-0.atdn.net (66.185.152.196)  209.445 ms  214.379 ms  21
+3.826 ms
 9  bb2old-nye-P1-0.atdn.net (66.185.152.87)  12.547 ms  10.887 ms  11
+.259 ms
10  bb2-vie-P8-0.atdn.net (66.185.152.201)  163.221 ms  211.253 ms  22
+7.308 ms
11  bb2-chi-P6-0.atdn.net (66.185.152.214)  35.390 ms  34.344 ms  34.5
+21 ms
12  aol-gw.cgcil.ip.att.net (192.205.32.237)  36.900 ms  36.473 ms  38
+.336 ms
13  tbr1-p013902.cgcil.ip.att.net (12.122.11.205)  37.986 ms  36.807 m
+s  40.990 ms
14  * * *
15  gbr5-p30.n54ny.ip.att.net (12.122.11.10)  57.526 ms  56.267 ms  96
+.317 ms
16  gbr4-p100.n54ny.ip.att.net (12.122.5.110)  55.172 ms  60.944 ms  5
+5.466 ms
17  gbr1-p20.phlpa.ip.att.net (12.122.2.18)  58.739 ms  58.249 ms  58.
+922 ms
18  gar1-p360.phlpa.ip.att.net (12.123.137.21)  57.630 ms  58.248 ms  
+58.251 ms
19  12.125.176.98 (12.125.176.98)  67.124 ms  64.718 ms *
20  perlmonks.pair.com (209.197.123.153)  65.605 ms  66.857 ms  82.911
+ ms

bash-2.05$ traceroute www.perlmonks.org
traceroute: Warning: www.perlmonks.org has multiple addresses; using 6
+6.39.54.27
traceroute to perlmonks.org (66.39.54.27), 30 hops max, 40 byte packet
+s
 1  user.hsrp.w18.nyc.access.net (166.84.1.30)  0.934 ms  0.714 ms  0.
+446 ms
 2  S8-0-0-T3.l3core.nyc.access.net (166.84.64.14)  1.879 ms  1.554 ms
+  1.327 ms
 3  panix-r.netaxs.net (207.8.210.94)  3.510 ms  2.344 ms  2.667 ms
 4  169.130.235.13 (169.130.235.13)  2.336 ms  3.420 ms  2.740 ms
 5  12.125.51.209 (12.125.51.209)  3.441 ms  3.429 ms  3.009 ms
 6  gbr2-p70.n54ny.ip.att.net (12.123.1.134)  3.282 ms  2.824 ms  2.78
+6 ms
 7  gbr4-p70.n54ny.ip.att.net (12.122.1.177)  2.120 ms  2.973 ms  3.56
+0 ms
 8  gbr1-p20.phlpa.ip.att.net (12.122.2.18)  6.507 ms  6.562 ms  6.271
+ ms
 9  gar1-p360.phlpa.ip.att.net (12.123.137.21)  7.136 ms  4.929 ms  5.
+363 ms
10  * * *
11  ads.perlmonks.org (66.39.54.27)  11.623 ms  11.512 ms  11.275 ms
[download]

Are the servers over-worked? Is there some problem with database contention? Io contention?

I would like to discuss what we need to improve this situation, perhaps rally some hardware or money.

Perhaps the site admins can help us on this topic.

Comment on PerlMonks is slow. What do we need to fix? Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: PerlMonks is slow. What do we need to fix? by Ovid (Cardinal) on Oct 24, 2002 at 17:17 UTC
Of course, today may be worse than others. I'll blame it on chromatic for having the audacity to get us mentioned on /. Cheers, Ovid Join the Perlmonks Setiathome Group or just click on the the link and check out our stats.	[reply]
Re: Re: PerlMonks is slow. What do we need to fix? by chromatic (Archbishop) on Oct 24, 2002 at 18:15 UTC
I'd have thought everyone would be thrilled to learn we're all part of a giant non-sociology experiment. :) Well, at least Perl Monks turned out to be one of my favorable examples...	[reply]
Re: (nrd) PerlMonks is slow. What do we need to fix? by newrisedesigns (Curate) on Oct 24, 2002 at 17:01 UTC
What PerlMonks really needs is updates to its code. If you're willing to lend a hand to pmdev, that would be your best bet. Turn off nodelets and monk quips/images. Your pages will load faster because you are requesting less from the server. See also this node. John J Reiser newrisedesigns.com	[reply]
Re: Re: (nrd) PerlMonks is slow. What do we need to fix? by rr (Sexton) on Oct 24, 2002 at 17:26 UTC
Really? I saw a few conflicting points on that, but I would not doubt you as sites like this often have organic and messy code bases. I would be glad to help, I didn't see any join pmdev information tho, where is it? As far as hardware goes, if some were donated would PAIR allow installation? What hardware is in use now? Is there some documentation about this around? I did disable my nodelets, which helps a little bit but not much. I am seriously honest when I say I would contribute and use this site more often if it were not so infuriatingly slow. BTW, this is not criticism, it's an observation and I am willing to help (aka not just complain). rr	[reply]
Re^3: (nrd) PerlMonks is slow. What do we need to fix? by newrisedesigns (Curate) on Oct 24, 2002 at 19:02 UTC
I am seriously honest when I say I would contribute and use this site more often if it were not so infuriatingly slow. BTW, this is not criticism, it's an observation and I am willing to help (aka not just complain). That's wonderful to hear. I don't have much time or know-how to really work on a site this large, so I would feel very hypocritical if I complained about the speed. I think it is wonderful that you are willing to help. If you contact the pmdev or gods groups, they would be able to tell you about how to help. John J Reiser newrisedesigns.com	[reply]
Re: Re: Re: (nrd) PerlMonks is slow. What do we need to fix? by ehdonhon (Curate) on Oct 25, 2002 at 21:53 UTC
As far as hardware goes, if some were donated would PAIR allow installation? What hardware is in use now? Is there some documentation about this around? That isn't necessary. We (pair) are already donating all of the hardware and bandwidth that perlmonks is using for free. Presently that includes three of our quickserve dedicated servers. We've also indicated to vroom that we'd gladly add another server if he thought it would make a difference. But right now, I think the plan is to try to improve the code a bit. You can only throw so much hardware at a problem before it doesn't make much of a difference any more. :)	[reply]
Re: PerlMonks is slow. What do we need to fix? by rinceWind (Monsignor) on Oct 25, 2002 at 16:24 UTC
I guess those of us who are using PM every day get used to the delays. However, one comment I have had from friends and colleagues is how slow the response is. At that point, I would explain about the nature of CGI, and make out that the application has to do quite some work before it displays a page ... excuses, excuses. I don't think this is doing the reputation of Perl any good, as a web application language - IMO it's time this was addressed. Before replying to this post, I decided to download the Everything engine, just to take a look for myself. One of the pieces of advice that monks are meteing out on SoPW regularly, when CGI apps are slow, is to consider ModPerl. Has anybody thought about, or even got working, an Everything Engine on ModPerl? From a cursory inspection, it does not look too bad, as the CGI code itself seems to be localized into the module html.pm. By the way, I am interested in PM Dev as well. Not sure how much time I can give (possible issues with PHBs and circular tuits).	[reply]

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