by loftar » Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:23 pm
Indeed, the server is having some performance problems. It comes especially from three sources:
* First of all, the main performance worsener right now is the account database server. I've known for a long time that I'll have to fix it, but I haven't bothered. I may have to do it very soon now, though, seeing how much problems it is causing with so many new players logging in and out all the time.
* The server is beginning to use a bit too much CPU time for its own good. At peak hours, it has been up to almost 50%. I'll need to find a good profiler program to start optimizing it (I've wanted to do that for a very long time, but I haven't found a good profiler so far).
* There is something else, too -- somehow, the server seems to be blocked every now and then, and I haven't quite been able to localize the source of the blocking. I think that it is Apache bursting on the CPU which is preempting the game server, but I'm not sure. We'll probably move Apache to another computer sometime soon (which is good anyway, since Apache takes a lot of memory -- much more than I'd have though). It could be argued that a SMP system would be good for running Haven on, so that the rest of the system can be doing stuff and still leave the game server running without unnecessary preemption on a CPU of its own.
Useless trivia: Speaking of Apache, we've been averaging on ~130,000 URL hits per day since the start of August. :)
"Object-oriented design is the roman numerals of computing." -- Rob Pike