FR issues? (vanity - FR server issues?)

None ^ | 9/7/2008 | Me

[TheBattman]

OK - ever so often I see a thread or a comment about FreeRepublic being very slow, that the server is responding slowly, or that there are problems with posting.

I too have noticed major slowdowns and lately have seen more and more "server not responding" errors.

What is odd - a ping of 209.157.64.201 (the IP address of FR) comes back just fine and quite speedy. Yet the errors and slow response when opening threads and posting are getting worse.

Have I missed something? I have actually spent more time here on FR in the last few weeks than usual, so I am getting more sensitive to such issues.

What gives?

[TheBattman]

Your “classic FR thread” returns this error:

No such file (give_legacy_article)

[Arrowhead1952]

About a week or so ago, Jim himself said FR is buying two new servers before election day 08 to handle the load.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2070591/posts?page=53#53

“We just ordered two more servers this morning. Expecting millions of more visitors through the elections.”

[Straight Vermonter]

Try it again it seems to work off and on. Possibly another example of FR’s server issues.

[Mike Fieschko]

What is odd - a ping of 209.157.64.201 (the IP address of FR) comes back just fine and quite speedy. Yet the errors and slow response when opening threads and posting are getting worse.

I'm not sure if you know this, but ping only tests if there is a route to the address you're pinging and whether the address responds to the ping.

Responding to the ping doesn't mean that there's a web server at the address, and that the web server is serving pages quickly, slowly, or at all. You can ping an address where there's never a web server running, and pings don't go to port 80, where most web servers listen.

An analogy: think of freerepublic.com as an apartment house, where there is a web server (apt. #80), a mail server (#25), and responds to pings (the main entrance door to all the apartments). If you go to the main entrance, it's similar to getting a response to a ping, but that doesn't mean that there's an apt. #80 or #25 inside the building. If you knock on #80 and #25 and someone inside answers, it's similar to confirming that a web server and a mail server are there.

[TheBattman]

I tried again...hit reload 5 times before the actual page loaded...

[TheBattman]

I look at pinging like checking to see if that proverbial apartment building exists in the first place on the street it is suppose to be on. I agree it doesn’t tell if the device at that address is working correctly.

[nutmeg]

Is FR back up? I think I accessed FR thru some "beta version" link, but now I'm not sure where I am... what's going on?

It doesn't appear we can search by title either... I've been using a Google search on titles on FR...

[Syncro]

There have been lots of little glitches lately.

I am sure John is working on them.

I would imagine FR is getting busier by the day what with closing in on the election

It looks like management is in the process of preparing for a big surge early in November.

I believe that Jim told me in late in 2004 that FR got 11 million hits on election day ‘04.

I imagine Rush, Hannity, Drudge, O’Reilly and numerous other pundits and news shows are hiring more staff to monitor FR 24/7 so they can stay on top of the news cycles.