Why Lunarpages Sucks!
Buyer BEWARE.

Ok... I Got Suckered too......
After running my site for 4 days..... They shut it down due to an undisclosed limit to processor usage.
It seems that one may have a site on lunarpages, but one may not have any amount of trafffic.  Oh yes they allow 400 Gig of bandwidth per month... however with thier limitations it is near impossible to use it.

It all started when my current host just plain and simple seemed a bit slow (mind you everything works well just with intermittent lag).  So my idea was to split of part of our site onto another host.  Now I've been around the block with the whole web hosting deal so when I set my sights on Lunarpages, I gave them a call.  I made sure to ask them about php and mysql privilages and limitations.  I also specifically asked if there were any usage limitions.  The salesperson stated that "Yes, there is a 50 concurrent user limitation."  Ok I can live with that... this part of the site usually only has 5 to 25 users on at once.  So I shell out the dough and spend the day transferring files and sql. I get it all up and running and activate the site.  Wow... runs fast, and everything is working.  Until....... 4 days later I get a call from a friend telling me that my LP site is down, due to abuse nonetheless.  It seems that a site with a fair amount of usage is considered "abuse".  So... I contact tech support.... THE NEXT MORNING I get a reply.  I agree to try and tweak things out and see if I can fix the problem.  No site activation..... I send another ticket "I'd fix things up and tweak them out if you would bother to reactive the admin section and the site."  The admin section comes up shortly and I tweak out some sql data and php files while I am waiting for the site to come alive.  I start monitoring with the tool provided by lunarpages and changing things only to find that the changes and traffic load seemed to have no effect on the server load.  So... I lock out access to the site... Server load still stays high.   So I'm getting frustrated, I'm thinking "No matter what I do, even if I delete every file, I cannot get this site down to their acceptable limit.  So, I hit the forums, thinking I would find an answer there.  I didn't  I read through 25 pages of threads before deciding to add to an already lengthy thread that was initiated by someone else.  What I did find is over and over again there are threads with people having the same problem and looking for answers.  By the way the common answer is "Upgrade to our Dedicated plan for 99.00 a month" (over 10 times the price of what these people signed up for).

So... I provide you with a copy of my dealings with them via their public forums......

lonnyl
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Re: Tips to Reduce RESOURCES Consume please
« Reply #68 on: May 04, 2006, 09:50:40 AM »
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Ok.... I've read through this entire thread..... with no solution in site.

My server was shut down 4 days after signing up and paying for it.....
This abuse policy is either non-existant or deeply hidden at sign up... not to mention I went through the effort of calling a sales person and presented about 20 questions including usage limits with no mention.

We were hovering about 6% server load...

I have to say I was a bit surprised and angered by the action of suspending my account.  Being the diplomatic person I am... I disabled a great many features of the site, trimmed old comments (down to 2 weeks), tweaked out some code and a number of other things.

I went so far as to disallow any logins and activity for 2 hours.... during this 2 hours server load stayed at 2 to 3%.  So I investigated further (not wanting to be shut off again) and found that yahoo slurp and gigabot are slamming the site with excessive repetative hits.  So..... I procede to ban thier IP pools.... only to find out that the server setup still responds to these bots with error codes and expends resources logging the rejections and so on.  So... I cannot even by disallowing any users to log in and use the site get under Lunarpages acceptable limit. 

Anyway, I am a persistant person looking to at least optimize what I can... hence I come to this forum.... I find that connect is preferred over pconnect.  I make the changes and then proceed to watch my Server Load Double! 

OK Ladies and Getlemen of Lunarpages employ.... If you really want people to remain customers you would offer solutions... I've read 5 pages of posts with the only suggestions be.... spend more money (oh and that may not work for you), go somewhere else, or reduce your site to useless drivel that no one would bother to visit (waste your money).   

I'm sorry if this sounds a bit harsh, however I grow weary of trying to fix a problem that is beyond fixing.  The file and transfer limits convey the image of a service that is quite hearty, when indeed it is not.  I feel a bit decieved and very let down.

Now... I am running a PHP site that uses mysql (presently a 75mb database).  It is expandable by adding modules and those modules are then hooked via a database entry... soo... the pages are all built and loaded via database entries.  Thus seemingly making such a situation unusable. 

So.... are there any entries in the php.ini that can help?
Is there any real research as to what is better pconnect or connect?
What really can be done to reduce server load?
Is there a php cache package installed on the servers? (I was told there is) as they reduce load greatly.
I have a query caching scheme at work on the server and even with 3 people logged in I am at 6 to 7%...

I need help before LP shuts me down again.....
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lonnyl
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Re: Tips to Reduce RESOURCES Consume please
« Reply #69 on: May 04, 2006, 09:52:41 AM »
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As an additional note.... somethings amiss....

I currently have 15 users logged in (A current max that I have set) and Server load is at 3.80%

I earlier today had 3 on... and load was above 6%....

Makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.....

-EDIT-
Been watching for the last hour.... number of users online seems to have no real correlation with server load.....

-EDIT-
OK... now I have 2 users logged on and CPU is at 12%!  Looks like I need to get MORE users to log on (sarcasm).  I have a real strong feeling something is amis with this whole metering system...  Sad
« Last Edit: May 04, 2006, 11:23:48 AM by lonnyl » Report an offensive post   65.126.169.235
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Re: Tips to Reduce RESOURCES Consume please
« Reply #70 on: May 04, 2006, 11:29:28 AM »
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How do you see the server load for a given account?  I didn't think that was possible on shared accounts except by the lp staff.

-Tim
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Re: Tips to Reduce RESOURCES Consume please
« Reply #71 on: May 04, 2006, 11:43:35 AM »
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In Cpanel - in the left hand side column - under header "General Server Information" - by "Service Status" - click "Click to View".
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Re: Tips to Reduce RESOURCES Consume please
« Reply #72 on: May 04, 2006, 11:51:53 AM »
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Hello lonnyl,

That is actually the server itself and does not have to do directly with your account.

That is the aggregate usage of all websites run on the shared server.

You cannot judge your usage through that.

The only way to get your usage is through one of our system administrators via our helpdesk system.

I hope that this was helpful.
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Daniel Torney
Customer Service Representative
 
Support and Assistance:
Help Desk - http://desk.lunarpages.com/
FAQ - http://desk.lunarpages.com/faq.php
Membership Forum - http://www.lunarforums.com/
Tutorials - http://www.lunarpages.com/tutorials/

support@lunarpages.com
Phone: 1-877-LUNARPAGES (Toll-free)
Phone: 1-714-521-8150 (International)
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Re: Tips to Reduce RESOURCES Consume please
« Reply #73 on: May 04, 2006, 11:57:38 AM »
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No... not helpful at all.... so this means that I have no idea if I am "abusing" the system with my website or not. 

I do not look forward to another shutdown... and if such is the case, then I have absolutely no idea if the changes I have made are doing any good....

Nor can I get a picture of just how many users I can allow to log on at once....

Nor do I understand how my going over 1% could cause a problem when the server has never topped 15% when I have been watching (and from what I understand from reading other posts is that this is only 1 of 4 processors that the meter is displaying).

So... I've spend 2 days trying to clean things up, checking scripts... switching between connect and pconnect methods for nothing......

If I am to be responsible for keeping the sites server load below 1% then I darn well better be able to accurately monitor the statistic.
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Re: Tips to Reduce RESOURCES Consume please
« Reply #74 on: May 04, 2006, 12:42:28 PM »
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We can't give you access to those tools in a shared hosting environment.

If you're on a shared hosting plan, there are limits to how many server resources one account can use. Any reputable host would pose those limits if they want *all* customers on those servers to have  fair use, access, and speedy connection to said servers.

Our terms of services does cover abuse.

"4.9 You agree not to undertake any action which is harmful or potentially harmful to the Lunarpages server structure."

Most come back saying that's vague when it comes to the server, but it has to be. There is no way we can create a list of what could potentially harm the server structure as the list would be end up being never-ending. One run-away or poorly coded script is all it can take in some cases.

There are other things listed, however, such as no spam, etc: http://www.lunarpages.com/legal.php

Many people try to take sites that use a lot of resources and fit it into budget hosting and that is not always possible. We do as much as we can to help but ultimately it is the user's responsibility to ensure their site is not causing load on the server. We are more than willing to give you the stats for your site, as well to help you monitor it.
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Author Topic: Tips to Reduce RESOURCES Consume please  (Read 790 times)
lonnyl
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Re: Tips to Reduce RESOURCES Consume please
« Reply #75 on: May 04, 2006, 12:57:18 PM »
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Well... Tracie... That was a very kind and vague response.

I would love to have them help me.... that is if I could get a response (almost 2 days now).

I still find the answers I have gotten from tech support rather vauge....

I after reading through many pages and threads fear I am seeing a web hosting version of bait and switch. 

I hate to be this harsh, but I have recieved nothing but vague answers and excuses. 

We are more than willing to give you the stats for your site, as well to help you monitor it.

Great I would be happy to get them.... In an understandable form.... E-mailed to me daily... how would I go about getting that to happen?

At the same time... I can get a good look at total server load.
That is actually the server itself and does not have to do directly with your account.

The server load has yet to go above 15% as I have been monitoring it.....
Which to me indicates that for all the users that must be on this server, I find it hard to believe that I am taking up 1/3 to 1/2 of that load.

I can't be bluffed... I've run linux servers for years, and do expect clear and concise answers. 

Now at this time my site is running and not suspended, but would not want to see it go down again.  Also you have the capabilty of throttling cpu usage... Instead you are suspending and upselling. 

Again, I did not want to be harsh..... but at the same time expect to be treated as I would treat my customers, and so far it been react and make excuses.....



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Re: Tips to Reduce RESOURCES Consume please
« Reply #76 on: May 04, 2006, 01:04:18 PM »
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If you PM me your domain name I can look up your account for you.

For the server load, Daniel explained that what you see in cPanel is not correct. You can read why here: cPanel Server Status Feature
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Re: Tips to Reduce RESOURCES Consume please
« Reply #77 on: May 04, 2006, 01:09:57 PM »
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I would also like to note that we are in no-way trying to bluff you or pull a bait and switch. That is not the way Lunarpages does business.

When an account is consistently using too many resources in shared hosting, it may not be suitable for shared hosting, period. What should we do? Allow the account to stay on our servers anyway and risk losing other customers on that server because they are sick of slow loading servers? Obviously the answer is no. And the rest of the customers on the server appreciate what we do to keep the servers fast and reliable.

I have not yet seen your ticket so I do not know all the details. In cases like this we give several options in addition to suggesting a dedicated server, including a pro-rated refund if your account is not suitable for shared hosting, which benefits Lunarpages in no way whatsoever.
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lonnyl
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Re: Tips to Reduce RESOURCES Consume please
« Reply #78 on: May 04, 2006, 01:21:41 PM »
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I understand your position......

I however cannot be held responsible for keeping my load down, if I cannot monitor it.  On the same hand we are purchasing php/mysql capable sites that are not capable of running php/mysql under reasonable load (under your terms).  Now... that said, my site has run lightning fast from day 1 and continues to do so.  I find it hard to believe that my little site is dragging down your servers... I've run the same site and code (updated regularly) for years on a Athlon 1800+ 512MB ram without incident (Charter shut down my connection due to more than 60 gig of traffic per month, hence my moving the site here).    I find it hard to believe that you are running anything near that slow. 

I really do understand the sentiment.... I do however believe the sentiment is being taken a bit far.  But enough badgering on my part.... I hope we can find a way for me to monitor my usage so I can BE ACCOUNTABLE for my usage.

-EDIT-
I would also like to note the php is running as CGI and will/can use a custom php.ini.  However there is a lack of a sample php.ini available from LP.  I would think something like that would be made available (even as copy and paste in the forums here) for a person to start with, as well as acceptable starting values and settings.  Such a thing would save alot of time and possibly some incorrect settings.
« Last Edit: May 04, 2006, 01:40:33 PM by lonnyl » Report an offensive post   65.126.169.235
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Re: Tips to Reduce RESOURCES Consume please
« Reply #79 on: May 04, 2006, 01:59:16 PM »
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Our servers can take a lot of load. And we monitor them constantly. Once it reports a higher than average load, we start to look for the cause BEFORE it drags down/slows down the server. As we should in the services we are offering.  The point is we don't want the servers to *ever* get dragged down by one account.
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« Reply #80 on: May 04, 2006, 03:54:56 PM »
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I forgot to mention, about the php.ini, we do have a post on our forums, stickied: suPHP, Inherited php.ini, & 500 Internal Server Errors
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« Reply #81 on: Today at 04:54:49 AM »
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I forgot to mention, about the php.ini, we do have a post on our forums, stickied: suPHP, Inherited php.ini, & 500 Internal Server Errors

That thread still lacks a  sample php.ini file.....

I do beleive that is something that could and should be provided.  Obviously LP techs know what works best with your systems, and a php.ini with the recommended settings already set would be the simplest way to go.  Not to mention it would propably reduce the tech support load quite a bit.

Thank you Tracie for the info on my server load... Hopefully a resolution is in sight.
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Re: Tips to Reduce RESOURCES Consume please
« Reply #82 on: Today at 05:28:46 AM »
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Ok.... the numbers still make no sense.

I am going to go over what I have learned.

The number in CPanel is for then entire server, not just my site.
The number in CPanel is for one of 4 processors, hence by your own techs words in another thread needs to be divided by 4.
My usage is only a part of this number and others sites usage makes up the rest of the number.
Hence, my usage is lower than this number.

With 9 users logged in


With 1 user logged in


The following stats were taken at 2 minute intervals.

Now some stats that I kepts this moring
7 Users logged in
.87 
.90
.76
1.62

now those numbers quartered as per LP tech statements.
.22
.23
.19
.41

1 User logged in
1.28
2.12
1.79
1.89

now those numbers quartered as per LP tech statements.
.32
.53
.45
.47

Now... as one can see.  With 9 users on, assuming I am using all of the servers resources (the reality is that there are other sites using it as well), I would still be under the limit.  The other thing that shows me that others are using the server as well are the high numbers when everyone logged off (except for 1).  The numbers I recieved from LP were 4% average usage.  This would mean that I would need at least 25 users logged on all day to attain those numbers.  I have the site limited to 15 with an average of 6 logged on at a time.  I should also mention that LP once again tried to upsell me...  Now... I know php and ASP... these numbers are available to tech support, and with 10 to 20 minutes effort the number in CPANEL could reflect the stat available to tech support. 

Come on guys... lets actually deal with the issue.

PS. How does one actually know what server your site is on?
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Re: Tips to Reduce RESOURCES Consume please
« Reply #83 on: Today at 06:51:57 AM »
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As a note, and I have not read the entire thread at this point, but:

There is a thread somewhere in the forums (I'd have to look) where I have explained previously that the CPanel 'status' page is virtually useless.

It's not an accurate depiction of what is truly occuring on the server.
Nor can you assume that your Site activity w 1 or more people actually reflects on that particular status page.

What we see on the server side, (not through CPanel) and what we see with our other monitoring tools (not CPanel) are completely and far more accurate than what we see displayed in the CPanel.

I will apologize for any misunderstanding, however, this situation is becoming more of a debate than a request for assistance to reduce Load on your account and content.

There is no specific 'sample' php.ini file that you could use, however, you could always check the default phpinfo, and go from there.  If you download php 4.4.1 from the php.net site, you can also get a default php.ini, and go from there as well.

Also, you can review the Critical account information details that you received at activation to find out what production server the account is on, however, if you have been moved to a non-production server for any reason, you could likely find out by running a quick traceroute to your domain.

If you have specific questions about this situation lonnyl, I would advise reply to any existing ticket you have open with the System admins.  We cannot assist you with any of this through the Lunarforums community board.

- Jay

I will also show you the e-mails I recieved.  Mind you a number of requests went un-responded to.
I did notice that yahoo slurp, and gigabot were excessively loading pages and asked for a remedy.  They of course could not offer me blocking at an IP level (which would greatly reduce the load as the server would not spend it's resources sending yahoo and gigabot error pages and then logging those errors).  
Notice the immediate upsell....

(unedited)
Dear Lonny Luberts,

Your Lunarpages web hosting account (pqcomp.net) has been
suspended. You need to contact support to have it unsuspended.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

E-Mail: support@lunarpages.com
Toll-Free: 1-877-LUNARPAGES
International: (+1) 714-521-8150
==== Enter your reply ABOVE this line ====
Dear
Lonny Luberts,


The following ticket has been created by a member of our staff for you

Your question's details:

============== Title: ==============
pqcomp.net - excessive usage


============== Message: ==============
Hello,

Your account is utilizing excessive resources, causing a significant
degradation of services on the server. This is a shared environment and
we
can not allow one user to utilize the majority of the resources on a
server
as it affects all users adversely. Because of this, you have been
Suspended as to not interupt your mysql database. A detail of the
problem is
shown
below:

pqcomp2 pqcomp.net 6.79 4.00 0.6
Top Process %CPU 58.0 /usr/bin/php
Top Process %CPU 57.0 /usr/bin/php
Top Process %CPU 33.0 /usr/bin/php


Please note that the acceptable usage range for shuttle and voyager
plans is

1.0% average %CPU or less, 1.0% average %Memory or less and Top
Processes
below 20%.

You have the following options:

• You may upgrade your package to our Dedicated hosting plan. For more
information on the features and pricing, please see
http://lunarpages.com/plan3.php
• You may take steps to correct the problem. This must be done before
the
seven (7) days are up. You will need to let the technician know the
steps
you took to correct the issue and get approval before being returned to
a
production server.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. We value you as a
customer
and want to work with you toward a solution that is mutually
beneficial.
Please let us know as quickly as possible how you would like to
proceed.
--
Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions

Andrew DeLira
Junior Systems Admin.
support@lunarpages.com
Phone: 1-877-LUNARPAGES/1-877-586-2772 (U.S. & Canada - Toll-free)
Phone: 0800-072-9150 (U.K - Toll-free)
Phone: 1-714-521-8150 (International)


You can view your question's progress online at:

https://desk.lunarpages.com/view.php?ticketref=5982-IPFJ-7960&pass=9c573b2a

You can also reply to this email to add to your question.




<=== 5982-IPFJ-7960 ===>
<=== ea7fb1c6 ===>
==== Enter your reply ABOVE this line ====

Dear
Lonny Luberts,

This is an automated message to advise you that a technician has
responded to
your question. You can view this response and track the progress of
your
inquiry online at:

https://desk.lunarpages.com/view.php?ticketref=5982-IPFJ-7960&pass=9c573b2a

You can also reply to this e-mail.

Ticket Ref : 5982-IPFJ-7960
Ticket Subject : pqcomp.net - excessive usage

Reply:
Hello,

Your site usage are as follows:

4/27/06
pqcomp2 pqcomp.net 5.06 2.35 0.4
Top Process %CPU 60.0 /usr/bin/php
Top Process %CPU 53.0 /usr/bin/php
Top Process %CPU 49.0 /usr/bin/php

4/28/06
pqcomp2 pqcomp.net 4.78 2.30 0.4
Top Process %CPU 45.0 /usr/bin/php
Top Process %CPU 42.0 /usr/bin/php
Top Process %CPU 35.0 /usr/bin/php

4/29/06
pqcomp2 pqcomp.net 6.33 3.38 0.5
Top Process %CPU 59.0 /usr/bin/php
Top Process %CPU 56.0 /usr/bin/php
Top Process %CPU 54.0 /usr/bin/php

4/30/06
pqcomp2 pqcomp.net 6.42 2.65 0.3
Top Process %CPU 54.0 /usr/bin/php
Top Process %CPU 52.0 /usr/bin/php
Top Process %CPU 51.0 /usr/bin/php

5/01/06
pqcomp2 pqcomp.net 4.00 2.40 0.3
Top Process %CPU 58.0 /usr/bin/php
Top Process %CPU 57.0 /usr/bin/php
Top Process %CPU 33.0 /usr/bin/php

It looks like your site usage went over our acceptable limits for the
past
three days. Please note that the acceptable usage range for shuttle and
voyager plans is 1.0% average %CPU or less, 1.0% average %Memory or
less and
Top Processes below 20%. You can try to limit the number of users
allowed to
log on at one time. If that doesn't work, you can try updating your
scripts
to the latest version. Please get back with us after you've taken
action so
that we can monitor your site.

--
Best Regards,
Justin Jereza
JSAI-System Administrator Team
support@lunarpages.com
Phone: 1-877-LUNARPAGES/1-877-586-2772 (U.S. & Canada - Toll-free)
Phone: 0800-072-9150 (U.K - Toll-free)
Phone: 1-714-521-8150 (International)





<=== 5982-IPFJ-7960 ===>
<=== ea7fb1c6 ===>
Dear Lonny Luberts,

Your Lunarpages web hosting account (pqcomp.net) was
reinstated successfully.

E-Mail: support@lunarpages.com
Toll-Free: 1-877-LUNARPAGES
International: (+1) 714-521-8150
==== Enter your reply ABOVE this line ====

Dear
Lonny Luberts,

This is an automated message to advise you that a technician has
responded to
your question. You can view this response and track the progress of
your
inquiry online at:

https://desk.lunarpages.com/view.php?ticketref=5982-IPFJ-7960&pass=9c573b2a

You can also reply to this e-mail.

Ticket Ref : 5982-IPFJ-7960
Ticket Subject : pqcomp.net - excessive usage

Reply:
Hi,

I have reactivated your site. Please allow 10-15 minutes for the site
to come
back up.

Feel free to contact us back should you have further questions and or
concerns.
--
Best Regards,
Peter Cathaseema
JSA I – System Admin Team

support@lunarpages.com
Phone: 1-877-LUNARPAGES/1-877-586-2772 (U.S. & Canada - Toll-free)
Phone: 0800-072-9150 (U.K - Toll-free)
Phone: 1-714-521-8150 (International)





<=== 5982-IPFJ-7960 ===>
<=== ea7fb1c6 ===>
==== Enter your reply ABOVE this line ====

Dear

Lonny Luberts,

This is an automated message to advise you that a technician has
responded to
your question. You can view this response and track the progress of
your
inquiry online at:

https://desk.lunarpages.com/view.php?ticketref=5982-IPFJ-7960&pass=9c573b2a

You can also reply to this e-mail.

Ticket Ref : 5982-IPFJ-7960
Ticket Subject : pqcomp.net - excessive usage

Reply:
Hello,

You can block ip addresses by using the .htaccess file located in your
/public_html/ directory. For instructions on how to do that please
visit this
website:
http://www.clockwatchers.com/htaccess_block.html

If you have any further questions please dont hesitate to ask.

--
Best Regards,
Kevin Sarnlertsophon

support@lunarpages.com
Phone: 1-877-LUNARPAGES/1-877-586-2772 (U.S. & Canada - Toll-free)
Phone: 0800-072-9150 (U.K - Toll-free)
Phone: 1-714-521-8150 (International)





<=== 5982-IPFJ-7960 ===>
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==== Enter your reply ABOVE this line ====

Dear
Lonny Luberts,

This is an automated message to advise you that a technician has
responded to
your question. You can view this response and track the progress of
your
inquiry online at:

https://desk.lunarpages.com/view.php?ticketref=5982-IPFJ-7960&pass=9c573b2a

You can also reply to this e-mail.

Ticket Ref : 5982-IPFJ-7960
Ticket Subject : pqcomp.net - excessive usage

Reply:
Hi Lonny,

Per the PM you sent me, here is the usage stats for your account. This
is an
average over a 24 hour period. Yesterdays were the following:

pqcomp2 pqcomp.net 4.13 1.74 0.3
Top Process %CPU 52.0 /usr/bin/php
Top Process %CPU 49.0 /usr/bin/php
Top Process %CPU 47.0 /usr/bin/php

The first number next to your domain/username is your average CPU
usage,
second is memory usage, and the third is your MySQL usage for a 24 hour
period
on 05-03-2006.

Todays look like:
pqcomp2 pqcomp.net 3.33 1.89 0.4
Top Process %CPU 41.0 /usr/bin/php
Top Process %CPU 26.5 [php ]
Top Process %CPU 24.0 [php ]

These are the stats I can provide you. I cannot provide you the stats
for the
server itself, only your account.

Please also note that our services are very much usable. We currently
host
over 90,000 websites, most of which do not have any issues. However,
some just
are not going to be suitable for shared / budget hosting,
unfortunately. I'm
not saying yours is the case, but your usage is higher than normal.

We certainly do not wish to lose you as a customer, or lose any of our
customers, and we'll do what we can to work with you. At the same time
our
resources are also limited when it comes to changing websites,
debugging code,
etc to fit it into the shared hosting mold. You would know your site
better
than we would. We also must consider the health, speed, reliability of
our
servers in the shared environment.

If you feel your site is not suitable for a shared hosting environment,
you
may look for a dedicated server or another hosting solution. Please
remember
that propagation takes up to seventy two (72) hours so if you decide on
changing hosts you should allow enough time for propagation. Should you
choose
this route, we can offer you a refund, less any domain registration or
setup
fees.


--
Best regards,

Tracie Thompson
Assistant Manager, Customer Service
support@lunarpages.com
Support Forums - http://www.lunarforums.com
Phone: 1-877-LUNARPAGES or 1-877-586-2772 (Toll-free)
Phone: 0800-072-9150 (United Kingdom)
Phone: 1-714-521-8150 (International)
24 hour Network Status Line: 1-562-697-8106





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Ok... I disable the site... and 3 days AFTER my request for help I get this.  Which by the way, I cannot monitor my site's load so I am not sure how this is helpful.  Not to mention I had already disabled over 100 features on the site to no avail.
==== Enter your reply ABOVE this line ====

Dear
Lonny Luberts,

This is an automated message to advise you that a technician has
responded to
your question. You can view this response and track the progress of
your
inquiry online at:

https://desk.lunarpages.com/view.php?ticketref=5982-IPFJ-7960&pass=9c573b2a

You can also reply to this e-mail.

Ticket Ref : 5982-IPFJ-7960
Ticket Subject : pqcomp.net - excessive usage

Reply:
Hello,

I had a look at your usage stats, and they are currently 0 for
everything,
which would make secse as you've essentially shutdown your site. I
think this
shows that the bots are effectively blocked from spidering your site.
We can
not block these bots at a server level, as there are people that want
the bots
to crawl their sites.

One thing I would like tomention is that the usage stats you see in yor
cPanel
are not reliable, cPanel only reports about 1 cpu, and Angetenar (the
server
your account is on) has 4 cpus.

We really don't rovide coding assistance here at te helpdesk. If you
are using
any portals, or 3rd party scripts, check them all for updates. If you
have all
custom code, please review it for any errors. The stats provided to
you show
that the usage is di to PHP processing, Unfortuneatly do to te way
stats are
generated, we don't get the specific script causing the issue.

Your MySQL usage was a bit high. Normal MySQL usage is around .1 for
most
accounts. (Even those with large databases) Please make sure there are
no
poorly formed queries from the PHP code.

We usually recommend for a customer in your situation to disable one
script at
a time for a 24 hour period, and then request the usage stats. If usage
for the
period is normal, that is more than likely the culprit. If usage is
still high,
re-enable that script and try another.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to ask.

--
Best Regards,
Mike Reynolds

support@lunarpages.com
Phone: 1-877-LUNARPAGES/1-877-586-2772 (U.S. & Canada - Toll-free)
Phone: 0800-072-9150 (U.K - Toll-free)
Phone: 1-714-521-8150 (International)





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As you can see there is no real help given just canned responses aimed at clearing the tech's inbox and the upsell of course.  I should also mention that a php.ini file is full of settings that can act very differently on different servers as well as paths that will be unique to each server.  I may have been able to tweek a bit more performance had I not had to make my own php.ini and guess at some of the values (or not be able to set it at all without knowing the proper paths),  In any event this should have been a simple request that should have been able to have been fulfilled within just a few minutes.  Mike's advice would have been great had I been able to monitor the usage, however he was telling me to disable scripts and see what the site load is.  Well that would be great if that stat were provided (Oh, it is provided, however lunarpages says that the provided stat is incorrect and reflects total server usage for all sites and then only on one of four processors).  I'ts like telling a blind person to watch the progress of the sunset.  

Another note: On doing some googling on cpanel's server load statistic, I have found that virtually every other webhost running cpanel says the statistic IS accurate.  Most also say they only see a problem when the server load for an account is above 10%.  So has LP changed the code to make it work incorrectly?  Why are they the only ones I can find that are saying that the server load statistic is incorrect?  Is it something they purposely have hidden from their users?  The whole thing just does not add up.  Why are LP's statements contradictory to other hosts using the same host management software?  Why does LP has a limit of 1% when most others are much higher?  Most likely because they are running too many sites on too few servers.  

At this point in time I am in the beginnings of trying to get a refund.... we will see how it goes.....
I'll keep you posted.

My background...
Over 20 years working with computers.
11 years as a computer tech.
6 years hands on with various linux.
I have worked with and can configure and use.
All Windows, All Mac OS, Just about every flavor of Linux,
BSD, SCO, of course DOS, Novell... and more...
I tell you this because I can smell a rat... I know what the capabilities of a web server are.

I am also proficient in..
Visual Basic
PHP
MySQL
HTML
and more (those are my strongest).
Again... I know when to smell a rat.

See Also:
http://www.diagnose-me.com/sucks/lunarpages.html

If you have had a bad experience with Lunarpages:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/default.asp

Disclaimer:
I have not made statements that are false.  I have quoted E-mails and forums to the letter without editing the content, save for removing my e-mail address from the e-mails to reduce spam.  I have however stated opinions that are mine and mine alone.