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OSC v 2.2 using excessive resources


yazawa

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I have an OSC site using v 2.2-ms2.  My hosting company, Arvixe, has suspended my account twice because it is using too much system resources.  I'm not sure what is causing this, but it needs to be corrected.  Does anyone have any ideas on what is causing the issue?

 

I've considered updating to a newer version of OSC, but I have some custom PHP code that needs to be reincorporated.  (The first sends us an email of a customer's invoice prior to being directed to PayPal.  The second removes any shipping charges if an item is listed with a weight of zero.)  Also, I'm not sure how to convert all of the current database information into a version recognized by a newer OSC.  My PHP knowledge is very limited, so I'd have to find an outside source to do any upgrade.  

 

Any help at detecting what the problem with the existing code is, and how to fix it, would be appreciated.  Thanks.

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Many, if not most, host's will say too many resources are being used and tell you that you have to upgrade to the latest version of oscommerce to fix it. While upgrading is a good idea, if possible, it is unlikely the cause of the problem and may not fix the problem, depending upon the actual reason for the extra usage. The too many resources problem can be caused by serveral things, depending upon what your host means by that phase. Many times they just mean that your site is causing too much of a load on the server. Here are the common reasons for that:

 

  1. Your database is not using indexes.
  2. You have a form on the site, like tell a friend, that does not have captcha code installed.
  3. Your site is being hit heavily by data skimmers. 
  4. Your site has grown to where it is too busy for the plan you are on.
  5. Your site is not configured correctly (uses cache, gzip and the like).
  6. Your site needs to be optimized for speed (run a speed test to check this).

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Many, if not most, host's will say too many resources are being used and tell you that you have to upgrade to the latest version of oscommerce to fix it. While upgrading is a good idea, if possible, it is unlikely the cause of the problem and may not fix the problem, depending upon the actual reason for the extra usage. The too many resources problem can be caused by serveral things, depending upon what your host means by that phase. Many times they just mean that your site is causing too much of a load on the server. Here are the common reasons for that:

 

  1. Your database is not using indexes.
  2. You have a form on the site, like tell a friend, that does not have captcha code installed.
  3. Your site is being hit heavily by data skimmers. 
  4. Your site has grown to where it is too busy for the plan you are on.
  5. Your site is not configured correctly (uses cache, gzip and the like).
  6. Your site needs to be optimized for speed (run a speed test to check this).

 

1. Since the database was set up automatically when I first installed OSC, I'm not sure how this problem could exist, or even how to check it.

2. We have the Tell A Friend option turned off, but our Contact Us did not include captcha.  I'll have to look at having someone add this.

3. How do I know if data skimmers are hitting me, and what can I do about it?

4.  According to the info from my hosting site, I have unlimited disc space and traffic.  They indicate the problem has to do with how much processing their system has to do with the code.  Haven't a clue how to track this down.

5. Once again, the configuration was set when installed.  The site worked perfectly fine since installed in 2009.  The problem only arose within the last couple of years.  About Gzip, does allowing this use excessive resources?  If I disable it, would that work after using it for years?

6. Don't know how to run a speed test on the site, nor how to optimize it.  Can you direct me to a site that describes how to do this?

 

Thanks.

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 1. Since the database was set up automatically when I first installed OSC, I'm not sure how this problem could exist, or even how to check it.

Early versions of oscommerce didn't include indexes.

 2. We have the Tell A Friend option turned off, but our Contact Us did not include captcha.  I'll have to look at having someone add this.

I'm not sure what you mean by "turned off" since there wasn't such an option in your version of oscommerce. Renaming the file may not work if it is not renamed correctly. It is best to just delete the file.

3. How do I know if data skimmers are hitting me, and what can I do about it?

 You have to look in the server logs. Once found, they can be blocked.

4.  According to the info from my hosting site, I have unlimited disc space and traffic.  They indicate the problem has to do with how much processing their system has to do with the code.  Haven't a clue how to track this down.

Unlimited space and traffic is impossible. It is a gimmick some hosts use to get people to host with them. There will always be some condition that will limit the usage. In this case, they are saying you can have unlimited traffic but if it occurs around the same time and causes the server load to increase, then you can't. :)

5. Once again, the configuration was set when installed.  The site worked perfectly fine since installed in 2009.  The problem only arose within the last couple of years.  About Gzip, does allowing this use excessive resources?  If I disable it, would that work after using it for years?

It doesn't matter what happened five years ago - things change. Perhaps your customer base has increased, the site is more popular now or you've just gained the attention of hackers and data skimmers. If you set the gzip option too high it can cause more of a load on the server. Usually up to 3 is fine but that would depend on the server.

6. Don't know how to run a speed test on the site, nor how to optimize it.  Can you direct me to a site that describes how to do this?

There are several threads about this here on the server. http://gtmetrix.com/ is a good one.

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Early versions of oscommerce didn't include indexes.

I'm not sure what you mean by "turned off" since there wasn't such an option in your version of oscommerce. Renaming the file may not work if it is not renamed correctly. It is best to just delete the file.

 You have to look in the server logs. Once found, they can be blocked.

Unlimited space and traffic is impossible. It is a gimmick some hosts use to get people to host with them. There will always be some condition that will limit the usage. In this case, they are saying you can have unlimited traffic but if it occurs around the same time and causes the server load to increase, then you can't. :)

It doesn't matter what happened five years ago - things change. Perhaps your customer base has increased, the site is more popular now or you've just gained the attention of hackers and data skimmers. If you set the gzip option too high it can cause more of a load on the server. Usually up to 3 is fine but that would depend on the server.

There are several threads about this here on the server. http://gtmetrix.com/ is a good one.

1) If my version does not include indexes, that sounds like I have no choice but to update.  This will be a major problem.  Any way I can verify this?

2) I do not see a Tell A Friend option on my site, and have a vague memory of somehow disabling it.

3) I'll contact my server to find out how to look in the server logs to see if we can find and block this.

4) On my host control panel, it actually states that my disc space is unlimited and the data download is unlimited.  I don't have the customer traffic to my site to cause a problem here.

5) Once again, my customer traffic is too low to cause the problem, but hackers and skimmers may.

6) I went to the link for qtmetrix and several others.  All report that the server denied the sites access.  I don't know how to get around this.

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1 There was a patch for this, as I recall, or maybe an update posted in one of the oscommerce releases.

 

4 Doesn't matter what it states. Try uploading 10 GB of data and see what happens.

 

6 That site is just connecting to your site like a customer would so the restriction isn't coming from it. If you entered the url correctly for the test, then the problem must be on your server.

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