More From The Engine Room

Last week, I received the following from my web hosting service:

In an effort to improve MySQL performance on our hosting platform, on the morning of August 20, we will be upgrading the following database servers from MySQL 4.1 to MySQL 5:

Your database is hosted on one of these servers and, as a result, Monday morning there should be approximately 15 minutes during which your database will not be accessible–at this time, we’ll be copying and upgrading your database to run using MySQL 5.

MySQL 5 better handles the many simultaneous requests our new database servers receive. The upgrade should therefore enable your site to take fuller advantage of the improved hardware we’ve added in the past couple months. We’re expecting that this upgrade to MySQL 5 will help to resolve any intermittent MySQL issues you’ve been experiencing.

Since Monday (at least), however, the site seems extremely balky and slow. If you wander in now and then, have you noticed this, too? It seemed like things had improved since the last episode, and I decided not to look around for another host. Now, I might start looking again if the “improvements” introduced this week seem permanent.

4 Comments

  1. I did notice a slowdown on loading, and Roger’s computer actually froze trying to get in on Tuesday, but today it all seems fine. I’m always amused by how long techies think upgrades will take. Maybe minutes mean something else in computer-talk.

  2. Molly:

    Just now it loaded fine but this is the first time all week that I’ve been able to view your blog. Probably the upgrade didn’t go as smoothly as they had expected.

  3. Phil:

    Robin - “Roger’s computer actually froze trying to get in” - Bwahahahah! My subversive technology is working!

    Molly - Thanks for reporting, and for your perseverance!

  4. damn you, coffee drinker!!! okay, i do get caffeine from tea.