OK I've noticed this for a while now, but anyway:

Every day or so, this site goes down. Actually I'll rephrase that better as it doesn't actually go down; It LAGS. It seems to be every day around 3 PM or so, sometimes a little later, and it's almost on schedule. I'll load this page, and then end up with a Database error. I think there is something going on with the hosting too, because TalkHorror - Horror Talk For All Horror Fans - Powered by vBulletin is running on FreeBSD with Apache as the web server, yet, the Database errors I'm getting are Windows Database errors like this:

-----------------------------
Database error
The database has encountered a problem.
Please try the following:

* Load the page again by clicking the Refresh button in your web browser.
* Open the TalkHorror - Horror Talk For All Horror Fans - Powered by vBulletin home page, then try to open another page.
* Click the Back button to try another link.

The TalkHorror - Horror Talk For All Horror Fans - Powered by vBulletin forum technical staff have been notified of the error, though you may contact them if the problem persists.

We apologise for any inconvenience.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

The page it shows that on is the Internet Explorer style look to it that you get on Windows Servers, but when I "talk" to your web server, it tells me it's running FreeBSD (Which is NOT Windows, and is in fact a Unix OS) and that it's using Apache (which does work on Windows, but is in itself, a Linux / BSD / UNIX server).

Why is this? Who actually owns this site?

Here is what I mean when I said what it's running :


TalkHorror - Horror Talk For All Horror Fans - Powered by vBulletin - Apache on FreeBSD

OS Server Last changed IP address Netblock Owner
FreeBSD Apache 15-Aug-2009 216.17.105.102 Phatservers.net

I own this site. I'm aware of those problems and have experienced them before. It's fucking annoying and I have talked with my host about it. I have thought about rolling with a dedi before...

You need to get a new host man... I've noticed it too... and it sucks...

I know. I fucking hate moving, though.

Hey,

Now that I know who owns this site I can possibly help. See, your site is running on FreeBSD. I happen to run FreeBSD at home quite a lot. FreeBSD is one of the better OSs in the world (OS = Operating system for the non geeks lol).

OK, so, here is some good news:

You're running FreeBSD

You have Apache on top of FreeBSD as the web server. (That's good because the Apache Web Server project, they themselves run FreeBSD, that should tell you how good these are together).

Bad news? I don't know what kind of access you have to your servers. I haven't ever dealt with a hosting company in my life. The web server I used to have, I did myself. I installed Linux on a machine, installed Apache, set it up, and then I would tell friends my IP address so hey could connect to it, and put the server in the DMZ on my network so that the hardware firewall protecting my network wouldn't stop them.

So, basically, you have a great set up, but I do find it weird that the Database errors come up looking like Windows server errors, because you have FreeBSD. That's a little weird to me. Also, what kind of access do you have? Did the web service people say you have shell access? Telnet? SSH? Because there is a certain amount of info you can get if so.

Also, you could simply ask them why on a lot of days the server seems to start lagging so badly. I mean it could simply be nothing more than them installing patches and doing back ups, but doing them at 3 PM is a little weird.