Argh, my search script again...

[penelope]

http://www.betabites.com/test.html

I'm getting a 500 internal server error since upgrading to version 2.0 of our searcher.[nbsp][nbsp]Before I go nuts pulling[nbsp][nbsp]my hair out, can some kind FQ person please please please tell me this isn't another memory issue?[nbsp][nbsp]This version gives me some great features, (like templates that allow me to make the search fully site cohesive (including javascript) and better exclusions and better formatting)[nbsp][nbsp]If it is memory related, please email me at penny@foxberry.net.

Thanks!

Peace,
Penelope

[Justin]

I haven't checked into it but I'm guessing it is memory related. The new features are probably using more memory also... search scripts are very hungry scripts, especially on larger sites.

We will look into this a little further. Is it giving you the error immediately or does it pause for a few seconds and then die?

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Justin Nelson
FutureQuest Support

[penelope]

It acts like its working, then pukes.[nbsp][nbsp]Which is exactly what it did before when Terra upped the memory quota on it.[nbsp][nbsp]We don't get a lot of searches...[nbsp][nbsp]maybe 100 per month...

Peace,
Penelope

[Justin]

I checked it out and it does look like a memory issue - it pukes right when it hits the point of requiring the words.index file, which is over a meg... this is most likely the problem.

------------------
Justin Nelson
FutureQuest Support

[penelope]

Well, let me see if I can prune that file.[nbsp][nbsp]The stupid thing indexed my stats folder and a bunch of other crap before I got it killed.[nbsp][nbsp]If that doesn't take care of it, can we fix it?

Thanks!

Peace,
Penelope

[penelope]

OK it still pukes, at only 743K.[nbsp][nbsp]However, if I get it down to 5K or so it works fine.[nbsp][nbsp]:([nbsp][nbsp]Can we fix this again?

Thanks!

Peace,
Penelope

[Justin]

I would consider finding a different script - I'm not sure if it would help a lot or not though...

One that I've used with great results is Xavatoria by Fluid Dynamics - http://www.xav.com/scripts/xavatoria/index.html.

It's a good script but you'll probably want to customize the looks a little bit. It has options to weight certain files so they come up more often (like if you have a FAQ page that answers a lot of questions, etc).

I don't know if it will run into the same limitations though, as the site I tried it on is relatively small. They have a demo that searches the Perl documentation though, which is pretty huge:)

------------------
Justin Nelson
FutureQuest Support

[penelope]

The script we have is very similar to this one you sent me. But the perl docs are only 4MB..our site is over 50MB.[nbsp][nbsp]

I REALLY like the script we have..[nbsp][nbsp]It's very customizable and better yet, my partner who is computer illiterate when it comes to server stuff and *IX, can actually install this and maintain it herself if something should happen to me because it has an easy install script.[nbsp][nbsp]Also, it handles my nice javascripted templates and most (well actually all) other perl search scripts I tried that contain the HTML inside the script inevitably puke if I try to include it.[nbsp][nbsp]And since it's my menuing system...well....

So, can we fix it?

Thanks again![nbsp][nbsp]

Peace,
Penelope

[Terra]

I have been looking over our resource usage patterns, and can raise the maximum to 20 Meg of memory...

You must consider that entire Operating Systems (Win95/98/Linux) can run quite comfortably on 16 Meg of ram...

RAM is a precious resource, and there is only a limited amount...[nbsp][nbsp]Hard Drive space is easy - RAM is not and I must control it carefully to make sure that there is plenty for everyone to use...

20 Meg is the bottom line, and if the search script will not run within those guidelines then the developer needs to find ways to optimize it more and make it server/resource friendly...

If I find the server being overtaxed, I will re-lower to the value I know works for maintaining complete stability...

When was the last time TAZ crashed?[nbsp][nbsp];)

--
Andrew Gillespie
Systems Administrator
FutureQuest Virtual Hosting

[penelope]

Thank you Andrew.[nbsp][nbsp]:-)[nbsp][nbsp]It works wonderfully now.[nbsp][nbsp]What was the cap so I can tell the developer exactly how bad their script was?

Thanks!

Peace,
Penelope

[Terra]

RLimitMEM 15000000
or 15 Meg

Glad that helped...[nbsp][nbsp]If it all of a sudden stops working, at least you'll know what to look for... ;)

--
Terra
sysAdmin
FutureQuest