How can i make my hosting company restart the server?

Website · Share | #1 (**permalink**) 05-04-2011, 10:13 PM

I keep getting some wierd memory errors in my site and i found out online most of the times they go away after a restart of the server. But i asked my hosting company to restart the server and they said no. They need a major problem to restart it. Because it causes 15-20 minutes of downtime.

How can i make my hosting company restart the server?

ldcdc · #2 (**permalink**) 05-05-2011, 06:17 AM

A server restart shouldn't really take 15-20 minutes.

That being said, it is understandable that the host does not easily comply with customer requests to reboot the server. I don't think you can convince them to do so, unless you can prove there's something wrong with the server that actually requires a reboot. At this point they are probably assuming it's just something wrong with your site's application, especially if you're the only customer who's complaining.

What kind of memory errors are you getting exactly?

Website · #3 (**permalink**) 05-05-2011, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ldcdc

A server restart shouldn't really take 15-20 minutes.

That being said, it is understandable that the host does not easily comply with customer requests to reboot the server. I don't think you can convince them to do so, unless you can prove there's something wrong with the server that actually requires a reboot. At this point they are probably assuming it's just something wrong with your site's application, especially if you're the only customer who's complaining.

What kind of memory errors are you getting exactly?

(12)Cannot allocate memory: couldn't create child process:

akram123khan25 · #4 (**permalink**) 05-07-2011, 08:34 AM

A server restart take 2 to 5 minutes.

indybail · #5 (**permalink**) 05-08-2011, 07:53 AM

If it is a problem with you site and I was was another user on that server I would be very upset that my site was going down to accommodate your poor coding for any amount time. On the other if it's an host issue, hey there plenty of other fish in that ocean.

Website · #6 (**permalink**) 05-08-2011, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by indybail

If it is a problem with you site and I was was another user on that server I would be very upset that my site was going down to accommodate your poor coding for any amount time. On the other if it's an host issue, hey there plenty of other fish in that ocean.

Well my site was down just because they restart the server for other people before, many times. I know there are plenty of fish in the sea but its hard to trust any of them.

I told them this... "Loosing your loyal customer for 6 years is not a big enough issue to restart a server? Because if you dont restart the server i will take my business away from your company and give it to some other company."

They said they are sorry but they cant restart the server. See? Thas the customer value in these kinda companies.

**snakeair** · #7 (**permalink**) 05-08-2011, 07:59 PM

Geez, i'd move hosts if my hosting company said that to me. They could of waited for a certain time of the day or night when there is a little less load on the server to restart it. It's not like the server would be down for hours. Perhaps it's time they even do some upgrades to the server. My host did a server reset once before but i knew ahead of time when they was doing it so i put up warnings on my site about the possible downtime. (Make up a excuse saying server was getting upgraded. lol)

BHH · #8 (**permalink**) 05-08-2011, 11:25 PM

Just move host.

Website · #9 (**permalink**) 05-09-2011, 12:21 AM

to?

BHH · #10 (**permalink**) 05-09-2011, 12:28 AM

Well, what are the memory errors?

Your host is probably using a php version not compatible with your script. I own my own company and I only use php 5.2, which is the most stabled one.

I can host you free of charge for the first month if you want just to troubleshoot your issue. All I can think of that may be causing this is either the php version, your host is running cloud linux (it's been reported that some wp installations have issues with CL), or your host limited your memory.

Website · #11 (**permalink**) 05-09-2011, 12:42 AM

The error is this:
"(12)Cannot allocate memory: couldn't create child process:"
I got like 10 of this error in my log every 30 minutes or so. It gets more and less sometimes depends on how busy is the site. But when that happens, my visitors see 404 error. Sometimes 503 even 403.

They said there is nothing they can do about it unless i want to upgrade to VPS or dedicated and i dont want it.

I have 2 smf forums (one is pretty big with a gallery, portal and many mods) and a wp section which is getting pretty active nowadays also. The rest of the site is basic html.

I actively use 3 dbs but i will need more in time for sure. My hosting company said i use 35% of their memory which is pretty hard to believe for me.

Anyways, switching the hosting company is easy, finding or trying for free is also easy... What is hard is to trust them and their consistency. I donno much about hosting details or php versions and such but i think my company uses pretty up-to-date stuff also. BTW they use cloud linux.

Can you give me your prices and features so i can think about it?

Website · #12 (**permalink**) 05-09-2011, 12:57 AM

I cant give the name of the website yet because of its sensitive content.
I checked out your hosting site but the prices are pretty high compared to what i currently have. I pay like 40$ a year for unlimited space, traffic etc.

I just remembered that one of the technical service guys in the hosting company said this is actually not a memory error but it is an OS error. But now you say its a php error.

So is it a memory error? or php (version) error? or an OS error?
Also is there an easy way to fix it which i can ask them?

serena85 · #13 (**permalink**) 05-09-2011, 01:03 AM

Why don`t you change the hosting company, with a full backup of your site it takes 10 minutes to post it elsewhere. Search the web there are some company's that provides full access and you alone can restart some of your application.

BHH · #14 (**permalink**) 05-09-2011, 01:07 AM

Your host is wrong...It's definitely not an OS error. It's most likely a php error. You probably need to increase the memory limit. You're confusing memory and memory limit, since you have plenty of memory in your vps your host assumed it's not a memory error.

Your either need to set the php memory higher, maybe around to 32mb.

I can tell you that's it's definitely not an OS issue.

EDIT: Ask your host if you're allowed to increase the php memory limit. In terms of shared hosting, you have reached your limits. Once you reach your resource limits that your hosting provider gave you, you will start seeing errors.

Website · #15 (**permalink**) 05-09-2011, 01:33 AM

Quote:

Why don`t you change the hosting company, with a full backup of your site it takes 10 minutes to post it elsewhere. Search the web there are some company's that provides full access and you alone can restart some of your application.

I know i should and i will change my hosting company (eventhough i dont agree with 10 minute transfer process) but i donno which one is good and cheap and bla bla bla... i have tried many companies and there is always some problem comes up after some months...

Here is what i need...
Unlimited space (currently using 20gb)
Unlimited traffic
At least 10 dbs (actively using 3 but it will increase. The biggest db is 170mb)
At least 1000 email sending limit per hour. (currently 200 and it sucks so bad. I cant even send a newsletter to my members)
Unlimited inode (currently using 150.000)
Pretty high memory mb (i donno what i actually need about this one because my stupid hosting company doesnt tell me how much i use and what is their limit. They just say %10 of the entire memory is the limit)
Unlimited email accounts. (Currently using 3 but i will start giving out email adresses to some of my members)
At least 50 subdomain (currently use like 20 or something)
24/7 On-Call or Online (Live) Technical service. NOT EMAIL! (Currently have)

These are what i can think of right now...

So if anybody have good recommendations about a hosting company i am listening

--------------------------

Quote:

Your either need to set the php memory higher, maybe around to 32mb.

I have (secretly) set my php.ini 512mb

But i still get the error.

Quote:

It could also be apache.

What do you mean?

Quote:

since you have plenty of memory in your vps your host assumed it's not a memory error.

I dont have a VPS. I have shared hosting. They want me to update to VPS for about the same prices your company have but i dont want it. I even considered reselling accounts thinking maybe i could even make money by selling hosting through my website, if i just say "This Site Is hosted By MY COMPANY"

I donno. All i know is that i need a solution pretty soon because i am going down... my visitors and google gets 404 errors every minute. I hate that.

ldcdc · #16 (**permalink**) 05-09-2011, 04:11 AM

Quote:

So is it a memory error? or php (version) error? or an OS error?

From what I gather (but I'm not a server admin) Apache logs the error, but it can be caused by say php. Apache is the web server, and it basically errors out because the server has uses up the memory, or because you've reached a soft limit set in Apache.

Quote:

I have 2 smf forums (one is pretty big with a gallery, portal and many mods) and a wp section which is getting pretty active nowadays also. The rest of the site is basic html.

I actively use 3 dbs but i will need more in time for sure. My hosting company said i use 35% of their memory which is pretty hard to believe for me.

Big forums and galleries can used up a lot of memory. Also, depending on the server's configuration, 35% of its memory may not be all that much.

Quote:

I checked out your hosting site but the prices are pretty high compared to what i currently have. I pay like 40$ a year for unlimited space, traffic etc.

$40 per year is a low amount to pay if you have popular sites. Chances are you could run into similar problems with a future host, especially with the inodes, space usage, and the probable high memory usage.

My suggestion would be to monetize your sites properly to have them pay for their own hosting.

Quote:

All i know is that i need a solution pretty soon because i am going down...

Get another account somewhere and don't move all your sites there. Splitting the load this was might help -- in the short run.

BHH · #17 (**permalink**) 05-09-2011, 12:34 PM

Like I mentioned before, you're going to need a vps or high resource hosting account. There's no way a hosting company is going to host you for that amount of usage.

mariancarpan · #18 (**permalink**) 06-24-2011, 08:50 AM

my suggestion is to move to a private server or at least a vps.

MyUserNameRocks · #19 (**permalink**) 06-24-2011, 09:15 AM

WP and SMF with a lot of plugins can use a ton of memory, more than you would think. I wouldn't blame your hosting company although perhaps tech support could have been more helpful. Your site needs more resources, period. There is no way around it. Personally if I had been with a company for 6 years and never had a problem before I would take them up on the offer to move you to a VPS within their network.

88dbsakthi · #20 (**permalink**) 08-02-2011, 05:41 AM

what kind of plan you have purchased . shared hosting,VPS or Dedicated hosting?

with VPS/dedicated plans you can start/restart the server from your end.
If you are using the shared hosting plans ,most of the hosting company will not be accept your request due to no of other hosting accounts associated with it.