My Stupidity (Various Questions)

[Dancing Tree]

I checked the archives, so I think this is the proper list to post this
on. I'm not altogether sure, though, so if I'm mistaken feel free to, I
don't know, beat me up and throw me into a dark alley.

I recently purchased a virtually hosted account and set up a PHP4 and
MySQL(3.23) site. I had no problems for the first month or so, then
trouble found me. *dramatic music twang*

I thought my site would stay small. But within the first month and a
half I've already gotten over 4 and a half million hits (2.2 million of
which were just in the past 8 days), and it just keeps getting bigger.=20
All I know is that I'm terrified. I have no clue how to keep my site up
with the traffic growing as it is. I thought I'd get like, 3 hits from
somewhere in Africa.

1. I'm not actually sure how to maintain the sanity of my database. I
run checks in the code (PHP) to the point that they become obsessive,
enter the data in such a way that there shouldn't be any conflicts, and I
make sure to optimize my tables every once in a while. Nevertheless a
couple of days ago the database crashed, four of my tables were
corrupted, and I had to repair some of the lost data by hand. I emailed
tech support, but all they told me was to optimize and repair tables
before emailing them next time. So I think I can assume it's my fault,
not theirs.

2. I don't know how large I can allow my database to get, and I don't
know what to do when things necessitate an even larger size. So far I
think the entire database is about 3MB, but I suspect it will get much
larger in time.=20=20

3. I have absolutely no idea, none whatsoever, how to set the system
variables without hurting something, and it's beginning to get on my
nerves. It's such a simple thing, but when I search for it... Like I
said, I'm an idiot. My users keep running into a max_user_connections
error. (I've checked my code; every page properly closes the connection
down. I simply need more.) I only have access via telnet, so I can't
alter the configuration files. I gather I need to restart MySQL anyway,
with the new variable. I also gather that I'm terrified my actions will
make something explode. I tried it on my PC, setting the variable, and
all that happened is that I ended up with a DOS window I couldn't close.=20
I'm an idiot, yes. I've actually run a mysql server off my computer for
the past year and I don't actually know how to shut it down, and
therefore I also have no idea how to restart it. That's how stupid I am.
It's not so much I couldn't get it without trial and error, it's that
I'm terrified to do anything unless I know exactly what to do.

I honestly wouldn't bother other people with my questions, except for the
fact that it feels so urgent. I am going to grab a few MySQL books as
soon as possible, though.

And in conclusion, please don't hurt me.

Sincerely,
A Very Stupid Little Girl

--=20
http://www.fastmail.fm - Same, same, but different=85

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[2metre]

> 1. I'm not actually sure how to maintain the sanity of my database. I

run checks in the code (PHP) to the point that they become obsessive,
enter the data in such a way that there shouldn't be any conflicts, and I
make sure to optimize my tables every once in a while. Nevertheless a
couple of days ago the database crashed, four of my tables were
corrupted, and I had to repair some of the lost data by hand. I emailed
tech support, but all they told me was to optimize and repair tables
before emailing them next time. So I think I can assume it's my fault,
not theirs. Make sure you backup your database regularly. In my case I have set up
a cron job that runs a backup script. It dumps all the data (using
mysqldump)
then zips it and e-mails it to me.
My users keep running into a max_user_connections error.

Its important to make sure that your SQL queries are optimised: this way
each user connection is only taken up very briefly. If you're running
queries
that use un-indexed fields then each connection may be kept
much longer than it needs to be. As a result if each script runs twenty
times faster
(very possible with proper uses of indexes) then that's the same as having
20
times as many available connections.

To find out whether your queries need optimising, read up on the EXPLAIN
function.
With EXPLAIN you can examine the efficiency of your queries.