Bursting memory?

[roger]

Hi All,

I must be missing something big time!

I have another VPS with only 1 domain on it and no users connected to it and check this ssh command result out below:

root@server [~]# Free
VPS memory usage:
Used: 539 MB
Total: 256 MB
Burstable to: 1024 MB
root@server [~]#

There's just NO WAY.

What is causing this? There is nobody connected (when I ran the command and things like munin and so on were uninstalled and the services stopped.

Again, there's only one domain on the server. I'm scratching my head.

What am I missing?

[roger]

I need someone's advice and help.

Now I'm VERY confused. Here's the question.

I tried an experiment. A VPS with no domains on it and it was bursting - permanently.

Look here:

login as: root
root@208.73.34.116's password:
Last login: Thu Nov 1 10:12:12 2007 from cpe000ae6984a0e-cm000f9f549e6c.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com
root@server-2 [~]# Free
VPS memory usage:
Used: 418 MB
Total: 256 MB
Burstable to: 1024 MB
root@server-2 [~]# Free
VPS memory usage:
Used: 460 MB
Total: 256 MB
Burstable to: 1024 MB
root@server-2 [~]# Free
VPS memory usage:
Used: 425 MB
Total: 256 MB
Burstable to: 1024 MB
root@server-2 [~]# Free
VPS memory usage:
Used: 425 MB
Total: 256 MB
Burstable to: 1024 MB
root@server-2 [~]# Free
VPS memory usage:
Used: 425 MB
Total: 256 MB
Burstable to: 1024 MB
root@server-2 [~]# Free
VPS memory usage:
Used: 425 MB
Total: 256 MB
Burstable to: 1024 MB
root@server-2 [~]# Free
VPS memory usage:
Used: 425 MB
Total: 256 MB
Burstable to: 1024 MB
root@server-2 [~]# Free
VPS memory usage:
Used: 425 MB
Total: 256 MB
Burstable to: 1024 MB
root@server-2 [~]# Free
VPS memory usage:
Used: 425 MB
Total: 256 MB
Burstable to: 1024 MB
root@server-2 [~]# Free
VPS memory usage:
Used: 425 MB
Total: 256 MB
Burstable to: 1024 MB
root@server-2 [~]# Free
VPS memory usage:
Used: 425 MB
Total: 256 MB
Burstable to: 1024 MB
root@server-2 [~]# Free
VPS memory usage:
Used: 425 MB
Total: 256 MB
Burstable to: 1024 MB
root@server-2 [~]# Free
VPS memory usage:
Used: 425 MB
Total: 256 MB
Burstable to: 1024 MB
root@server-2 [~]# Free
VPS memory usage:
Used: 425 MB
Total: 256 MB
Burstable to: 1024 MB
root@server-2 [~]#

Is there something I'm not getting?

Am I missing a key understanding?

Now I'm more confused than ever. What could be making the server do this?

What can I do to stop making the server be in the bursting range all the time?

One confused dude here...

Thanks.

[Scott]

I have 20 sites all with relatively low traffic and I am using:

root@server [~]# Free
VPS memory usage:
Used: 530 MB
Total: 256 MB
Burstable to: 1024 MB
root@server [~]#

This is very alarming to me as well. It doesn't make sense and can't be good if every account on my VPS server is like this.

[malibu44]

I have the exact same thing happening with mine. No sites that have any real activity. And my stats are the same with server load reaching 35.0 when it was always at .10. This is really strange. Support told me several times that this was normal and part of being in the hosting business. Umm. No. This is not normal!

[Scott]

Originally Posted by malibu44

Support told me several times that this was normal and part of being in the hosting business. Umm. No. This is not normal!

Perhaps they meant normal for a cPanel VPS.....

[Librarian]

Very interesting.

After my upgrade to 512 I still have trouble with the white page of death and slow page loading.

I counted 11 seconds to post a reply earlier....it's a nightmare.

I hope you get yours figured out.

[roger]

I know this is not an issue with HIC because they cannot control the resources that cPanel uses (and I have 2 support tickets at cPanel - waiting for help).

My VPS was running: WHM 11.2.0/cPanel 11.11.0-R16983 and it was not too sluggish.
My cPanel and webmail is crawling (and sites load slower) now that cPanel uses version: WHM 11.11.0 cPanel 11.15.0-R17827.

Based on the different version numbers, I'm assuming that quite a lot of updates and changes have been pushed out. Speaking of which, there is a fair bit of buzz in the hostingsphere suggesting that cPanel is pushing updates and changes out too fast maybe, without forecasting the implications (one could interpret this as "making sure there are no glitches").

From personal experience, 2 months ago, I saw a WHM configuration component (a critical one) disappear from the WHM interface right after a manual update, only to reappear 2 days later, after another update. (After much snorting and gnashing of teeth at my end ).

Suffice it to suggest, I sure do hope that HIC can one day be in a position to develop their own "resource light" management/configuration interface. But realistically this would mean retaining a full development team, the alpha and beta stages could easily take a year. The cost would be super high. (So I don't think that would be realistic - But I couldn't help mentioning it! ).

When I find out more, I'll post it here - And it would be nice if I could get some tweaks which would help us all.

[lnxcode]

cPanel is one of those applications that you need to see what is going at all times. If its not one thing, its the other. For example:

#1 log processing - lots of load happens then
#2 Updating cPanel - lots of load happens here
#3 zipping up accounts pkgacct
#4 MySQL - creates lots of load if you're doing something big with it
#5 Spam Assassin takes load and memory as it tries to filter all the messages

Above are just some of the things. We can provide basic support, for this. However, these are unmanaged vps's. We're helping you, just because we're good folks. Most hosts offer -0- support for unmanaged vps's.

Since cPanel takes so long to reply - even with some stuff we're trying out they keep saying that we're to blame when their code for exim doesn't work.

If you're savvy enough the best way to do is; without a control panel. full stop.

[Shazam]

Well, said my friend.

cPanel is flaky. Alas, all the other control panels are probably worse.

[lnxcode]

As a follow up, I wanted to talk about Plesk. Even though Plesk is a lighter application (built on PHP vs Perl) you still have quite a few issues with it, and its not as refined as cPanel is.

If you're using Plesk and want to do anything advanced - I hope you know Linux.