Over the past few weeks we have been working to determine the root cause of the periodic site slowness. We are seeing a direct correlation between the volume of searches (especially advanced searches) and the site slowdowns. What we are finding, is that during periods of heavy searching, the ability to post new messages and view existing posts is held up while the long running search queries run against the database. We have also noticed a correlation between periods of high moderation activity and site slowness.

We think we have a plan in place to allow the community to continue to do these two important functions (search and moderation) while keeping the site responsive to the community. We are planning to make a couple of substantial changes that we feel will fix these unacceptable slowdowns.

1) We will be replacing the default MySQL database search with a powerful, scalable search engine that we have developed. This search duplicates almost all of the existing search features and is capable of handling the high level of traffic that FlyerTalk receives. We are planning to roll out this new search tonight. Shortly after (next week sometime) we will be releasing an updated version that includes the few remaining features of the old MySQL search. We feel that the current search is the single biggest contributor to the site slowness and that this new search will make a big difference.

2) The second major change that we're planning to make is to add a second database server to our environment. This will allow us to split the traffic across two databases. By doing this, we'll be able to serve all thread/post views from one database and offload the more intensive thread/post writing and moderation to a second database.

We appreciate your patience as we work through this problem and always welcome your feedback as we roll out these features.

Thank you,
Kevin Hayes
Internet Brands