I've looked at some of the easier possibilities. The drives being too full (one time a log filled up the /var partition and that shot the load up through the roof), problematic processes, something hanging, malicious incoming traffic (DoS/DDoS) etc., and everything is clean.
One thing I noticed is that we're getting slammed by search engine spiders. During heavy traffic times no less.
I think the biggest issue is that this machine just wasn't built to be a solo effort. It used to have a twin.
Anyway, I'm looking into some setting tweaks for mySQL.
Is there a general time of day when the problems are popping up? It's always fast for me (no page much over 2 seconds, most under 1), but my sleep schedule has been screwed lately and I've been up at night and down during the day.
GMan said:
Page generated in 11.67289305 seconds (13.79% PHP - 86.21% MySQL) with 23 queries Page generated in 13.66258597 seconds (5.55% PHP - 94.45% MySQL) with 24 queries
One thing I noticed about both those pages, is that each has a lot of images pulled into the threads from other sites. Doesn't seem like that should be slowing the page itself down, even if it's taking a while for one or more of those outside servers to respond, but the thought crossed my mind.
However, both loaded for me around 2.2 seconds. So who knows.
Is this a constant thing for you? Or on again, off again?
Are there any sysadmin-types in the house?
