Yankee Fans Unite

Post subject: Server synch 101

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Bear with me, I'm trying to dumb it down...

You have two servers... I and II. Let's say one server is for US, the other is for UK.

Both servers have the same info on it before all the issues, let's call that info "A".

I II
- --
A A

I'm from the US so I'm on server I. I make a change to my forum. Let's call that change "B". Change "B" can be anything like...

- Creating a forum.
- Making a post.
- Sending a PM.
- Uploading something
- Performing a synch
- Deleting a post
- Moving a thread
- Adding or changing default templates
- etc.

So the servers would look like this...

I II
- --
A A
B

In order for the people in the UK to see the updates, the servers would need to synch, just like copying folders in Windows.

After they synch, the servers would look like this...

I II
- --
A A
B B

Let's say while the servers were synching, I made another change, "C", to my forum and someone else logged in and made change "D" in the UK...

I II
- --
A A
B B
C D

I won't be able to see the change made in the UK until the server synchs and they won't be able to see mine, either.

Now take this and multiply the number of servers they have here... and the number of users making posts or changes.

Why can't I see the change I just made and have an error message?
Think of it like this... it's just like copying a file on your computer from one directory to another. While the file is copying, you can't access it. Same thing, but this is over a network. Anything over a network will take longer to copy. It won't be as instantaneous as it would be on your own PC.

Anyone that does online gaming knows about "lag". Computers can only communicate with each other as fast as the slowest connection. Otherwise the data doesn't synch correctly and various errors pop up or appear. In gaming, your screen would probably freeze or lock up. With forums, you get error messages.

This is not "technically" sound, but like I said... I tried to "dumb" this down so everyone can understand it. Hope this helps explain most of your issues.

huh?

I'm thinking the guest count might be so high because everytime you open the site before you login - it probably registers your presence as a guest maybe?

Maybe.
I just have it set so that I don't have to sign in--it remembers my name and password, but you could be right, Angel.

Although it never got that high on the old site?