Site persistently failing to connect to DB

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12/6/2013 2:27:14 AM
Crispin
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Site persistently failing to connect to DB

I have a site on Arvixe hosting which has been failing intermittently for several days now (http://www.mynydd-du.org.uk). The pattern is that the root address of the site goes into mojoPortal setup, while other pages tend to return a 404. The system log shows that it cannot connect to the database, e.g. System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException (0x80131904): Cannot open database "mojoPortal_MynyddDu" requested by the login. The login failed. Login failed for user 'mojouser'.

Arvixe support are saying there's nothing wrong, though they do admit the server is a bit sluggish.

I've created a new database for site and restored into it from a backup of the previous database - the site worked for a few minutes then down again.

I have a couple of other mojo sites on the same server that are working OK (if slowly). I don't know what started the problems - I didn't upgrade the site or make any config changes. It's running a fairly recent version of mojo - perhaps 2.3.9.7 ( I cannot check right now as the site is down).

Any help appreciated.

12/6/2013 6:32:07 AM
Joe Audette
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Re: Site persistently failing to connect to DB

I would be persistent with Arvixe to resolve it.

It seems to have intermittent connection problems with the db which could mean the db server is over loaded. If it fails to connect to the db it will redirect to the setup page, so the fact that this is happening is the evidence of the db problem.

There is certainly nothing I can do to help you with this. Maybe ask Arvixe to move you to a new server.

If you don't get help resolving it from Arvixe support I can forward it to their management to escalate it.

12/7/2013 2:46:59 AM
Crispin
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Re: Site persistently failing to connect to DB

Thanks Joe. I'm struggling with Arvixe because we've not got much to go on - it's hard to assert that the database server is not responding when there are other mojoPortal sites on the same server working fine.

As an experiment, I've added this to the connection string for the site:

Connect Timeout=30;

and it may have made some difference. Before adding this I was receiving about 30 site down notifications per 12 hours, and since adding this setting I've only had 4 (it checks every 5 minutes). But this is probably a coincidence. Would you expect this setting to make a difference? What is the default? 

On the other hand, when the site does go to setup, it appears to do so immediately, without waiting for any connection timeout, and the error message posted previously spoke of an authentication failure.  I think next I shall try setting up a new database user account for this site.

12/12/2013 4:08:32 PM
Crispin
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Re: Site persistently failing to connect to DB

Site still up and down like a thingie.

I've spotted that the Auto Close option is set to True on this database. I don't know why, as my other mojoPortal databases on Arvixe have this set to False as it should be. My guess is this is causing the database to shut down, then mojoPortal fails to connect because the database is taking ages to wake up again. Could be wrong, but it's the best theory I've got at the moment! This may explain why setting a longer timeout partially improved things?

I've had no reply from Arvixe on my ticket for four days though, and their "chat" person was unable to change this.

I do not have permissions to change this setting through SSMS, so it's back to waiting...

12/13/2013 10:47:33 AM
Joe Audette
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Re: Site persistently failing to connect to DB

Hi Crispin,

"I've had no reply from Arvixe on my ticket for four days"

That is not acceptable response time. I recommend contact their management and tell the the ticket number that has not had a timely response.

You ca reach management either by calling and pressing 3 or emailing qa@arvixe.com

​Note however that response time from management can take a bit since they are not on the front line of support, but they will respond.

Best,

Joe

12/14/2013 3:46:19 AM
Crispin
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Re: Site persistently failing to connect to DB

Hi Joe, thanks that was a useful tip - I emailed qa@arvixe.com and a few hours later they made the change... AutoClose is now False.

Since the change, the response times of the site (according to Uptime Robot) have massively improved, and there's only been one outage compared to loads before.

12/14/2013 1:58:32 PM
Crispin
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Re: Site persistently failing to connect to DB

If anyone's interested, If posted a graph showing the performance implications of having Auto Close = True or False with a mojoPortal SQL Server database.

 

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