The Virtual Private Server I use has been having problems for awhile now, but, it has gotten much worse over the last few months. You may have noticed some downtimes, for which I will either notice and reset the server, or it will automatically reset. But, one big problem was that the CPU usage would go and spike at 100% and not come down, while the RAM would barely be used. That’s a big deal, because RAM is unlimited, while the CPU causes problems for others.
Last week, there was a big spike, and it was causing major problems, so Dreamhost shut the site down by changing the folder name (they also sent me the wrong email, which made some threats about cutting me off permanently, which, as you can imagine, sent me into apoplexy). I got everything working again, and then went to check into a few things.
I cleaned out a whole bunch of deactivated plugins that I will never use again. I cleaned out the backup folder. Apparently, the plugin was saving all the backups in the server folder, when it was supposed to email them to me. At least 1GB going back to 2013. I have a new plugin to replace it, just have to set it up.
Bigger, I found a few possible issues. One is the Shareaholic plugin, which has some really negative reviews as of late. Turning it off seemed to seriously reduce the CPU load. Deleting it totally did even more. Notice that the sharing buttons at the end of posts are different. I’m using the Jetpack included ones (Jetpack is something that comes with WordPress).
I also whacked W3 Total Cache, which had been giving me some issues for a bit, namely that it wouldn’t ever let me clear the cache, and went back to WP Super Cache. It is very powerful, but, sometimes it will make it seem as if nothing has changed.
So, does the site seem more stable, load at a decent speed? Anything weird you’ve noticed?
