Should a website be extremely slow when its running backups? - GoFuckYourself.com

clickhappy · 02-04-2010, 01:18 AM

I have my own server and every night at 3:00am EST it runs a backup, and for about 15 minutes my sites are either down or extremely slow.
is this normal?

Iron Fist · 02-04-2010, 01:20 AM

Not really...

baddog · 02-04-2010, 01:21 AM

What kind of processor and how much RAM do you have? Is this a server with a panel that offers a backup feature? Are there other cron jobs running at the same time? If you change the backup to a different time does it happen then too?

Varius · 02-04-2010, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clickhappy

I have my own server and every night at 3:00am EST it runs a backup, and for about 15 minutes my sites are either down or extremely slow.
is this normal?

Depends how you are doing the backup... tar generally isn't well supported on most Linux kernels and will cause server load/slowdowns especially if you are tarring very large amounts of data, or directory structures with many subfolders and files.

Kernel tweaks or even an upgrade could help, check if you are swapping a lot during the process, changing to a hard drive with more RPM could also help...more RAM/CPU may have a minimal positive effect...

Varius · 02-04-2010, 01:28 AM

Personally, I'd use a combo of rsync+tar+gzip for backups.

rowan · 02-04-2010, 01:29 AM

... or get the backup software to run slower

ilbb · 02-04-2010, 02:25 AM

yep, tar will eat you cpu time - my backup takes 12 hours to be done

MrMaxwell · 02-04-2010, 02:33 AM

Does this work like a home computer?
Linux lets you delegate tasks by core, right?
So just tell your backup program not to use the whole cpu...
Ought to bring your cpu AND disk usage down to an acceptable level

02-04-2010, 01:18 AM	#1
clickhappy Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 4,027	Should a website be extremely slow when its running backups? I have my own server and every night at 3:00am EST it runs a backup, and for about 15 minutes my sites are either down or extremely slow. is this normal?

02-04-2010, 01:20 AM	#2
Iron Fist Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 23,400	Not really... __________________ i like waffles

02-04-2010, 01:28 AM	#5
Varius Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: New York, NY Posts: 6,890	Personally, I'd use a combo of rsync+tar+gzip for backups. __________________ Skype variuscr - Email varius AT gmail

02-04-2010, 01:21 AM	#3
baddog So Fucking Banned Industry Role: Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: the beach, SoCal Posts: 107,089	What kind of processor and how much RAM do you have? Is this a server with a panel that offers a backup feature? Are there other cron jobs running at the same time? If you change the backup to a different time does it happen then too?

02-04-2010, 01:29 AM	#6
rowan Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Australia Posts: 17,393	... or get the backup software to run slower

02-04-2010, 02:25 AM	#7
ilbb Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: May 2005 Location: EU - Czech republic Posts: 3,025	yep, tar will eat you cpu time - my backup takes 12 hours to be done

02-04-2010, 02:33 AM	#8
MrMaxwell Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 10,057	Does this work like a home computer? Linux lets you delegate tasks by core, right? So just tell your backup program not to use the whole cpu... Ought to bring your cpu AND disk usage down to an acceptable level