change the MaxClients and ServerLimit variables in your server settings: Should the host be able to
 

do this?

I was told they cannot. And i feel like my time is being wasted.

Any ideas? I am not an expert at server setups or settings, just know enough.

Why did they say that they couldn't?
Is it a managed server?

They no longer have people on staff to pay a fee. which seems insane to me.

Got hooked up with a "partner" now. taking all day. bleh

It takes about a minute to do that on ssh , just an config file on apache .

maxclients and serverlimit for apache? If it's a managed server they should definitely do it. If unmanaged, it's not difficult.

if it's a dedicated server, just edit it yourself? or get someone from gfy to change it from you? it's not rocket science... if you want I can hook it up for a few bucks...

Is it a dedicated or shared/virtual?

Only issue is how many you want it changed to, it could require a recompile of apache.

dedicated, it is not fully managed, which i have just been putting off.

programmer is talking to someone i will find out in a sec. i was pretty surprised. i thought it was a pretty basic thing you could pay to get done. i mean if they have managed techs on staff you would think one would cross over guess not.

apache1 or apache2?

2.0 prob same as 2.

there's probably a hard limit compiled in. Probably around 512. But the MaxClients should come pre-configured lower than that and you can increase it easily without recompiling. You'll have to edit the httpd-mpm.conf file. Mine's at: /usr/local/etc/apache22/extra/httpd-mpm.conf but yours might be somewhere else.

thanks! we are looking through.

our hard limit is at like 256 i know from before. bleh. i hate when small problems cost you money.

do you know how to ssh to your server and su to root? If so I can walk you thru this in a couple of minutes dude.

If it's dedicated, then it's a whopping 10 second change.

If it was managed, I can understand the host's reluctance to raise the limits. Need to run a tight ship, and all that.

1) There is no 256 hardlimit. (That's the default MaxClients in config)

2) This should take about 20 seconds with SSH.

3) Why do you think you need to change these? Are you peaking out on your connects or you read somewhere that it's good for performance?

:thumbsup

I think the real hard limit (without a recompile) for ServerLimit is actually 20,000. He'll probably be fine just changing his config files as I doubt he needs that.

...Though the host may not be managed, by giving you this run around and loopy explanations it is possibly indicative of a poor quality host...unless they did explain it well but you misunderstood. As the others have said this is a two minute job which can be done remotely over ssh. I knew how to do such a thing when I was like 14 years old. Your host out to know this too!

im finding out everything atm.


we are def peaking them out, our server is real time stats, so every second the server is getting hammered per user.

"basically the hard limit on our server is 256 the MaxClients was 150 as default but I raised it already to 256 now I need to set it higher but for that I need to raise the hard limit when I change it in the conf files I still cant raise the MaxClients above 256"

They need to raise ServerLimit above 256 too. HAve them read this entire thread (Especially the last three replies) :
http://www.forum.psoft.net/showthread.php?p=149011

Did you raise the ServerLimit? I think if you raise that you can raise the MaxClients

edit, or what ^he^ said

also have you considered something like nginx instead of apache for performance?

"[I added the line ServerLimit 512 in httpd.conf but I still get the error saying that the max is 256 for when I try to change MaxClients"

I cant believe they dont have someone i can pay to do this bleh. better go managed.

appreciate everyones help.

honestly i havent even had the time, this project was a touch behind and we had to shove it out the door, we are dealing with the growth as we go. smaller and smaller bugs are coming up so i am less worried. i just dont like losing money :)

i am going to expand my setup here when i have a chance to breath.

I am not a tech, but you might need to recompile for it to take effect.

ok appreciated, we are gonna get managed tom i think. if we cant get it overnight we cant.

before you go increasing things, you should find out if all your current clients are getting maxed out...

I would suggest enabling /server-status (and extended server-status) - in your main apache conf (eg /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf), which you are having trouble editing :P

reload apache (apachectl graceful)

then hit up your server in a browser
http://domain.com/server-status

here's an example on a server getting 7million+ hits per day:

As you can see there are lots of idle children ready to take up the slack if/when there's a surge....

You need to recompile with prefork mpm to raise maxclients / serverlimit above 256
It is NOT just the config file as some misinformed posters said above

If you need a good server admin who we use for our rack let me know. Costs about $100/mo/server and he does backups, updates, and it includes a few hours a month of custom work.

what control panel is the server running?

You can find a admin on WHT they start from around $30+ and you can get them to optimize the server for you.