500 Internal Server Errors on DreamHost

Nov 5, 2009 By Rhett Soveran in Affiliate 2 Comments

If you’ve visited this site at all within the last month or so, especially in the mornings (for some strange reason), you might have seen a screen giving you a “500 Internal Server Error”. I was seeing it regularly and this was incredibly frustrating to me. So with the redesign and all the new things that are and are about to be happening here, I also wanted to improve the hosting infrastructure. I use DreamHost for my hosting.

I use DreamHost because:

They are green (they buy carbon credits for all their power usage/emissions).
They have a kickass custom admin panel that is really easy to use. In my opinion, it’s so much better than cPanel.
They have decent to good customer service. And anyone with any experience with hosting customer service would relish having a good experience.

But I have to say my sites not loading was really starting to get me down. I was starting to think I needed to move off of DreamHost, which I didn’t want to do for the reasons above. Plus, moving databases is a gigantic pain in the ass. So after an email message thread (I think by the end it was 30 messages long and was over a week of back and forth—I really didn’t want to move DBs) we figured out the problem.

The problem

My sites were using too much memory and thus going over my allotted amount and thus the error was produced. WordPress plugins tend to use a lot of memory, I learned. Especially, poorly written plugins. One in particular came to the mind of DreamHost, who wrote in their Terms of Service:

8. Customer agrees to not engage in activities pertaining to Black Hat SEO, Spamdexing, and so-called “Scraper sites.” These can all have a severely detrimental effect on server performance and are not permitted. Pursuant to this policy, the poorly-written WordPress plugin “All in One SEO Pack” is expressly prohibited on DreamHost shared hosting servers and may only be installed on DreamHost Private Servers (VPS).

I use the plugin “All in One SEO Pack”. This is part of the problem. The other part is the Lifestream plugin that I use. And another are the automatic database backup plugins I use. When they run they bog things down.

And after many, many, many emails, I found out how DreamHost sets the allowed amount of memory/cpu for each domain. With shared hosting you only get so much memory and cpu. That’s just a fact. I know it. However, I didn’t know that they separate those amounts by users, not by domains. (This information really isn’t going to be helpful unless you are familiar with DreamHost.) I had one main account and all my domains were feeding off one set amount/user account. However, with multiple users, they all get their own separate amount.

The solution

I made a unique user for each domain. If everyone has a unique user than they all get their own resources to pull off of. But I have gone a step further with Bailing Bucket. I don’t want their to be anymore issues so I have installed DreamHost Private Servers. DreamHost PS gives me control over the resources I require and should stop the site from ever experiencing another “500 Internal Server Error”. This comes with a cost, but I think it’s worth it. I have big dreams for this blog and I want to make sure I am setup right.

The request

It’s true that I have had my troubles with DreamHost, but really they’ve been great. They’ve taken my frustrations and worked with me through everything. If you are thinking about hosting your own blog (it’s definitely worth it), I’d reccomend them. In fact, I’ve created an offer I hope you can’t refuse. Plus, you’d help me offset the costs of this somewhat expensive hobby.

Sign up for a DreamHost account and use the promo code “BAILINGBUCKET” and you will get $50 (US) off your first year of hosting, plus 1 free domain name (ie: yourname.com).

A quick introduction to Duke

Nov 4, 2009 By Rhett Soveran in Audio & Video 8 Comments

Introducing Duke from Rhett Soveran on Vimeo.

Lastnight we adopted Duke, a 3 year old, 75 pound SCHNOODLE! That’s Giant Schnauzer and Standard Poodle. We got him from the Calgary Humane Society.

Interviewed in the Wall Street Journal: Couple Dating

Nov 3, 2009 By Rhett Soveran in News 8 Comments

I can’t honestly remember when I made this “News” category or why. I presume I must have had some news that wasn’t really a blog article but something I wanted to share. Probably, if I looked through the archives, I would know. But I am lazy. Anyway, being interviewed by a news agency seems like a good time to put a post in my News category.

Remember that hilarious blog article I wrote on Couple Dating? Well, Adam saw on a website/email (or something that he follows) that a reporter wanted help with an article she was writing about couple dating. Adam forwarded me the info and I sent a quick email to Elizabeth Bernstein from the WALL STREET JOURNAL! She got back to me, after reading my blog post, and interviewed me for an hour or so.

And from that interview, Elizabeth created Couples Dating: When Four Play the Dating Game which features me (somewhat briefly). So that’s my claim to fame for today.

This brings up some thoughts on journalism and journalists in general, but I think I will save that for another post. But, for those counting, I believe this is now the second time I’ve been in the news for blogging. The first time was a couple years ago when I was on BBC Radio (not sure which number anymore) and now I am in the Wall Street Journal. Not too bad.

Live re-design in progress

Nov 2, 2009 By Rhett Soveran in Asides No Comments

Everyone watch your step. There is a live re-design in progress. These tubes are live and they will literally burn your face off. Thanks to Mr. Connor Turner for the help with the logo (he was patient with me beyond what even my own mother would endure—and she’s a pastor).

Also, if you ever need an amazingly talented designer you can hire Connor. DO IT!

Introducing Duke

Nov 2, 2009 By Rhett Soveran in Photography 20 Comments

Duke

Duke is a 3.5 year old Schnoodle. That’s a Giant Schnauzer mixed with Poodle—for the lay person. A MOTHER F’ING SCHNOODLE! We are 99% sure we are getting him tomorrow. I thought I would try to hold in the news, but I couldn’t. There are more details to come.

The smell of marriage

Nov 2, 2009 By Rhett Soveran in Featured 6 Comments

bellybutton

I think there are a lot of smells you might associate with marriage and family. Cooking a turkey at Thanksgiving. Gingerbread cookies at Christmas. The smell of a new TV or car. And there are the close smells like the smell of hair or how Leah’s side of the bed smells just a little better than mine.

There are other smells too. The ones that you inflict. Farts are obvious. When I fart, especially when followed by me fluffing the covers, is hilarious. It’s not funny when Leah does it. It’s gross, frankly. Call me a mysoginist if you will. But this is an area where I do not wish for equality. I want to be the fart master. But I don’t need to bore you with the pungent nature of my derrière. Especially after almonds. Keep me away from almonds.

There are a lot of smells in marriage. And I do enjoy all the good smells. But the good smells are for when you are sad and need a smile. Today, I have a grin and I’d like to share it, as I’m sure you guessed.

The bad smells are special. There is so much anticipation with a bad smell. Whether you are waiting in horror or waiting for someone to inhale. It’s exciting. I won’t say that it’s not a little perverse. It is. But with marriage, comes the desire to share in all the ways you can. At least, that’s the way it is for Leah and I. And I want to tell you about two very special smells.

Leah’s belly button

Let me start by saying that I was forbidden to blog about this. But I figured she was only joking. But if I disappear, call the police. I mean, that’s pretty much a standing order—whether or not Leah has had anything to do with it. There’s been a little extra belly talk around here lately. But that’s just a coincidence.

That’s Leah’s belly button up there. And it’s pierced. It was pierced years and years and years and years ago. I don’t want to insinuate that she’s old, but I’ll let you draw your own conclusions. Anyway, there is some strange reaction between metal and skin when it is the dark crevasse of a belly button that creates an awful smell. It is really something foul. I’ve sniffed it. I know.

And this is the perverse nature of sharing in marriage. I just had to know and—I can’t stress this enough—Leah wanted to share it with me. She often tries to get me to smell it. It’s disgusting. But that’s love.

The geek stink

This smell is all mine, but I know I’m not alone. And it’s not a natural smell. It’s something that takes dedication and work to achieve. No level 1 Paladin is going to achieve this. Only after hours (read: days) of pure geekdom can you achieve this noxious smell of geek. It’s the smell of nerds and geeks. The funny thing is that I don’t always smell like this. In truth, I only rarely achieve this special scent. It’s only when I sit, locked in my office for hours, playing a computer game.

Here’s a couple tips on how you can create your own geek stink:

It’s easiest if you don’t shower.
Schedule a solid 3-5 hours of gaming time.
Pick a game somewhere between hyper-nerd RPG and teenaged-alpha male FPS. Depending on where the game sits in the spectrum will determine how sweet or sour your particular brew will be.
Find a small, enclosed room that you can really stew in your juices.

From time-to-time, you can check on your progress by shoving your fingers into your armpit for about five seconds and then do a sniff-test. When you have procurred the right amount of stink, show your wife and she will be incredibly impressed*.

*To date, Leah has never been impressed and usually fights me in order to avoid taking a sniff of my geek stink.