As I discussed towards the end of the last series, I was looking at changing my web hosting once again as the site was starting to struggle to cope with the strains being placed on it around the time the spoiler was posted.
I’m pleased to report that process is now complete and the site is now being hosted with my new host. This will (hopefully) be the last time I need to move this site as my new host provides me with a couple of advantages that should allow me to keep the site up.
Firstly the site is now being run using web server software that is less resource intensive than the previous one so that in itself will help when the site comes under heavy load when the spoiler is posted.
Secondly, and more importantly, the site now has dedicated resources (CPU and RAM) available to it rather than having to share those resources with other sites on the same servers. More importantly I can increase those resources on the fly as and when they are needed (usually about 10pm on a Saturday night when there are tens of thousands of you refreshing the site at the same time).
I’ve tested the site pretty thoroughly before making the switch so there shouldn’t be any issues but if any of you notice anything wrong let me know either in the comments section or over on Facebook or Twitter and I’ll get it sorted. Same applies for when the spoiler is posted if you are having issues let me know and I’ll ramp the resources up. The first couple of spoiler weeks I’ll be trying to find the right balance of resources to cope with the spikes so may have to play around with my settings to get things right but hopefully after that the site should be issue free (touch wood)
I continue to be amazed at just how much this has grown over two short years from receiving a few hundred visits over a Strictly weekend to several hundred thousand towards the end of the last series. I have a feeling that 2016 will blow that out of the water but with any luck the site now will be able to cope just fine!