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Redefining the Impossible

Site5 caching

Site5 caching

Submitted by Peter on Wed Aug 10 2005 08:19 over 4 years ago

Something is starting to really irritate me. Whenever I make some change on this site through Drupal such as editing a page, I press the submit button and the browser shows me the page as it was before the edit. I have to press refresh to see the changes. This happens all over, if I look at the logs, add a page, look again at the logs, nothing has changed until I refresh the page.

Clues to the cause:

  • I have caching disabled in Drupal and it should not be caching updated pages anyway.
  • My browser is connected directly, no caching proxy.
  • If I run ethereal I can see that the browser is sending a GET for the updated page and receiving the old version
  • If I look at the site apache access logs I do not see this GET reaching the server

Something in between is caching the pages. J'accuse Site5. I've looked all through their site and I see nothing about this but the forums tend to be full of noobs (like most forums). I tried editing the .htaccess file to disable mod_cache if it was loaded but that just caused an internal server error. It is highly likely that they are running some form of cache the other side of apache (squid?), I'd probably do the same to save the load on a shared server for other peoples sites. However, I find it intrusive when I'm the victim.

Hosting contract is coming to an end, I still have time to evaluate a new hosting solution. I'm highly tempted by a cheap dedicated server. It's expensive but:

  • I've plenty of power: I can run X and use a vnc terminal.
  • I can do what I like in python. I have no interest in doing php at all and Site5's python support is weak (python 2.2.3, no generators sad). They now support ruby on rails but I'm more interested in php than ruby (weak python clone).
  • I learn to secure a linux box properly. I think my linode server was hacked through an xmlrpc weakness in drupal which has been fixed now.
  • It's all mine. With VPS's and shared hosting, you are having to share disk and cpu with other people. I would only have to share network bandwidth with them.
  • I can sell CPU time/hosting/web sites should I feel the desire

One thing about dedicated servers: I cannot believe that to get the server rebooted you have to email some guy who has to run to the box and press the reset button. How primitive is that? If I screw things up to the extent that shutdown -r now does not work I will either learn to prototype hacks on a local box or give up and become an estate agent.

UPDATE: er, it wasn't site5's fault, it was Microsofts.

Filed under: drupal linode php python ruby site5

7 Comments

Peter Says:

Wed Aug 10 2005 09:03 over 4 years ago

This problem has also caused me to keep getting "This content has been modified by another user, unable to save changes." errors from Drupal: I accidently edit an old version of an article and get my wrist slapped.

Peter

Peter B Says:

Wed Aug 10 2005 15:36 over 4 years ago

Why would you want to run an X server and use VNC on a *server*? Just curious because I'd love to get a dedicated box, but my securing skills aren't good enough yet.

Peter Says:

Wed Aug 10 2005 16:08 over 4 years ago

X is useful sometimes to use graphical applications, like admin tools with gtk front ends. I admit I can spend all day in ssh, I can totally live without vnc but at least I have the option with a dedicated server.

As for securing skills, I figure the only way to learn is to try... I have been bitten once and it has taught me to:

  • keep as few ports open as possible
  • subscribe to security bulletins and install patches pronto.

Peter

Nathan Says:

Tue Sep 20 2005 17:42 over 4 years ago

Some dedicated hosts have an auto-reboot feature now. My host, Server Beach (serverbeach.com), has what they call RapidReboot. It works great. They have also found a way to make their rescue environment accessible. They call it RapidRescue. So, even if your server is completely hosed, you can log into a special environment that mounts your server's hard drive(s), and you can attempt to bring it back to life. Luckily, I haven't had to use RapidRescue, but it's nice to know that it's there. It's my understanding that ServerMatrix (servermatrix.com, a subsidiary of theplanet.com) has a remote reboot tool as well, but I have no experience with them.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm not affiliated with ServerBeach at all. I'm just a customer, but I did work for their ex-parent company (Rackspace) for a while. I'm no longer employed there, though. ServerBeach is now owned by Peer1 (http://peer1.com/en/index.asp). I hope this helps!

Peter Says:

Wed Sep 21 2005 08:39 over 4 years ago

I am now with oneandone and they have similar features. They work very well, you can repartition the hard drive and install a different version of linux if you so desire (see here).

Peter

Veracon Says:

Mon Feb 27 2006 15:26 over 4 years ago

Actually Site5 offers Python 2.4, just ask for it. I did, and now I just use the shebang #!/usr/bin/python2.4 in the beginning of all programs.

Peter Says:

Mon Feb 27 2006 17:25 over 4 years ago

They have had 6 months since I posted this to update it. It also depends which server you are on: I was on opteron (spelling?).

I am now using mod_python: will site5 let you do that?

Peter

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