High Traffic spikes

PitaJ

@jasper007 if you don't know how to configure to cores to use through creating a VM and whatnot, just run four processes and let the OS handle the rest.

Esteban Constante

@pitaj I'm running 8 cores, 8 GB RAM, High CPU intensive processors. (NodeBB spawns 8 process in cluster mode)

When I post something on my social media accounts, the traffic spikes up to 1,300 users and if I do it with several posts, it makes it impossible to get into the site (CPU goes to 100% and stops responding).

PitaJ

@esteban-constante are you using Nginx for serving static assets? Are you using Mongo + redis?

Esteban Constante

@pitaj Using Mongo (in Atlas), redis (same instance as NodeBB).

I haven't configured nginx to serve static assets (all images are on imgur), would this help a lot?

I've been exploring ways to autoscale my instances on the cloud, but still working through that.

PitaJ

@esteban-constante yes using Nginx to serve static assets would absolutely help.

julian

Using nginx to serve static assets takes the load off of NodeBB to serve pre-compiled things like nodebb.min.js, module files, etc... nginx is exceedingly good at doing that.

jasper007

So min. one core has to be used for nginx? And if that's not enough I have to use a load balancer and use something like 2 Server a 8 cores. Both servers with clustering...?

Esteban Constante

@julian Just checked my nginx conf, it's basically the same as the one in the tutorial:

upstream io_nodes {
    ip_hash;
    server 127.0.0.1:4567;
    server 127.0.0.1:4568;
    server 127.0.0.1:4569;
}

> server {
    listen 80;
    server_name community.nodebb.org;
    proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
    proxy_set_header X-NginX-Proxy true;
    proxy_redirect off;
    # Socket.io Support
    proxy_http_version 1.1;
    proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
    proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    gzip            on;
    gzip_min_length 1000;
    gzip_proxied    off;
    gzip_types      text/plain application/xml text/javascript application/javascript application/x-javascript text/css application/json;
    location @nodebb {
        proxy_pass http://io_nodes;
    }
    location ~ ^/assets/(.*) {
        root /path/to/nodebb/;
        try_files /build/public/$1 /public/$1 @nodebb;
    }
    location /plugins/ {
        root /path/to/nodebb/build/public/;
        try_files $uri @nodebb;
    }
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://io_nodes;
    }
}

So yeah, it seems I'm using nginx to serve static assets

(ninja'd by yariplus)

PitaJ

Could you provide your full actual nginx config? Fell free to redact anything you think is sensitive.

Check the headers on a request to example.com/assets/nodebb.min.js. If nginx is set up correctly, they shouldn't have an X-Powered-By: NodeBB header.

Esteban Constante

Here it's the conf file:

upstream io_nodes {
    ip_hash;
    server 127.0.0.1:4567;
    server 127.0.0.1:4568;
    server 127.0.0.1:4569;
    server 127.0.0.1:4570;
    server 127.0.0.1:4571;
    server 127.0.0.1:4572;
    server 127.0.0.1:4573;
    server 127.0.0.1:4574;

    #16 cores:
    server 127.0.0.1:4575;
    server 127.0.0.1:4576;
    server 127.0.0.1:4577;
    server 127.0.0.1:4578;
    server 127.0.0.1:4579;
    server 127.0.0.1:4580;
    server 127.0.0.1:4581;
    server 127.0.0.1:4582;
}

server {
    listen       80;
    server_name  myserver.tld;
    return       301 http://www.myserver.tld$request_uri;
}
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name www.myserver.tld;
    proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
    proxy_set_header X-NginX-Proxy true;
    proxy_redirect off;
    # Socket.io Support
    proxy_http_version 1.1;
    proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
    proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    gzip            on;
    gzip_min_length 1000;
    gzip_proxied    off;
    gzip_types      text/plain application/xml text/javascript application/javascript application/x-javascript text/css application/json;
    location @nodebb {
        proxy_pass http://io_nodes;
    }
    location ~ ^/assets/(.*) {
        root /home/myuser/nodebb/;
        try_files /build/public/$1 /public/$1 @nodebb;
    }
    location /plugins/ {
        root /home/myuser/nodebb/build/public/;
        try_files $uri @nodebb;
    }
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://io_nodes;
    }
}

PitaJ

@esteban-constante please use triple ticks (```) around code blocks, not quotes. For future reference

Esteban Constante

@pitaj fixed it. Thanks! I was trying with single and double `

PitaJ

@esteban-constante have you been able to check the response headers for any static assets yet? Your nginx file looks good to me. Have you tried running with fewer NodeBB processes? It could be that your database server is being overloaded.

Esteban Constante

@pitaj So far I haven't been able to test the traffic spikes as I haven't had any lately

I did found a typo in my nginx file which I've fixed already and it seems to run better. I'll report back as soon as I get more data.