Google conectivity error

[Rostick]

Hey guys, seems every other 6 months I`m hit by a very strange problem on my website www.betdistrict.com. About 6-7 weeks ago google started having "server conectivity errors" in crawling my website everyday.

Made all kinds of scans for malware, I talked to the hosting service, they assured me I`m clean, they looked at the firewall settings, seems it`s not their fault.

I keep getting errors like this in error_log. Tons of them:

error log removed by OP's request

I talked to a more skilled coder than me, he will look at things in the coming weeks, but until than maybe you have a clue to what is wrong so I can save some money? The coder said at a first glance he can`t figure out the problem, but it must be something wrong with Wordpress.

The issues really came out of nowhere. So far my google ranking was not affected, but visitors have decreased BIG TIME and it`s hurting me bad. Thanks guys

[universal4]

I can't see the entire error, but it looks as though your web server is having issues talking to the database server.

Are you using localhost or is the db on another server?

Rick
Universal4

[Rostick]

The error is very long and it`s not the only one, there are many more similar to this. I did not manage to see the entire error.

I`m a big noob on the sever side, I reckon I AM NOT using localhost since my website is hosted at a hosting company and not by myself.

[DaftDog]

Not sure how much of a noob you are but this could be a plug-in conflict. Look in your root directory for an "error_log" file, download it and rename to "error_log.txt". You will be able to get a better idea of what is causing the issue. The other solution is to de-activate all plug-ins and see if the problem is still there. If not then re-activating one by one will show up the guilty sob.

[universal4]

Whether the site is self hosted or not doesn't define that the db server is not localhost.

If you go into the wp-config file (in the root), it will define the DB_HOST. It will either be localhost, or an ip address or a url.

If it is an ip or url it is possible (not a guarantee) that there might be other factors that are affecting connectivity to the database server.

If it is localhost, then the theory of not being able to contact the dbserver is a lot less likely...unless the dbserver is broadcasting a different name for some odd reason.

It might not hurt to check the db_host and verify that what is defined in the config file is 100% correct for that site. You can explain the strange errors to the techs at your host and they should be able to help you determine what you have in there is correct.

If you are connecting to an external db server, there could be factors affecting those connections at times such as heavy traffic on that switch, a routing issue, a sever connected to the same switch that is causing a broadcast storm (such as when a NIC card is starting to fail), a server that recently had an ip change and the ARP cache of the switch needs cleared, or any number of other issues.

Like Ixian stated, this could also be something along the lines of a plugin that is causing the dbserver connection to think the server isn't there momentarily.

Like has been stated, closer inspection of the log file might help figure it out.

Rick
Universal4

[TheGooner]

OK- this is a transient error (it only occurs sometimes) so we can assume that the database is correct and there are no actual errors in the structure. If there was and the database table wp-options didn't exist then you would get the same errors all the time.

To me this sounds like a loading issue - What is your hosting plan like?

These sort of connectivity errors appear when the database does not return a successful response to a query. Because you are running wordpress nearly everything that is displayed is as a result of a number of calls to the database - and it's possible that when Google starts crawling your website it overloads the capacity of your database to respond to all the queries.

There usually is a limit on "number of concurrent connects" - basically the number of calls that the database will serve at the same time, and if you go over this limit then the call will fail and if the error is not trapped (lazy coding) then attempts to reference the data that was never actually delivered will result in a number of errors.

If you have a control panel you should be able to browse an error log and see a list of errors that have occurred - it's typical for the last 1000 errors to be listed. It could be connections or maybe even busy CPUs or lack of memory on the server cause things to run too slowly - cuasing timeouts and then failures.

However, that's irrelevant really, as that's for the techy to solve. If you are a hosting customer you don't need to diagnose the issue too much.

You should be able to raise a "trouble ticket" saying that you are getting errors from the database when it is busy - and that you think you need more capacity / connections to the database. They should then be able to sort it out for you (by looking at logs, monitors, and high water marks) - although it MAY require you to go to an upgraded plan (more costly).

[universal4]

See.....sometimes it takes gooner to make the techy stuff sound more understanding....lol

He made some really good points as my post is a little more on the diagnosis side of things...

Rick
Universal4

[Rostick]

Whether the site is self hosted or not doesn't define that the db server is not localhost.

If you go into the wp-config file (in the root), it will define the DB_HOST. It will either be localhost, or an ip address or a url.

You can explain the strange errors to the techs at your host and they should be able to help you determine what you have in there is correct.

Universal4

It`s localhost.

I already tried, they said everything is fine with the server and it`s not their bussiness, I should contact a programmer (which I did, waiting for him to return from vacation)

I`ll take a closer look at the error log today and come back with a post here.

[Rostick]

OK- this is a transient error (it only occurs sometimes) so we can assume that the database is correct and there are no actual errors in the structure. If there was and the database table wp-options didn't exist then you would get the same errors all the time.

Firstly, this message will end up to be VERY long, so sorry about that.

@ Gooner - the errors don`t seem to be for the wordpress database. I am running Wordpress but also created my own database, outside of the WP database, for the betting tips (I edited its name to database_name in the errors below). I keep getting these errors that are repeating themselves basically non-stop - like you said, I am getting the same errors all the time.

I hope it`s safe to post some of these errors here. Is it?

My hosting plan is pretty solid, I really doubt it`s not enough - resources seem enough, I don`t have such high traffic and when I contacted the hosting company they did not say anything about lack of resources (surely they would have been eager to jump with a more expensive plan). Unfortunately, as I said, they said they can`t do much and made me believe the problem lies with me.

I will try to investigate the plugin issue today and come back here later to see if anybody has any ideas. Note that this issues, as I said, started all of a sudden, without me editing or adding code.

Thank you!

error logs removed by OP's request

[muffincrumbs]

If I had to guess it is the server like Gonner said and the resources are being bogged down, but it could also be the theme requesting weird stuff on occasion and also your cache. Lets try this: Check cache plugins, including server or host side caching and disable. Go to plugin updates and reinstall the current version of wordpress which cleans the database tremendously. Try a new cache plugin and use https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-widget-cache/ which will reduce the load on your server significantly. Then please report back.

[Rostick]

If I had to guess it is the server like Gonner said and the resources are being bogged down, but it could also be the theme requesting weird stuff on occasion and also your cache. Lets try this: Check cache plugins, including server or host side caching and disable. Go to plugin updates and reinstall the current version of wordpress which cleans the database tremendously. Try a new cache plugin and use https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-widget-cache/ which will reduce the load on your server significantly. Then please report back.

I don`t use cache plugins, I only have a minify plugin. I`m a little scared to re-install Wordpress, don`t I lose stuff?

[muffincrumbs]

Reinstalling wp from the plugin screen is the same as updating it, no harm done. Now that I know you are not running any cache I am even more certain that this is the reason for bogging down your database.

Run both W3 cache and the widget cache and report please.

[Rostick]

Reinstalling wp from the plugin screen is the same as updating it, no harm done. Now that I know you are not running any cache I am even more certain that this is the reason for bogging down your database.

Run both W3 cache and the widget cache and report please.

One question: Before I take your advice, you did notice that my errors involve my own database, which I created independently to wordpress, right? (edited its name in the errors to "DATABASE_NAME", thought it wasn`t wise to leave the original db name. my betting tips script is running on my own created database, not wordpress)

If so, I will try to do what you suggested.

Thank you.

[muffincrumbs]

I do not have experience with two databases. I would always run a full backup before doing anything. If you are super worried just install the two cache plugins, one W3 or super cache and the other the widget cache and that should stop a lot of the requests

[Rostick]

Ok my friend. First thing on Sunday I`ll take care of these things you suggested, reinstall wordpress, maybe add cache plugins (though I`m reluctant, as my content is changing multiple times daily) and I`ll get back Monday or Tuesday, when the error log and "fetch as google" tool provide relevant info.

Thanks again!

[universal4]

Did you start having these issues almost immediately after you added the feed database?

I am confused as to why the error alludes to something missing in the options for wordpress, when the query is directed at the second database.

Unless the query itself is confusing wordpress making it think it should be finding the tables with the answer to the query in the wp database.

It's almost like it doesn't know the second db exists....

Rick
Universal4

[universal4]

http://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/wpdb

The $wpdb object can talk to any number of tables, but only to one database at a time; by default the WordPress database. In the rare case you need to connect to another database, you will need to instantiate your own object from the wpdb class with your own database connection information. For extremely complicated setups with many databases, consider using hyperdb instead.

Here are additional links with articles and examples of connecting to additional databases.

http://wordpress.stackexchange.com/q...arate-database
https://wordpress.org/support/topic/...mysql-database



Here is one of the Google queries I used, and there certainly seems to be a number of people that have run into similar issues and I am sure some have conquered it.
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...with+wordpress

Please let us know if any of this helps, and what articles, tips or solutions you come up with as it may help others.

Rick
Universal4

My thinking is this is a portion of why the error suggests that the OPTIONS doesn't know about it. That is likely directly related to the class. I do not know if you need to define this in options somewhere or ??

[universal4]

This article suggests adding the db to the functions file, however the following quote kinda has me wondering if you would need to run the query itself from a different template page, since wordpress iteslf defaults to running queries against $wpdb.

Add the code snippet to your functions.php file or a specific page template, and then you can use $newdb just like you would $wpdb to access a second database and retrieve some data.

http://bavotasan.com/2011/access-ano...-in-wordpress/

Rick
Universal4

[Rostick]

everything worked just fine for 18 months with the two databases (mine and wordpress), I DID NOT EDIT MY CODING, this came out of nowhere. i`ll look into the documentation you sent.

amd by the way on the front end everything works just fine, people can add content to the external database, I can settle the tips, no problems. just this google conectivity error which decimates my traffic and the errors in the error_log.

[onlinepokerplay]

It can be website loading issues means website is heavily and stucking in some technical error sometimes.