GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU: "Is my understanding correct that bandwidth is only "eaten" during page download and Reply/Post send? In short, If I'm logged in but the computer's not using it (or even sat in screen saver), I am not wasting capacity for others?"
Bandwidth is data transfer - either the speed at which it leaves Dannys computer and enters yours, or the sum total of all that data usually expressed as a monthly figure in Mb or Gb (Gb for here!) If you've already had the page and just have it open and don't refresh it then, in answer to your question - no you are not wasting capacity for others.
This problem is not to do with bandwidth however, I would imagine because the hosting arrangements allow are charged monthly and a few days worth of spikes either doesn't affect the monthly total so much, or we've not yet got near month-end. This problem can usually be fixed by throwing money at it as it shouldn't require much adjustment to the infrastructure.
The 'server busy' messages are to do with the server actually having problems making the pages that are read. As the spikes place a far greater concurrent load, the server cannot physically get the threads from inside the database, wrap them up in a nice page and dish them out quick enough. In the first instance this usually means that page generation times go up, which users notice as a slow-down. This compounds the problem as most people hammer refresh, which just makes the queue longer, which is when the server starts to automatically tell people that it is too busy.
This is harder to fix as it requires upgrade or replacement of the computer which the site runs on, hence the timescales as suggested, particularly as the 'next step' for a site of this size can often be a number of computers rather that just one to distribute load and generally get things running better. This isn't easy.
Danny - hope this is accurate and you don't mind me posting in a somewhat technical nature. Best of luck with the server upgrades. I'm sure you're sorted already but if you need a hand with anything give me a shout. One thing is for certain - the PPRuNe coverage of this event has been somewhat more useful than the media. Even if I need to wait until daft o'clock to contribute
