503 Errors

[Krydos]

Over the past week or so both Johnny and Tommy have been experiencing occasional slow loading and 503 errors on PHP pages from time to time. This is definitely not normal because we've been using Plesk since 2021 and none of us can even remember the last time we saw a 503 error, and then suddenly they are happening quite frequently on these two servers. We are investigating the issue, and are hoping to resolve it soon. In the meantime, here are some ideas you can do to improve the uptime of your PHP based website.

1. Morty hasn't been affected at all by the 503 errors on PHP pages at all so far, so this is a great time to upgrade to our fastest flagship server starting at only $1 per month. You can check out the discounted Morty packages at https://heliohost.org/dashboard/move/ and move yourself over without talking to an admin by using our fully automated upgrade process with zero downtime for your website if you're interested in trying it out.
2. VPS also have not been affected by the 503 errors either. They start at $4 per month, and aren't affected by other users on the same server as you, because on a VPS you're the only user. Being able to have root SSH access is also a great perk of being a VPS customer. You can check out the plans at https://heliohost.org/vps/
3. If you don't want to upgrade it is possible for some PHP websites to be converted to static websites. Since it is only PHP being affected by these 503 errors converting your site to use only static html, Javascript, and CSS will allow your website to load faster, have less errors, cause less server load, and greatly reduce the chance of your site getting hacked. It's not possible for all websites to be converted though so this isn't an option for everyone.
4. You could also switch to a language other than PHP. For instance, Python websites using CGI, Django, or Flask haven't been affected by the 503 errors at all. Node.js hasn't been affected by the 503 errors either, but if you decide to try Node.js we recommend keeping a close eye on your load graph at https://heliohost.org/dashboard/load/ because it's easy to go over your 200 GB memory limit.

In order to diagnose these 503 errors, the first step we're going to take is implementing additional logging and performance monitoring so we can see exactly when and why the errors are occurring. Let us know if you have any questions, or have any additional information to assist in our investigation.