You've hit on one of the reasons I've asked about this. I don't have any really high-volume sites, but for some of the sites that I do track, the database entries really pile up over the years. And I haven't built in a system for archiving.
So when I go to get stats, it takes a loooong time for the database (MySQL, not dedicated) to serve up the results. And it spikes the CPU usage, as well, which impacts serving sites. One of the problems with my system is that *all* the stats are re-created with *every* request. For instance, cumulative stats are always calculated, even if I'm just asking for stats for a certain date. I know seems like a stupid way to go about the setup, but it wasn't an issue when the database wasn't wasn't so full. But now I've got one site that has 970,000 records for traffic that the system has to parse each time a request is made for *every* type of information: cumulative visits per page, total unique visitors today, visits today by page, etc., etc... And beyond the performance issues, I know there is other data that I could use like tracking movement through a site, but I don't know how to go about doing that. With so much on my plate, I just *hate* the thought of re-building the system, but it looks like I'll have to. I thought I'd gather some *best practices* before I begin. So, WebTrends doesn't use a database? They just parse server logs to get the info? Sure would take a lot of work off the CPU and database. Rick -----Original Message----- From: Cutter (CFRelated) [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 2:37 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: Re: Best Practices for Web Site Traffic Tracking Rick, Last week we deployed new code, here at work, redesigning our application and session startup and management, specifically for improving our own click-through user/session tracking on our client's sites. Now, we're talking about a shared application templated system that services 1600+ sites (separate app for each site, same code base), but I can tell you that we have a single, dedicated MS SQL server/machine that is solely used for stats input, processing, and reporting. We have greatly improved (or, our DBA has) how we process this data, but it does chew up a ton of time and resources, with extreme care and attention being paid to indexes and table access locks. If you are maintaining a large, high traffic site, then I would definitely weigh your options carefully. Rolling your own stats can be very beneficial, especially if you need the ability to create specific information tracking (like clicking through steps in a Flash or Flex application), but if you don't require that sort of degree of specialized tracking then you may be much better off with balancing your application structure (page names, sub directory pathing, etc.) and using something that does log parsing (like WebTrends). Cutter ________________ http://blog.cutterscrossing.com Rick Faircloth wrote: > Hi, all. > > Anyone know of a discussion/tutorial on the best way to go about > creating a website traffic management/reporting system? > > I've been using my own methods for several years, and, while they > work well enough, I know there are bound to be better methods. > > I'm looking not just for coding, but for overall discussion of > traffic management, such as archiving older data, tracking visitors > movement through a website. just about anything. > > Of course, I'm look for CF-based info. > > Rick > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Create Web Applications With ColdFusion MX7 & Flex 2. Build powerful, scalable RIAs. Free Trial http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/flex2/ Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:270218 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4
