There are a lot of static accounts here.

**Valigarmander** · 01-18-2009, 01:51 PM

Shane, why don't you start getting rid of some of these? There seems to be a lot of those here.

Like for an example, have all accounts older than 60 days with 0 posts deleted. Wouldn't that make a lot more room on this site? If an account's been registered for that long with zero posts, I don't think it's going to be used.

1-up Salesman · 01-18-2009, 03:05 PM

^This.

**Valigarmander** · 01-18-2009, 03:14 PM

You sure are thankful for a lot of things.

Robotazy · 01-18-2009, 04:16 PM

Thank whore.

Also, what if they all came back right when you deleted them?

And they all had money for Shane

I am nobody · 01-18-2009, 04:24 PM

20,000 accounts looks a lot better than 200. (at most)

Metal Man · 01-19-2009, 03:21 AM

But then Admin5 would die, and we would all be sad for him and !!!J4M3S B0ND

Kargath · 01-19-2009, 03:43 AM

A single record for each one is pretty insignificant.
Let the lurkers have their fun.

***Saria Dragon of the Rain Wilds*** · 01-19-2009, 05:14 AM

I know of at LEAST three or four accounts with 0 posts who still come and visit (I think to play the arcade games).

The information doesn't take up much space. Besides, the last time anyone tried to do a large prune of data, we had some crazy bugs. It's just not worth the hassle.

I'm kind of curious why you think it's important, though.

Rainbow Dash · 01-19-2009, 09:51 AM

Maybe he thinks it uses less bandwith? (and we can have better avatars, screw 58x58 and 8.0 kb. I'm too poor to donate!)

Robotazy · 01-19-2009, 09:56 AM

Yeah, I want to strech the page with my avatars

**Valigarmander** · 01-19-2009, 11:31 AM

I just figured it was a pain in the ass to have those eveywhere.

Or not, whatever.

Jesus · 01-19-2009, 12:45 PM

The hard thing to figure out is if they are actually static accounts or if they were legitimate accounts and the people went on hiatus. With all the bandwidth that VGF has I am sure they won't ever need to worry about wasted space.

Kargath · 01-19-2009, 01:49 PM

Static accounts don't actually use any bandwidth. They're just a table record each. The only thing they could affect would be the time for building the USERS table index.

Luigiman7 · 01-21-2009, 05:39 PM

^ So then if we deleted them, there wouldn't be more bandwidth?

Dizzy · 01-21-2009, 05:49 PM

In fact, deleting them may actually cause more bandwidth problems.

Kargath · 01-22-2009, 03:40 AM

There are three factors to consider here.

1) server disk space.
2) server processing thoroughput
3) server bandwidth

I have not seen the database schema for vBulletin, but here is how it would probably appear:
Each user would have a record ('row') in a database table (data grid of rows and named columns). Each user has their own unique user ID number (you can see yours in the "This Page" link on the Contact Info tab of your profile), along with various fields for registration date, birthdate, and other things that are on your profile. This would only take a few hundred bytes per account, if that.
Each database table would have an index of the contents (on the primary key at least). This index takes a small amount of computing power to maintain every time a new record is inserted, deleted, or moved internally. The bigger the index, the more work it takes to maintain. So it is true that it takes slightly longer for someone to register a new account the more users there are, but that is of little concern. Searching for a particular user record also takes longer the more people there are, even with an index, but if the database engine is smart it would optimise the table so that the most requested records are up-front in the index.
Bandwidth is in no way affected by the amount of registered users. It is affected by the amount of users on at once, but simply having extra records in a table that is not being transmitted obviously does not affect the network capacity.

Metal Man · 01-24-2009, 02:59 AM

Yeah. Things that effect bandwidth more directly are:
*That Bookmarks bar at the bottom of the page
*VBPlaza points and gifts
*Ironically, the free avatars use more bandwidth (by being on VGF's server) than normal forum avatars (which are linked off-site)
*That bar on the top with Arcades and stuff must be checking a lot of stuff
*The quick jump thing is probably recalculating what to show every time
*The annoying 'Your Notifications' as well

Kargath · 01-24-2009, 03:32 AM

You're confusing "computational resources" with "network resources" again, MM.

Sabrilocke · 01-30-2009, 01:01 PM

I still post here.

***Ynot Shane*** · 01-30-2009, 04:49 PM

So would this impact me, or do Shanebot posts count as valid?

01-18-2009, 01:51 PM	#1
Valigarmander The Bee's Knees Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: The land of rain and trees (Oregon) Gender: Posts: 29,755 Thanks: 1,649 Thanked 5,700 Times in 2,580 Posts Blog Entries: 20	There are a lot of static accounts here. Shane, why don't you start getting rid of some of these? There seems to be a lot of those here. Like for an example, have all accounts older than 60 days with 0 posts deleted. Wouldn't that make a lot more room on this site? If an account's been registered for that long with zero posts, I don't think it's going to be used.

01-21-2009, 05:39 PM	#14
Luigiman7 ヽ(◔ ◡ ◔)ノ.･ﾟ*｡･+☆ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: ~)´◡｀(~ Gender: Posts: 17,605 Thanks: 1,134 Thanked 1,012 Times in 713 Posts Blog Entries: 8	^ So then if we deleted them, there wouldn't be more bandwidth? __________________ ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼ＷＯＮ’Ｔ　ＹＯＵ　ＢＥＣＯＭＥ　Ａ　ＭＡＧＩＣＡＬ　ＧＩＲＬ？

01-30-2009, 04:49 PM	#20
*Ynot Shane* Not Ready to Make Nice Join Date: Apr 1999 Location: Flaflooga Gender: Posts: 132,163 Thanks: 46 Thanked 604 Times in 317 Posts	So would this impact me, or do Shanebot posts count as valid? __________________ Remember that book store? Well, they became one of those books and coffee places, and now they're just coffee. It's like evolution, only without getting the better part.

01-18-2009, 03:05 PM	#2
1-up Salesman Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Letting you guys know that I'm planning on continuing Attack of the Spammers soon. Gender: Posts: 4,095 Thanks: 2,162 Thanked 250 Times in 194 Posts Blog Entries: 9	^This.

01-18-2009, 03:14 PM	#3
Valigarmander The Bee's Knees Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: The land of rain and trees (Oregon) Gender: Posts: 29,755 Thanks: 1,649 Thanked 5,700 Times in 2,580 Posts Blog Entries: 20	You sure are thankful for a lot of things.

01-18-2009, 04:16 PM	#4
Robotazy PRESS ANY KEY TO PANIC! Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: A Tiny Shed Gender: Posts: 16,483 Thanks: 529 Thanked 1,254 Times in 897 Posts Blog Entries: 46	Thank whore. Also, what if they all came back right when you deleted them? And they all had money for Shane

01-18-2009, 04:24 PM	#5
I am nobody Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Over there. Gender: Posts: 5,515 Thanks: 309 Thanked 365 Times in 242 Posts Blog Entries: 7	20,000 accounts looks a lot better than 200. (at most)

01-19-2009, 03:21 AM	#6
Metal Man Fairy-Slaying Maniac Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: 1592 Miles Away From Here Gender: Posts: 18,062 Thanks: 148 Thanked 683 Times in 482 Posts	But then Admin5 would die, and we would all be sad for him and !!!J4M3S B0ND

01-19-2009, 03:43 AM	#7
Kargath et in Arcadia ego Join Date: Jul 2001 Gender: Posts: 8,334 Thanks: 1,226 Thanked 780 Times in 488 Posts	A single record for each one is pretty insignificant. Let the lurkers have their fun.

01-19-2009, 05:14 AM	#8
*Saria Dragon of the Rain Wilds* Admin "mine.. not yours. NO. MINE." Epic Ladynerd Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Forteresse de Valois Gender: Posts: 28,504 Thanks: 1,658 Thanked 1,820 Times in 1,042 Posts	I know of at LEAST three or four accounts with 0 posts who still come and visit (I think to play the arcade games). The information doesn't take up much space. Besides, the last time anyone tried to do a large prune of data, we had some crazy bugs. It's just not worth the hassle. I'm kind of curious why you think it's important, though.

01-19-2009, 09:51 AM	#9
Rainbow Dash been dreamin', i've been waitin' Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: a bomb-ass cloud house bachelorette pad Gender: Posts: 24,401 Thanks: 173 Thanked 1,179 Times in 716 Posts	Maybe he thinks it uses less bandwith? (and we can have better avatars, screw 58x58 and 8.0 kb. I'm too poor to donate!)

01-19-2009, 09:56 AM	#10
Robotazy PRESS ANY KEY TO PANIC! Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: A Tiny Shed Gender: Posts: 16,483 Thanks: 529 Thanked 1,254 Times in 897 Posts Blog Entries: 46	Yeah, I want to strech the page with my avatars

01-19-2009, 11:31 AM	#11
Valigarmander The Bee's Knees Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: The land of rain and trees (Oregon) Gender: Posts: 29,755 Thanks: 1,649 Thanked 5,700 Times in 2,580 Posts Blog Entries: 20	I just figured it was a pain in the ass to have those eveywhere. Or not, whatever.

01-19-2009, 12:45 PM	#12
Jesus Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2000 Gender: Posts: 5,617 Thanks: 104 Thanked 139 Times in 101 Posts Blog Entries: 3	The hard thing to figure out is if they are actually static accounts or if they were legitimate accounts and the people went on hiatus. With all the bandwidth that VGF has I am sure they won't ever need to worry about wasted space.

01-19-2009, 01:49 PM	#13
Kargath et in Arcadia ego Join Date: Jul 2001 Gender: Posts: 8,334 Thanks: 1,226 Thanked 780 Times in 488 Posts	Static accounts don't actually use any bandwidth. They're just a table record each. The only thing they could affect would be the time for building the USERS table index.

01-21-2009, 05:49 PM	#15
Dizzy Podiaphobe Join Date: Oct 2007 Gender: Posts: 19,359 Thanks: 1,764 Thanked 1,161 Times in 804 Posts Blog Entries: 116	In fact, deleting them may actually cause more bandwidth problems.

01-22-2009, 03:40 AM	#16
Kargath et in Arcadia ego Join Date: Jul 2001 Gender: Posts: 8,334 Thanks: 1,226 Thanked 780 Times in 488 Posts	There are three factors to consider here. 1) server disk space. 2) server processing thoroughput 3) server bandwidth I have not seen the database schema for vBulletin, but here is how it would probably appear: Each user would have a record ('row') in a database table (data grid of rows and named columns). Each user has their own unique user ID number (you can see yours in the "This Page" link on the Contact Info tab of your profile), along with various fields for registration date, birthdate, and other things that are on your profile. This would only take a few hundred bytes per account, if that. Each database table would have an index of the contents (on the primary key at least). This index takes a small amount of computing power to maintain every time a new record is inserted, deleted, or moved internally. The bigger the index, the more work it takes to maintain. So it is true that it takes slightly longer for someone to register a new account the more users there are, but that is of little concern. Searching for a particular user record also takes longer the more people there are, even with an index, but if the database engine is smart it would optimise the table so that the most requested records are up-front in the index. Bandwidth is in no way affected by the amount of registered users. It is affected by the amount of users on at once, but simply having extra records in a table that is not being transmitted obviously does not affect the network capacity.

01-24-2009, 02:59 AM	#17
Metal Man Fairy-Slaying Maniac Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: 1592 Miles Away From Here Gender: Posts: 18,062 Thanks: 148 Thanked 683 Times in 482 Posts	Yeah. Things that effect bandwidth more directly are: That Bookmarks bar at the bottom of the page VBPlaza points and gifts Ironically, the free avatars use more bandwidth (by being on VGF's server) than normal forum avatars (which are linked off-site) That bar on the top with Arcades and stuff must be checking a lot of stuff The quick jump thing is probably recalculating what to show every time The annoying 'Your Notifications' as well

01-24-2009, 03:32 AM	#18
Kargath et in Arcadia ego Join Date: Jul 2001 Gender: Posts: 8,334 Thanks: 1,226 Thanked 780 Times in 488 Posts	You're confusing "computational resources" with "network resources" again, MM.

01-30-2009, 01:01 PM	#19
Sabrilocke Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: behind the toolshed Gender: Posts: 4,254 Thanks: 238 Thanked 64 Times in 37 Posts Blog Entries: 5	I still post here.