Logging.... Email... and Other Communications...

Why doesn't my web-hosting service log all of my site hits? I have pondered, written about, and worried over this question for almost two weeks running.

As an example of these issues I offer the following:

Just moments ago I tried to bring up this weblog twice, and I received a 502 code stating that there were too many requests for the page/server congestion... (Have you ever seen a 502 code?). Yet my log files indicate that I have absolutely no activity on my domain server. When I was finally able to retrieve my weblog, again the hit did not register in my logging file (yes I cleared my cache in case it does not log 304 - not modified codes). I am very concerned by this. I have offered to look at my web host's environment conditions and settings (at no cost) to find out what is causing this problem. They declined my offer. I love my web-hosting company. I would recommend it to anyone who needs an affordable solution for web-hosting (not going to plug it here by naming the company). However, I cannot understand why my bench mark tests fail to log hits during the normal course of a day. My bandwidth usage is a fraction of the total amount allotted each month, yet I have had a hard time retrieving some of my pages, because it appears my server is busy. My Wired Pages search engine is another reason my server bogs down yet I never get data indicating that the search engine is ever run.

I know that some of you will ask whether I partner with my web-hosting company. The answer is yes, however I do not think this is the problem because the link is in an obscure location on one of my web pages that no one ever hits.

I have spent at least an hour on the phone with my web-host trying to have this problem resolved. This entry in my weblog is more my vent at this situation and the frustration I feel with this ongoing effort to understand why my hits are not being logged. Oh and yes it is persnickety about which hits it will log. Almost as if someone has set up an environmental command to say get the file but don't tell her...Yes I am really venting now...

I never get email so I won't wait for your email response (well not from my promotional blitz anyway). I never get phone calls either... Do you think it's a conspiracy? :-)

There is perhaps another explanation. My promotional blitz has garnered me a whole lot of new users. Maybe, my web-host thinks I am hitting my server and clearing my cache, thereby making it look like a lot of different sites are hitting. (The one thing my web-host and I agree on is that I am getting a lot of new site visitors). This would account for why the hits from my own ISP are being ignored. I can easily get log data from my ISP indicating my full IP address versus some other user with a similar IP address. My ISP provider is one of the most popular services available. And I do promote my site on my ISP. The reason I looked at this issue today was indeed another user who wanted some information. His hit never showed up and we share the same ISP. I believe however if my web-hosting provider made this assumption it was a horrible error... I use cpanel (web-hosting program to manage a domain) quite a bit and it logs my IP address.. Even my web-host would be able to discern my IP address from someone else's. I will look at this issue further... There also appears to be omission of logs from other sources, but it is intermittent. Today was the first time I was able to get consistent behavior.