WordPress problem is not an issue for me anymore. Ever since I started using Newrelic. Most of the problems I have with It all started with all the buzz around cheap Digitalocean VPS. I admit, I am no Linux expert, but I do have desire to learn something new. When I was a teenager I was playing with Linux and I loved idea of freedom but when I started with professional career I specialised in Microsoft products. Not that I didn’t cared about Linux, it was just that my time was consumed with Microsoft knowledge.
I checked Digitalocean website, found that they have a great knowledge base and finally found a coupon for $10 on their twitter account (if you want to start with digital ocean VPS you can create account, open a support ticket and ask for a welcome credit, they will give you from $5 – $10). That was reason enough for new beginning. I set up my first VPS, moved my website from shared hosting to my shiny new VPS and loved all the hours spent with setting up and migrating the site.
Because this was my first VPS for WordPress hosting I was looking for optimization tips. I found New Relic and their awesome service. New Relic is application monitoring tool which can help you understand and solve performance and configuration problems. Installation is easy, all you have to do is to create an account and install an agent on your server – Linux or Windows.
In my case, even though my website was working fine, backend was not optimized. New Relic is smart enough to notify you instantly with RED status that your application is not performing well. Response time was from 1000ms to 3000ms. I decided to install XCache. XCache is very easy to install and configuration can be done in couple of minutes.
When my kids go to bed, I have time I dedicate to my blog and IT related things. Setting up VPS was done In this timeframe. Last thing I did after configuration was to check XCache status page, It looked ok, Caching was enabled, all looked fine. When I opened my blog it was opening very slowly and I thought that backup was causing this issue. How was I wrong. It appeared that I had huge WordPress problem.
Funny thing was I didn’t check New Relic until I was lying in my bed. Luckily for me, they have mobile application. What I saw made my heart stop for a second. Not only did New Relic show me that response time got to 22k ms, it also showed me what was the problem.
When I got back to my computer first thing was to open New Relic. Yes, problem started when I enabled XCache. Even though configuration is simple, one line was not properly configured.
I immediately changed the setting to correct value. I checked that website got responsive and went to bed with peace in my mind.
The next day I checked the dashboard and I was really glad that everything was working great, You can see that response time was lowered and NR changed status to green.
Another benefit of New Relic is mobile app, you can see how your server and application perform everywhere you go. The only missing feature is support for alerts.
When my friend asked me to set up VPS for him as well, I knew that first thing was to set up New Relic. He was also to troubleshoot WordPress problem he had with a cron job. Funny thing is that when our corporate website got performance problems I immediately instructed the vendor to install New Relic and grant us access. No more excuses and covered up reports what caused service degradation.
You may be also interested in reading:
- How to find a broken plugin in WordPress
- How to set up $10 WordPress Speed Monster in 10 minutes
- How to survive 168 Million hits per day using WordPress
- WP Rocket WordPress cache review
New Relic is a great service, have saved me many times. They also have a free plan. I really recommend New Relic if you are using your own VPS, it can help you with WordPress problem.
This is the first time I’ve heard of New Relic. I’m gonna have to give it a try. Great post!