One step ahead....
Yes, "this was resolved a few weeks ago"..... But, since December, the number of visitors to the site has been increasing every week. Every time we make changes, the site grows more so we're just staying one step ahead.
The average server busy time now, according to the logs, happens about 5 times a week, and averages less then 3 minutes each time.
Shutting off the access to guests is not feasible. If your browser loses its login cookie and guests are locked out you would be unable to log in.
We've proposed solutions:
1. Trim posts... . but everyone wants the server fast AND they don't want us to get rid of old threads.
2. Change the search word minimum to 4 characters..... but everyone wants the server fast AND they want the 3 character minimum.
3. Limit searches to one forum at a time... . but everyone wants the server fast AND they want full search.