Link: https://piaille.fr/@toniob/116093865909220954

For averyone wondering why converser.eu is slow and/or you can't register, I had a conversation with the admin of matrix instance converser.eu, the convo is in french so i'm copying the translation here ! (I did remove my and someone else's answers so you only have their explanations)

"- FYI, I'm the admin of the converser.eu server. I know that right now, the server is a disaster. I'm doing my best. Synapse is a pain to administer and optimize. We have almost 7,000 accounts on the server and that number is still growing. We could greatly improve the situation by switching back to a server with SSD. I had to switch back to HDD because of disk space, which obviously doesn't help performance. But I'm stuck because of budget constraints. However, if you feel like it, you can help: https://
liberapay.com/converser.eu/ . "

"- It's been eight years since I launched the server, paying for successive servers to maintain the service. I've spent hours trying to understand performance issues when they arise, getting everything back up and running. In short, I'm doing my best."

"- Thank you for your support. I admit that I am very, very bad at communicating. And ultimately, when I launched the server eight years ago, I didn't think it would take on such proportions.
As for closing registrations, it's complicated. Shutting the door when people need it or want to try it out could clearly discourage them from switching. And the converser.eu server is known for being open and hosted/managed in France. If I suddenly close registrations, I'll have to deal with all the emails asking me “why can't I register?”

We were talking about the discord exodus affecting the matrix server as you can guess !

Matrix Synapse on HDDs 😱

I'm guessing a dual disk setup (SSD for the OS, HDD with lots of room for service data) wasn't an option then? If there's any nook for such a deal I'd get my cat ready to snatch. It's sad to hear that this situation hits their instance in the current internet contingency of all things.

Once an OS boots there’s not really a lot of need for ssd. Save ssd for the apps.

What is converser.eu, and can I use it to deliver french fries to my mouth?

I have been on the Synapse HDD path. It was slow even for a single-user instance.

There is a super easy way to solve this: make registration available only for users that contribute.

I think so too, but from what I understood, they seem to want this service to stay free and open, i'm kind of surprised there is not more financial help through donations from the community though, I went for donation and the required level was not very high

they seem to want this service to stay free and open

TANSTAAFL.

The admin might think they are being this generosity is good for the users, but at the end of the day all it just gets them burned out and gives people who signed up the impression that all matrix servers are slow. Meanwhile, acess to my matrix server is not free, ($29/year, less than $2.50/month) but by charning just a little bit I can make sure that it grows at a rate that I can manage and doesn't make my infrastructure implode.

I mean for me too it seems pretty fair that way. I guess they also might find it delicate to make people pay now that most people registered there for free etc

The later people are paying to join and sustain an existing and thriving community built by the earlier people.

I mean, from that perspective, sure. But if the main concern is lack of storage, SSDs currently are of no help with that compared to HDDs (let alone with production being shifted over to serve AIs and datacenters).

Perhaps a dual SSD solution, but still would have to be planned with the potential outcome of either upgrading one of the SSDs or add a third one.