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CMS Platform Downtime Incident — Backend Server Error or Timeout

Root cause analysis and resolution for CMS platform slowdown caused by Ping Server disk reaching 100% capacity.

Ticket ID: #13819
Subject: Dana - LMX Content is slow ( urgent)

Issue Summary

LMX Content CMS platform was loading very slowly, which was affecting CMS operation. The issue need to escalated to the DevOps and Infra teams for urgent investigation.


Root Cause Analysis

1. Socket-Based Player Connection Mechanism

  • CMS players communicate with the server via a persistent socket connection.

  • Most content transfers (ads, sync data) also occur via this connection.

2. Heartbeat Mechanism

  • The Ping Server sends a heartbeat message every 10 seconds to each player to ensure connectivity.

  • If a player does not receive a ping for 60 seconds, it:

    • Assumes connection lost

    • Disconnects and attempts to reconnect

  • This mechanism relies heavily on Ping Server uptime and performance.

3. Failure Trigger: Ping Server Disk Reached 100%

  • The Ping Server was not configured with auto-scaling.

  • Once disk utilization hit 100%, it failed to send heartbeat pings.

  • Players began disconnecting and reconnecting in loops.

  • Resulting in:

    • Massive increase in socket traffic

    • MongoDB CPU spike and connection overload

    • CMS web server unable to connect to MongoDB

    • Platform response failure


Solutions Applied

Area

Action

Ping Server

Increased disk storage; added alert system for 70% usage threshold

MongoDB Cluster

Upgraded from M30 to M40 due to sustained high CPU

CMS Server

Pulled latest code and restarted services

Monitoring

Queue backlog of 40,000+ messages cleared; normal performance resumed

Post-Fix Monitoring

  • MongoDB and CMS server performance within acceptable range.

  • No further auto-scaling or storage alerts triggered as of latest 48-hour check.

Recommendations

  • Add Ping Server to auto-scaling group.

  • Setup early disk usage alerts for all backend services.

  • Review MongoDB access patterns from socket services for optimization.

  • Document recovery steps for faster response in future.

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