Title: Error establishing a database connection
Last modified: September 1, 2016

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# Error establishing a database connection

 *  Resolved [involuntarytwitch](https://wordpress.org/support/users/involuntarytwitch/)
 * (@involuntarytwitch)
 * [9 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-establishing-a-database-connection-796/)
 * Hello,
 * I am running WordPress on my website, [http://www.pokemonuranium.com](http://www.pokemonuranium.com).
 * We recently have been drawing a lot of traffic to our website, and with the numbers
   of people trying to access it simultaneously, it keeps going down. It either 
   says “Error establishing a database connection”, or it displays a blank WordPress
   install page, which I’m worried is a security risk.
 * I’m led to believe that the theme I’m using, which relies on PHP, is causing 
   too much PHP requests and it’s timing out the server. Would switching themes 
   help? I like the theme I’m using now and would rather not change it, but I’d 
   also like to find a way to accommodate the sheer volume of users we seem to be
   receiving on an hourly basis.
 * For the curious: We are using our own external host, iPage, rather than WordPress
   itself for hosting.
 * If anyone has any suggestions for how I can improve stability and keep the site
   from going down again, I’d appreciate it. I’m not very tech-savvy myself so a
   simple solution is best.
 * Thank you!

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

 *  Moderator [Steven Stern (sterndata)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sterndata/)
 * (@sterndata)
 * Volunteer Forum Moderator
 * [9 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-establishing-a-database-connection-796/#post-7641885)
 * Your server is becoming overloaded and shutting down (then restarting) MySQL 
   to keep itself from crashing. You probably need more memory for your server (
   and maybe more CPU) to handle the traffic.
 * How are you hosting this site? If it’s basic shared hosting, keep in mind that
   basic shared hosting really only works for low volume, low traffic sites. For
   high traffic sites, you’ll probably need either a more costly hosting plan, managed
   WordPress hosting with the same host, or a VPS you manage yourself. Since you
   say you’re not tech-savvy, I’d rule out that last one. Contact your host and 
   see what they can do to accommodate traffic spikes.
 *  Thread Starter [involuntarytwitch](https://wordpress.org/support/users/involuntarytwitch/)
 * (@involuntarytwitch)
 * [9 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-establishing-a-database-connection-796/#post-7641944)
 * Thanks for your support. Unfortunately my host has not been so accommodating 
   and is recommending I pay for an expensive VPS plan and even more in order to
   transfer over all the site files. I will search for a web hosting solution that
   better fits my needs. I will continue to use WordPress though, it’s a great platform
   for content management.

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

The topic ‘Error establishing a database connection’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [database connection](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/database-connection/)

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 2 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [involuntarytwitch](https://wordpress.org/support/users/involuntarytwitch/)
 * Last activity: [9 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/error-establishing-a-database-connection-796/#post-7641944)
 * Status: resolved

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