We recently had our account suspended (without warning - thanks 1&1) due to exceeding server load.
The reason this happened was there were quite a few divs that were refreshing (via Ajax) every 9 seconds to give a 'live update' on the site (it is a sports site so this was to give live score updates etc).
Now I am looking for an alternative way of getting the same functionality without putting strain on the server and, ideally, not register a page hit on each refresh and hopefully someone can give me advice on the best way to go.
Currently, each of these divs call a seperate page which pulls data from a MySQL database. I have read that there are ways to check that file and only refresh the div if it has changed. Ideally, however, I would like to pull the data directly into the div, without using the middle page, and get that to update if the data in the database has changed.
Having said that, I am open to any suggestions or pointers that will give me the same live updates without running the risk of the host pulling the plug again!
Thanks
Steve