[openstreetmap/openstreetmap-website] GPX uploads fail with 503 for users on slow connections (Issue #7230)

[Ruben L. Mendoza]

Rub21 created an issue (openstreetmap/openstreetmap-website#7230)

### URL

_No response_

### How to reproduce the issue?

A user on the forum  reported that could not upload two GPX files (1.1 MB and 1.5 MB): https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/gpx-upload-trouble/144548

The error was:

```sh
Error 503 backend write error
Varnish cache server
```

The files were valid, and the same files uploaded fine later on a better connection. The problem seems not the file or the metadata, it seems the upload speed.

The Apache frontend config in chef sets a body read timeout with a 120 second cap ([apache.frontend.erb#L45](https://github.com/openstreetmap/chef/blob/master/cookbooks/web/templates/default/apache.frontend.erb#L45)):

```
RequestReadTimeout handshake=20-40,MinRate=500 header=20-40,MinRate=500 body=20-120,MinRate=500
```

So the whole upload has to finish in 120 seconds , and a 1.5 MB file needs at least ~13 kB/s. On slow mobile or rural connections this fails, Apache drops the request, Fastly returns the 503, and the user gets no useful message.

Today, an alternative to avoid this issue could be compress the file to .gpx.gz before upload, but I feel like most users don't know this, and I think  a small hint on the upload form, or a clearer error message suggesting compression, would help.







### Screenshot(s) or anything else?

_No response_

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