Slow website, often get "The connection was reset"

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Ouranos

118 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 41

#98999 10-Mar-2012 14:45

I have a Joomla website that is very slow to load, often timing out with the message "The connection was reset".

The site is: http://www.i-nth.com

The website performance tool at http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/ tells me that it usually takes at least 10 seconds (and sometimes 30 seconds) before the first response is received from the server, and then things seem to complete within a few seconds. I've enabled compression of the CSS and Javascript, which reduced the page size from 1100 kB to 735 kB. I've tried disabling various features (such as the Flash slide show, Twitter feed, quote thing in the top right-hand corner, etc), but it makes little difference to the load time.

So, I'm wondering if the problem is my website (perhaps a slow script, or similar), or is the problem with my host's server?

Any suggestions?

moneygeek

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#593225 10-Mar-2012 14:58

Hey check your stylesheet or js.

i think there might be a dead link (eg:127.0.0.1).

or simply just change your server

moneygeek

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#593227 10-Mar-2012 14:59

http://www.i-nth.com/modules/mod_showplus/css/slideshow.min.css

there is the problem

try to uncode base64 and check is there any dead links

Ouranos

118 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 41

#593237 10-Mar-2012 15:36

moneygeek: http://www.i-nth.com/modules/mod_showplus/css/slideshow.min.css

there is the problem

try to uncode base64 and check is there any dead links

I've switched to an uncompressed version of that module, but apart from a slightly larger download size there is no material difference. Disabling that module entirely also makes little difference.
I can't see any broken links.

How can I tell the difference between a problem with my website and a problem with the server?

Ragnor

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Trusted

#593245 10-Mar-2012 16:07

Ouranos:

So, I'm wondering if the problem is my website (perhaps a slow script, or similar), or is the problem with my host's server?

Looks like something on the host server to me, it takes 10+ seconds for the response to the initial http request

nate

6473 posts

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Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#593388 10-Mar-2012 23:07

You're using a free webhoster so you get what you pay for I'm afraid.

shadybrothers

236 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#593394 10-Mar-2012 23:11

You may as well cut your line and hide from the FBI

this is a slap in the face!

Quic Broadband

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mattwnz

20515 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4794

#593395 10-Mar-2012 23:12

Ouranos: I have a Joomla website that is very slow to load, often timing out with the message "The connection was reset".

The site is: http://www.i-nth.com

The website performance tool at http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/ tells me that it usually takes at least 10 seconds (and sometimes 30 seconds) before the first response is received from the server, and then things seem to complete within a few seconds. I've enabled compression of the CSS and Javascript, which reduced the page size from 1100 kB to 735 kB. I've tried disabling various features (such as the Flash slide show, Twitter feed, quote thing in the top right-hand corner, etc), but it makes little difference to the load time.

So, I'm wondering if the problem is my website (perhaps a slow script, or similar), or is the problem with my host's server?

Any suggestions?

You get that cheap web hosts that have overloaded servers. Find a new webhost, PM if you want suggestions.

Ouranos

118 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 41

#593760 11-Mar-2012 21:23

Somewhat inadvertently my weekend project has been to learn more than I ever wanted to know about website performance optimization.

A few pointers for anyone with similar issues:

There are useful tools available to diagnose website speed issues. The two I've used the most are https://developers.google.com/pagespeed and http://websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/
Enable server-side cache. In Joomla set it to "Progressive caching". This is not enabled by default.
Enable the Joomla "System cache" plug-in and set it to "Use Browser Caching" (also not enabled by default).
Enable gzip compression. In Joomla this is in the Server global configuration.
Other tools can also help with compression and combining files, such as the Joomla extension JCH_Optimize, which does things like "Minify" the html, css, and javascript (ie. remove comments and spurious spaces); defer javascript running; etc.
Use a graphics program to really compress images. I used Photoshop and, in most cases, at least halved the size of many already-compressed PNG files without any apparent loss of quality.

The net result is a home page that is around 1/3 of its original size - ie. 400kB rather than 1.1MB. More importantly, the pages now generally load in 5-7 seconds. Previously it often took 20-30 seconds before the first server response was received and then the page often failed to load at all. Pages are still rather slow to load when the cache is being refreshed, but much better than previously.

As for the host, it is actually a paid account. However, it obviously isn't the fastest server. Therefore, the optimizations are the difference between a bad situation and an adequate situation. Not great, but at least it works. Nonetheless, I see a new host in the website's near future.

mattwnz

20515 posts

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+1 received by user: 4794

#593763 11-Mar-2012 21:26

Ouranos: As for the host, it is actually a paid account. However, it obviously isn't the fastest server. Therefore, the optimizations are the difference between a bad situation and an adequate situation. Not great, but at least it works. Nonetheless, I see a new host in the website's near future.

It maybe a paid account, but that doesn't mean it isn't sharing that server with thousands of other websites. The cheap ones have to host lots of websites on the server to actually make money from the server. You shouldn't really need to do all that work just to get it loading.