Many different things can affect how well a website runs, and these can be split into two categories: Server side issues and Client side issues. Server side issues are problems which are occurring on the machine which is attempting to serve the website to the client machine.
Client side issues are problems with the client machine when trying to access a website.
In this page I will be comparing problems which can affect a websites performance on both client machines and servers. Descriptions are given with general overviews, and there is a table at the bottom of this page which makes a direct comparison of each of the issues covered.
Client machines are the user’s PC. When you enter a website’s URL into your address bar, you are connecting to the websites server, and interacting with it each time you send a request. A request could be when you choose to go to a different page, submit a form or click to play a video, amongst other things. Some poor websites run slowly, and this can often be due to server related issues. Most big websites, including banking websites and e-commerce site, run fast because they have eliminated all issues which they can control, and often use multiple servers to control how fast everything happens.
One of the main problems, is the hardware specification of both client and server machines. This is more of a problem on the server side though, especially with sites which have a lot of traffic coming in, as the server is going to have to deal with a lot of different things at the same time. To make sure that the performance of the site is up to scratch, you must ensure that the server is of a good specification that can handle everything it needs to. On the client side, the specification does not have as much of an effect on performance, as it is more down to the bandwidth of the system, but on extremely low specification computers, it can have some effect. The majority of client machines run Windows, which is a multi-tasking operating system. If the client machine is running several different programs, especially memory-hungry programs, then this can cause problems when attempting to load web pages. One of the problems with this could be that there is not enough spare RAM for the browser to work efficiently, which can result in the crashing of the web browser, and even the whole computer crashing. There is no control on this on the server side, so users who are visiting your website must ensure that they do not open program after program after program, otherwise they could risk not being able to load web pages because they are overworking their system.
A server should be of extremely high specifications. It should have at least a quad core processor, with a large hard drive that spins much faster than a standard computer. The hard drive should be spinning at 10,000rpm minimum, preferably more. Standard PC’s usually run at either 5,400rpm or 7,200rpm. The reason the hard drive must spin much faster, is because if lots of traffic is coming into the website, then the server will have to deal with a lot of requests. By having a hard drive which spins faster, the information can be processed a lot more quickly, resulting in a smoother experience all around.
Bandwidth can be a really serious issue though, as clients that are running through a low bandwidth connection will not be able to open videos, music and other multimedia files quickly, and so you must ensure that all file sizes are reduced before uploading them to your server. Image files should also be optimized for the web by choosing the correct file type. You may not need to keep the quality at its highest setting either, because you can reduce file sizes significantly without seeing any change in quality. The server should also be running on a high bandwidth connection, so that it can serve the website to its clients at a high speed. Client machines should preferably be running on a broadband connection, rather than a dial-up connection. The majority of client machines run with a maximum bandwidth of 8mbps, and so this should be taken into account when websites are created. If you have a really fast connection, then the website may appear nicely for you, but the clients may not have an internet connection that is as strong as yours, and therefore the site will not be able to run as smoothly. Always take into account the client machines rather than your own, as they may not be the same.
In order for a website to run at its optimum performance, it should also be coded to W3C compliant standards. W3C validates web pages to check whether or not they use correct code. By checking your site for correct HTML, you are able to optimise it for the web. Client machines have to be running a browser, which may not display the page as it should be displayed if it is using bad code. By checking if the code is correct or not with W3C, you are then able to make a website which will be displayed nicely to the client machines. Bad code can also affect the server, because sites which are bloated with lots of bad code and have a bad structure, will take longer to serve.
Browser choice can have an effect on how a web page performs too. This can be both for actual browser selection itself, as well as the version of that specific browser. Many websites do not appear in the same way on Google Chrome as they do in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, and could also look different in Mozilla Firefox and Opera. Mobile browsing will also look dramatically different, but you can setup specific webpages to be accessed from mobile devices. Different resolutions can also alter the look of a webpage, so you must ensure that your webpage is optimised for all screen resolutions. There are tools which you can use to check how your website will appear in different browsers and different resolutions, so you are able to make any needed changes after seeing this.
When inserting multimedia files (such as sound, videos, animations and images) to your webpage, you should always keep the file sizes as small as possible, whilst ensuring sufficient quality. This can be done by changing file types, trying different rendering settings, lowering quality, and resizing images manually. If you resize images within your actual web development software, then it doesn’t physically decrease the file size, and so it can still take a long time to load, so images should be sized manually within an image manipulation program. By keeping file sizes as small as possible, it doesn’t just make life easier for the user though. It also means that less space is used on the server, and so the server is able to run smoother. If you have a server without a huge amount of space to store things, then it is wasteful to use huge files, when they can be significantly reduced in size without affecting quality.
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