Website Sluggishness? Server Monitoring Can Reveal the Cause Part 1

Man waiting on a slow running website at a desk on a laptop

Slow internet getting you down?

Whether you’re running an eCommerce venue, popular blogger, active business site, job board, charity platform or one of any number of popular websites with a ton of daily traffic, speed is everything. Even if you run a little mom-and-pop site for sharing recipes, the highly competitive modern online environment has no room for slow web pages. The slower your page loads, the more likely your visitors are to close the tab and try somewhere else that’s more responsive and considerate of their valuable internet browsing time. Even a one-second delay in page load statistically results in a loss of 7% of your visitors.
Speeding Up is Harder Than it Sounds
Of course, it’s a lot easier to say ‘speed up your web page’ than it is to actually do it. The reason for this is because your load time isn’t a value you set in your configuration, it’s how long your server takes to serve up the page to each user. There are certain things that anyone can do to reduce load time like use smaller images and chop up your content into multiple compact pages instead of big long ones, but what if you’ve already done that or your design relies on big pictures and long content-rich pages?
There are a few other things you or your web developer can do, but the potential fixes get more and more complex with each attempt at optimization. You can, for instance, set up caching so that your regular users hold onto some of the data your page loads up, making it locally available and faster to appear after the first visit. Then there’s compression which zips up and vacuum-shrinks your HTML and CSS files for faster downloads. When all this is done, if your website is still sluggish then the answer is lurking somewhere in the performance of the server itself, but where?
What’s Wrong With Your Hosting Server?
As you may remember from setting up your website, a site has to be hosted on a server, either locally on a computer you own or, ideally, on a virtual cloud server. If you’re hosting on a local server, it’s possible that your problem is actually physical. Take a moment in the middle of the night when you have the fewest visitors to turn off the machine and clean it. Chances are there’s a reasonable amount of built-up dust inside the case, caked to the vents, and just floating around. If your web page speeds up after this procedure, the problem was that the computer itself was struggling to cool itself and keep up with demand.
If you’re hosting on a cloud server, or if cleaning didn’t help, then the problem lies in the processes running on the server itself. The longer a server runs, and the more things you’ve done on it since setting it up, the more likely it is to have unnecessary processes and memory use eating up your resources and preventing your web page from getting the speed and performance it needs to impress your visitors.

Knowing that your website is slow is only the beginning of the solution and without the ability to monitor the slow down, it will be incredibly difficult to identify and cure the reason your website is running so slowly. This has been the first half of our two-part article. To find out what happens next and how to use monitoring to speed up your website, join us next time for the second half. If you’d like more information about IT managed services or to find the perfect solution for your business, contact us today!

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Managed Services is the key to getting things done in your environment

In ever-increasing numbers, small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are turning to managed services to address their IT needs. There are at least three key reasons driving this trend: cost savings, time savings and access to first-rate IT expertise. However, when searching for the right managed service provider (MSP), it’s important to look for one that’s seasoned and highly qualified. It’s also important to purchase a service plan that neither leaves out services you need, nor requires you to pay for services you don’t.

Three reasons to use managed services

Cost savings

For many SMBs, hiring a full-time system or database administrator is far too expensive, taking a six-figure bite out of their small yearly budget. At the same time, calling a qualified IT contractor only when something goes wrong is far too risky, as it leaves the SMB always at the mercy of system failures, viruses and hacks. To shy away from either extreme, businesses are increasingly turning toward MSPs to save money while keeping their IT needs covered year-round.

Time savings

Another reason that so many small to medium-sized businesses are turning to managed services for their IT needs is that SMBs are simply tired of losing time to unpredictable IT problems. They want to avoid the trap that other SMBs fall into of merely reacting to IT problems with short-term, superficial fixes or “band aids.” Instead, they want to engage in the long-term, preventative maintenance and monitoring that will help them avoid IT problems in the first place.

Access to expertise

The right MSP will have a team of highly qualified IT professionals that represent an impressive knowledge pool for handling nearly any IT issue that might arise. These professionals spend all day, every day, navigating the nuances and complexities of the hardware and software that runs your business. It is difficult to imagine finding a member of in-house staff that could match the depth and breadth of IT expertise that an entire, dedicated IT team can bring to your enterprise.

Finding the right MSP

Once you’ve decided to work with an MSP, not just any company will do. You certainly don’t want to entrust your entire network to a company simply because they call themselves an IT-focused MSP. Ideally, you will want to find a regional provider that has built up their reputation over a decade or more. Moreover, you will want to ensure that their IT experts are certified or otherwise highly qualified in the specific networking, hardware or software service they provide.

Finding the right level of service

Once you’ve found a seasoned, highly qualified MSP to address your IT needs, it’s important to choose the right level of managed service from their suite of offerings. Most MSPs offer several levels of service, which you might think of as good, better and best. The higher levels will generally include all of the services below them, while adding new, premium services to the covered list. As an SMB, your guiding principle should be to buy the level of service that closely corresponds to the particular services you need so that you can avoid two unwelcome outcomes: paying for services you don’t need, or missing out on services that you do need. For example, if you don’t need on-site support, then you may not need to pay for the premium level service that includes a set of on-site services. On the other hand, if you need help desk support, and it’s not part of the basic plan, then you will want to move up to the next level that includes it.

Making the move to managed services

To address all of their IT needs, SMBs are turning to managed service providers in ever-increasing numbers. There are at least three key reasons driving the move to MSPs: cost savings, time savings and access to high-level expertise. Once you’ve decided that an MSP is right for your business, you’ll want to look for one that’s seasoned and highly qualified. Having chosen an MSP, the final step is to scrutinize their various plans to find a fit that has all the services, and only the services, you need.

To learn more about managed services and how they can address your IT needs, contact us.

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Tag Archives: Managed Service Provider (MSP)

Website Acting Sluggish? Server Monitoring Will Tell You Why (Part 1)

Making Use of a Managed Service Provider (MSP) for Your IT Needs