Manager Slow - Front-end Slow

Revo 2.2.14-pl traditional (Don't tell me to upgrade - already tried 3 times)
PHP5.5
Server version: 5.1.73-log
Apache/2.2.22

Both Manager and front end are running very slow - 10+ seconds to move around the admin and some times 20+ seconds to load a page in the front-end. It's hosted by 1and1 but I have many sites with them working perfectly well. Any ideas?

Hi chrisandy,

I know this doesn't help answer your question but I'm experiencing the very same problems using the manager and front-end.

Revo 2.2.14-pl traditional
Apache Version 2.2.17
MySQL Version 5.5.32
Perl Version 5.8.8
PHP Version 5.3

After trying every tip to speed up Revo, I'm now talking to 1and1 as this appears to be a server issue. It will run fine for an hour and then totally bomb out. I'll let you know if I learn anything.

Well the site ran fine between 6am and 10am but now is slow again! Does that give any clues?

Definitely sounds like the server may be too busy. I don't think 1and1 is a terrible host, but it shared, so it could definitely be that the server is simply overloaded or another user on that box is getting hammered.

I don't suppose you get SSH access or an admin panel that will tell you the load and the number of cores eh?

Yeh, definitely sounds server related. Shared hosting platforms have peak hours when they get hammered and you'll see MODX slow down a lot. For this reason we highly advise our clients to stay away from shared hosting unless they have a hobby website, but it's not a solution for a real business. You may want to setup a test account on the modxcloud.com site and play around with it there. We've got a strong VPS we have used for years which has been fine for our client's MODX sites, but we have found that the modx cloud is easily 2 or 3 times faster and we will start moving our clients to this platform shortly.

Btw, are you seeing any errors in the error log in MODX? I'd definitely check there to make sure nothing is wrong that could be slowing the site down.

I can see the number of connections through phpmyadmin and some other info in there but I'm not sure how to read it to be honest. I think there is SSH access in the control panel but I wouldn't know how to read the load.

No errors in the log. If you're saying that Modx requires speciality hosting then it's dead in the water. This isn't a big site and I've got many, many sites with 1and1 - no issues. I've even got sites on 123-reg with very few issues.

Thanks for taking the time to help out with this.

I'm going to agree with the others, in that your server is likely overloaded. The main goal with shared hosting is maximizing the site/server count to increase profit. The more sites you put on a server the slower that server is going to run, as there are less available resources. In addition if you have bad neighbors (other sites) things are going to run even worse until they are addressed by the provider.

Ultimately, there is nothing you can do to correct problems with a shared server as you will lack the necessary access. You can request they move you to a different server which might perform better, however it's typically a matter of time before that server will exhibit problems. I've noticed that providers making use of custom control panels (ex: GoDaddy, 1&1 and Powweb among others) tend to have these problems more frequently.

That being said if you have SSH access, you can run some basic commands to gauge if that server is overloaded. The three commands you will need to run when the issue is occurring are "free -m" "cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep processor" and "top" (without quotes). They will provide you with the current memory usage, number of processors, and the server load at that point in time.

In addition with 1&1 the database connection will need to be factored into the problem, as the database is separate from the web server which introduces additional delays. Any request interacting with the database will be subject to their current overall network status, as your request must go to another system, be processed, and the data returned. This is less than ideal as there are more things that can go wrong making troubleshooting the problem more difficult.

________________________________

Now that being said I do want to touch on your statement regarding MODX and speciality hosting. Speciality hosting is NOT required with MODX, however resource stingy hosts will not typically cut it. You do tend to see higher resource consumption with MODX, but nothing extreme by any stretch.

Yes, MODX Cloud is a speciality hosting option - however it's purpose built for MODX Development. If you want a good list of MODX Friendly hosting providers check out http://bobsguides.com/modx-friendly-hosts.html which lists several great providers. You may pay a little more with some of these providers, however the hosting will be of a higher quality with better support in my opinion.

I'm not saying that MODX can't run on 1&1, however you might have a far easier time using a different provider (and closer servers).

I want to recommend setting up a local web server: https://www.apachefriends.org/index.html

The benefits:
- You can rule out the server being overworked.
- You can develop the site offline and have an accessible backup of the site.
- You can change server settings that many host won't let you do (for debugging purposes)...

I'd agree with all about shared hosting and its limitations.

The problem is, when you do a direct comparison with Evo sites and you also consider that the vast majority of websites run on shared hosting accounts, Revo appears to be lagging behind. I don't want to get into a debate about comparisons though - that's not what I'm after. If the fact is that Revo can be slow on shared hosting then I need to change my strategy.

I agree about developing locally but it doesn't solve the problem and indeed if, when developing remotely, there is a hosting problem at least we would know earlier in the project rather than later.