How to speed up Magento websites

[woffer]

Does anyone know, or can recommend someone who can speed up Magento websites, both through extensions, server changes etc.

Much appreciated

Jon

 

[Adam H]

What server configuration are you running currently ?

 

[woffer]

Hey Adam,

I have a dedicated server with Web Hosting Buzz but it has not been configured in any way at all for Magento.

I need to get the site speed up as it is too slow.

 

[tifosi]

Apache & MySQL are both prime candidates for tuning. Both depend on available resources and external things like expected traffic volumes and types - steady, burst etc.

One thing to install is the mysqluner.pl script - http://mysqltuner.com/ which can give an idea of key parameters such a key_buffer and query_cache.

An opcode cache is also one of the first things I install. PHP comes with APC now but I still prefer XCache.

Tuning is never a one-off process. More like catching flies with chopsticks.

 

[Adam H]

Does it run WHM/Cpanel ?
What PHP handler are you using ? Suphp / DSO / FCGI etc ?
How many sites are on the server ?
Do you host any other peoples sites other than your own ?

Sorry for the questions, just to get an idea of the environment your dealing with to recommend certain things based on security and performance.

 

[woffer]

5 sites on server all my own.
It runs on CPanel
no idea what php hamdler it uses. I know basics such as adding accounts etc but anything else is straight over ny head! Haha

 

[Adam H]

haha ok, you'll most likely need to do a bit of research how to do things or get your host to give you a hand then. Most hosts will throw you in with Suphp, thats not a bad thing but it does give you some restrictions on how you can implement better performance.

I would recommend something like the following :

php Handler - DSO
NginxCP Module - will reduce load and take some strain off of apache, will require fine tuning.

OPCode Cache - Like tifosi said xCache is my recommendation too, I use it on high traffic sites with traffic spikes, xcache has served the best and been the most stable although you'll need to run it to see what it plays ball like with your scripts etc.

Mod_ruid2 ( this will give the same kind of security and permission structure as suphp but with the added bonus of being able to run caching agents )

Assuming running a store your also SSL you could also use SPDY which which will give SSL sites a boost on top of the caching.

Once the server is up and running with that config you can start to tell your scripts to use Xcache, If you google "Magento and Xcache" there is plenty of documentation to help you.

The server side stuff should give you plenty to do before you start optimising your scripts to squeeze every little bit out of it for example cache headers. Like tifosi said pointed out Optimising and monitoring your server from that point is where you really iron things out.

Note: Many hosts will advise against DSO but generally thats because they think everything will run "fine" with standard apache setups which of course if you have a high traffic site or intensive script like Magento that isnt the case.

 

[woffer]

Great advice thank you both very much Adam and Tifosi. Are either of you Hireable? Or know someone you would trust to implement changes?

Thank you again!

 

[mdrussell]

Great advice thank you both very much Adam and Tifosi. Are either of you Hireable? Or know someone you would trust to implement changes?

Thank you again!

Link to this thread in your email to us and we can install most of this

 

[Oceanic]

Have you looked at the Google Pagespeed service or server extensions?

 

[ild2014]

There may be different problems. One problem with big Magento website having big sitemap that can also slow down magento website. So my advice is to submit this sitemap in parts. You can also use Google Speed factors to improve speed for any website.