Explain the user side and server side factors that influence the performance of a website Website performance is dependent on a lot of user and server factors. I will explain some of them below:

User Side 

Download speed – Website performance is judged by the download speed. If you download something off of the website, does it slow down? Does it take a long time to download whatever it is you’re downloading? Website performance is dependent on how many users are on the website at this very minute and how many of them are downloading something all at the same time. If you have a lot of users downloading off the website, it could affect the website’s performance because the servers would be strained to their limit.

PC Performance Factors

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Browser – The way a website performs also depends quite a lot on what browser the user is using – that means type, version etc. Each browser works in a similar but different ways, therefore for example, www.ebay.co.uk may work better on Firefox, although browsing the same website on Internet Explorer could perform very differently. Cache memory – If a user’s cache is full, the browser and the website’s performance especially could be harmed. It is advisable to clear the cache once in a while to increase the performance of the websites. This being said, websites store data packets such as “Cookies” on your computer which store information about your history, passwords etc. to erase that information from the website itself, store it onto your computer and improve the performance of the website. Processor speed – is another important factor to consider while judging a website’s performance. The same website could perform very well on Bob’s computer, whereas on Steve’s it could be very slow. This could be due to the processor speed on the computers. The better the processor speed, the faster the data gets processed and the faster the website performs.

Server Side Web Server Capacity

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Available bandwidth – is very important on the server. The more people are using the website, the more people download off of the website, the more server bandwidth there is needed to sustain the performance of the website. Executions to be performed before page load – Every website has some kind of protocol(s) to complete before a page loads. For example, Lloyds bank (http://www.lloydsbank.com/) has HTTPS protocols complete before a user requests to log in. The website checks those protocols which checks all the pre-defined security rules before the user can proceed to log in and/or onto the security page before actually fully logging in. Website performance could be heavily dependent on how quickly those protocols load before the page can be actually fully loaded/displayed. Number of hits – If there are too many people on a website, the performance of the website can drastically change, and therefore it is important for the server to be able to keep up with the number of hits at any one time. If the server wouldn’t be able to keep up with the demand/number of people, the website would simply crash.

File Types

It is important what file types are used on the website. For example, it takes very little time for a JPG to download as it is a small file type, whereas downloading a bitmap would take slightly longer and would take up more memory on the website server, therefore impacting the performance if a lot of people would download the bitmap images off of it. File type Bitmap

Benefits A bitmap image uses solid color pixels, which can be identified and recolored easily. Also it is easy to upload on the internet as it is a common file type.

Vector

Easy to work with as you can rescale it to fit anywhere on the webpage or on any software you’re working in. It also takes up less memory and storage space than bitmaps.

Limitations Takes up more memory and storage space and when rescaling, it distorts the image, therefore the quality decreases. Because it takes up more memory, it will affect the performance of the website in a negative way as it needs to process the data that the image holds. Uses more processing power than bitmaps and is hard to edit. It’s also not that cost effective. This will decrease the performance of the website as it needs to use the server’s processing power in order to display the image on the webpage

JPG

GIF

Very small file size, supported by most web browsers therefore all users using the website would display any images in that format with ease. This wouldn’t have as much of a negative effect on the performance of the website as it doesn’t need to process as much data that is the image. Supports basic level of animation and is a relatively a small file type in terms of size when compared to uncompressed formats and most of all it is supported by most browsers and software.

correctly. Doesn’t retain high quality when compressed and such.

Limited colour range, doesn’t support transparency and takes more storage space unlike other, similar file types, therefore it would affect the performance of the website in a negative way. Very large file sizes therefore making a lot of such files available on a website will have a role at impacting website performance quite significantly. The most significant limitation of an MP3 is the low quality of the file.

WAV

Is not compressed, and it’s a high quality file type.

MP3

Small file size, therefore ideal for including such files for download on a website since it wouldn’t affect a website’s performance in such a way like WAV format would. It’s also well recognized therefore most software and browsers, if not all, wouldn’t have problem with playback of the MP3. Can be played in most media It’s a large file size, therefore players such as Windows requiring some storage Media Player. space. Also, AVI is not really meant to be compressed, therefore resulting in a large file size and impacting the website performance by needing more server power

AVI

SWF

Loads quite quickly and is available on all platforms which use the Flash plugin.

and slowing down the website processes as it needs to load everything, resulting in poor overall performance. Even though it loads quite quickly, it impacts the website performance as it uses server and computer power (CPU) to do so.

What this means for the website performance?

It is important to choose the appropriate file types for what the website’s purpose is. It is vital to find a balance between the size and the quality to also balance out the performance of the website. You want to have small file types so that less server power is used, therefore improving the website’s overall performance, although you will need to make sure that the quality of such files you’re making available is not Impacted in a negative way.