windows/unix speed problem?

andynightingale

I am developing a site on a Windows Server using php + mySQL but it is running very slow. The Hosting company says there is plenty of bandwidth and they are a big company.

To test the problem I uploaded the same site to another hosting company running a Unix server. The site ran at the speed I would expect for the file sizes ie 30k + external php includes and js includes. (ie quick)

The difference is about 10-14 seconds for page loads ie a massive difference.

Does anyone have any ideas. Is it the windows version of php?

onyx

Transfer speeds are dependant on so many things. It could be a problem with the hosting companies server or the amount of bandwidth they have but it could equally be a routing problem to your hosting company. Perhaps do a traceroute (Linux) or something similar depending on what OS you are using to determine if it is perhaps a routing problem to your hosting company.

If it isn't then I would start worrying about the capacity of the hosting server and the amount of bandwidth it has or as you say if it is a problem with the host servers OS and its ability to provide php.

keith73

What are the specs on the 2 servers. That could be a factor. Perhaps the Windows machine has a slower processor or not enought memory.

Other factors could be if it is a shared or virtual hosting server, each site or user is only allocated a certain amount of cpu usage.

And you should do a traceroute to both sites from your location, then from some location on the web and compare.

I once had a host in South Carolina that every once in a while had trouble because of a router in North Carolina that was flaky and not owned by them. My traceroutes always stopped there with 3 different DSL providers. They seemed to all be going through some NOC down in Raleigh.

keith

andynightingale

Searching the net has found other people having the same problem. It seems to be with the way IIS handles the php ie upload two identical files one .html and one .php and there's a big difference.

I'll try the test for myself and see what happens

keith73

ah, you're using IIS on this windows machine. I've only ever used apache with php on win2k. I've only used IIS with ASP.

I know there are several different ways PHP can be installed, and the installation type could result in a faster or slower performance.

keith

andynightingale

Not by choice I'm afraid. It's my clients hosting company. My usual sites are on unix. I'll see if they can transfer to a different server.