Welcome to my blog about performance of a website. Below I will discuss the following factors which influence the websites performance. The three main areas which I will cover will be:
File types- pictures... sounds... gigabytes....
User side factors-memory size.... disconnected wires...traffic...viruses... Internet connection/ broadband/ dial up connection.....
Web server side factors performance-traffic... size of files.... memory size.... processor size...viruses
File types:Definition: The file type is the term used to describe the format of a file, commonly indicated by its file name extension. Referred to on wwwlb.aub.edu.lb/~acc/Resources/glossarycommonterms.htm . For example dance.mp3 shows that it is an mp3 audio file.
The file type and file size is very important in relation to a website when referring to its performance. Some files may download quicker than others, so it is vital to make sure you have the quickest possible file.
When referring to audio files the file extension can have a great impact upon the overall performance. A good example of a wav file could be an MP3, as shown in the picture below.
In reference to a "jpeg" file, it is more compressed and lower quality to that of a "wav file". This suggests that it would take a shorter time to load, which will be a lot more beneficial to use for a website, as it saves their user waiting along time to load. User side factors:
Definition: It is quite difficult to define what a user side factor is, as there is no exact definition. However in my own terms I can identify it is made up of several areas which could affect the overall performance of a website. For example, if the wire to the Internet connection was disconnected, the user would not be able to access the Internet,this therefore would mean the user would be restricted from using the website.. Other user side factors include:
Viruses- Viruses can affect the normal operation of a computer. It can slow down the Internet connection or make the computer processor think to hard which results it to be busy processing. This is hugely problematic when referring to the performance of an affective website, as it implies the user would not be able to access the website quickly.
Internet connection- How quick the website loads on the users computer depends upon what type of network connection they have. The use of Broadband connection is a lot faster than that of a dial-up connection, which can be proven in the table below. A slower connection means it takes a lot longer for the user to view and browse the website.
http://www.onlineconversion.com/downloadspeed.htm . The fundamental difference between dial up connection and Broadband Internet connection are:
- Website loading times- Broadband being much faster
- With broadband you are always aloud to be online while the telephone is not disabled.
Most home owners who have broadband own the broadband ADSL- 'Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line'- referred to from http://www.getonlinebroadband.com/faqs/faq01.html . This broadband service allows your download speed to be faster than your upload speed. For example : If you download a picture from a website being 1MB you will receive it faster than having to upload the same picture onto the web server.
Broadband- is the range of fast Internet connection comprised by:
- Home ADSL connections
- Fast Internet connections- via mobile phones.
- Other fast Internet connections used by businesses- fast satellite Internet connections.
Memory: The amount of programmes open on the users computer effects how quickly a web page will load. If the computer has several programmes open at once it may confuse the computer so therefore thus will slow down uploading each programme.
Not having the right programmes installed: Some websites require certain programmes to be installed in order to view the website, for example flash (image seen beside). Flash is a vector animation software, originally designed to create animations for display on web pages.( referred to from http://www.killersites.com/articles/articles_FlashUse.htm ).Vector graphics are ideal for the web because they are so lightweight. The websites
which are flash enabled require the user to download these settings. However in order to do this certain elements are required including appropriate software. (i.e Internet explorer for Mozilla FireFox). This means the user would not be able to effectively browse that certain site, as quickly and efficiently as they thought they would be able to. When viewing the site of http://home.disney.co.uk/tv/ you can see there are several flash files.Web server side factors performance:
Definition: Like user side factors web server side factors is also hard to define. It is based around the computer and the website. It has several factors which can influence the effectiveness of a web page. These are displayed below:
Traffic: Traffic on the web server results to the user not being able to access a website as quickly as they should. If the users worldwide were to type in the same web address at approximately the same time, the web server may have a lot of demands, causing it to take longer to upload, as there is a high number of people wanting to access the site. In some cases the web server may not be able to keep up with the demand, so they state "this page can not be displayed".
Large files: The website owner whom created their site may have a fast running computer network, so therefore choose to have large files on their website. However for some users this could be seen as a negative affective in relation to the websites performance, as those with slower networks may have to wait a long time, before all the website uploads. This can be very annoying and time wasting for the users.
Processor: If the computers processor is small, then uploading the website will take a long time. If the additional web server is too slow, it would benefit if the owner of the website had multiple web servers in order to make more available and balance the load. This will make the web server work more effectively, and perform better.
