Through server optimization, you can increase its speed and overall performance. Numerous companies use a variety of techniques to optimize their servers and ensure that it meets the functionality, availability, and accessibility requirements of their websites. Server optimization has a direct effect on the primary functions of a website, but how does it work?
Below, we will examine server optimization in detail, covering the benefits, essential techniques, and important server optimization guidelines to help you get started.
The Explanation of Server Optimisation
Server optimization encompasses a variety of procedures designed to improve a server's application configuration, data processing efficiency, overall speed, and overall performance. Organizations can use specific optimization techniques to construct and maintain an application delivery network that functions optimally.
Best practices for server optimization involve physical hardware stabilization in the data center and server virtualization.
Why Implement Server Optimization?
Servers are crucial to the operation of a website. Every time a user visits a web page, the web server receives a request to display that page. The server will process this request and provide the user with the appropriate response. The performance characteristics of this server determine the speed and overall quality of this response.
Simply investing in hardware with the newest features will not always enable businesses to meet customer expectations, nor will it resolve all server issues. Server optimization is crucial for this reason.
Here are five indications that a business needs server optimization:
- Their website is unresponsive, albeit only intermittently.
- Web pages load more slowly than they should.
- There are server issues affecting the user experience and possibly affecting sales.
- The decline in conversion rates indicates an issue with speed and/or performance.
- Specific applications (e.g. VoIP) refuse to run properly.
In any of these situations, it is highly likely that the server has become overloaded and cannot perform essential operations. The website's accessibility will continue to deteriorate, and the server will be unable to handle the typical volume of traffic.
What are the most effective server optimization strategies?
Organizations can utilize a variety of server optimization strategies to increase server speed and performance. In this section, we'll examine some of the most prevalent and efficient options:
Website Caching
Caching is one of the most effective server optimization techniques. This involves storing the current version of a website on the hosting server and serving it to users until the site is updated. Since they are cached, pages do not need to send database requests each time.
Caches can be enabled in numerous places, including:
- Memory cache
- HTTP cache
- Application cache
- OpCode cache
Virtualization
Software is used to divide a physical server into many virtual servers during server virtualization. These isolated virtual servers can function independently and run their operating systems. With server virtualization, physical servers can run multiple operating systems and servers at the same time.
Database Optimization
Database optimization is a method for reducing the response times of database systems and enhancing the performance of a website. The databases store information in a hierarchical structure designed to facilitate the organization and extraction of content.
Content Delivery Network
A content delivery network (CDN) is a collection of servers located in different geographic locations that work together to deliver numerous types of online content, such as:
- Stylesheets
- Videos
- Images
- HTML pages
- JavaScript files
Today, CDNs serve most of the web traffic from major sites such as Facebook and Netflix. With the proper configuration, CDN can also safeguard websites against common cyberattacks (e.g. ransomware or botnet attacks).
Reduce CSS and JavaScript Files
Websites with numerous CSS and Javascript files generate a large number of HTTP requests whenever a user attempts to access a particular file. This can slow down a user's browser and the website itself.
However, reducing the number of CSS and Javascript files can boost the site's performance and speed. You can reduce the overall number of HTTP requests by separating CSS and Javascript into separate groups.
Optimize Image Sizing
Images add weight to websites and slow them down. However, they are an essential component of an engaging, visually pleasing website, whether for displaying data or showcasing products. What then can you do?
Image optimization allows you to increase a website's speed and performance by reducing the amount of space required to store images and decreasing their overall bandwidth consumption.
Use Fewer Plugins
Plugins are essential for websites because they add new third-party features that improve functionality. However, using more plugins requires more resources to optimize their performance. Your websites will begin to slow down, and you may also encounter security issues.
Thankfully, you can disable or delete non-essential plugs to improve performance and speed.
Benefiting from Prefetching
Prefetching is a common technique for reading and executing site instructions before the user initiates them. As this is assumed user behavior, the best browsers of today enable prefetching by default.
Prefetching is unquestionably advantageous, but intensive analysis of user behavior is required to ensure that assumptions are accurate. There are three primary types of prefetching available:
- Link prefetching
- Pre-rendering
- DNS prefetching
Use Fewer Redirects
Redirects are indispensable when relocating or deleting pages. They are the most effective method for avoiding broken link problems. However, excessive redirects can result in additional HTTP requests and ultimately a performance decrease (especially for mobile users). Eliminating unnecessary redirects can greatly enhance performance and speed.