Slow Response – Download / Upload

Slow Response – Download / Upload

by Mark Hardwick -
Number of replies: 6

Hi,

I’m on M2.03 using Windows based computers in house and I’m experiencing a terribly slow reaction time between inputs and response during the general use of Moodle and especially during the editing process.  Literally it’s as much as 5 – 15 seconds between mouse click and full page reloading.  If I could put the delays together it would be enough time for a great power nap.    

My Set-Up is:  All computers are Pentium 4 or equal and some better.  We have a DSL line (sorry don’t know what type until Monday) that use a “2-Wire” modem and two switch boxes each listed at 10/100/1000 speed to handle all of our computers.  One 16 port switch drives all of our office computers and one 24 port switch runs all of our training computers.  We use our office computers for everything and are not experiencing any particular problems with the rest of our activities on our network however, most of our activity is in-house and not internet based but the system including basic internet usage does not have this problem.  My Web-Host has a high-end system that serves many clients and assures me that no one else is having this sort of problem.    

I’ve bypassed all of the switch gear and tried several different computers and it’s all about the same.  I ran several speed tests on the DSL line both through the switches and not and the results are: average download speed of 5.0 mbps and average upload speed of .63 mbps with and without the switch.  The upload seems slow but is not causing problems elsewhere.  The phone company has been out a while back when we had a connection problem; fixed the problem and said all is well.

Could someone tell me if this up load speed is my problem and do I stand a chance with this type of DSL line?  If the speed is suitable, then what else can I do to fix this problem?

Mark    

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Mark Hardwick

Re: Slow Response – Download / Upload

by Troo Don -

Seems to be a server-side issue and not an issue with your connection, so check your Moodle install.

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Mark Hardwick

Re: Slow Response – Download / Upload

by ben reynolds -

Mark,

I don't know who your ISP is, but that's a pretty slow upload speed. On a Win 7 64 bit laptop out on my backporch using WiFi through an aluminum house skin, a tiled bathroom, and a galvanized tin air duct, my download is 1.01 Mbps and upload is 2+ mbps. Not bragging, since this is a slow connection.

You might have a server-side issue, but I'd suspect security software (firewall, etc) first.  If you've got a firewall that isn't Windows, see what happens when you add your moodle to its trusted sites list. Same for browsers.

Cnet says the two fastest browsers for redrawing an entire page are IE 9 32-bit and Chrome. IE9 has a pile o' problems, and Chrome doesn't like 1.9's HTML editor.

We work with both a web-hosted Moodle and our own server-hosted Moodle, and most of the time, we get a much faster response.

Average of ratings: -
In reply to ben reynolds

Re: Slow Response – Download / Upload

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Translators
> Cnet says the two fastest browsers for redrawing an entire page are IE 9 32-bit and Chrome. IE9 has a pile o' problems, and Chrome doesn't like 1.9's HTML editor.

That's a never ending topic. Right now discussed in /.
"The Latest Web Browser Grand Prix"
http://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/08/29/1229214/The-Latest-Web-Browser-Grand-Prix
Average of ratings: -
In reply to Mark Hardwick

Re: Slow Response – Download / Upload

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Translators
Just some clarifications:

> I’m on M2.03 using Windows based computers in house

The Moodle server is a single computer. Are you talking about the clients?

> My Set-Up is:  All computers are Pentium 4 or equal and some better.  We have a DSL line (sorry don’t know what type until Monday) that use a “2-Wire” modem and two switch boxes each listed at 10/100/1000 speed to handle all of our computers.  One 16 port switch drives all of our office computers and one 24 port switch runs all of our training computers. 

Here is what I gather from your description:

|  DSL-Line
---------------
DSL Modem
---------------
|
|---------------------------
|                          |
-----------            ----------------
SW-1                  SW-2
----------            ----------------
|                        |
O (16x)              T (24x)


> We use our office computers for everything and are not experiencing any particular problems with the rest of our activities on our network however, most of our activity is in-house and not internet based but the system including basic internet usage does not have this problem.

So your office computers have "normal" speed browsing the Internet? How about the training computers?

> My Web-Host has a high-end system that serves many clients and assures me that no one else is having this sort of problem.

And the Moodle server is in the Internet, outside your company network?

> I’ve bypassed all of the switch gear and tried several different computers and it’s all about the same.

You changed the network cabling and equipment?

> I ran several speed tests on the DSL line both through the switches and not and the results are: average download speed of 5.0 mbps and average upload speed of .63 mbps with and without the switch.

A quick single measurement of the ADSL connection in the test lab gave 5400 kbit/s down, 680 kbit/s up. They are in the same range as yours.

> Could someone tell me if this up load speed is my problem and do I stand a chance with this type of DSL line?

If your server is in the Internet the down link is utilized more.  I don't see a problem in your figures.

>  If the speed is suitable, then what else can I do to fix this problem?

Did you go throught the pointers given in the introduction to this forum, for example
http://docs.moodle.org/en/Performance_FAQ#How_do_I_benchmark_a_Moodle-site.3F
http://docs.moodle.org/en/Performance#Web_server_performance ?

Did you look at the number after activating Server -> Debugging -> Performance info ?
Average of ratings: -
In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera

Re: Slow Response – Download / Upload

by Mark Hardwick -

Visvanath,

Thanks for taking a look at this.  I’ll try to clarify these points.

 Server:

Our Moodle 2.03 is installed on our web-hosts system and we just access it at our place of business.  I don’t know the specs on his system but I know my stuff is small compared to some of his clients.  I talked to him today and he assures me that his system is far from loaded as he watches it throughout the day.

 In-House System:

You have diagrammed the setup well. That’s exactly what we have.  All of our office computers are on the 16x switch and all of the training computers are on the 24x switch.  Both switches connect directly to the modem.  

 Yes, all of our computers including the training computers have what I would consider “normal” internet speed but as I’ve mentioned, most of our business activities (other than Moodle) stays within our building and accesses a built up computer that we have set aside for peer-to-peer file sharing.  I have also changed the cables to the system that I’m using most of the time and it’s about the same.

 I will change more connections, cables and computers and check closer to the modem & switches to see if I can detect any changes.  Thanks for the performance docs.  I will check them out to see if there is anything in there that would help.  My web-host wants me to get a larger/faster service because of the number of computers I’m running so I’m going to check into that.  I will say that some of the computers run a little faster than others so I’ll evaluate the hardware in those as well.  Also, I will look at the de-bugging.

 Thanks for your time.  I'll post back in a day or two when I narrow it down.

Mark

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Mark Hardwick

Re: Slow Response – Download / Upload

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Translators
My first guess is a problem with your Moodle hoster. If you can access other service in the Internet at normal speeds why not Moodle?

I would not manupulate inhouse cabling. Moodle does not require any special networking! The only place to check is the DSL-modem/router, especially deactivate firewalls during testing.

I hope your Moodle hoster knows about Moodle. It is not just any website, it is fully interactive and requires lot of ressources. Cheap hoster often get "surprised" by the needs of Moodle. I also hope your hoster has technically competent staff to monitor the server and give you access to those performance graphs. "We have bigger customers" is just big talk.
Average of ratings: -