Magento 1.9 extremely slow, time outs and cache issues

[JLHC]

mod_fcgid is a web server level configuration that is out of your control.

From everything we see so far it does look like the server or hosting service may not be up to it, like your developer stated as well.

Your hosting provider also doesn't seem to be very familiar with Magento which is complicating the resolution as they are not able to pinpoint the source of the problem.

You may want to try running your site or setup a test site (replicating all your files and database) at another hosting provider and see if that resolves the problem.

[jimbobber]

Thanks, yeah I did some research and agree with you, this is the Fast CG on the Apache server, I know enough to know that this is well out of my control.

The hosting company has basically doubled down when I brought this up.

Keep in mind the site used to work, a little slow but it worked, we were advised to upgrade the hosting to make things faster and since then the site doesn't work at all.

They now say:

"Yes the website will time out when access it on my end, it is because , your site's performance exceeded the PHP memory limit and that cause the execution time to time out.

PHP memory limit and execution time of the shared hosting has a default value which we cannot adjust "

They have blamed the site, the code, and now this.

They keep uploading a test file that works so that's good enough for them to blame the site and never the server.

This has gone on for three weeks and I feel really let down.

I have made a dump of the MySQL database, FTP'd the site down and am now looking to move the whole thing.

I am beyond upset.

[JLHC]

Most hosting providers actually allow you to adjust the PHP memory_limit and max_execution_time so if they do not allow it, this is another red flag to me. 

Anyway please do keep us updated on your progress. 

[jimbobber]

I will thanks.

It is frustrating because while I don't know everything there is to know I do know my way around servers etc and this feels really constricting for no good reason.

I have had the OK to cancel the hosting off the site owner, but I'll keep pushing the issue for now and see if any resolution can be had.

I am looking at moving it to here:

https://www.simpleservers.co.uk/magento-hosting

These guys seem really switched on and have been great so far at answering my questions etc

[jimbobber]

UPDATE

OK, I think I have had enough, they just replied and have copied and pasted the ENTIRE reply from here:

https://smallbiztrends.com/2013/11/wordpress-site-runs-slow-fixes.html

They said in their ticket reply:

==================================================================

Apologies, The problem you are having with your website as checked is not a server issue.

There are plenty of things that could be slowing you down. Below are common reasons for sluggish performance on WordPress platforms, and how you can fix them.

1. You're Running Too Many Plugins - the more plugins you have, the more work your website has to do while it’s loading. And second, not all plugins are created equally—poor or outdated plugins can slow down site performance drastically.

The FIX: Evaluate your current plugins to figure out which ones you actually need. Get rid of multiple plugins that perform the same functions, plugins that you’re no longer using, and those that were created more than 5 years ago and have never been updated.

2. Your Homepage Has it All - the homepage is the first one your visitors see. So you might have designed it to show off everything you can, in order to impress new visitors. The more widgets and content you have on the front page, the longer your site takes to load.

The FIX: Keep in mind that a clean design is just as impressive. Don’t stick sharing widgets everywhere on your homepage (save them for the end of your blog posts, where they’ll have the most impact). Pare down and remove any unnecessary widgets or plugins.

3. Your Pictures/Images Take Up Too Much Space - The higher the size and quality of an image, the longer it takes to load.

The FIX: Lazy Load—a process that loads only the images appearing “above the fold,” or on the part of the site a visitor is actually viewing. You can do this automatically with the jQuery Image Lazy Load plugin.

4. You’re Using a “Free” Third-Party WordPress Theme

The FIX: only use themes from the official WordPress theme repository.

https://www.stopbadware.org/blog/2012/02/21/5-reasons-why-websites-are-hacked-and-blacklisted

There are plugins of Wordpress application that require a bigger resources and which is not compatible on a shared hosting server. I would suggest to switch to a Cloud or Dedicated server package, so that you can install whatever plugin you may need in your website.

For more information about the Cloud and Dedicated server hosting, please refer to the link below:

==========================================================

So, they are blaming our Wordpress site even though it is not Wordpress and are basically trying to sell us a dedicated server to run what they presume is a Wordpress site.

I am at a loss for words at this point, I really am.

[JLHC]

Based on my experience this is always the problem with hosting providers who are not familiar with Magento. They will just blame the application instead of their own servers and they won't even be able to pinpoint the exact cause of the problem to back them up.

It sounds like the support you received is even worse (and possibly outsourced) if they can confuse your application with WordPress.

As for SimpleServers, I don't have any experience with them so I cannot comment too much but do check if they are able to resolve the problem that you described and if not, make sure that they have some sort of money back guarantee so that you won't lose anything. It'll be even better if you can stage your site in their server to test everything out first before moving over.

[jimbobber]

Thanks, yeah it feels outsourced.

I have on multiple occasions asked to have the ticket escalated but it has not happened.

The hosts I am looking at offer a free setup for the site to make sure it works.

I am however looking at the links on your signature, any top tips on inexpensive hosting for a small store with small traffic?

Look, man, I also want to thank you sincerely, you've literally been the only person I have been able to even bounce ideas off in a serious manner, thank you very very much.

[JLHC]

You can't go wrong with any of the companies I recommend for a small store with minimal traffic.

What I think is more important is to try getting a staging environment setup to make sure that everything runs properly with the new host and if not, have the new host help resolve the problem and at the worse case take advantage of their money back guarantee to get a refund and move on to the next host.

[hejhoguk]

Similar issues with cache.  Did you swap to simpleservers?