When your website loads slowly, visitors become frustrated, leading to a loss of audience, a damaged reputation, and missed business opportunities. This is why it is crucial to enhance your website’s performance. In this regard, opting for a dedicated Linux server hosting plan can solve a plethora of business problems. We bet you have already realized that website loading speed is a key factor in technical SEO. There’s a reason, after all, why top-performing websites invest heavily in optimizing their websites. The reason is simple! Fast-loading web pages keep users satisfied, and that can significantly reduce the bounce rate. If you are using Linux hosting and want to improve your website’s speed and performance, here we will provide detailed insights on how to achieve that with Linux dedicated servers. Let’s get started without further ado.
What is Linux Server Hosting?
Linux server hosting is a web hosting solution that runs on the Linux operating system (OS). This versatile hosting option is ideal for hosting websites, web applications, and other forms of live content. Linux, being a free and open-source OS, is widely favored for web hosting due to its reliability, flexibility, and ease of use. By choosing Linux server hosting, you can gain access to a robust, flexible, and cost-effective solution that caters to a wide array of web hosting needs. Here are the major advantages of using a dedicated Linux server hosting for your website:
- Simple and Easy Setup: Linux is known for its straightforward installation and modification processes, making it user-friendly for both beginners and experienced users.
- Cost-Effective: As a free OS, Linux eliminates the need for licensing fees, allowing hosting providers to offer more affordable services.
- High Compatibility: Linux is compatible with a wide range of popular languages and tools, such as PHP, MySQL, and Python, making it a versatile choice for various web development needs.
- Extensive Distribution Options: There are hundreds of Linux distributions available, each with unique features and benefits, allowing hosting providers to offer customized solutions to meet specific requirements.
- Active Community Support: Linux boasts a vibrant community of developers and users who are always ready to provide assistance, share resources, and advocate for improvements, ensuring continuous support and development.
How to Improve Website Speed using Dedicated Linux Server Hosting?
Linux OS is one of the most reliable open-source platforms available in the market. It promises impressive flexibility, security, and compatibility. This is the reason why it has become an ideal option for developers and businesses for their projects.This particular operating system lets users find an ideal environment to build any type of website including blogs, digital news mediums, e-commerce platforms, and others. If you are determined to use Linux web hosting for your websites and applications, the following tips and techniques will help improve its speed and performance:
Select a Lightweight Linux Server
You can use a lightweight Linux web hosting optimized for performance. Ubuntu or CentOS are some of the perfect examples of Linux distributions that you can use to keep your blog or e-commerce website working swiftly.A big advantage of using a dedicated Linux server hosting is that it doesn’t slow down with time like other platforms. If you want your website to perform swiftly and make it to the top, a lightweight Linux-based server is an essential requirement.
Enable Regular Caching on the Website
When an end-user sends a request for any data from your website, the server will try to retrieve the required files, perform complex calculations, and provide the result to complete the query. This phenomenon increases the server’s response time, especially when many visitors are trying to load the same file repeatedly.To resolve this, you can set up a caching mechanism on your website that can save a copy of the web page’s content on the server to reduce the page loading time. It also saves the server’s resources and the specific page will load in a quicker timespan.
Utilize a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a cluster of servers geographically distributed to speed up the delivery of your web content by bringing it closer to the end user’s location. The closer the user will be to your content, the faster will be the response time.When your content is distributed geographically, it increases your page load time but using a CDN can solve this problem. CDNs are also capable of storing various types of website content including HTML pages, JavaScript files, Stylesheets, & media files.Some other advantages of using a CDN include strong protection against general security threats like Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, abusive bots, and spammy crawlers.
Minimize CSS and JavaScript Files
You can cut back on the CSS and JavaScript files to remove all unused and extra characters from the source code to decrease the overall file sizes. This improves your website’s loading speed due to needing less bandwidth capacity for functioning.Fewer codes also reduce the HTTPS requests needed to render a web page. This will improve the loading time of your website and enhance its performance greatly.
Switch to Faster Storage Options
Another tip is to switch to a faster storage option for your Linux dedicated servers to enhance the website speed and performance. Choosing a Solid State Disk (SSD) over a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) is the first step you should follow. This is because an average HDD can read and write data at 80 to 160 Mbps while a basic SSD can do the same tasks at 200–550 Mbps, which is 5 to 20 times faster than the HDD. This leads to a better website loading speed and performance.
Check DNS Lookup Time
Domain Name System (DNS) lookup is the process that translates your domain name to a computer-readable IP address. For instance, it converts “www.xyz.com” to “192.168.4.10.” For this, the browser contacts a DNS resolver, which then fetches the IP address of the website to the Linux hosting.This process consumes around 20 to 120 milliseconds (ms) on average. However, sometimes it may take a longer duration which slows down your website. You might need to check the DNS lookup speed and fix any existing issues to rectify your site’s performance.
Perform Regular Checks on the Website
You should perform regular website speed tests and other checks to assess the average page loading time of your website. This will help you figure out any shortcomings or reasons behind the slowing down of web pages.There are several free online speed testing tools that you can use to analyze and troubleshoot the problems with your website’s page loading time. Here are some examples:
- WebPageTest
- GTMetrix
- Pingdom Tools
- DebugBear
- PageSpeed Insights
You can find valuable insights from these tools which will help you keep your website running smoothly.
Monitor & Optimize Server Resources
After performing regular tests, you can figure out any potential performance bottlenecks that might slow down your website. If there is any, you must optimize it right away to improve the speed and performance of the site.Regularly monitoring and optimizing server resources like CPU, memory, and disk usage will help you keep your visitors satisfied and loyal.
Final Word
A dedicated Linux server hosting is the key to having a fast and top-performing website. However, it can’t do everything alone, and you must implement the 8 measures shared above to keep your website loading time low and performance high.These techniques can play an integral role in making your website load faster and delivering a satisfying user experience. This is why the careful selection of your hosting provider is essential to keep your visitors happy as your server should have a cent-percent uptime, powerful security, and live support. When looking for premier Linux web hosting providers, look no further than i2k2 Networks – your trusted partner. With decades of expertise in managed IT services under our belt, we can help you navigate this digital transformation effortlessly. Experience the flexibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness that comes with Linux dedicated servers with i2k2 Networks by your side. Contact us today at +91-120-466-3031 | +91-971-177-4040 or drop a mail at sales@i2k2.com to discover how we can optimize your IT operations and propel your business forward. You may also fill out ourcontact form for a prompt inquiry.
About the Author
Chandra Prakash Nautiyal, as the Pre-sales Manager at i2k2 Networks, embodies the confluence of technical expertise and strategic foresight in the domain of IT infrastructure and disaster recovery solutions. With a robust background in information technology and a keen eye for emerging trends, Chandra plays a pivotal role in steering i2k2 Networks towards innovative solutions that cater to the dynamic needs of businesses in today’s digital era.
Chandra is passionate about exploring new technologies and their potential applications in enhancing disaster recovery strategies. His vision is a business landscape where IT resilience is not just a response to risks but a foundational element of business strategy and growth.