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<h3>Speeding up a Slow Website Part 2 – SQL Server</h3>Following up on the previous article – speeding up a legacy website – this posting shows how we tackled the SQL database portion of the optimization.Database Design Any developer can create a database.Most developers can create a relational database and some developers can normalize and optimize a database.However very few developers can design a database that will perform effectively over years and as transactional volume increase Initially a poor design is not apparent due to the lack of traffic and companies marvel at how quick and easy the process was.As traffic increases,the database can become a bottleneck and site slowness and other problems start to appear.Companies typically respond to this by asking developers to optimize queries or by throwing in more powerful servers,memory and updating the operating systems and database software.This however only masks the problem for the short term.ROI to Replace a Legacy System In many cases,the ROI to rebuild the database just isn’t there.A brand new database design can be costly,require a much longer deployment and outages.The database is the central piece and will usually require changes in internal and other systems and processes,requiring changes for both consumers and users.Client Challenges Recently a large e-commerce company came to us with a challenge.The client had a 16 year old website running a classic ASP website on Microsoft SQL Server that was terribly slow.They asked us to identify quick and easy ways to make it faster.Their 80 person development teams had already tried optimizing the processes and identified the database as the culprit. They even built an extensive caching mechanism that generated HTML files multiple times per week.In spite of the efforts,the e-commerce processes were still extremely slow with average page load times of 30 or more seconds.With their busiest shopping season of the year approaching they needed results quickly.The client requested a complete review with a recommendations presentation within two weeks.Vimware Approach We approached the problem by looking at the code and the database.The fundamental issue was that the developers had tried to put as little stress as possible on the database and that resulted in a less than optimal design. In this post,I will highlight the suggestions we made for the database,and will also include a link to our detailed Recommendations-SQL-Server-Database-Optimization with all company information redacted.Vimware SolutionsThe short-term solutions focused on the following:1.Incorrect indexing strategy 2.Incorrect or missing clustered indexes 3.Too many reads 4.Incorrect TempDB design 5.Irrelevant or unnecessary data being returned 6.Inefficient and poorly written SQL Server queries. 7.Incorrect SQL Server settings.In every case, there were improvements that could have been made. Medium to long-term solutions were to point out:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<ol><li style="list-style-type: none;" data-mce-style="list-style-type: none;"><ol><li>Re-design sections of the database</li><li>Remove SQL Queries embedded in code</li><li>Modify the process of database changes</li><li>Add senior database engineer(s)</li></ol></li></ol><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1" data-mce-style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table>Based in Burbank,California since 2015,Vimware is dedicated to supporting small to midsize businesses and agencies with their behind-the-scenes IT needs.As a Managed Service Provider (MSP), we offer a range of services including cloud solutions,custom programming,mobile app development, marketing dashboards, and strategic IT consulting.Our goal is to ensure your technology infrastructure operates smoothly and efficiently, allowing you to focus on growing your business.<a data-mce-href="https://vimware.com/about/contact-us" href="https://vimware.com/about/contact-us" data-mce-selected="inline-boundary">Contact us</a> to learn how we can assist in optimizing your IT operations.

Speeding up a Slow Website Part 2 – Microsoft SQL Server

<h3>Speeding up a Slow Website – Classic ASP Code</h3>Legacy Website Complexities&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Speeding up a legacy website can be more complex than you think. Software typically has a life expectancy of three to seven years.A well designed system might last seven years while a poorly designed system will last three years,and likely much less.Many businesses have critical core business processes based on corporate software that dates back decades running COBOL,Fortran or other systems from the 1980s and earlier.ROI to Replace a Legacy System&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;In many cases,the ROI to completely overhaul the system just isn’t there. Also, the individuals who built the system might be long gone and rewriting it would be a major effort.A new system means new hardware, software licensing costs and re-training staff. Not to mention the development costs of a technology team with individuals to program, project manage, test and maintain.Because of the high costs,many companies decide to stick with their legacy system and try to make it faster by throwing more and more hardware at it.Client Challenges&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Recently a large ecommerce company came to us with a challenge.The client had a 16 year old website running classic ASP that was terribly slow. They asked us to identify quick and easy ways to make it faster.Their development teams had already implemented the basics such as optimizing images.They even built an extensive caching mechanism that generated HTML files multiple times per week.In spite of their efforts, the ecommerce processes were still extremely slow with average page load times of 30 or more seconds.With their busiest shopping season of the year approaching they needed results quickly.The client requested a complete review with a recommendations presentation within two weeks.Vimware Approach&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; We approached the problem by looking at the code and the database.The fundamental issue was that the developers had tried to put as little stress as possible on the database and that resulted in a less than optimal design. &nbsp;In this post,I will highlight the code review and high level suggestions,and will also include a link to our detailed Classic ASP recommendations with company information redacted.In the next post, I will discuss what we recommended on the database side.&nbsp; &nbsp; Vimware SolutionsThe short-term solutions focused on the following:<ol><li style="list-style-type: none;"><ol><li style="">Page/scripting issues – check that best practices were followed when developing ASP pages.</li><li style="">Embedded non-optimized SQL queries – these are calls to the database</li><li style="">Unnecessary include files – code referenced by the web page that is not needed</li><li style="">Keeping database connections open after requests</li></ol></li></ol>In every case, there were improvements that could have been made.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Long-term solutions were to:<ol><li style="">Move embedded SQL to the database.</li><li style="">Upgrade software to .NET or other modern technology</li><li style="">Improve the database capabilities</li></ol><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1" data-mce-style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table>Based in Burbank, California since 2015, Vimware is dedicated to supporting small to midsize businesses and agencies with their behind-the-scenes IT needs. As a Managed Service Provider (MSP), we offer a range of services including cloud solutions, custom programming, mobile app development, marketing dashboards, and strategic IT consulting. Our goal is to ensure your technology infrastructure operates smoothly and efficiently, allowing you to focus on growing your business.<a data-mce-href="https://vimware.com/about/contact-us" href="https://vimware.com/about/contact-us" data-mce-selected="inline-boundary"> Contact us </a>to learn how we can assist in optimizing your IT operations.

Speeding up a Slow Website – Classic ASP Code

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Vimware is a Kentico Partner after deploying multiple e-commerce sites over the last four years. To date, web sites have been built in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. Kentico helps clients create successful websites, online stores, community sites, and intranets using Kentico integrated marketing solution. With offices in the United States, United Kingdom, and Czech Republic and more than 1,000 partners in 80 countries, Kentico is one of the industry leaders worldwide and is part of Gartner’s Magic Quadrant in 2017. &nbsp;More information can be found at kentico.com and a personalized demo of the software and its capabilities can be scheduled.<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1" data-mce-style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td><td style="width: 10%;" data-mce-style="width: 10%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table>Based in Burbank, California since 2015, Vimware is dedicated to supporting small to midsize businesses and agencies with their behind-the-scenes IT needs. As a Managed Service Provider (MSP), we offer a range of services including cloud solutions, custom programming, mobile app development, marketing dashboards, and strategic IT consulting. Our goal is to ensure your technology infrastructure operates smoothly and efficiently, allowing you to focus on growing your business. <a data-mce-href="https://vimware.com/about/contact-us" href="https://vimware.com/about/contact-us" data-mce-selected="inline-boundary">Contact us</a> to learn how we can assist in optimizing your IT operations.

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Speeding up a Slow Website Part 2 – Microsoft SQL Server

Speeding up a Slow Website – Classic ASP Code

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