This blog is going to be out factors that affect website performance some on these can affect the user side or the sever side of viewing websites.
User Side
User Side factors that can affect website performance could be download speed, browser type and PC memory. I will now discuss these factors in a more detail below.
Download Speed
Download Speed is how fast your connection speed can download certain files to your computer from the internet for example if your download speed is 1MB/M which is a average download speed this means a file that is 10megabytes such as a song can be download quickly. The download speed can be bad or good for the user because if the user has a fast download speed this means the website that the user is on will be able to load faster as well as the content on the website will be download quicker which is going to be a positive factors towards the user side. But on the other hand if the user has a bad download speed this means the website that the user is on is going to find the website performance poor as it might take too long to download the content.
Browser
Browser is the software that allows the end user to access the World Wide Web. Different browsers can be good and bad because certain browsers can load quicker then others. For example Internet Explorer and in my opinion takes a long time opening and accessing website which is going to be a hinder as the end user doesn’t want to wait a long time to view websites and also if the website is taking a long time to load after a while the specific software could not be responding meaning after a while you have to close the software down which means taking more time to view the websites. But on the other hand Firefox loads faster and websites are quicker to access from personal experience. As having a better browser can be good because this means the end user it going to wait a short time when loading website compared to someone using Internet Explorer. The main factor about browsers is that they are meant to display content to the end user but some browsers are not capable of displaying all types of content. For example some browsers don’t allow flash content. This affects website performance.
Cache Memory
The cache is a special type of computer memory which can be accessed much faster then RAM. The CPU looks in the cache for the data it needs. If the data is there, it will retrieve it and process it. The purpose of cache memory is that it stores web data that the end user has been on before so the next time the end user is on that website, the web pages will load faster.
This is a benefit to the user side because if the user has been on websites that he/she has been on before it will mean the cache memory will store the content on that specific site so the next time the user is on that site, the site will load faster as the information and content is stored before. But on the other hand if the user’s cache memory is full it will mean the user won’t be able to store more data for other websites which is a limitation for the user side. This is why the user should be aware of their cache memory on their computer.
Processor Speed
Processor speed is measured in GHZ. It’s like a brain for your PC. When it comes to processor speed the higher the speed you have for example 3GHZ with good RAM will mean your computer/laptop will run faster etc... This can be a limitation or a benefit depending on your computer specification. It also depends on the use of the end user for example if the end user wants to use it for gaming, watching or streaming movies a higher GHZ would be better but for someone else that wants one just for doing work a lower GHZ would be better. This is user based because it all depends on what computer you have got and what price did you get if for because the more you pay for your computer the better specs you are going to get. The better processor speed it means the better the PC you have and also the better experience when viewing website will be able to load faster as your PC will be able to handle the website.
Server Side
Factors that affect the server side could be website content, scripts, bandwidth limitations and server storage space. Factors such as server availability, web page upload times, errors, links to your website, broken links and website statistics indicate server side website performance.
Website Content
Website content can be both a limitation for the server because if your website has broken links it’s going to affect both the server and the user. Also if your website has content that can’t be loaded for example videos or pictures that can’t load which will affect the user because then the user won’t be able to see the content. This will affect the server side because if the website it self it not working 100% correct it means the end users won’t be able to view the website correctly. This could mean the website server could have crashed because of overflowing users which means not everyone is able to access the website. Website content is important for the maker to consider that not everyone can view all types of content such as file types in the next section.
File Types– Bitmap, vector, jpg, gif, wav, mp3, avi, swf
File types are when certain file types are for certain programs for example windows media player can play mp3, mp4 and avi files and some files won’t be able to work with certain programs. Having different file types separated files into certain programs. This can be a limitation and a benefit depends on the type of file for example if the pictures you have are a bigger file size it will mean that the picture quality is going to better. It’s the same for an mp3 or avi file it’s depends on the file size which will mean better quality but if for the user if you have a terrible connection speed it will take a long time to download. This will affect the server side because if the website it self has too many content it means the server has to be upgraded to handle all the content that is on the website.
Web Server Capacity – available bandwith, executions to be performed before page load, number of hits
Website Server Capacity is the amount of signal that is available also a number of actions when it comes to loading pages. Bandwidth is a hinder and a benefit depending on the situation for example if you have a good bandwidth it will mean that you are able to upload and download files from the internet to your computer quickly but on the other hand a hinder is that if you are using wireless connection instead of a wired connection could impact the speed. If you are far away from your router or connection point and if your Internet Service Provider is not good compared to others for example Talk Talk is not good compared to Virgin Media. The website must have a good server that is available to use and handle the number of hits that is being received because if the server is down or being upgraded this will be a hinder to the user and the website because no one will be able to access the website. Also if the website is overflowing because of the amount of people that are viewing this is sign to tell the people that made the website to upgrade their current server.
Scripts
Scripts allow functionally of websites this is so anyone can access the website. Scripts allow dynamic websites to work which is good for user that want to use and access the website. Scripts are a benefit to the server because it allows web pages to access information from different sources. This will affect the server side as for example if the website has too many scripts it will mean the server side performance is affected.
Security risks and protection mechanisms involved in a website performance
This section of the blog is going to be about the security risk that the creator of the website as well as the end user must be aware off.
Security Risks
Pagejacking is when someone is taking someone else website and make it look different to make it look like it’s their own website. This is a problem that can happen to anyone and it will most likely affect the end user as the end user could be unaware of which website is real or not. When it comes to website performance this wouldn’t be a major factor but it can influence what the creator can do with the website but it not going to affect the website performance.
Phishing is when someone sends email to your email account and the email is spam email but makes it look believable so you can be mislead to be thinking it’s real and give away private information to an unknown person and that person can do anything with the information you have given to them. This could affect website performance but it doesn’t it will make the end user be more careful when sending private information through an email address even if you are 100% the email address is real because it could be fake or even could be linked to someone that has created a pagejacking website.
Identity Theft is when someone takes someone else identity for their own purposes. This is when the thief takes credit card details and any other important information to make sure when they use someone else’s identity to buy products. This will not affect website performance the website create must make sure when a customer is entering personal information the website must have the correct protection in order for the customer to feel safe.
Virus is software that is on your computer and if you open the software or download it mistakenly it could lead to major problems with your computer. To overcome this problem you need to download anti-virus software such as Norton. Also you can get a virus by downloading a file on the internet or even going to an unknown website. This will affect the website performance because if the website server has got a virus into the system the website it self is not going to perform to its best. Also since the website server has got a virus this means it going to shut the website down and make the creators spend more time trying to resolve the virus.
Hacking is the breaking down of security firewalls to manipulate software or obtain certain information, such as bank detail or even employee information. Also hackers can get into a server for a business and with the information they are getting they can do anything they want to. Hacking is an illegal act. This is a hider when it comes to website performance because if someone is hacking the website, the hacker can do anything when he or she’s has access to the website. The hacker would be able to steal information, put a virus on the server which will cause major problems for the website performance.
These are the issues to overcome the security risks or even to know how you get prevent your self from getting hacked or even identity theft.
Protection Mechanisms
This last section of this blog is about how can an end user can identify if a website is safe or not as well as the creator can use these to make sure his/her website is protected.
HTTP and HTTPS
HTTP is insecure and is subject to man-in-the-middle and eavesdropping attacks, which can let attackers gain access to website accounts and sensitive information. HTTPS is designed to withstand such attacks and is considered secure against such attacks (with the exception of older deprecated versions of SSL). VeriSign is a company that can ensure to make sure your website is safe by testing it in different methods. VeriSign use SSL Certification is one of the products that they offer, Code Signing, Symantec Safe and Secure and Identify and Authentication are the products they VeriSign to make sure you website safe. This can help the user because if you are on a website such as a banking website you have to make sure the URL has turned green, has a padlock, https and make sure it’s verified safe from a company then you can 100% this website is not a Pagejacking website that looks believable. Examples of website are VeriSign and Instant SSL.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_Secure#Difference_from_HTTP
Digital Certificate
It’s an attachment what is used for security purposes. The most common use of a digital certificate is to verify that a user sending a message is who he or she claims to be, and to provide the receiver with the means to encode a reply. This will not involve any website performance because this is just stating that the end user is proving valid proof that he or she is actually that person when sending personal information or doing anything that is required important information.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/digital_certificate.html
Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
Provides communication security over the internet. It will encrypt the website to make sure it’s safe. This applies to PayPal or a company that has to hold private information such as customer information, credit card information because you don’t want someone else access your private information. It’s a secure connection to the website and the website has been identified that it’s safe from third party website such as VeriSign.
Use of Password
Having password is good because it can protect your accounts so when creating an account make sure the password you have is hard for someone to know and easy for your self to remember and also when making multiple accounts for different reasons make sure you don’t have the same password for every account that you have made. That involved website performance because when it comes to use of passwords because the website performance might slow down when it comes to entering passwords because the server could be overloaded with password and could affect the performance of the website.
Legal Considerations
Legal Consideration is legal acts that you have to keep in mind such as Data Protection Act 1998, Freedom of Information Act, Copyright Act and Computer Misuse Act. This is important when it comes to website security because the creator has to me aware of the laws that are relevant when it comes to website security. Such as the Data Protection Act because this is a law that indicated the protection of certain information as within the website there must be something to make sure data is going to be protected.
