# What's happening when a website runs slow? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 20, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-when-a-website-runs-slow/661492 "2013-06-20T18:00:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-when-a-website-runs-slow/661492/1 "2013-06-20T18:00:01Z")
I have road runner. Zips right along. SDMB usually does too. For a while today it took forever for some threads to open. What’s happening when that happens? Are there just a lot of folks on the board at that time or what? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-when-a-website-runs-slow/661492/2 "2013-06-20T21:41:19Z")
It can be a variety of things; the web server, the network, your ISP, your modem, your router, etc. And all of this can change with every web page request you make from the same web site. ---
**Author:** ![EdwardCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@EdwardCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwardCastle)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-when-a-website-runs-slow/661492/3 "2013-06-21T15:00:02Z")
There can be many different causes of slow loading times for a site, just like Duckster said. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-when-a-website-runs-slow/661492/4 "2013-06-21T15:34:36Z")
It’s usually from downloading porn. Have you been downloading porn? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-when-a-website-runs-slow/661492/5 "2013-06-21T16:02:25Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > It’s usually from downloading porn. Have you been downloading porn? Um…no. :dubious: For purposes of this thread assume there is no issue with my computer/modem/ISP etc. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-when-a-website-runs-slow/661492/6 "2013-06-21T16:23:34Z")
Gmail uses a lot of CPU which I think is caused by java script. Opera has a feature that shows which window (in which Opera is running) is using the most CPU. Simply enter Opera:cpu in the address bar. If the gmail window is open it will be using 75% + cpu. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-when-a-website-runs-slow/661492/7 "2013-06-21T16:36:12Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Gmail uses a lot of CPU which I think is caused by java script. Opera has a feature that shows which window (in which Opera is running) is using the most CPU. Simply enter Opera:cpu in the address bar. If the gmail window is open it will be using 75% + cpu. No. This thread is not about my computer having a problem. It’s a question as to why websites run slow on occasion. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-when-a-website-runs-slow/661492/8 "2013-06-21T21:46:52Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > For purposes of this thread assume there is no issue with my computer/modem/ISP etc. So the slowness could be attributed to the web server and/or the network (or something entirely different), all out of your control. Unless you want to research the finer details of this, there is not finite answer to your question. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-when-a-website-runs-slow/661492/9 "2013-06-21T21:52:49Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > It’s a question as to why websites run slow on occasion. [ul] [li]There could be connectivity problems between you and the servers[/li][li]There could be a lot of traffic to the server[/li][li]There could be other processes running on the server that are taking priority over your request[/li][li]Your ISP could be trottling your traffic[/li][li]The server database could be indexing[/li][li]The server could be running maintenance [/li][li]There could be hardware failures at the server[/li][li]There could be software failures at the server[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-when-a-website-runs-slow/661492/10 "2013-06-22T03:43:59Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Um…no. > > :dubious: > > For purposes of this thread assume there is no issue with my computer/modem/ISP etc. You can’t make that assumption. You just can’t. Issues that slow down connectivity can pop up suddenly with no warning and disappear without a trace just as suddenly. And as others have already pointed out, the bottleneck could be anywhere from you to the website. ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-when-a-website-runs-slow/661492/11 "2013-06-22T04:07:11Z")
In my experience, the most common cause of a website running slow is that somebody has just posted a link on a widely read message board, forum or blog, and that site is getting many times the traffic it normally does. Wikipedia explains it better in their article on the [Slashdot effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot_effect). Websites, like roads have a certain capacity that’s usually just a bit over their peak traffic (though some sites on a tight budget will have just enough to meet their normal traffic). If they receive more traffic than that, you basically have to wait in line for them to respond to you. There are many points between you and a webserver that can become similarly overloaded. Finding which of those points is the bottleneck is best left for a friend that knows computer networking and it’s related tools (software tools, in this case).