Server slowing me down? - HTML Forums

FredT · 09-01-2009, 04:34 PM

I wasn't sure if I should post this here or in the server-side programming forum, but I think my problem is with the server, not my code, so I decided to post here...

I'm working on a site where the user needs to be able to upload PDFs and various files to the site, through an <input type="file">. I made a system in PHP and it was slow and horrible (didn't even work half the time).

I read a lot about people having the same problem and took someone's advice and rewrote the system in Perl. I was very happy for a couple of weeks... they system worked great. My perl uploader was quick (relevant to connection speed, of course) and was ALWAYS successful... until today.

Suddenly my Perl script is having the same exact problems my PHP script was originally having. It could get a 16mb PDF up in 30 seconds one moment, and the next not be able to budge a 144k PDF in 5 minutes. It is very sporadic.

I assure you, my internet connection is fine and my code is not buggy. I'm wondering if this is a server problem. I am doing this on a shared hosting account, so do you think it's possible I might be short on resources here, ram or something?

Has anyone else experienced this in the past or have any light to shed on the situation?

Thanks

darksidepuffin · 09-01-2009, 04:53 PM

Could be network congestion, but it could also be the reality of web based file uploading: it's inefficient for anything but small files.

Uploading any sort of "large" file via a web browser, no matter the backend code, is an exercise in futility. While a dedicated 100mbps port or something on your own dedicated server may help, there are inherit limitations with browser based uploading that no amount of infrastructure will help you overcome.