| In two earlier articles, we discussed ways to make | | | | server, ask your web hosting company how they |
| your website load faster. Another issue many users | | | | handle such accounts. |
| face is the sometimes painfully slow speed of email. | | | | In addition, talk to your web hosting company to |
| “What do you mean, you haven’t gotten it | | | | make sure that they aggressively combat spammers |
| yet? I sent that email over an hour ago?” Does | | | | and other system abusers who are likely to consume |
| this sound familiar? There are several steps that | | | | system resources and slow down your website and |
| must take place between your hitting the | | | | email. |
| “send” button and the recipient viewing your | | | | 3. Problem: Your email may encounter a bottleneck if |
| message. A delay in your email’s journey can | | | | there is an issue with the bandwidth provider that |
| occur at one or more of these steps. | | | | your web hosting company uses. Most large web |
| Part 1 of this article will address ways to optimize the | | | | hosting companies have partnerships with multiple |
| speed of your network connection, in addition to the | | | | major bandwidth providers to ensure this does not |
| website-specific tips we focused upon in “9 Tips | | | | happen. Smaller hosts may not be able to afford |
| to Make Your Website Load Much Faster.” These | | | | these partnerships, leaving you susceptible to a |
| suggestions may increase the speed at which you | | | | slowdown. |
| can send and receive email, as well as improving the | | | | Solution: Find out what types of ISP partnerships |
| performance of your web pages and other file | | | | your web hosting company has. You can run a simple |
| transfers. | | | | trace route test to see what partnerships your |
| 1. Problem: Delays caused by the distance between | | | | hosting company has with bandwidth providers. Look |
| you and your web server. | | | | for major communications companies (Tier 1 or highly |
| Solution: As with your website, you can remove one | | | | reputable Tier 2 providers) such as MCI-Verizon, |
| potential cause of slow email by selecting a web | | | | AT&T, Mzima, Level(3), Global Crossing, etc. |
| hosting provider that has a data center near you. | | | | Ideally, your web hosting company should have a |
| This is the single most important thing you can do to | | | | variety of bandwidth partners. That way, your web |
| increase your email speed. | | | | host will be able to reroute email data quickly if one |
| While you can’t control how long it will take your | | | | of the bandwidth providers goes down. If your web |
| email to reach your recipient once it leaves your email | | | | host does not have major partnerships, it may be in |
| server, or how long a message from another person | | | | your best interest to look for a web hosting |
| will take to reach your email server, you can minimize | | | | company that does. |
| the time it takes incoming emails to get from your | | | | 4. Problem: Connection problem on your end - If |
| server to your mailbox, and vice versa for outgoing | | | | you’re using “home-grade” equipment, |
| emails. | | | | and you think your connection may be slow, try |
| For example, let’s say Tony Traceroute, an | | | | running a speed test at a site such as speedtest.net. |
| employee in your Newark office, wants to send a | | | | Sometimes modems and routers will go out of sync |
| large file - a CAD diagram of his new widget design - | | | | after being powered on for weeks or months at a |
| by intraoffice email to Patty Ping, who works just | | | | time. This is especially true if you are using a modem |
| down the hall from Tony. If your company’s | | | | and wireless router combination. |
| server is located in Los Angeles, then when Tony hits | | | | Solution: Try refreshing your connection. Simply |
| the send button, his email will travel all the way to | | | | power down both your modem and your router. |
| sunny California, through whatever routers and | | | | Then turn the modem back on, wait a few minutes, |
| packet switches it encounters along the way, then all | | | | and turn the router on (the order of these steps is |
| the way back to Delaware - an odyssey of some | | | | very important). |
| 5,000 miles - before it arrives in Patty’s inbox! It | | | | If this doesn’t increase your connection speed, |
| might have been faster if Tony had just printed out | | | | notify your cable or DSL provider. They will test your |
| the diagram and walked down the hall to drop it off! | | | | connection speed, and they may be able to optimize |
| The bottom line: if you rely heavily on email in your | | | | your connection from their operations center. |
| business, choosing a web hosting company with a | | | | Conclusion |
| nearby data center may save you a considerable | | | | • Be sure that you are located as close as |
| amount of time and money. | | | | possible to your web hosting company’s data |
| 2. Problem: Overuse of server capacity on shared | | | | center. |
| servers. Every user on a shared server is allocated a | | | | • Ask your provider about their excess usage |
| certain amount of bandwidth and other server | | | | policies if you are hosted on a shared server. |
| resources. When a user goes over this limit, it can | | | | • Make sure your web host has partnerships with |
| slow down the other accounts on the server. | | | | the top bandwidth providers. |
| Solution: Make sure your web hosting company has | | | | • Conduct basic tests with your internet provider |
| policies in place to manage excessive usage by | | | | and on your own home router/wireless setup. |
| individual clients on its shared servers. Some hosting | | | | Part 2 of this article will focus on optimization |
| providers automatically suspend accounts that use | | | | techniques that are specific to email. We’ll look at |
| excessive resources. While this works, the best way | | | | issues that can slow email such as spam, |
| for a web hosting company to handle these accounts | | | | misconfigured spam filters, bloated emails, and |
| is to migrate them to a separate server where they | | | | reverse DNS lookup - and what you can do to |
| can’t negatively impact the performance of | | | | address these problems. |
| other shared accounts. If you’re on a shared | | | | |