Apache server extreme slow, while samba server is extreme fast!
 

Hi all,

I have changed my home network a bit, and everything works extremely fast, except for my apache server, which seems to serve webpages so slowly, it is abnormal. Even simple directroy pages are served in around 5 sec, and this is not a joke! It used to work pretty fast. What I have changed is that i replaced a hub with a switch, and that I linked my personal PC with my server together through a hub. I also installed Gnome desktop on the webserver machine. My network now looks like follows:

Internet
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Modem
/\
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Router: 1 machine and a switch
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\/
Switch: 5 machines and a hub
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\/
Hub: 2 machines
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\/
My personal PC (Vista) and my webserver (Debian Lenny with Apache 2 and a Samba server)

Do you guys now if it is the network buildup, or something else.

Ping goes with < 1 ms from my personal PC to webserver, tracrt is: [1 1ms <1ms <1ms], but http requests take over 5 sec (in a browser)

Best regards,

Geert

First, eliminate the Apache server as the problem. While logged into the server, run a browser or wget or curl to fetch a URL from localhost. How is the speed in that scenario?

--- rod.

From the same machine, it is: (wget localhost/test.mp3)
15.5M/s in 0.3s

Okay, so it probably isn't the Apache configuration, and I assume you have tested the problem with both your Linux and Windows clients. I guess I would try to see if the request is being delayed somewhere in the pipeline. Get the server and one or more of the client clocks well synchronized (ntp), and see if you can tell from the access log timestamps whether the request is being received in a timely manner.
Do you have any kind of proxy server or other caching mechanism involved?
I cannot think of anything else to check right now. I hope someone else can chime in with some ideas.
--- rod.

Hi, I have sped up the speed greatly by doing the following:
The hub has 8 ports, and 1 extra OUT port. I connected the OUT port with the switch. When I connected the switch to any of the normal ports, it sped up greatly. I am not sure why this is... What does the OUT port on the hub mean?

Best regards,

Geert

Usually, it just means that it is intended to be used as a uplink to another concentrator. The only difference is that it might be capable of connecting with a crossover cable, or that it requires one, or that it is switchable.
--- rod.