Hi!
I am currently running on a BLUE HOST shared server (w/ Dedicated IP Address). I am soon to launch my CS-Cart store, but having a problem with the getting the shipping rates (Causing the cart to hang for 10-15 seconds when retrieving USPS and UPS rates).
Is anyone else using a shared server or BlueHost and are you seeing any slow spots like I am seeing with the retrieving live rates?
Or should I spend the money and get my own server?
Thanks!
-Tim
I have some of our smaller sites on a shared package (at site5.com) and they work fine, but for some reason your site is running pretty slow. Not just on the shipping estimate, but even first load. I am not familiar with bluehost so someone else may have to comment on them.
Complain to your host. The UPS shipping uses XML and XML processing (via simplexml) uses a lot of memory. Hence my guess is that your server is thrashing in trying to get enough memory to process the responses which in turn is causing things to run slowly.
Have your host put your site on a more lightly loaded server.
The Bluehost standard server will have up to 1,500 domains which I just found out.
However they have a ‘Pro’ package which is an extra $20 a month which will put my domain on a 300 limited shared server so there would be more memory, CPU, and resources available. But on the other hand, it is still a ‘shared’ server and the people willing to pay the extra $20 a month most likely have power hungry websites going.
I guess it should still be worth a shot to try … my total monthly bill will still be less than $30 for web hosting expenses which is okay. And if that does not work I can then just bite the bullet and try one of the virtual servers for $50 a month at site5.
Thank you all for the help/replies! 
-Tim H.
Uhhh… I just upgraded to a faster (limited-shared) server and it makes no difference. The CS-Cart is still running way to slow. This really sucks as I have paid for the CS-Cart Pro, Custom skin, and the cost already for migrating the data all to find out in the end that I cannot run CS-Cart.
Just very discouraged right about now. 
I have my website with BLuehost and have the same problem. http://bti-tool.com . It seems very slow when going to Checkout, but most all other links work fine. Any reasons why???
[quote name='chrisbti' timestamp='1327943945' post='130237']
I have my website with BLuehost and have the same problem. http://bti-tool.com . It seems very slow when going to Checkout, but most all other links work fine. Any reasons why???
[/quote]
Most likely from what I am hearing is that BlueHost is just too overcrowded. I even paid for BluePro which limits the amount of people on a server from 1,500 sites down to 300 but still is every slow.
So I am trying to setup an account on ServInt for a basic $50 a month VPS.
They were very nice and also moved all my Bluehost stuff onto their server for me.
But I still have to get the nameserver setup properly which is confusing me but the support seems very good so later tonight I am going to call them to see if they can verify my settings and 'guide' me through the DNS stuff and make sure I have my registar (GoDaddy) setup with the new private nameservers,etc.
I will post again once I am actually running on ServInt VPS if the site does make the CS-Cart 2.2.4 run faster.
Thanks …I'll be curious of the results…thanks again Chris
Note that when the cache is cleared (either internally by an action such as installing an addon or by a manual cache-clear) that pages are added to the cache as they are accessed. Hence, the first access of a page after a cache-clear will always be significantly slower. So you can ensure your customers get better response by simply adding an item to the cart and then proceed to the checkout page and then remove the item. This will cache the checkout page which is about the biggest page (from a data standpoint) in the cart.
Now that would be real fun to explain or note on the website. One of my Joomla sites with Virtuemart is faster than CS-Cart…no explaining to do …and shipping mods do seem to bother it… 
…thnx for the input
You do not need to explain to your customers to create the cache, it is YOU that browses your site, and you that adds something to your cart. Then just hit the “clear cart”. Do not clear your cache again. That way you are creating the cache for some of the primary things and it will flow smoother for your customers.
CS-Cart does seem to consume a lot of resources. One of my site is hosted on a VPS, and it generally runs fine, but sometimes it may just run very slowly. I did tried to contact the host, and they claim that it's caused by the limited bandwidth. Hmm…
Just to update I moved everything to a ServInt VPS (Virtual Private Server).
The service is the $49 a month Essential VPS (Managed).
60 GB Storage
1 TB Monthly Transfer
768 MB Guaranteed RAM
1.5 GB Burst RAM
Hardware RAID 10
CentOS 6 64-bit
4 IP Addresses
Incredibly fast disk I/O
I can tell everything is running faster / more quickly to respond.
But the main problem again was when viewing the shopping cart (example when clicking the ‘Get Rates’ button).
On the shared server, it was taking between 12-14 seconds for the rates to appear.
On the VPS, it is now taking roughly 8-10 seconds for the rates to appear. 
Faster but not fast enough … or is it just the Shipping processors USPS and UPS just could be more efficient? I have isolated the problem down to the shipping processors and when they reach out to get the live rates. For instance I can disable the UPS and just get USPS rates which then the ‘view cart problem’ is only a 2-3 second delay. UPS takes much longer to pull rates.
So aggravating. 
I only have just one domain/website on the server. Maybe I will try to just install a ‘fresh’ copy of 2.2.4 and see how that runs. Or maybe I need to run only a $100 a month server to have enough power available for CS-Cart.
My CS-Cart is not open yet (as trying to get it running faster still) but here is the access link:
Here is the link to my store:
http://www.jammaboards.com/newstore/index.php?store_access_key=54321
Basically just add an item or two into the cart then click the ‘View Cart’ and you’ll see the long delay (which it is checking rates). Then enter something like California / 90210 into the get rates box and click ‘Get Rates’ which you can again see the long long long delay.
Maybe someone else encountered this but was able to solve the problem??
-Tim
To test it further, I had an older version of CS-Cart from about 1 year ago (whatever the latest version was 1 year ago) already installed (tucked away in a secure directory which I used for testing the original cart).
It will pull the UPS and USPS rates in about 2 seconds!!
So either something is wrong with the CS-Cart 2.2.4 … or it was the upgrades performed every few months over the past year. Maybe something got messed up along the way.
Not knowing what your “older version” was, there have been many updates to shipping over time. I.e. Do you use suppliers? If so it will be slower since it does a separate request for each supplier. The basic code has been restructured, but is essentially unchanged. Also note that packaging was added in the 2.1 time frame too which add some overhead.
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It will pull the UPS and USPS rates in about 2 seconds!!
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That is very typical of what you “should” experience when everything is correct, I would say our Fedex, USPS, & custom configured shipping methods calculate & load closer to 1 second, never an issue with waiting.
[quote]
or it was the upgrades performed every few months over the past year. Maybe something got messed up along the way.
[/quote]
This is where I would put my focus at as you could very well have an issue caused during one of your upgrades along the way, it does happen! Perform a file diff compare to a vanilla download of the identical version, if you focus on the files specifically related to shipping functionality there is a good chance you will find the problem. Often times when you have not modified the core CS-Cart files, you can simply just re-upload the fresh files from the same version and move on. Point being, no need to compare thousands of files when you haven't made modifications to these core files, faster to just replace them with fresh files.
It is also a very good time to double check all of your site directories & files to be absolutely certain none of your permissions have been changed throughout the upgrades, this can also happen if you aren't careful. Even if this has no bearing on your current problem, it certainly can effect other areas of your site down the road.
Yep, upgrades are nowhere near perfect. Corrupt files, missing files, left over obselete files. The easy way is as Struck mentioned…if you do not have any modifications, just delete all files except for /config.php, /local.config.php, /images/ and upload fresh ones. You will still need to compare the first 2 with fresh ones but there is important information in those that you do not want to delete.
Edit: Or you could hire me but I am sure that is not what you want to hear. 
Edit 2: I left out /skins/ in the exception above but you will still need fresh files for those as well. A little bit trickier.
Ecommerce survival tactics learned over time, right Tool !
The objective during every upgrade is perform the upgrade and get your site back in business & accepting orders ASAP with as little pain & suffering as possible. 
Yep!
Thanks for all the suggestions!!
Tonight I installed a brand new fresh 2.2.4 for testing but there was no improvement…
Then on my original trial version cart (2.1.x) I noticed that I only had domestic shipping methods used (no international methods were entered into the admin shipping settings).
So on the current store to test this thought, I had disabled all the ‘international’ shipping methods (so only domestic shipping options were available). After doing this, the view cart speed (entering the view cart page, update cart, and get rates) dropped from 10-12 seconds to roughly 3-4 seconds!
What I can guess is that the CS-Cart software is ‘checking the rates’ every shipping method active on every action in the cart (entering the view cart, clicking the update button, clicking the get rates function, etc)…but then just display only the shipping methods available to the delivery location??
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Originally when going with CS-Cart instead of the cheaper carts, my though was that with fully tech support I would not have to deal too much with this cart troubleshooting again. 