Hello,

I'm new to putting up a site on Network Solutions. Usually I would have a separate host, but the client has hosting here.

I'm having a major issue with a drupal site we have created. It has extremely slow lag times on the initial connection/load of the site. Once you're on the site it seems to be running at normal speeds, but the initial load is enough to have any visitor question the site being up.

We took care of this part that was sent to us:
"Another thing you can check, is in your MySQL
connection string within your PHP script make sure you are using the local
network name for the MySQL database instead of the IP address. If you are
using the MySQL IP address the script may go out to the Internet, then back
in the network to perform queries (which produces more latency, and possibly
Internal Server Errors or Time out errors). The internal network name looks
something like "mysqlv1" and can be found in the  networksolutions.comdatabase manager after logging in."

but dont get what this is:
"If you have not done so already I would
recommend running an optimize table script on your MySQL database tables, to
speed up query times. "

Anyone know what that second piece of advice is?

Is this a network solutions issue with drupal? My programmer and I have done these sites for quite some time and have yet to encounter the speed issue like it is here. Any advice with drupal and netsol is much appreciated.

Database table optimization should be done on a regular basis. The frequency for optimizing depends on how often changes are made to the tables in the database. For a very active site, you may need to do it on a weekly basis. Most sites only need to be done on a monthly basis. To optimize the database, log into PHPMyAdmin and click on the name of the database at the top of the left column. Scroll to the bottom of the list and click the "check all" link. Select "Optimize Table" from the drop down.

Thanks! Beyond that, are there any known issues with Drupal on Network Solutions?

Various factors affect the speed of your Drupal site. If you have a large number of plug-ins it can make the site slower or you may need to increase the PHP memory limit with a custom PHP.ini. You can also improve the performance of the site using caching technicuqes. I would recommend utilzing the support forums on Drupal's site for tips how to optimize the application.