Why Is My .NET / .NET Core Website Running Slowly on My Windows Plesk Hosting Account?
If your .NET or .NET Core website isn’t performing as quickly as expected, it can be frustrating. At Adaptive Web Hosting, our Windows Server 2022 environments are carefully optimized with IIS 10, Plesk Obsidian, and the latest versions of ASP.NET and .NET Core to ensure high reliability and performance.
However, in most cases, slow website performance is caused by issues within the application itself or by resource limitations, rather than the hosting server. Below are the most common causes — and ways to improve your site’s speed.
1. Application-Level Performance Issues
The majority of performance problems stem from inefficient code or design in the web application. Some examples include:
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Inefficient SQL queries or missing indexes.
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Synchronous code that blocks the request thread instead of using
async/await. -
Memory leaks or unbounded caching objects.
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Large view models or page payloads.
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Excessive file or database I/O operations.
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Frequent or verbose logging, especially when logging to disk.
Tip: You can use Application Insights, MiniProfiler, or dotTrace to identify bottlenecks in your app.
2. Resource Limits in Shared Hosting Environments
Each hosting plan comes with allocated memory (RAM), CPU, and I/O resources. If your site exceeds these limits, it may temporarily slow down or restart. This is especially common for:
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Applications with large memory footprints.
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Sites that use Entity Framework without query optimization.
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Apps that process large files, images, or datasets in memory.
If your application consistently uses more resources than your plan allows, you can easily increase available memory through our Addons page:
???? How do I purchase addons for my account?
Upgrading memory is one of the most effective ways to improve your app’s performance and stability.
3. Checking Your Site’s Health in Plesk
Plesk provides several tools that can help diagnose performance issues:
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Logs → HTTP Error Log / Application Log – check for slow queries or application errors.
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IIS Application Pool Settings – ensure your app pool is set to recycle periodically (e.g., every 1740 minutes) to avoid memory bloat
You can access these from the Plesk Dashboard under your domain’s settings.
4. Database Performance
If your website connects to SQL Server 2019/2022, MySQL, or MariaDB, database performance can have a major impact on load times. Be sure to:
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Review and optimize your queries.
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Add indexes to frequently used columns.
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Avoid returning large datasets to your pages.
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Use connection pooling properly.
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Clean up old or unnecessary data.
5. External Services and APIs
If your site depends on external APIs or third-party services, slow responses or timeouts from those systems can delay your page load. Always:
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Use asynchronous API calls.
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Implement timeouts and retry logic.
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Cache API responses that do not change frequently.
6. Scheduled Maintenance Windows
At Adaptive Web Hosting, we perform essential maintenance tasks between 12:00 AM and 9:00 AM Eastern Time (EST) to keep servers secure and stable. These may include:
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Windows and IIS updates
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Antivirus scans
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Backup operations
These tasks are scheduled during off-peak hours and are designed to have minimal impact on your website’s performance. Any brief slowdowns during this period are typically short-lived.
7. Static Files and Front-End Optimization
For websites with a large number of static assets (images, JavaScript, CSS, etc.), you can speed up delivery by:
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Enabling static file compression and HTTP/2 in Plesk.
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Setting browser caching headers.
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Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for global delivery.
Plesk’s “Hosting Settings” page lets you toggle compression and caching options easily.
Summary
Our servers are proactively maintained and optimized for .NET and .NET Core hosting. In almost all cases, slow performance originates from application inefficiencies, resource limitations, or external dependencies rather than the hosting infrastructure itself.
Need More Resources?
If you find that your application consistently runs near its resource limits, consider upgrading or adding more memory to improve stability and response times:
???? Purchase additional memory for your account
