Troubleshooting “Web Server Overload” in SharePoint

Issue: Web Front-End (WFE) servers are overloaded, leading to slow page loads, high CPU/memory usage, request timeouts, and site unresponsiveness.
Causes: High user traffic, inefficient caching, excessive resource demands, unoptimized IIS settings, or bottlenecks in SQL Server.

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1. Identify the Cause of Web Server Overload

Before applying fixes, determine what is causing the overload on the web front-end (WFE) servers.

Symptoms of an Overloaded Web Server:

✅ Slow page loads and frequent timeouts.
✅ High CPU and memory usage on WFE servers.
✅ IIS worker process (w3wp.exe) consuming excessive resources.
✅ Increased latency in requests between WFE and SQL servers.
✅ Frequent 503 (Service Unavailable) or 500 (Internal Server Error) responses.
✅ SharePoint Health Analyzer reports performance issues.

Tools for Diagnosis:

🔹 Task Manager → Check CPU and RAM usage on the WFE server.
🔹 IIS Manager (inetmgr) → Monitor worker processes and requests.
🔹 Performance Monitor (perfmon.msc) → Track CPU, memory, and disk I/O.
🔹 SharePoint ULS Logs → Look for high request processing times.
🔹 Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc) → Identify critical errors or service failures.
🔹 Fiddler/Wireshark → Monitor HTTP request delays and network issues.

Check WFE Server Performance with PowerShell:

🔹 Get the current CPU usage of IIS Worker Process:

Get-Process w3wp | Select-Object ProcessName, CPU, PM

🔹 Check IIS worker process memory usage:

Get-WmiObject Win32_Process | Where-Object { $_.Name -eq "w3wp.exe" } | Select-Object Name, WorkingSetSize

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2. Optimize IIS (Internet Information Services) for SharePoint

Fixes:

🔹 Increase Application Pool Recycling to free up memory:

• Open IIS Manager (inetmgr) → Application Pools.
• Select SharePoint – 80 → Advanced Settings → Recycling → Set a lower interval (e.g., every 12 hours).

🔹 Enable Output Caching to Reduce Processing Load:

• Go to Central Admin > Site Collection Cache Profiles.
• Enable BLOB caching to store frequently used assets in memory.

🔹 Reduce Worker Process Memory Usage:

Set-WebConfigurationProperty -filter "/system.applicationHost/applicationPools/applicationPoolDefaults" -name recycling -value @{privateMemory=500000}

🔹 Disable Debugging in Web.Config (debugging increases processing overhead):

• Open web.config and set:

<compilation debug="false" />

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3. Optimize SharePoint Configuration to Reduce Load

Fixes:

🔹 Enable Object Caching to reduce database queries:

Set-SPSite -Identity http://yoursharepointsite -EnableCache $true

🔹 Enable Page Output Caching (Improves performance for anonymous users):

• Go to Site Settings > Site Collection Object Cache.
• Enable Output Cache Profile for faster rendering.

🔹 Reduce List View Threshold to Prevent Large Queries:

Set-SPWebApplication -Identity http://yoursharepointwebapp -MaxItemsPerThrottledOperation 2000

🔹 Disable View State for Web Parts that Don’t Need It (reduces payload size).
🔹 Optimize Large Libraries and Lists by adding indexes.

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4. Scale Out Web Front-End Servers

If a single WFE server is overloaded, consider adding additional WFEs behind a Load Balancer.

🔹 Check Current Load Balancer Configuration:

Get-SPServiceInstance | Where-Object { $_.TypeName -like "Microsoft SharePoint Foundation Web Application" }

🔹 Deploy Additional WFEs to Distribute Load:

• Configure Network Load Balancing (NLB) or use a hardware load balancer (F5, Citrix ADC).
• Assign a dedicated WFE for Search Queries if needed.

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5. Reduce Database Load to Improve Web Server Performance

Fixes:

🔹 Move Search Indexing to a Separate SQL Instance to reduce query load.
🔹 Optimize SQL Server Performance by:

• Rebuilding indexes
• Running DBCC CHECKDB to detect corruption
• Increasing TempDB file size for faster queries.
  🔹 Limit Direct Database Calls from Custom Code (avoid SPList.Items in loops).

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6. Optimize Network Performance Between WFEs and SQL Server

Fixes:

🔹 Enable Compression in IIS:

Set-WebConfigurationProperty -filter "/system.webServer/httpCompression" -name enabled -value True

🔹 Check Network Latency Between SharePoint and SQL Server:

Test-NetConnection -ComputerName "YourSQLServer" -Port 1433

🔹 Use a Dedicated Network Interface for SQL Server Communication.

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7. Monitor & Automate Web Server Performance Checks

7.1. Set Up Performance Monitoring

✅ Use Performance Monitor (perfmon.msc) to track:

• IIS Request Queues
• CPU % Usage
• SQL Server Requests

✅ Configure SharePoint Health Analyzer to detect overloaded servers.

7.2. Automate IIS Performance Optimization with PowerShell

Schedule a script to clear IIS logs and restart slow application pools:

Restart-WebAppPool -Name "SharePoint - 80"

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