Would hosting an Italian website, on a UK server slow down either the UK site, or impair speed for the Italian visitors?

Question

My client has their own server in the UK, which is currently hosting their UK website.

They are looking at hosting another website, which will be for a business in Italy.

Will hosting an Italian site, being accessed by Italian users be noticeably slower on the UK server, or is the distance so small it shouldn't make a difference?

Also, importantly will it slow down access to the UK website, for UK visitors? I know the impact of more users hitting the server, but I am wondering specifically if the fact the new, extra visitors will be coming from Italy.

I'm guessing there is no reason it would slow down the site massively. The server in the UK is dedicated to the one site at the moment.

If hosting was to be paid for, in Italy for the italian site, it would end up being rented, shared hosting.

Answer 1

The best test would be to do some trace routes from Italy to your server that's based in the UK, find out how many hops it goes over- and it's latency. Then only you can decide if it's worth the extra cost/hassle of setting it up in Italy.

Answer 2

Where in Italy matters..
In Milano / Roma.. absolutely not at all.. (host it anywhere in Europe)
In Calabria / Sicilia.. probably.. my experience there with internet.. shows how terrible the southern infrastructure is..

Answer 3

The difference will be negligible. It far underweighs the advantages of a dedicated server.