virtualbox.org

I'm trying to run a local web server on my guest OS (64 bit Ubuntu), my host is Windows 8. It's a fairly large site but loads in about 3 seconds on my remote web server, it times out in my local VM. All the files are stored in a shared folder.

I've tried just about everything I've come across on the web and nothing has helped. Are shared folders just too slow for this use?

Sounds more like a network config problem.

I guess it depends on what you mean.

If I copy the website files to the local disk in the guest OS the website loads instantly. It's only slow when the files are in the shared folder.

It also depends on what you're calling a shared folder. If you mean GA shared folders then those are built for convenience, not speed. Though I would not expect software to time out when using them. Use true network shared folders and VirtIO if top performance is your goal.