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AJWesley
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Joined: 13 Jan 2008
Posts: 39
Location: Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada
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 Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 2:40 am Post subject: Abyss X2 2.4: Optimum configuration |
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This year marks my 10th year as a network administrator for an international communications company. I have 25 years experience in computer technology, a degree in computer science, and several professional certifications. I work primarily with linux and apache. I recently constructed a home and business network consisting of 4 computers and 1 laptop. The computer designated server is quite fast: MSI Platinum edition mainboard; Intel Pentium Dual-Core 3.4 GHz processor; Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 80 GB SATA-300 hard drive (2); 1GB PC2 4200 CL4 240-Pin DIMM kit (2); D-Link DI-524 802.11g/2.4 GHz Wireless Router; 100.0 Mbps Broadband connection; Windows XP Professional. I originally compiled and installed apache for perl, php and mysql. Since 1 and 2 family members shall assist managing this home business, it was suggested that I install an operating system and server suite which a newbie may supervise with minimal formal experience. I decided to search ServerWatch and TechRepublic for an alternative. Aprelium Abyss Web Server X2 was recommended. Abyss set-up including perl, php, mysql and phpmyadmin was simple. I have several concerns before making a decision between apache and abyss: Optimum configuration. (Please excuse the long post, but I want to be perfectly clear here first and foremost.)
Abyss Web Server Console
Server Configuration
(Parameters)
Timeout: 30
Keep-Alive: 10
Maximum Simultaneous Requests: 20
(Ant-Hacking Protection)
Bad Requests Count Before Banning: 20
Monitoring Period: 20
Banning Duration: 60
Default Host On Port 80
(General)
Edit – Advanced Parameters:
(Access Control)
Password Protected Virtual Paths:
(IP Address Control)
IP Address Control Rules:
Abyss configuration and control resembles apache in many respects, but I would rather know which settings are best to accommodate a *high-traffic* 24/7 site running abyss instead of copying my optimized settings from apache… and expecting a similar result? I have searched the forum and documentation without satisfaction. (A simple book or article explaining and detailing various configuration options and results for private to limited to *high-traffic* sites, based on real-world experience, would be a solid feature.) Optimization for security and performance is paramount. But where are the examples? (This is a basic question which should be intuitive and easy to answer for any of you who are running a successful production site.) I do not have the time to invest in days/weeks and more in trial and error...
My decision to purchase and promote this software shall be based upon subsequent direction and recommendations from this forum. Thank you in advance. (Re: As an example of similar sites: http://www.associateprograms.com/ and http://www.stevepavlina.com/.) |
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AbyssUnderground
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Joined: 31 Dec 2004
Posts: 3855
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| Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:08 am Post subject: |
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Maximum Simultaneous Requests: 20
I think this is the only one you need to increase to be honest. I set this to around 500 as my server is hit at least 3 times a second now unlike the few times a minute it used to be.
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Andy (AbyssUnderground) (previously The Inquisitor)
www.abyssunderground.co.uk |
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aprelium
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Joined: 22 Mar 2002
Posts: 6800
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| Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:41 pm Post subject: Re: Abyss X2 2.4: Optimum configuration |
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| AJWesley wrote: | | I have searched the forum and documentation without satisfaction. (A simple book or article explaining and detailing various configuration options and results for private to limited to *high-traffic* sites, based on real-world experience, would be a solid feature.) Optimization for security and performance is paramount. But where are the examples? (This is a basic question which should be intuitive and easy to answer for any of you who are running a successful production site.) I do not have the time to invest in days/weeks and more in trial and error... |
Such a book is not available because the default configuration is suitable for most uses. If you expect your sites to be very very popular, increase the "Maximum Simultaneous Requests" value to 100 or 150 (a larger value will have no effect in practice).
Security is embedded in the software by default. A secure server is not somethig that has to be defined by parameters. It's an intrinsic characteristic of our software. Antihacking is not to enforce security, it's there to ban attackers and not have them waste your bandwidth (but even if they are not banned, they will not do any damage - URLs are double checked and suspicious requests are never served).
The defaults of the antihacking parameters are also fine and should be flexible enough to not ban legit users while preventing worms and attackers from taking away your bandwidth.
The IP access rules and password protection features are to be used if you want to restrict some parts of your web site to certain IPs or users.
Several internal parmaters are not exposed (as with Apache) and are auto-tuned by the server. We are not for having dozens of settings when most of them can be computed or automatically inferred by the software.
If you need more information, please feel free to send us your questions or post them here.
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AJWesley
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Joined: 13 Jan 2008
Posts: 39
Location: Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:52 am Post subject: Re: Abyss X2 2.4: Optimum configuration |
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| Quote: | | Several internal parmaters are not exposed (as with Apache) and are auto-tuned by the server. We are not for having dozens of settings when most of them can be computed or automatically inferred by the software. |
As an (basic) example, on Windows (cough) with Apache: 300/600 hits a second surge to 1000 and more in an instant - a classic "Slashdot Effect," not uncommon for popular news servers... and to avoid *another* system crash I set KeepAliveTimeout to 2 and MaxClients to 200+ (dividing total RAM by 5 megabytes - conservatively). The server would take 700+ per second with little to no performance loss...
Just so I understand your suggestion of Maximum Simultaneous Requests set to 100 or 150 for Abyss... What would you suggest for Timeout and Keep-Alive Requests?
(As for Password Protected Virtual Paths, IP Address Control and Ant-Hacking Protection, I was emphasizing similarities to features introduced in Apache 2. Abyss is superior.)
Would it be better to reduce Bad Requests Count Before Banning and Monitoring Period values but increase the Banning Duration?
Regarding Advanced Parameters and Custom HTTP Headers, would it make sense to use Expires Header? Is Gzip supported?
I am impressed. I thank you both for the prompt reply.
---
UPDATE:
Abyss Web Server Console :: Server Configuration :: Parameters
Timeout: 5 Second(s)
Keep-Alive Requests: 10
Maximum Simultaneous Requests: 150
Abyss Web Server Console :: Server Configuration :: Global Bandwidth Limits
Maximum Total Bandwidth 0 KB/s
Maximum Bandwidth Per IP Address: 0 KB/s
Abyss Web Server Console :: Server Configuration :: Anti-Hacking Protection
Bad Requests Count Before Banning: 10
Monitoring Period: 10 Second(s)
Banning Duration: 604800 Second(s)
My experince is with Apache and LiteSpeed Web Server on Linux... and it is hard to leave the mindset of config files and tweaking using a notepad behind. Are these additional settings appropriate, good/bad - any and all direction would be greatly appreciated, all based on a *high-traffic* site...
Thanks :) |
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jibbajabba
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Joined: 06 Sep 2005
Posts: 241
Location: England, Doncaster
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| Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 12:52 pm Post subject: |
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AJWesley, thanks for the email, all my websites use the abyss default configuration with fastcgi php. jibba-jabba.net is run on my home pc using abyss x1 and the rest are run on a dedicated server using abyss x2.. i used to run apache on the dedicated server but i had to restart the thing every couple of days because it was being greedy with the ram..
I recommend abyss over apache and my uptime agrees with me :)
Current Uptime For Abyss: 46 Day(s), 7 Hour(s), 45 Min(s), 5 Sec(s)
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aprelium
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Joined: 22 Mar 2002
Posts: 6800
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| Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 5:10 pm Post subject: Re: Abyss X2 2.4: Optimum configuration |
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| AJWesley wrote: | Abyss Web Server Console :: Server Configuration :: Parameters
Timeout: 5 Second(s) |
The timeout is too low. If your visitors are on a slow connection or on a congested network, the 5 seconds may lapse without giving them a chance to fully send their requests (especially those containing form data or file uploads).
| AJWesley wrote: | Abyss Web Server Console :: Server Configuration :: Anti-Hacking Protection
Bad Requests Count Before Banning: 10
Monitoring Period: 10 Second(s)
Banning Duration: 604800 Second(s)[/color] |
The monitoring period is too low. Some bots and worms can let more than 10 seconds pass before retrying with another bad request. So a 1 minutes monitoring period is a good average (according to our tests and the behavior of common worms and attacks).
The banning duration is too long. In practice, worms will forget about you after a few minutes (or at most 1 or 2 hours) if you stop responding (i.e. your server banned them).
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AJWesley
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Joined: 13 Jan 2008
Posts: 39
Location: Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:06 am Post subject: Re: Abyss X2 2.4: Optimum configuration |
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| aprelium wrote: |
The timeout is too low. If your visitors are on a slow connection or on a congested network, the 5 seconds may lapse without giving them a chance to fully send their requests (especially those containing form data or file uploads).
The monitoring period is too low. Some bots and worms can let more than 10 seconds pass before retrying with another bad request. So a 1 minutes monitoring period is a good average (according to our tests and the behavior of common worms and attacks).
The banning duration is too long. In practice, worms will forget about you after a few minutes (or at most 1 or 2 hours) if you stop responding (i.e. your server banned them). |
Timeout 15 Second(s) /- or default?
Keep-Alive Requests 10 /- should this be increased?
Maximum Simultaneous Requests 150
(I am concerned that if the 150 maximum is full, additional visitors may hit the back button instead of waiting...)
Bad Requests Count Before Banning 10
Monitoring Period 60 Second(s) /- or default?
Banning Duration 3600 Second(s)
(I don't want to waste server resources... But I want to push Abyss to the limit :)
I got busy installing php 5.2.5 and lost track of all time.
Thanks for responding. I feel like such a nEwBiE... or *knob* - oh well... Support here is second to none! As soon as I get the hang of this, and give it a good run, then I'll by the upgrade to the current version.
(I'm going to share my content between 2 servers in order to improve response time and ease server load.)
rock on - Arthur
(Update to php installation: See http://www.aprelium.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14793 - if relevant perhaps I may assist... if the issue is solved just delete the post =) |
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aprelium
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Joined: 22 Mar 2002
Posts: 6800
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| Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:52 pm Post subject: Re: Abyss X2 2.4: Optimum configuration |
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| AJWesley wrote: | | oh well... Support here is second to none! As soon as I get the hang of this, and give it a good run, then I'll by the upgrade to the current version. |
You're welcome. We're glad to know that you appreciate our technical support and the users' community help you've found here. :)
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Aprelium - http://www.aprelium.com |
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AJWesley
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Joined: 13 Jan 2008
Posts: 39
Location: Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:55 am Post subject: Re: Abyss X2 2.4: Optimum configuration |
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| aprelium wrote: | | AJWesley wrote: | | oh well... Support here is second to none! As soon as I get the hang of this, and give it a good run, then I'll by the upgrade to the current version. |
You're welcome. We're glad to know that you appreciate our technical support and the users' community help you've found here. :) |
Online work: I was a mambo team member before the fight and flight... I also contribute to the cmsms team. I worked on both the earlier savant project as well as web developer's server suite. I've been with freshmeat and sourceforge since the beginning. I have a few projects on the build. (I keep a low profile...) But... The support I have enjoyed from aprelium and this forum is beyond my experience and expectation. Abyss is an excellent product, on par and surpassing both apache and sun java system web server in function and performance, ease-of-use and security.
No doubt I should have more questions as I continue developing with abyss... and right now I am having a great deal of fun =) I also look forward to contributing in this forum as I progress. |
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pkSML
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Joined: 29 May 2006
Posts: 952
Location: Michigan, USA
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| Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:11 pm Post subject: Re: Abyss X2 2.4: Optimum configuration |
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| AJWesley wrote: | | I have a few projects on the build. (I keep a low profile...) |
Maybe someday you could share with us what you're working on so we can have a look at your dev work!
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Need a LitlURL?
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AJWesley
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Joined: 13 Jan 2008
Posts: 39
Location: Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada
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| Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:31 am Post subject: Re: Abyss X2 2.4: Optimum configuration |
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| pkSML wrote: | | Maybe someday you could share with us what you're working on so we can have a look at your dev work! |
I will :) I was working on a dynamic (php mainly, some js and perl) menu module to offer an alternative to cPanel/ZPanel for Windows, full-featured and easily customized (based on some earlier tweaks I contributed to the MiniPortal 1.3.8 admin panel)... including Aestan Tray, for additional system tray access. Then I got distracted by Flash, which opened a whole new world for cross-browser compatibility (bla bla bla)... I will post some links from Flashkit and hotscripts later.
I have a question: (If this is not the place to post these concerns, then move or delete them :)
1. Benchmark or stress tests on Abyss using both static and dynamic content (php+mysql+perl) - any examples?
2. Content Management Systems. I work with and on CMSMS, which I would expect to perfrom quite well with Abyss, but I have an *itch* regarding Drupal, especially since taking 1st place at the Open Source Content Management System Awards recently. But Drupal is not recommended for Abyss (below, with some helpful tips and tricks too)... Which Content Management Systems work best with Abyss? And I would appreciate more examples of good, solid Abyss optimization from the community.
From Drupal:
Clean URL Support in Abyss
http://drupal.org/node/66114
"No Tricks" Clean URL Support in Abyss 2.4 and later
http://drupal.org/node/206489
"Incidentally, we've found that Abyss works quite well with Drupal when configured this way; however, it was unable to cope with the volume of traffic our site was receiving, and often responded with page load times well into the double digits. I would not recommend using Abyss for anything but the most lightly-trafficked Drupal installations."
Thanks, Arthur :) |
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bprsk8r4272
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Joined: 07 Mar 2006
Posts: 124
Location: Rochester, NY
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| Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:55 am Post subject: |
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ive used phpnuke 7.6(best version of nuke) patched, 8.0, 8.1 and postnuke both work great
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AJWesley
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Joined: 13 Jan 2008
Posts: 39
Location: Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada
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| Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:42 pm Post subject: |
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| bprsk8r4272 wrote: | | ive used phpnuke 7.6(best version of nuke) patched, 8.0, 8.1 and postnuke both work great |
Thanks bprsk8r4272! (I sent you a message...)
Anymore input based on my last post?
Thanks much! |
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aprelium
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Joined: 22 Mar 2002
Posts: 6800
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| Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:20 pm Post subject: Re: Abyss X2 2.4: Optimum configuration |
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| AJWesley wrote: |
"No Tricks" Clean URL Support in Abyss 2.4 and later
http://drupal.org/node/206489
"Incidentally, we've found that Abyss works quite well with Drupal when configured this way; however, it was unable to cope with the volume of traffic our site was receiving, and often responded with page load times well into the double digits. I would not recommend using Abyss for anything but the most lightly-trafficked Drupal installations." |
Well that's the kind of comments that does not tell nothing about the Web server speed. They are just quick conclusions that make the Web server responsible of every trouble they may encounter (and especially if it is not the mighty Apache).
The comment does not say anything about the configuration they have used, their load, their Drupal site complexity (some pages may take 50 MySQL requests to display, others a few requests only)...
Web servers (including Apache) do not speed or slow script processing. PHP is already very slow and Drupal is complex. So using Drupal on a normal desktop computer for a highly loaded site will deliver poor performance whether you're using Apache, IIS or Abyss.
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Aprelium - http://www.aprelium.com |
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AJWesley
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Joined: 13 Jan 2008
Posts: 39
Location: Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada
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| Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:15 pm Post subject: Re: Abyss X2 2.4: Optimum configuration |
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| aprelium wrote: | Well that's the kind of comments that does not tell nothing about the Web server speed. They are just quick conclusions that make the Web server responsible of every trouble they may encounter (and especially if it is not the mighty Apache).
The comment does not say anything about the configuration they have used, their load, their Drupal site complexity (some pages may take 50 MySQL requests to display, others a few requests only)... |
I absolutely agree! I ran a benchmark with Drupal (basic install, all optimization enabled) on Apache - just curious. I simulated 300 to 500 hits a second, site-wide, for one hour. Basic page load time reached "double-digits" - no different to Abyss. I spent a week on the Drupal Forums and Documentation... this is a common problem exclusive to Drupal.
Drupal is interesting, but I do not understand why they ranked so high in the CMS awards.
I have MT4 (Movable Type) running FastCGI (Local - Pipes), Type set to "Standard" and it functions very, very fast without error, and it only took 5 - 10 minutes to configure and test! At least 35% faster than MT4 on Apache using mod_perl, which took at least 2 hours to configure and test - Yeah, Abyss! If any of you are interested... Just thought to mention. I would love to hear related examples :) |
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aprelium
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Joined: 22 Mar 2002
Posts: 6800
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| Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 6:39 pm Post subject: Re: Abyss X2 2.4: Optimum configuration |
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AJWesley,
Thank you for your feedback.
Drupal is highly ranked because it is better and cleaner than other PHP based CMS. If you are going to use it, we suggest adding a PHP cache extension to your PHP setup to speed up PHP processing (do not expect x2 speed ups but it's better than the raw standard speed).
Perl is usually faster. Python is also gaining more and more traction for Web applications and you can experience a great speed with it (especially if coupled with FastCGI).
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loloyd
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Joined: 03 Mar 2006
Posts: 435
Location: Philippines
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| Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 6:12 am Post subject: |
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AJWesley, thanks for the heads up on http://drupal.org/node/206489. I commented on this article on its weaknesses and provided insights for possible improvement.
What sets Drupal above most other CMSes is its tight-solid core and the way hooks (for add-ins and modules) are implemented. It also claims or aims to be XHTML-Strict compliant, which is actually not really for everybody; but you can really sense their commitment in the output their work produces.
Aprelium, how would we be able to add PHP cache extension in our PHP setups?
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aprelium
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Joined: 22 Mar 2002
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AJWesley
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Joined: 13 Jan 2008
Posts: 39
Location: Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 7:35 am Post subject: |
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I tested many and discovered xCache to function without a flaw on windows.
It's easy to set-up, stable, and the gain on my end is approximately 25% to 35% (and it also plays well with additional "tweaks" in code or php.ini directly). Never crashed or mis-fired in nearly three months steady uptime.
eAccelerator crashed serveral times a month running 24/7... MY 2cents :)
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loloyd
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Joined: 03 Mar 2006
Posts: 435
Location: Philippines
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| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:04 am Post subject: |
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How much did it cost you to implement xCache?
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AJWesley
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Joined: 13 Jan 2008
Posts: 39
Location: Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada
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| Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 2:30 am Post subject: |
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| loloyd wrote: | | How much did it cost you to implement xCache? |
Hey loloyd
I am finally on the forum again -- I got seriously side tracked!
Cost by way of performance to resources? I am not sure what you mean...
I have been experimenting with Wordpress and CMSMS and Drupal. I have found that xCache is perfect. I set it up in php.ini and tweak it to run with my apps (just a tad of trial and error) without the admin function. It works well enough that I have disabled internal cashing on each app mentioned above. Zend also works well with xCache, as does performance features in php.ini such as gzip compression and the like (just a tad of trial and error, again). Wordpress loads instantly. CMSMS -- a real hog -- loads 2 and 3 seconds faster. Drupal, about 1 and 2 seconds faster (still working on that one...). Abyss, Fast CGI and xCache together, with some manual tweaking, make a powerful combination.
AJ
PS -- I think I will go live with Wordpress -- FAST!
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