Topic: Tell me about how you use Apache and Windows.

[Brian]

I have a big favor to ask those who have a couple of minutes to respond. It centers around my effort to encourage my boss, a very experienced and very knowledgable Network and Systems Administrator that it is not only okay but wise to run Apache 2 on Windows (WAMP) as opposed to Apache 2 on Linux (LAMP).

Now I have been working with and learning from Steffen for years, he is the fellow that got me started back with Sambar 5.2, back in the day. Steffen knows that I often do things that are sort of out of the realm of normal, that is, I run a very busy web server with about 500 vhosts on a box with Apache 2 and PHP 4.4.x, but I do a tremendous amount of calls from PHP to outside apps via EXEC and SHELL_EXEC.

It is pretty well know that there is a threading problem for Windows and PHP when making outside calls and using PHP as a SAPI rather than CGI. From CGI it would be slow as the second coming but absolutley rock solid stable. Speed is more important to me.

I want to convince my boss, as I stated he is very experienced with Windows (DOS to 2003) at an enterprise level, he is a wiz with IIs, and he is very comfortable with Linux as well. I build this up because I cannot seem to convince him that it is faster, easier, as safe or safer and completely stable under most circumstances to run WAMP over LAMP.

The file structure is easier to manage, updating and upgrading PHP, Apache, and MySQL is faster and easier on WAMP, and so other than the speed and stability issues of the server, the case is clear to him that there is no problem with WAMP. He does not trust the stability issues of WAMP because of the crazy stuff I do.

Example: I have maybe 20 or 30 connections, two or three using PHP and Imagemagick via command line - another person connecting is unpacking a zip file through a web interface while another six are viewing web pages that render dozens of images via the GD library. The rest, they are just fetching web pages. I may have as many as 90 or so Keep Alives at any given time.

I push my CPU and load to the max on my poor little box, running XP home but I see over 3 million page requests per month (pages not hits). I run AWSTATS and they are absolutely accurate as well as I also don't log any LAN traffic, only internet hits.

So, what do you do with your server, and how stable are things for you. Tell me about your set up would you, why is WAMP as good or better than LAMP?

Give me some good points to bring up. I read an article in eWeek that clearly showed that Windows with IIs SQL, Apache + MySQL + PHP, Apache + MySQL + Python, and Java actually handidly outperformed similar Linux configurations with the same technologies (minus IIs of course)

Thanks

[Jorge]

I use to run httpd 2.0 on windows for development only,
Now i run httpd 2.2 on windows and unix, i prefer windows for:
1) easier to update
2) need a module? need i quick??? download a binary
3) I can compile a binary on a diferent machine and migrate it easy

only problem i've found are premissions (somewhat) and some unix only stuff.

Now i have setup 8 webserver that use mass vhosting some of the older used virtualhostalias the newer... well ask steffen he's seen my latest gem i call the Unified Conf

[pnllan]

Consideration: When you only have one OS to support, it's easier to find people when you need to replace or add to your staff. This is important to some firms less important to others.

Consideration: Look at ALL of the GREAT MODS for Apache. Enough said.

As far as stability and security, some may argue but it really depends on who is setting things up. In the right hands...they're equal...at least from my experience.

[admin]

Costs is also a consideration. I saw some time ago a report on the net that Windows is less expensive in terms setting up and maintaing cost. To maintain and setup Windows you do not need so special/super experts (expensive) and all is done in less time. With windows you do not have to know that much what is all going on under the hoods.

Windows documentation is far better and up-to-date !

Perfomance is on par, as pnallan says, depends on who is setting things up.

As far as I can observe Windows is very stable here and the companies I visit.

Do not forget formely we had, not so long ago, Win98 and Apache 1..x. That time it was not a best choise. But nowadays the world has changed,


Steffen

P.s.
Personal advise:
Do not go in a Wholy war with you boss.
And.. ask it also in a *nix forum.

[Jorge]