General Queries and GZIP tips
 

I run a very small forum (64 registered members, only 15 of them post regularly) that gets a very low amount of traffic. I'm on a webhost that can be rather slow with executing PHP (www.ixwebhosting.com), but it is all I can afford.

I have a very small amount of mods installed on my forum, as well.
www.ev0lnetwork.net

Currently I have GZIP set to 1. Should I set it higher?

Also, how can I tell how many queries are being executed, and how can I improve the speed of my forum?

Thank you.

You could install Microstats to see how many queries are being ran on page or enable debug mode for a short period of time.

Leave your gzip level at 1

I tried installing Microstats but it said my version was too high. I tinkered with the version requirement and got it to install, enabled Microstats, and still couldn't find the output anywhere (definitely not at the footer of the page like the screens were showing).

did you do the template edit?

I've got it installed on 3.7b6 running with no problems.

Do you have mod_deflate installed? If you do, disable the vBulletin GZIP feature.

Not sure what mod_deflate is...?

In my PHP info, it shows..

HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING gzip, deflate

further down

Accept-Encoding gzip, deflate

even further down

_SERVER["HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING"] gzip, deflate

So would this mean I should disable gZip? Why? Does it improve speed?

mod_deflate is an Apache module which automatically gzips output. Open up your PHP info, and search for "mod_deflate".

Nope, no actual "mod_deflate" is found, just what I stated before, which is "gzip, deflate."

Okay, that is good, as you should not have vBulletin's gzip feature and mod_deflate enabled at the same time. As this causes "double processing" and slows down your server. Also, leave your gzip level at 1, any more is a waste of server resources.

I've added a template compression module but other than that, I'm at a loss to keep the forum speedy. Then again, it is fairly speedy when the actual server itself isn't being a pain. I hate IXwebhosting :(

Which is more efficient? vBulletin's internal gZip option or mod_gzip or mod_deflate?

mod_gzip = mod_deflate ;)

The only difference is that mod_gzip is used in Apache 1.3, while mod_deflate is used in Apache 2.x.

They are both fairly efficient (if you have set it up correctly).

If your experiencing slow speeds with your current host, try another webhost.

I use LunarPages -- there shared servers are cheap, affordable and reliable! www.lunarpages.com

Regards Jason :)

I have looked through my phpinfo for deflate and I found it on three places:

Can someone please advise if this is the same as mod_deflate as Dismounted has been suggesting. If yes then is it safe for me to disable gzip in vB settings.?


Here are my settings from phpinfo file:Thanks

No, I believe that is different.

Regards Jason :)

That is zlib, which can be set in php.ini and when set to 1 will deflate/compress ALL pages on a server if they are supported.

It is more efficient to deflate with apache.