GZip And What Does It Do?

[UnForums2k]

could some one please tell me what GZip is and how it works... and also how does this effect your forum....??

[filburt1]

Compresses the pages it sends to your browser to reduce bandwidth. Barely increases server load if you set it properly (1).

[Tony G]

Also makes pages load faster with the compressing it does. Obviously.

[Sparkz]

It's very much like having the server zip down the file before it sends it to your browser, which in turn unzips it before showing it to you.

[Sebastian]

if you have a big pipe gzip does nothing and may actually hold things up for really big connections. all it really will do it save some bandwidth..

I have a dedicated server on a dedicated Dual DS3 and noticed no improvment besides saving a few MB's.

If you have a really popular board, even if set gzip to 1 it can slow down the server if you have 200 - 400 members online.

[filburt1]

You'll still pay for the bandwidth if you turn it off so it's really pointless to not turn it on.

[Sebastian]

yes, it is pointless not to turn if on IF you have only a few GB's alloted a month, but when you have unlimited bandwidth as i do it becomes pointless as all it does it higher the server load with 200 members even on (1). gzip is only really good when on a shared server that only gives you xx amount of bandwidth per month. you will not see many big sites with gzip on as all it does it slows down the server even further with a lot of users online.

[nuno]

Originally posted by Sebastian
.... but when you have unlimited bandwidth as i do it becomes pointless

lol :ermm:
Unlimited bw?
Obviously you don't have a 'huge' site, coz if you did you wouldn't say that.

[Sebastian]

no, your right, I don't have a 'huge' site as in number of members, but I do get a lot of visits...

.. and there is such a thing as 'unlimited' bandwidth, which is what I have, dedicated web/sql server on a ds3, provided by dsldesigns. you know not everyone likes to be on a server with 80 other accounts.. i guess that is what your used to seeing.

[Velocd]

Give it up to Sebastian <insert audience applause>, man with the dedicated server.

Well, not everyone is wealthy enough to pay $100 (or whatever the going rate is now adays) for a dedicated server :P

But no bitterness here, I'm fine with my puny 14GB/month rate ^_^ (well, for now....) As for the .gzip thing, I use it..although with my small site there is hardly a notice.