Board Optimization - vB Accelerator

ported & significantly improved vb 3.8 branch.

This mod is suited for medium and big boards. It reduces server load, caused by thumnails and big attachments. Includes significant recommendations for server tuning, to speedup pages loading.

what's the problem with?

1. In original vB all thumbnails a downloaded via php. So, if you page contains 10-20 attached images, then each page php request will be followed by 10-20 thumbnails php requests. That's very bad.
2. When attachments body transfered via php, that's much more waisteful, than direct transfer of static file. Especially for big files.
3. Browser does lots of additional requests to static file, to check if modified
4. JS/CSS not compressed

what this mod does:

1. All thumbnails will have DIRECT links (served as static files). Much lower reply latency and server load.
2. If you have nginx webserver, you php-fcgi will not participate in file transfer any more. It will reply with X-Accel-Redirect header. Then nginx will proceed attachment as static file.
   • No more problems with multiple downloads of 10-mb files.
   • No needs to restrict attachments and full-size images for guests and search bots.
3. Static files are properly cached/compressed after tuning

how to install:

1. Make sure, attachments are stored on disk, NOT in database.
2. Make sure, that thumbnails are in web-accessible area. If not - reconfigure your web-server first.
3. Check manually, that you can download any .thumb file via browser.
4. !!! Tune cache/compression settings for static files (see example from next post)
5. Import product XML & tune settings.
6. Enjoy

This mod is developped here: http://github.com/rcdesign/vb-accelerator . Patches are welcome.

history:

0.9
- fixed path for duplicated attachments

0.8
- fixed back timestamp parameter & substitutions for XML output
- added conversion for assets.php thumbnails (in attachments manager)

0.7
- ported to vb4
- added basic CDN support for thumbnails

[Vitaly]

Originally Posted by tupique

so this mod is used to change the thumbnails URL only, not the full image?

The goal of this mod is to reduce server load. Direct thumb links affect load. Full attach links - not.

There can be 20 thumbs on thread page. But not 20 fullsize images, downloaded at once.

Originally Posted by tupique

http://<domain hidden>/img/1/1.thumb?d=1276962745

Could you remove the query string parameter? It ruins the purpose of image caching, since the parameter value always changing while the image stays the same.

This parameter doesn't affect cacheing. It's fixed for each thumbnail.

[tupique]

great! thanks!

[tupique]

Could you maybe do the same for image.php (to display user's avatar)? It's hard to cache image served by PHP script.

[Vitaly]

It's already done in vbulletin settings. Please, read vb manual. This mod is NOT buggy, and works properly. Really.

[ssslippy]

Do attachments themselves need to be in a public accessible area or just the thumbnails?

[Vitaly]

Just the thumbnails

[Xencored]

Fact my thumbs seem tons faster to load thanks!!

now Vitaly could you explain this part please

"CDN list
Enter up to 4 mirror domains, to load local images faster. For example:"

Thanks!

Ps. how do i know if i have a NGINX websever lol sorry :x

[Vitaly]

You'd better to read yahoo website optimization manuals.

In 2 words:

1. Browser allows only 2 parallel connections to each domain, and 8 total.
2. If you do mirrors for your images, it can download up to 8 images simultaniously
3. It's better to keep mirrors on separate domain, without cookies, to speed up requests

That can make some sence, ONLY if you have tons of thumbnails on each single page.

I did this feature for fun, and didn't meashured effect yet. Anyway, it's not as significant, as (direct links + proper cache headers for static files).

Ps. how do i know if i have a NGINX websever lol sorry :x

If you ask such question, then 99% you don't have nginx

[Xencored]

Originally Posted by Vitaly

You'd better to read yahoo website optimization manuals.

In 2 words:

1. Browser allows only 2 parallel connections to each domain
2. If you do mirrors for you images, it can download up to 8 images simultaniously
3. It's better to keep mirrors no separate domain, without cookies, to speed up requests

That can make some sence, ONLY if you have tons of thumbnails on each single page.

I did this feature for fun, and didn't meashured effect yet. Anyway, it's not as significant, as (direct links + proper cache headers for static files).

Thanks for that i dont use any mirrors so i can leave that blank

Originally Posted by Vitaly

If you ask such question, then 99% you don't have nginx

Guess not than

Thanks mate the speed on pages like >>This<< is tons better

Nomination!

[Vitaly]

Originally Posted by Animemike

Thanks mate the speed on pages like >>This<< is tons better

You also have to tune apache config. Remove ETAG headers, and add Expires (in next 7 days) headers instead for all static files.