Speed up your Board /caching

[Blandt]

This is question for the optimization experts, even though I suspect my google reading have probably gave me similar answers already...

On my dev test bed installations on different servers, I am noticing a lot of fragmentation on the APC cache even though it is not being used anywhere near its limit (shm_limit="32m", usage only around 10m). Should I worry about this, or is it safe to ignore?

My own observation (in other words not scientific but nonetheless tried)
in 64bits distros APC doesn't perform as well as in a similar configuration 32bits

 

[g0rn]

To make caching working on Beta 2 you have to also add this line to config.php:

$config['cache']['enabled'] = true;

 

[ragtek]

To make caching working on Beta 2 you have to also add this line to config.php:

$config['cache']['enabled'] = true;

thx, i've added it to the first post

 

[Nolik]

eAccelerator supported?

 

[motowebmaster]

Thanks for sharing the config parameter. xCache was already picking up some files while I was running beta 1, but have since upgraded to beta 2.

 

[swatme]

will eaccelerator benefit with xf?

which is better on single server with suPHP installed
eaccelerator or apc?

 

[smsmasters]

Do I need to edit any files for XenForo to support eaccelerator?

 

[CTXMedia]

Just a thanks for this thread ... it's given GeeksChat a bit of extra "juice" ...

 

[CTXMedia]

One question though ... does anyone know if you can (or cannot) run multiple instances of XF on the same server - ALL with memcached enabled?

I ask because I will eventually have 4+ on the same server and would like to optimise them all as best I can.

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[Shamil]

One question though ... does anyone know if you can (or cannot) run multiple instances of XF on the same server - ALL with memcached enabled?

I ask because I will eventually have 4+ on the same server and would like to optimise them all as best I can.

Cheers,
Shaun

As long as they are not using the same memcache server prefix, then it's fine.

EDIT: actually, let me try it out.

 

[Deebs]

You should be able to specify a prefix for all variables stored inside memcache allowing multiple instances to share the same memcached server.

 

[CTXMedia]

As long as they are not using the same memcache server prefix, then it's fine.

You should be able to specify a prefix for all variables stored inside memcache allowing multiple instances to share the same memcached server.

Okay, thanks. Erm ... could you expand on that and explain what you mean, and how I might do what you're suggesting - is it something I have to set on the server? within the memcached config? or for each XF memcached config instance?

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[Mike Tougeron]

Okay, thanks. Erm ... could you expand on that and explain what you mean, and how I might do what you're suggesting - is it something I have to set on the server? within the memcached config? or for each XF memcached config instance?

It is a Zend_Cache setting $config['cache']['frontendOptions']['cache_id_prefix'] = 'install2_';

 

[CTXMedia]

It is a Zend_Cache setting $config['cache']['frontendOptions']['cache_id_prefix'] = 'install2_';

Thanks, so I just add the cache_id_prefix to the frontendOptions array like this?:

$config['cache']['frontendOptions'] = array('caching' => true,
'automatic_serialization' => true,
'lifetime' => 1800,
'cache_id_prefix' => 'geeks_'
);

... and then change the value for each instance of XF I'm running on the same server?

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[Mike Tougeron]

yup.

 

[CTXMedia]

yup.

Brilliant - thanks Mike, much appreciated

 

[Floris]

Those who run multiple sites, perhaps it's interesting to consider having a unique prefix per instance:

'lifetime' => 10800,
'cache_id_prefix' => 'xenfans_' // Make unique per site and keep it short and simple
);

 

[CTXMedia]

Those who run multiple sites, perhaps it's interesting to consider having a unique prefix per instance:

'lifetime' => 10800,
'cache_id_prefix' => 'xenfans_' // Make unique per site and keep it short and simple
);

Yup - that's what I've done. I've used "geeks_" for GeeksChat.net and "cycle_" for my test CycleChat.net install (and I have another two installs on the same server that will get the same treatment ... ).

Are there any other options/switches that are worth investigating or experimenting with to help further improve the use of caching?

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[CTXMedia]

'lifetime' => 10800,

I notice you have the lifetime set to 180 minutes, whereas the example setting in the first post is 30 minutes - do you feel a higher value is more beneficial?

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[Floris]

I notice you have the lifetime set to 180 minutes, whereas the example setting in the first post is 30 minutes - do you feel a higher value is more beneficial?

Cheers,
Shaun

http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/zend.cache.theory.html

XenFans for example in MY opinion doesn't benefit from 1800 seconds of fresh cache ..
It caches a lot, and doesn't get read a lot because of low traffic, and results in expiring before it's really used ..

XenFans during peak hours for example in MY opinion doesn't benefit from say half a day of fresh cache ..
It caches a lot, and keeps it, so it can be re-used, handy for low traffic. But, despite peak hour and hanging on to things so it benefits in the long(er) run. It will have more stale files which you desire to expire since they're hardly hit.

Finding a middle ground is hard, especially if I can't really debug this or have data to go along with it.

I feel that 1800 is too low, and half a day is too much. A handful of hours might be just fine for the site.

APC or memcached, etc. .... that's different than opcode caching by xenforo, which is what these lifetime settings are for if I understand it correctly. http://xenforo.com/community/threads/tip-use-apc.6456/page-4#post-237629