A useful re-phrasing gunzip!
In my 'server farm' (23 machines) we have machines running mod-PHP and mod-Perl. mod_perl/Apache::Registry type code, or typical CGI style code if you prefer, is about as fast on a mod-Perl machine as PHP code is on a mod-PHP machine. Carefully crafted mod_perl (i.e. Handler) code can be marginally faster to very significantly faster due to the tight integration with Apache.
In both environments the speed for serving static pages is about the same.
Adding a second Apache to a machine with httpd.conf tailored for static serving does give a marked improvement in serving truly static pages. However their is one wierdness we have yet to explain - if you run a second Apache for serving static pages on a mod_PHP machine the benefit is not as great as running it on a mod-Perl machine! Go figure. So we have a client with some big mod-Perl and some big PHP where we run two machines for him. Both machines have a second, identically configured Apache but we use the mod-Perl machine to serve the static pages for preference. He only uses the second Apache on the mod-PHP machine for developers usually.
Now, I don't claim to be an expert - we have a hired gun who comes in to configure and manage servers for us - we got into this because we have a rack in a big carrier neutral facility so we offset some of the costs by offering colocation.
jdtoronto
|