MR Wrote:
> My site is starting to get "busy enough". Are there some docs that
> explain how to to do this. Apache proxy has always seemed unclear to me,
> my lack of understanding really.... I've been using standard apache with
> mod_perl for several years now and have run squid in front of it, but
> this is a bit of a setup hassle when things change.
>
The basic idea of running a separate "light" version of Apache and having it
proxy to the "heavy" back end mod_perl server is this:
Mod_perl processes/threads tend to be quite a bit larger than plain old
"vanilla" Apache processes (in terms of memory). By running a "light"
server and having it proxy to a mod_perl "back-end" server. The main idea
is that by proxying, the front-end "light" server accepts connections from
the net. Many of the users connecting may be on slow modems or other
semi-slow connections. It is Apache's job to wait for the client -- it must
stay open until the client gets data. But why should you be tying up an
"expensive" and "heavy" mod_perl process? By using a "light" Apache server
as a front end, you don't waste system resources on that. You can keep a
minimal number of "heavy" processes open, because the "light" server will
proxy your requests over to the mod_perl server, which will respond really
quickly to the local server (no need to stay open for any significant amount
of time).
If you're setting up a server for an intranet or something where most users
are on a fast lan, you may not realize a significant performance increase.
Hope that helps... I know the explanation is kind of rough, but hey, I'm too
tired to make sense :-)
Russell Weiss
Founder and Technical Manager
InfoRelay Online Systems, Inc.
http://www.InfoRelay.net/
