Migration from Apache to Litespeed

[Yogesh Sarkar]

I have a Quad core dedicated server from Wiredtree, which is running Apache 2.2.x and mod_php 3.3.x and I am thinking of migrating to Litespeed, mainly to speed up the loading time of my websites, since the server barely hits 50% load, even in peak time.

Now the thing is, I am running few wordpress blogs, an IPB forum and a large vBulletin forum with vBSEO. All these sites are using mod-rewrite and vBulletin forum's rewrite rules have been added to the httpd.conf to boost performance.

That vBulletin forum also sees a lot of attachment (mainly images) uploads (we have around 150k attachments) and these images are then resized and saved to the hdd and displayed inline i.e. we do not convert them to thumbnail.

Some of these attachments over time, have been saved with nobody ownership.

Additionally, not everyone resizes the images before uploading them. So we will have people who are uploading set of images (restricted to 10 per uploading cycle, but no restriction on the number of images a user can upload in a post) after images, which are in full resolution and can take anywhere from 5 to 20-30minutes to upload and get posted (depending on user connection speed and number of images).

With this in mind (especially the last bit), how painful/painless would a switchover to Litespeed be and what possible issues can I bump into?

Additionally, with the above in mind, in which form should I get the php complied as from the Wiredtree staff and is there any specific instruction I need to give them?

Also, the image quality even at 90% isn't all that great, so which image package should I get installed for resizing?

[webizen]

LSWS can be treated as a drop-in for Apache, so not much effort needed to migrate from Apache to LSWS. Please refer to following documents for the needed steps.

Migration
=======
http://www.litespeedtech.com/support...pache:other_cp

Installation
========
http://www.litespeedtech.com/docs/webserver/install/

Build PHP in LSWS
===============
Once LSWS is installed, you need to build matching PHP within LSWS so that PHP in LSWS (LSPHP) has the same function/extension support as the one in Apache. We have following documents help you go through that process.

http://www.litespeedtech.com/support...wiki:php:lsapi
http://www.litespeedtech.com/support...i:troubleshoot

License
======
Enterprise (commercial) edition is tied to license. You can start a trial license which is 2-CPU equivalent and upgrade to 4 CPU license at any time.

http://www.litespeedtech.com/support...ense_to_choose

Not quite sure about image package. What package are you currently using?

[Yogesh Sarkar]

So the php will continue to run as nobody if I get it installed as mod_php in Litespeed? Also, will I need to get XCache uninstalled since I would be using the same version of php and thus they would installed at the same directory?

Using GD 2.2.1 for image manipulation.

[NiteWave]

need build matching php for litespeed, need rebuild xcache as well. php and xcache for apache still be there in case you fail back to apache.

in general, you can run both litespeed and apache in parallel for some time. litespeed listen to port 2080(for example) and apache listen to port 80.

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Thanks Nitewave, don't really want to run Apache in parallel. Would prefer a complete switchover and have talked to the Wiredtree guys, will be taking the plunge on this weekend.

[KenSlelfCof]

Hi,

Im trying to set up a site on a separate drive from the Apache install, but I get a permissions error when I try to access it. I.e. I have some sites and Apache on c: but want this site on e:.

Ive put an entry into httpd-vhosts.conf that points to the site. I presume theres something else I need to consider but not sure what..

[webizen]

are you using Windows (drive c: and e: )? it is not supported here.