Any reason not to install APC?

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seodevhead
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Any reason not to install APC?

Post by seodevhead »

I'm seeing a lot of recommendations around various places to install and use APC opcode cache framework.
http://pecl.php.net/package/APC

Is there any reason NOT to want to use APC? Or would you guys definitely recommend using it as well? I really don't know anything about caching other than the it's used to speed things up. I also know there are other opcode cache options as well, like eAccelerator, memcache or XCache... of which is the best I have no idea.

So, I'm kinda looking for some quick guidance... should I install APC? I run all kinds of php/mysql scripts, forums, photo galleries, blogs, etc...

Thanks!
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s.dot
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Re: Any reason not to install APC?

Post by s.dot »

If you're running on a shared box, be careful with the usage of some of it's functions (if you're not just using it as a drop-in replacement).. because I believe if you do something like apc_store('config').. and someone else uses the same value on your server.. it could either be overwritten or deleted from another user using apc_delete('config'). Instead use names like apc_store('myuniqueapp_config').. etc.

I've never used APC myself, I just read that somewhere.
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seodevhead
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Re: Any reason not to install APC?

Post by seodevhead »

scottayy wrote:If you're running on a shared box, be careful with the usage of some of it's functions
Thanks for the word on that... however, luckily it would be for a dedicated box, with only my accounts. :P
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RobertGonzalez
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Re: Any reason not to install APC?

Post by RobertGonzalez »

I have heard nothing but good things as it relates to APC. I was thinking about using memchaced, but was told that APC is better. I will be looking deeper into this very soon.
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seodevhead
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Re: Any reason not to install APC?

Post by seodevhead »

I was wondering if there is any visible different to the end-user when a server is using APC? In other words, are there delays in getting "updated information" on things like news sites or forums, etc? I've never really dealt with caching before, so I wasn't sure if it's entirely seamless to the end-user (visitors) or not.
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RobertGonzalez
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Re: Any reason not to install APC?

Post by RobertGonzalez »

I would think not since the point of APC, memcached, et al is to serve content from cache thereby being faster serves. I would guess.
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