OK, OK, I'lll right a How-To. ;^) Guy Davis wrote:
I set up a Zope 2.12 server on a PentiumPro 200 with 64MB running RH6.1 Linux. Currently I am using Apache with pcgi to handle the initial requests and MySQL for Zope's database for bug tracking and other apps.
I have been asked to defend my choice of Linux over WinNT. This server
Perhaps you should redirect with a request to defend the use of NT ;)
will be used by approximately 50 people who will mostly make use of the document management abilities of Zope and run occasional database queries.
If we assume heavy use from all 50 people, can Zope handle the loads easily? What kind of numbers (hits/second, etc.) can others report to help me back up my claim that it can? I understand that Zope is significantly slower than MS SiteServer, but for our needs is it not more than sufficient?
Apples and Oranges. Most 'webserver' benchmarks published tend to vbe nothing more than simple, static pages. That is hardly fair to compare with a dynamic application server. When people insist on comparing, insist they compare the same things.
My next question is the same but for up to 500 users. There is a small possibility that Zope may be used corporate wide rather than just for our local business units. This would likely require more serious hardware? What level? At what point does it become necessary to move to the Zope Enterprise Option?
The PPro should easily handle what you are describing for the 50. For 500, you would definitely want more RAM; the latter would be even more true for NT. I would reccomend not running X on the server (as usual), and if you do, choose a light windowmanager, such as XFCE, iCE, or WindowMaker. The real question should be 'why are the users are hitting the website so much?'. ;) Will you be serving pages in addition to that done by Zope? This would affect your performance scores. If not, I would say don't bother with Apache.
Also, what has been your experience with Zope's reliability on Linux? Has anyone been in a backup recovery situation? Was it difficult getting Zope working again from a nightly archive?
Stability has never been an issue for me. I run Zope on 5 different machines of varying architecture (Intel, PA-RISC, Alpha) and have never had a stability issue, of either Zope or the OS. Zope is a cakewalk to backup and restore. Data.fs files gzip nicely, and bzip2 even better ;) IMO, the issue would be the MySQL server. Personally, I would run it on a seperate machine w/a fast connection between the two if possible. This would be true of any OS. HTH, Bill -- In flying I have learned that carelessness and overconfidence are usually far more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks. -- Wilbur Wright in a letter to his father, September 1900