Forum OpenACS Q&A: Apache mod_AOLServer

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1: Apache mod_AOLServer
Posted by David Touitou on 05/07/00 01:44 PM
Hi all

ArsDigita has annouced its mod_AOLServer and I was wondering if
anybody tested it yet ?

They seem to say it should work with OpenACS too, but...

Thx.

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2: Response to Apache mod_AOLServer (response to 1)
Posted by Don Baccus on 05/07/00 02:23 PM
Last I heard it was still being tested - that was about a week ago.

If it works with ACS Classic it will work with OpenACS as long as they've implemented the database driver API correctly so that ns_pg statements work.

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3: Response to Apache mod_AOLServer (response to 1)
Posted by Ben Adida on 05/07/00 04:19 PM
Note that mod_AOLserver is being developed with OpenACS to
bypass some complexities (and bloatedness) of Oracle, last I
heard. It's in alpha at the moment, and no one on the OpenACS
team has actually tested it, but it will definitely work when
mod_AOLserver is final.
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4: Response to Apache mod_AOLServer (response to 1)
Posted by David Touitou on 05/07/00 05:37 PM
Thanks for these "previews".

I'm on my way (tonight ?) of building a FreeBSD 3.4 + Apache + Postgresql + OpenACS + mod_AOLserver...

More info in a few days.

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5: Response to Apache mod_AOLServer (response to 1)
Posted by Don Baccus on 05/08/00 02:02 AM
Great!  Two things that might be fun:

1. Write an installation guide after you get it up and running, you can be certain it will go up with the docs.

2. Benchmarking of this approach vs. AOLserver under heavy, artificial  load.  Same machine, same database and data, it would be interesting.

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6: Response to Apache mod_AOLServer (response to 1)
Posted by Roberto Mello on 05/08/00 06:30 PM
I don't know if AOLserver will work with FreeBSD 3.4 because of thread support in that version of FreeBSD. Last I heard AOLserver would not work in this version but it would work with 4.0. I may be wrong here.

The Benchmark test that Don suggested would be really interesting though. I downloaded mod_aolserver just to look at the code. Never actually installed it.

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7: Response to Apache mod_AOLServer (response to 1)
Posted by Michael Feldstein on 05/08/00 06:53 PM
I know that Ben is somewhat sceptical that mod_AOLServer is going to compare well with the original AOLServer due to the technical challenges involved, but (assuming it works OK) does Apache bring any advantages over AOLServer? I'm not talking about market share or availability of other modules; I mean core functionality as a web server.
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8: Response to Apache mod_AOLServer (response to 1)
Posted by Roberto Mello on 05/08/00 07:10 PM
I doubt Apache with or without mod_aolserver will beat AOLserver too. Especially with mod_aolserver trying to compare to the real thing.

If you compare the core Apache with core AOLserver, AOLserver beats the crap out of Apache. The advantage I see in Apache are its modules. For example, I have been looking around on how to implement virtual servers in AOLserver 3 and haven't found how to do it. Apache also has a nice mod_ssl that uses OpenSSL, which hopefully AOLserver will use as well. Those are the two main things I see that AOLserver really needs work on.

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9: Response to Apache mod_AOLServer (response to 1)
Posted by Michael Feldstein on 05/08/00 07:55 PM
When you say AOLServer "beats the crap" out of Apache, are you mainly talking about speed, or are there other issues?
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10: Response to Apache mod_AOLServer (response to 1)
Posted by Roberto Mello on 05/08/00 08:18 PM
Notice that I compared the core Apache with the core AOLserver (since that was the question).

The core Apache is just a webserver for static pages. That's all it does.

The core AOLserver is a webserver for static pages but, more interestingly, it is also a full web development platform that talks to several databases. Calling "ns_sendmail to from subject body" I can send e-mail right from AOLserver. You can't do that with the core Apache. You'd have to write a CGI script to do have that functionality.

Also, AOLserver is fully multithreaded, and has been so for years. That has significant advantages for web/db sites.

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11: Re: FreeBSD 3.4 (response to 1)
Posted by Don Juan on 05/08/00 09:19 PM
I'm running AOLServer 3.0 + postgresql + OpenACS right now. It's been running fine for a couple of weeks. AFAIK, the thread model just isn't 1-1, if the AOLServer documentation reads right.
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12: AOLServer/ACS/pg on OpenBSD? (response to 1)
Posted by drew koh on 05/18/00 02:08 PM
Hi,

Has anyone else tried the AOLServer/ACS/pg on other flavours of BSD besides FreeBSD, specifically OpenBSD? If it works, are there any performance hits as opposed to using Linux/FreeBSD?

I was wondering if this combination would be sufficient for small businesses as it would cut down on admin responsiblities(re: security).

Just my thoughts.

Thanks!