14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is laboring effortlessly to convince web developers and hosting companies relying on LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) to give WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP) a try. One of the largest impediments that the Redmond-based company has to overcome is PHP performance on Windows, but it is offering solutions designed to deliver the same experience and speed as PHP running on top of the open source Linux operating system. The Windows Cache Extension for PHP Beta is just such a solution, labeled a PHP accelerator by the software giant.
“Perhaps you are a Web Developer or a Web Hoster who on the one hand likes PHP. But on the other hand you like Windows. It’s OK. It’s not a contradiction. Now you can run your PHP applications even better on Windows. It’s also OK to tell your Linux friends what they are missing,” said Eric Rezabek, Senior Product Manager IIS/Web. “ Microsoft is announcing the Windows Cache Extension for PHP Beta – a PHP accelerator that is used to increase the speed of PHP applications running on Windows and Windows Server. Once the Windows Cache Extension for PHP is enabled and loaded by the PHP engine, PHP applications can take advantage of the functionality without any code modifications. How sweet is that?”
I only used LAMP for all web projects I was involved in. With the first chance I get, I’ll test drive it and let you know. But it does sound sweet, if indeed all that customers have to do is install the extension, enable it and then forget it’s there, but still enjoy the speed bump for PHP apps. The software giant is offering the Windows Cache Extension for PHP Beta via the Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 RC. Customers will be able to integrate the extension with both IIS 7.5 and IIS 7.0. Microsoft noted that Windows Cache Extension for PHP Beta comes with support for PHP 5.2 and PHP 5.3, and allows the file cache to be configured, along with the PHP opcode cache.
“If you run PHP on Windows, check it out. If you run PHP on Linux and want an alternative, check it out. If you want to increase PHP application performance on Windows by caching PHP bytecode in memory, check it out. If you want to reduce file system I/O overhead by caching the PHP scripts in memory, check it out. If you want to avoid redundant mapping for absolute paths by using relative file path cache, check it out,” Rezabek added.
Windows Cache Extension for PHP Beta is available for download here.