Rails - Jan 2006 - Run fastcgi in Apache 1.3, or proxy through lighttpd?

I''m working with a guy who has Apache 1.3 installed on his server, and
it''s not an option to simply use lighttpd for a Rails application
I''m
helping him with.  I''ve seen that Apache 2 apparently is crappy when
it comes to fastcgi, but 1.3 isn''t so bad.  I can then either just run
my app straight in Apache, or I could proxy it through to lighttpd. 
Which is a better option in general?  Also, if I should go the Apache
route, what module should I use?  I''ve only used lighttpd to this
point on my own.

Pat

On Jan 26, 2006, at 5:03 AM, Pat Maddox wrote:
> I''m working with a guy who has Apache 1.3 installed on his server,
and
> it''s not an option to simply use lighttpd for a Rails application
I''m
> helping him with.  I''ve seen that Apache 2 apparently is crappy
when
> it comes to fastcgi, but 1.3 isn''t so bad.  I can then either just
run
> my app straight in Apache, or I could proxy it through to lighttpd.
> Which is a better option in general?  Also, if I should go the Apache
> route, what module should I use?  I''ve only used lighttpd to this
> point on my own.
>
> Pat
>
Pat-

	I would personally recommend that you proxy to lighty from apache.  
Especially since you already know lighty well it will be easier for  
you to use. Also you will be able to restart your rails app with out  
restarting apache. So you can switch to dev or production mode and  
reload changes without bouncing the whole server. In my tests, you  
shouldn''t notice much performance difference as proxying is a very  
quick process.

	I have a server at work with around 32 client web sites on it under  
apache1.3. Most of them are php/html sites but about 7 of them are  
rails sites and each of them runs their own lighty. It runs great and  
I have had no problems at all using it. Whereas I was always  
fidgeting with apache/mod_fcgi when I tried to use that, always  
getting random 500 errors that would never fully go away.

	Here is my apache1.3 vhost conf that I use that is tried, tested and  
trueL

Apache 1.3.x:

<VirtualHost *:80>
     ServerName example.com
     ServerAlias www.example.com
     ProxyPass / http://example.com:8000/
     ProxyPassReverse / http://example.com:8000/
</VirtualHost>

Cheers-

-Ezra Zygmuntowicz
Yakima Herald-Republic
WebMaster
http://yakimaherald.com
509-577-7732
ezra@yakima-herald.com

On 1/26/06, Ezra Zygmuntowicz <ezra@yakima-herald.com>
wrote:
>
> On Jan 26, 2006, at 5:03 AM, Pat Maddox wrote:
>
> > I''m working with a guy who has Apache 1.3 installed on his
server, and
> > it''s not an option to simply use lighttpd for a Rails
application I''m
> > helping him with.  I''ve seen that Apache 2 apparently is
crappy when
> > it comes to fastcgi, but 1.3 isn''t so bad.  I can then either
just run
> > my app straight in Apache, or I could proxy it through to lighttpd.
> > Which is a better option in general?  Also, if I should go the Apache
> > route, what module should I use?  I''ve only used lighttpd to
this
> > point on my own.
> >
> > Pat
> >
>
> Pat-
>
>         I would personally recommend that you proxy to lighty from apache.
> Especially since you already know lighty well it will be easier for
> you to use. Also you will be able to restart your rails app with out
> restarting apache. So you can switch to dev or production mode and
> reload changes without bouncing the whole server. In my tests, you
> shouldn''t notice much performance difference as proxying is a very
> quick process.
>
>         I have a server at work with around 32 client web sites on it under
> apache1.3. Most of them are php/html sites but about 7 of them are
> rails sites and each of them runs their own lighty. It runs great and
> I have had no problems at all using it. Whereas I was always
> fidgeting with apache/mod_fcgi when I tried to use that, always
> getting random 500 errors that would never fully go away.
>
>         Here is my apache1.3 vhost conf that I use that is tried, tested
and
> trueL
>
> Apache 1.3.x:
>
> <VirtualHost *:80>
>      ServerName example.com
>      ServerAlias www.example.com
>      ProxyPass / http://example.com:8000/
>      ProxyPassReverse / http://example.com:8000/
> </VirtualHost>
>
> Cheers-
>
> -Ezra Zygmuntowicz
> Yakima Herald-Republic
> WebMaster
> http://yakimaherald.com
> 509-577-7732
> ezra@yakima-herald.com
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Rails mailing list
> Rails@lists.rubyonrails.org
> http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails
>
Hey Ezra,

Thanks for the advice. My next problem here is that it apparently
doesn''t have mod_proxy compiled in.  I did lots of googling to see if
somehow I could download and build the module independently, then
dynamically load it in, but couldn''t find anything.  I guess
I''d have
to recompile Apache to make it happen.  This is on a CPanel server
though (BLEH!) so I don''t think it''s a simple recompile. 
Anyway, it''s
hosted at servint.com, so he can get those guys to do it for us.

If you know how I can just build the module and load it dynamically,
I''d really appreciate some pointers.

Pat