Mongrel users - Jul 2006 - Mongrel with LocalDirector - static content?

Hello everyone-

I am considering using Mongrel and I have read this list pretty  
extensively.  I know that the Apache/mod_proxy_balancer/mongrel  
approach is the preferred one right now, with Apache serving the  
static content via mod_rewrite and such.  However, in my hardware  
arsenal, I already have an old and trusty LocalDirector, which I  
would be inclined to at least try first as a substitute for Apache/ 
mod_proxy_balancer.  The biggest potential downside that I can see is  
that, in such a setup, mongrel would be serving static files as well  
as the dynamic Rails parts.

My biggest question is, how recommended (or scorned) is having  
mongrel serve the static parts?  A secondary question is, has anyone  
used mongrel clusters behind a LocalDirector?

Thanks very much!

Danny Burkes

> My biggest question is, how recommended (or scorned) is having
> mongrel serve the static parts?  A secondary question is, has anyone
> used mongrel clusters behind a LocalDirector?
It''s fast, but no where near as fast as apache or lighttpd.

-- 
Rick Olson
http://techno-weenie.net

On Jul 16, 2006, at 7:51 PM, Daniel Burkes wrote:
> Hello everyone-
>
> I am considering using Mongrel and I have read this list pretty
> extensively.  I know that the Apache/mod_proxy_balancer/mongrel
> approach is the preferred one right now, with Apache serving the
> static content via mod_rewrite and such.  However, in my hardware
> arsenal, I already have an old and trusty LocalDirector, which I
> would be inclined to at least try first as a substitute for Apache/
> mod_proxy_balancer.  The biggest potential downside that I can see is
> that, in such a setup, mongrel would be serving static files as well
> as the dynamic Rails parts.
>
> My biggest question is, how recommended (or scorned) is having
> mongrel serve the static parts?  A secondary question is, has anyone
> used mongrel clusters behind a LocalDirector?
>
> Thanks very much!
>
> Danny Burkes
Hi Danny,

It''s fine to let mongrel do that and while I haven''t run it
behind a
cisco localdirector (assuming that''s the localdirector you''re
talking
about), I have run mongrel directly behind BIG-IP load balancers  
(that''s at http://flickr.com/photos/textdriveinc/179393581/).

Also if you just look at hitting a single mongrel where it was the  
radiant CMS serving up a ~32kb page, it puts out at 3.1 MB/sec  
(that''s about 25Mbps constant) fine. So it''s more than fast
enough.

# httperf --hog --server 207.7.107.117 --port 8190 --num-conn 10000 -- 
rate 100 --timeout 5
Total: connections 10000 requests 10000 replies 10000 test-duration  
100.031 s
Connection rate: 100.0 conn/s (10.0 ms/conn, <=44 concurrent  
connections)
Connection time [ms]: min 23.6 avg 49.7 max 434.2 median 38.5 stddev  
41.0
Connection time [ms]: connect 6.2
Connection length [replies/conn]: 1.000

Request rate: 100.0 req/s (10.0 ms/req)
Request size [B]: 64.0

Reply rate [replies/s]: min 96.8 avg 100.0 max 103.4 stddev 1.2 (20  
samples)
Reply time [ms]: response 21.7 transfer 21.8
Reply size [B]: header 165.0 content 31779.0 footer 0.0 (total 31944.0)
Reply status: 1xx=0 2xx=10000 3xx=0 4xx=0 5xx=0

CPU time [s]: user 23.00 system 76.99 (user 23.0% system 77.0% total  
100.0%)
Net I/O: 3124.8 KB/s (25.6*10^6 bps)

- Jason

On 2006-07-16 19:51:52 -0700, Daniel Burkes wrote:
> I am considering using Mongrel and I have read this list pretty  
> extensively.  I know that the Apache/mod_proxy_balancer/mongrel  
> approach is the preferred one right now, with Apache serving the  
> static content via mod_rewrite and such.  However, in my hardware  
> arsenal, I already have an old and trusty LocalDirector, which I  
> would be inclined to at least try first as a substitute for Apache/ 
> mod_proxy_balancer.  The biggest potential downside that I can see is  
> that, in such a setup, mongrel would be serving static files as well  
> as the dynamic Rails parts.
> 
> My biggest question is, how recommended (or scorned) is having  
> mongrel serve the static parts?  A secondary question is, has anyone  
> used mongrel clusters behind a LocalDirector?
you could define an asset host in your environment and make this asset
host a lighttpd or apache.

darix

-- 
          openSUSE - SUSE Linux is my linux
              openSUSE is good for you
                  www.opensuse.org