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Follow UsBANGALORE, INDIA: In the last issue we discussed how PHP performed on various platforms. And based on our findings we plotted a graph which showed that Linux with Apache was the best choice. But we also noticed that if the number of the executions is increased than the difference between the time taken by both Linux and Windows servers decreases. So this time, we increased the number of executions from 4000 to 5000 and even 6000 to check the effect. The setup used is exactly the same as that used for previous trials.
We used a dual boot machine of Windows and Linux. This made sure that the machine wasn't just identical but actually the same in both cases so that there was no chance of getting any performance difference due to hardware issues. Just to reiterate, we used a Core2 Duo machine with 2 GB RAM.
We installed Fedora 10 64-bit and Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition. The Linux machine had Apache 2.2 and PHP 5.2 installed on it. And on the Windows machine we installed IIS 7 with FastCGI enabled and then installed PHP 5.2.9 (the latest release today) on the same machine.
The OSes and the web servers were kept in their default state and no optimization was done so we could compare the raw performance of all servers with default settings. We also used 32-bit version of Fedora 10 to compare the performance difference.
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The above graph shows the average executions per second for Linux and Windows 64-bit, after we have increased the load on both the operating systems. |
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The time taken by both Windows and Linux 64-bit to execute the PHP-based program. The time taken increases as the number of executions are increased. |
Results
Results were clearly visible in the previous issue that PHP on Linux with Apache performed better than PHP on Windows with IIS. But if we look closer to the results than one can figure out that the graphs tend to touch each other, hence we carried our test from the point we left in the previous issue and increased the number of executions to 18,000. We took the readings and plotted them in a graph.
The data we plotted in the graph was executions per second, ie the total number of executions divided by time taken. Based on the previous issue results, we thought that the lines would intersect but surprisingly that was not the case. The lines do not intersect with each other even at 18,000 executions. For both, the execution graphs were parallel and from our findings we believe the lines will never intersect; but yes, the execution time will become less as the number of executions increase.
We have also plotted the graph for total time taken to execute the program and found that as the total number of executions is increased the total time taken by both the OSes increases. This makes Linux 64-bit better over Windows 64-bit.We are in the process of continuously testing this out and you can find the updated results on forums.pcquest.com.
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This graph shows the difference in performance of PHP-based program on Linux 32-bit and Linux 64-bit. Linux 64-bit is of course better. |
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Surprisingly, compared to Windows 64-bit, the performance of the PHP-based program on Linux 32-bit, on the same configuration, is better. |
We have also tested Linux 32-bit for upto 14,000 executions just to see the difference in performance as compared Linux 64-bit and Windows 64-bit. Yes, the performance was low compared to Linux 64-bit but compared to Windows 64-bit the performance was surprisingly better. We have also plotted a graph for this which gives you a better idea.
To provide a better picture we have plotted two different graphs which show the difference in performance between PHP?on Linux 64-bit and Windows 64-bit. From the graph it is clear that the performance with Linux 32-bit is lower as compared to Linux 64-bit, but as compared to Windows 64-bit the performance difference is not too much.
So, PHP on Linux with Apache is better than Windows with IIS but as the load increases the difference in performance reduces.