Installing Zend Server on Production Server/Machine

Question

Hello i was wondering if anyone had to install/or is working with Zend Server.

My Question is: If i install Zend Server on a production server will it mess up my existing PHP configuration? Will i have to bring my application offline first or will Zend Server install without problems?

The application must run 24/7 and i need a reliable PHP Stack that will boost performance. Any comments on the performance part of Zend Server? Does it worth the installation?

Thanks,

Answer 1

That's no way to think about handling a production server.

I'm not experienced with the Zend Server product, but I wouldn't just install anything on top of a running production system.

Instead:

1. Get another server (note the configuration!)
2. Install ZS (take notes on exactly what you do)
3. Install your application and data (take notes on exactly what you do)
4. Test it thoroughly.
5. If it works, nuke the server, and repeat 1-4, using your notes.

Then create a plan to migrate from the old server to the new one.

Doing it this way ensures that

1. You have minimal downtime.
2. You don't have some mess with ZS installed over the top of some other set up.
3. You can re-build your server when necessary (you created documentation)

Answer 2

When Zend Server is installed on Linux boxes, it will replace the PHP packages supplied by the distribution, and some other packages which supply some PHP functionality. As tim said, it is better for you not to replace the production server environment on the first round, as not always things will work as expected, even to the advanced users.

Take another machine with similar environment and make it your staging/development environment. This will allow you to play with Zend Server features without actually taking down your production server and sites. At the moment you are sure everything works as expected, and only than, start thinking about changing your production site.

Answer 3

To run multiple LAMP servers on Ubuntu, I use XAMPP for Linux and Bitnami LAMP Stack . By default, the first works on port 80, the second on 8080. Hence they don't conflict. If you know a little about Apache configuration, and if can write a few simple scripts, you can do many things.

However, doing anything on a production server is dangerous.

Both XAMPP and Bitnami stacks are meant to be development environments.

See timdev's answer, +1 to that.