Enable GZip compression on phpBB3

SteeLx · Post by **SteeLx** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:58 am

How to Enable GZip compression on phpBB3.
& my forum is already Running, is it possible that i can change the settings now to Gzip enabled ?

cus my forum started on 10th Jan 2008 & today 21st Jan 2008 my SQL DB is increased to abt 2.14MB & it's still increasing.

HELP ME guys

Post by **Noxwizard** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:03 am

Admin Panel --> Server Settings --> Enable GZip compression

The Senator · Post by **The Senator** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:06 am

GZip compression is for compressing data as it's sent to and from your server, reducing the amount of bandwidth used. It has nothing to do with the size of your database, and enabling it won't affect the size of the DB at all. The longer your board is up and running, the bigger your DB will get - it's just a fact of life. While you may be up against some sort of hard limit on how big the DB can get, if your hosting company is warning you about a 2MB database, you should shop around for a new provider

SteeLx · Post by **SteeLx** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 6:22 am

my host hv DB size limit of 80MB.

is ther any way to reduce SQL DB size ? is only prune forum last option !!

The Senator · Post by **The Senator** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:53 am

That's not very much space to work with. You'll probably want to disable the search function - the indexes take up a lot of space - as well as pruning posts. In the long run, you're probably going to end up finding a new provider, though - if your forum is remotely busy, you'll hit that limit in a couple of months unless you prune like mad. Sorry.

Down2thec · Post by **Down2thec** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:02 am

Yeah, those search index tables double your DB size. And after converting 400k posts from phpBB2 to 3, and deleting 100k of those, my phpBB3 DB is still bigger! If your board is well organized, you probably have some forums that don't need to be searched. You can choose not to include them in your indexing.
(ACP->manage Forums ->edit forum->Enable search indexing:No)

If you're getting that much traffic, you might consider a dedicated server or vm host if you have the cash. Linux VMs start at $20, Windows at $50. But 80M will last you a while with pruning and/or limiting what forums get indexed for searching.

SteeLx · Post by **SteeLx** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 10:46 am

thank you guys for the HELP,
i hv Disabeled the SEARCH for 2 sections of my forum that is used by my users the most. & i will try to PRUNE afetr every 3months.

coldnorthpole · Post by **coldnorthpole** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:17 am

Will enabling Gzip compression help your forum run quicker?
Will users notice faster page load times due to enabling Gzip compression?

The Senator · Post by **The Senator** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:35 am

coldnorthpole wrote:Will enabling Gzip compression help your forum run quicker?
Will users notice faster page load times due to enabling Gzip compression?

*Run* quicker? No. *Load* quicker? Maybe.

Like everything in life, GZip is a tradeoff, so you have to decide what's important to you. Enabling compression *can* lower page load times, because you'll be reducing the amount of data your server has to send to clients. Less data to move = less time required to move it = faster load times for the end user. The catch is that the compression isn't free - enabling it means that you have to spend some amount of CPU time actually compressing stuff before sending it out, which increases CPU load. This is a problem, particularly on shared hosts - most shared hosting companies are a *lot* more sensitive about CPU load than bandwidth, meaning that GZip compression risks increasing the CPU load to the point where your hosting company will start complaining.

So when does compression make sense? It makes sense in a couple of situations:

1) You have your very own dedicated server, with a low bandwidth cap. In that case, the CPU is yours and you alone are responsible for the load - you don't have to answer to someone else if you start stressing the CPU. In that case, GZip compression can be a useful tool for managing your bandwidth usage and page load times.

2) You have a decent VPS, and you can afford to load up the CPU a bit to manage bandwidth and reduce page load times.

3) You're on a shared host but for whatever reason your hosting company allows you to add that load to the CPU, and you want to reduce page load times for your users or manage your bandwidth. This is mostly a theoretical situation - shared hosting companies are notorious for getting all over customers who exceed their fair share of CPU time

When does it *not* make sense?

1) You're on a shared host or VPS, but the hosting company has you on their 40 bazillion GB/month bandwidth plan. In that case, you may not be in any danger at all of exceeding your bandwidth allotment. If anything gets you in trouble with the host, it'll be CPU usage rather than bandwidth, in which case, skip the compression.

2) Well, there is no "2", really. If you can afford the CPU hit, try it out. If you can't, pass on it. It's pretty much that simple

iftitaj · Post by **iftitaj** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:18 am

Well explained by Senator. Take my advise, enable it & if your webhost complains about it, then disable it - otherwise enjoy faster page-loads.

@SteeLx: If you have access to phpMyAdmin, then every now & then, do the following:

> Open phpMyAdmin from your CPanel.
> From left side, select phpBB's database.
> Make sure you are in Structure tab - by default its already selected.
> Below tables list, click on Check All. Note the total database-size.
> From the drop-down menu in front of Check All, select "Optimize Table".

Click on Structure tab again & see whats the new database-size. You'll see some worthy difference there. It'll remove all Overheads & optimize table to save sometimes 100s of KB. Practice this regularly & you'll keep database-size to some limit but at end, you've to get over 80MB limit by your webhost.

SteeLx · Post by **SteeLx** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:25 am

iftitaj wrote:Well explained by Senator. Take my advise, enable it & if your webhost complains about it, then disable it - otherwise enjoy faster page-loads.

@SteeLx: If you have access to phpMyAdmin, then every now & then, do the following:

> Open phpMyAdmin from your CPanel.
> From left side, select phpBB's database.
> Make sure you are in Structure tab - by default its already selected.
> Below tables list, click on Check All. Note the total database-size.
> From the drop-down menu in front of Check All, select "Optimize Table".

Click on Structure tab again & see whats the new database-size. You'll see some worthy difference there. It'll remove all Overheads & optimize table to save sometimes 100s of KB. Practice this regularly & you'll keep database-size to some limit but at end, you've to get over 80MB limit by your webhost.

thanx for "Optimize Table" trick

your great iftitaj & yes it did reduced some 40kb's [i will do it Daily

]

& is this Good ! >>>

iftitaj · Post by **iftitaj** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:43 am

Nope, server load is getting high. Should not be red. Also only 1 cpu installed.

SteeLx · Post by **SteeLx** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:43 am

iftitaj wrote:Nope, server load is getting high. Should not be red. Also only 1 cpu installed.

I'm a student so i can not afford high price host, i'm on 1$ hosting.
my forum is a FUN forum, warrock cheats, a NON PROFIT FORUM http://www.warrock-hacks.com

iftitaj · Post by **iftitaj** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:05 pm

SteeLx wrote:
iftitaj wrote:Nope, server load is getting high. Should not be red. Also only 1 cpu installed.
I'm a student so i can not afford high price host, i'm on 1$ hosting.
my forum is a FUN forum, warrock cheats, a NON PROFIT FORUM http://www.warrock-hacks.com

Then its OK - I was talking in respect of professional hosting.

soumik · Post by **soumik** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 12:30 pm

I've enabled gzip compression in my forum (link is in my signature). But when I do a gzip compression test at http://www.gidnetwork.com/tools/gzip-test.php , it says it is not gzip compressed. What can be the reason behind this?

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