[Fresshness]

Hi,

First of all, I'm very eager to begin using your product, it really does look awesome. Anyhoo, from what I gather (granted, I might be an idi*t, but I advised my boss to choose this product, so I suspect there is still hope for me yet), there are many (at least 2) ways of 'calling' upon the functions of the loader.

What I'm planning to do, is just copy the 'ioncube' directory into the /usr/lib/php4 directory which is the directory assigned in php.ini by default (I'm using CentOS 4.2 x86 (non 64bit)). This looks like to be functionning flawlessly.

My question would be, what are the 'disadvantages' (if you can call it) from calling the loaders this way opposed to be running them 'directly from php.ini' or copy the same directory to the /var/www/html/<project> (or equivalent) ? or is this the preferred way of using the loader?

[liaison]

Hi

The tradeoff is convenience vs. performance. Runtime install can be more convenient, although a one line edit in php.ini is not too difficult, but has runtime overhead as the Loader has to be linked and unlinked (by the operating system) on each request. This adds some extra time before a request can start. It's measurable, but not noticable. With a php.ini install, the Loader is installed when PHP starts up, and except in pure CGI mode, will then be used for many requests. With the php.ini install, performance tends to be faster than the unencoded scripts by about 10 to 20 percent.

Because of the speedup, we recommend a php.ini install where possible, but runtime install is ideal for shared hosts supporting that method.
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[holos12]

What we can do about hosts that doesn´t support the runtime loading and refuse insert command line to php.ini??? Is there some way to solve this problem without having to move to a dedicated one???

[liaison]

Unless you've been really unlucky, this is rare, and only happens with the worst of the shared hosts, of which their are some, but they're a dying breed.

It's quite common for hosts not to have installed Zend Optimiser for Zend Encoded files, and not everyone has the Loader for ionCube files installed by default, but on many the Loader will work with runtime install, (which is one of the great advantages of our solution of course), and most hosts will install it. On some hosts it's also possible to install the Loaders even though the host says that it isn't, particularly where CGI mode is used as you can override the central php.ini file with a local one.

Hosts that refuse to install PHP extensions tend to be those that are lazy, who don't care about their customer base, and who want to offer the standard setup that their reseller account came with and just sit back and watch the money come in. These hosts are a time bomb, and moving asap would be prudent!

One source of great hosts are the webhostingtalk (WHT) forums. You can search for what end users think about hosts, browse the forums where service plans are discussed, and find suitable hosts with good deals and run by people that genuinely care about their customers and offering a great service.

You mentioned dedicated servers, and these really are a great option too. Of course they cost a little more than a shared server, but you get much more. Not so suited to the inexperienced, although a managed hosting account or good control panel may cover that, you can get much better security than with shared hosts, better performance, much more disk space, often with a remote power switch to cycle the power if the machine hangs, and you're not at the mercy of the hosts making unannounced upgrades or system changes at arbitrary times that may break your site.

Finally, if you find some good shared hosts that are customer friendly, why not consider promoting them via your site as an option for your customers, and perhaps filter any affiliate commissions back into your business or to support product sales to your customers.
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Community Admin