FAQ: Requirements

Which web servers do you support?

We are aware of no incompatibilities with apache 1.3+, [nginx 0.7+](nginx 0.7+), , IIS 5+ or litespeed 4.0.2+. If there's a web server you feel we should be actively testing (e.g. lighttpd), we're interested in hearing.

Do I need to enable mod_gzip, mod_rewrite or install any HTTP compression software on my server?

Not when the option is enabled for page caching or minfiied files, however you do need either module to compress files that are not handled by W3 Total Cache.

If you're larger organization or a web hosting company, consider looking into solutions that exist like Gear6 which could be useful now that you have a plugin that makes management memcached pain free.

How much memory (RAM) do I need to delegate to caching?

Probably the hardest question of all. At the time of this writing the default WordPress install and theme will consume about 50MB of memory in an opcode cache while running our plugin. Keep in mind that the following factors will determine the minimum size of your cache beyond this noted 50MB:

• Number of typically requested pages per day (if your blog is popular this number is quite large)
• Size of minified CSS, JS and HTML pages (smaller is better)
• Number and complexity of plugins active on your blog (fewer is better)
• Expiry time of the cache (larger expiry time, larger cache)

So we recommend an absolute minimum of 128MB for a typical blog; this figure is greater than some defaults, so keep that in mind. With statistics you'll be able to react accordingly and make adjustments.

For those that don't want or have time to learn anything new to get started, sample configuration files are included with the plugin containing inline comments for you.

What version of PHP do I need for this thing?

Version 5.3+

What version of mySQL is needed?

If your WordPress installation works, you're all set.

And I need mod_rewrite (or equivalent for my web server) installed too, no?

That's correct; everything you need for WordPress (i.e. fancy URLs) will get you started with this plugin also.

How much hardware do I have to throw at something like this before I see a benefit?

This plugin was actually designed with virtual dedicated servers in mind. As long as your server has at least 256M of RAM, you can get started with the advanced optimizations.

Is this plugin server cluster and load balancer friendly?

Yes, built from the ground up with scale and current hosting paradigms in mind.

I'm a web hosting provider and I heard about this plugin from my clients, is this plugin safe for a shared hosting environment?

Yes.

What is the intended impact of this plugin on the web hosting landscape?

We feel that shared or virtual hosting providers will begin offering secure containers (similar to what mediatemple.net does for mySQL and Ruby etc) for opcode caching and memcached. Whoever brings this offering to market first will lower the bar for more web sites/applications (and startups) to build better performing applications with greater ease. The same hosting provider would also possess a new value added service, thereby realizing a competitive advantage in a highly competitive marketplace. Not to mention be able to increase the density of domains per server (or cluster) without shortchanging customers. One day hopefully this plugin will contribute to making web servers greener and reduce the ecological footprint of the web by reducing the computational effort required to deliver high performance rich user experiences.

What is required to use Amazon SNS?

You need to sign up for a Amazon Web Services account.