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List:       apache-modperl
Subject:    Re: AuthCookie on Win32
From:       Randy Kobes <randy () theoryx5 ! uwinnipeg ! ca>
Date:       2005-01-29 15:37:25
Message-ID: Pine.LNX.4.56.0501290930310.1092 () theoryx5 ! uwinnipeg ! ca
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On Fri, 28 Jan 2005, Gary M. Spieler wrote:

> We're running Apache 1.3.20, modperl 1.25_01-dev, and AuthCookie 3.00
> (yeah, I know they're old, but I don't have any say about that).
>
> We were having reports of some slowness issues as of late, so I got access
> to the access logs.  What I found out is that any time AuthCookie is used
> to authenticate, apache queues any other requests until the file for that
> first request is completely transmitted.  If we are transmitting a 300k
> file over a LAN, it's not terribly noticeable, but if we do the same thing
> over a modem, it "freezes" the web site for a few seconds or more.  Having
> to wait an extra half second may not seem that noticeable to users (or it
> might), but I think them not having to wait would make things fly!
>
> Earlier this week, I found out mp for win32 is single threaded.  Hmmm....
> Our stuff is fast and simple, so let's just assume single-threading is
> okay as far as response time goes.  Given this, I'd like to know why
> apache is holding on to that instance of modperl until that file is
> completely transmitted.  I would expect it to release as soon as it has
> been authenticated.
>
> BTW, I'm pretty sure we've ruled out AuthCookie as we ran a bare bones
> version that did virtually nothing and we had the same problem.
>
> Any ideas on how to get modperl to release right away?  What I'm hoping to
> hear is something simple like upgrade to modperl 1.99.  What I'm expecting
> to hear is upgrade to 2.0....
>
> Thanks,
> Gary

You may indeed have hit upon the multithreading limitations
of mod_perl-1.x on Win32:
  http://perl.apache.org/docs/1.0/os/win32/multithread.html
If possible, you could try upgrading to mod_perl-2:
  http://perl.apache.org/docs/2.0/os/win32/install.html
to see if that helps (mod_perl-1.99_xx is the development
version of mod_perl-2 - the mod_perl ppm package at
  http://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/ppms/
is currently at 2,0,0-RC4,0, which is the latest
mod_perl-2 release candidate). Note that mod_perl-2, as
well as requiring Apache-2, requires perl-5.8.x (an
ActivePerl 8xx build) on Win32.

-- 
best regards,
randy kobes
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