apache gzip and php validation
Web page compression is not a new technology, but it has recently gained higher recognition in the minds of IT administrators and managers because of the rapid ROI it generates. Compression extensions exist for most of the major Web server platforms, but in here we will focus on the Open Source Apache and mod_gzip solution
The time it takes to transfer an HTTP request and response across
the network can be significantly reduced by decisions made by front-end
engineers. It’s true that the end-user’s bandwidth speed, Internet
service provider, proximity to peering exchange points, etc. are beyond
the control of the development team. But there are other variables that
affect response times. Compression reduces response times by reducing
the size of the HTTP response.
Starting with HTTP/1.1, web clients indicate support for compression with the Accept-Encoding header in the HTTP request.
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
If the web server sees this header in the request, it may compress
the response using one of the methods listed by the client. The web
server notifies the web client of this via the Content-Encoding header
in the response.
Content-Encoding: gzip
Gzip is the most popular and effective compression method at this time. It was developed by the GNU project and standardized by RFC 1952. The only other compression format you’re likely to see is deflate, but it’s less effective and less popular.
Gzipping generally reduces the response size by about 70%.
Approximately 90% of today’s Internet traffic travels through browsers
that claim to support gzip. If you use Apache, the module configuring
gzip depends on your version: Apache 1.3 uses mod_gzip while Apache 2.x uses mod_deflate.
There are known issues with browsers and proxies that may cause a
mismatch in what the browser expects and what it receives with regard
to compressed content. Fortunately, these edge cases are dwindling as
the use of older browsers drops off. The Apache modules help out by
adding appropriate Vary response headers automatically.
Servers choose what to gzip based on file type, but are typically
too limited in what they decide to compress. Most web sites gzip their
HTML documents. It’s also worthwhile to gzip your scripts and
stylesheets, but many web sites miss this opportunity. In fact, it’s
worthwhile to compress any text response including XML and JSON. Image
and PDF files should not be gzipped because they are already
compressed. Trying to gzip them not only wastes CPU but can potentially
increase file sizes.
Gzipping as many file types as possible is an easy way to reduce page weight and accelerate the user experience.
This is what I include in the .htaccess
<IfModule mod_gzip.c>
mod_gzip_on Yes
mod_gzip_dechunk Yes
mod_gzip_item_include file \.(html?|txt|css|js|php|pl)$
mod_gzip_item_include handler ^cgi-script$
mod_gzip_item_include mime .?
mod_gzip_item_include mime ^text\.*
mod_gzip_item_include mime ^application/x-javascript.*
mod_gzip_item_exclude mime ^image\.*
mod_gzip_item_exclude rspheader ^Content-Encoding:.*gzip.*
</IfModule>
PHP Validation
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