CakePHP is great, but the default installation has a performance issue that is very easy to resolve, and should be fixed in any production installation of a CakePHP application. The solution is very simple.
In the default install, there is a file in the webroot called .htaccess. It contains mod_rewrite rules, and you have to set you vhost up to allow overrides. This introduces a significant overhead to each request, as apache has to search for applicable htaccess files and merge their settings into the core apache config every request. On a production application this can become significant, especially if you get a significant amount of traffic.
To solve it, simply move the rules from the htaccess file into a Directory entry in the vhost for the site, and set AllowOverride to none. Here’s an example:
<Directory "/path/to/app/webroot"> AllowOverride none Order allow,deny Allow from all # CakePHP Rules RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /index.php?url=$1 [QSA,L] </Directory>
thats all good when you have access to that, but on shared hosting whats the chance?
If you’re in shared hosting, they may still be able to add that block to your vhost entry for you. If not, they’re probably not suited to high load websites. For low – moderate traffic, it’s probably not going to make an appreciable difference, although I would still recommend you do it if possible. It’s only critical for high volume sites.