Chapter 27. Apache Performance Tuning and Virtual Hosting

In this administration-related chapter, the focus will be on increasing the performance and scalability of your Apache server. Additionally, you will learn about name-based and IP-based virtual hosting, as well as DNS-related issues and issues related to the Web browser itself. This chapter also explains different mechanisms that can be used to isolate clients from each other, and the associated security tradeoffs.

In this chapter, you will learn

• Which operating system and Apache-related settings can limit the server scalability or degrade performance

• About several tools for load testing Apache

• How to fine-tune Apache for optimum performance

• How to configure Apache to detect and prevent abusive behavior from clients

• How to configure name-based virtual hosts, IP-based virtual hosts, and the difference between the two

• About the dependencies virtual hosting has on DNS

• How to set up scaled-up cookie-cutter virtual hosts