[Zope] Zope on Windows, Apache on Linux ???

[Robert Segall]

On Wednesday 14 August 2002 14:54, you wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have my first complette Zope app and I need to publish it from
> workstation to the net.
>
> Does somebody let me know how to make success with %subj% and
> VirtualHostMonster (or some other method of virtual domains)? I have read
> many documentation about Zope and apache, but apache need local access to
> Zope files.
>
> I have low power web server linux PC with apache (486/16MB ram), and
> powerfull (4xCPU, GB ram etc) NTserver with Zope. So it is possible to
> connect these two different machines? My chief does not want to invest
> money to better hardware for linux - it is for free, so HW must be free too
> (no comment, please). Running apache on NT server is impossible from
> security reasons (is on internal network, not in DMZ).
>
> It is possible to serve pages (no more than one hit per 3-10 seconds) with
> that hardwares?
>
> Many thanks for your help.
>
> Regards J. Lukesh

Apache does NOT need access to Zope, except via the HTTP port. This happens 
to be true of any proxy (which Apache essentially is in this role). Set up 
Zope on your NT machine the usual way and have the proxy access it as an HTTP 
server.

Regretably, Zope won't take advantage of multiple CPU's - that's a python 
limitation, so you're wasting your NT machine. You may want to consider using 
a smaller hardware setup there. If you arer really worried about performance 
(which shouldn't be an issue at 10 hits/second unless you have extremely 
complex stuff) you may want to look at multiple single-CPU machines running 
against a ZEO backend.

I should think that the old 486 is more than enough for anything less than 
25-40 pages/second (in the proxy role). However, I would consider adding a 
bit more RAM - 16MB is small. In any case make sure Linux runs without a 
graphical desktop and with as few services enabled as possible (which you 
should do anyway for a machine in the DMZ).

For a lightweight alternative to Apache in the proxy role try our Pound proxy 
server at http://www.apsis.ch/pound - it does exactly what you need and was 
designed for that, avoiding the overhead of a full-fledged web server.

-- 
Robert Segall
Apsis GmbH
Postfach, Uetikon am See, CH-8707
Tel: +41-1-920 4904