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server side includes - how much resources do they consume?

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server side includes - how much resources do they consume?
What is the effect on server resources, etc., in using SSI calls for headers and footers throughout a medium to a large site? Generally speaking that is, without asking me for server specs. It is not a problem for small sites but for large sites is this the best way call headers, footers and other common information and if so, should one worry about the server resources consumed by the SSI calls?

thanks
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Re: [socrates] server side includes - how much resources do they consume? In reply to
Its not really that much. Are you on a dedicated or shared server? I have been using it with 5 includes per page, with 1.5k hits a day..and the server had no trouble at all. This was on my shared account, before moving to a dedicated one.

Andy (mod)
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Re: [socrates] server side includes - how much resources do they consume? In reply to
No, I wouldn't worry at all. Any page that has SSI on it must be executed before sending output to the browser, but the extra overhead is marginal. Without knowing your exact server specifications we won't be able to specifically comment, but as a general rule I wouldn't worry about it.

The benefits of SSI sure outweighs the slight overhead one might experience, especially if you're managing a large website which needs constant updaing to common headers and/or footers.

I'd worry more about sloppy HTML coding, and the seconds that can add to the page rendering in your visitors' browsers. Servers are usually much higher spec machines than what the average web visitor is running and can therefore negate the extra overhead without worries. Therefore, I'd concentrate on making sure the client machine you're sending the information to makes the least amount of work as possible.

- wil
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Re: [Wil] server side includes - how much resources do they consume? In reply to
Ok, thanks all for the info.

I have used them (SSI) for almost 2 yrs. on a large site for headers, footers and all kinds of stuff - but not that many visitors (approx. 3-4k visitors per day). This was on a shared server too. I have now moved to a dedicated but it is not a powerful machine (old pentium 800mhz + 512MB). I will be redesigning and was wondering if I should pay attention to all those includes I am using, but I agree the advantages certainly outweigh other concerns. If I want to change ads, etc., it really smooth - just a couple of changes in headers/footers and it's done.
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Re: [socrates] server side includes - how much resources do they consume? In reply to
My dial up ISP claimed their could be security issues with SSI
Also, don't each page gets parsed (.shtml) which would eat up some resources.

But then again if it's your machine should be able to handle that kind of traffic.

openoffice + gimp + sketch ... Smile
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Re: [QooQ] server side includes - how much resources do they consume? In reply to
Nah. Only pages you specify with an appropriate extension get parsed. However, a better way is to look into the XBitHack directive of Apache mod_include.

Cheers

- wil