Andy;
That is not true at all.
Maybe I can give a shot at explaining this.
The reason for static files is to reduce the load on the server, not the other way around, so you are dead wrong.
Let me explain it this way:
No matter how a site is programmed, when a html or cgi file is requested, the server sends the same amount of data down to the browser.
If the page is fully static, the webserver sends a header, gets a response, then sends the rest of the web page without doing cgi and additionally loading down the server. Busy sites use static pages typically, as they can server far more pages on a static basis.
Caching: Busy static pages end up being cached in memory by the webserver software, anyways, increasing performance. But a cgi built / dynamic page is never cached, it is built fresh each time.
Typically, on a static website, when the front page of the site is cached, and the 2nd or 3rd busyist also, the activity on the hard drive - "stress as you call it" will decrease by 50%-80%.
A dynamic page is "custom built to order" each and every time it is requested, and all the cgi routines having to do with the page are run again, Perl loaded again (if not using mod perl) and executed multiple times per page over and over again.
Also with mod Perl, etc, the Perl interpeter module will reside in memory, instead of being loaded multiple times per page, and the Perl routines needed by each web page can also then be cached in memory, resulting in a decrease of CPU load by a factor of 5-20! (CPU "stress")
Back to dynamic/ cgi pages: As these pages do not exist on the servers hard drive or memory cache, they are built by accessing the server's hard drive, then loading up cgi/Perl and required modules, executing the CGI to build the page in memory, and spitting the data down to the browser. That's a lot of work!
To boil it down, Static takes more space on the server's hard drive and is not as up to date, dynamic takes more cpu cycles and is slower, but more flexible.
And the more CGI routines a dynamic page needs in order to be built, the quicker it gets when it is static and cachable.
Static pages with includes are a hybrid.
And Pagebuilder ROCKS - part of its function and reason for existence is to take pages that would normally be dynamic (more cpu time), and make them static (faster and less server load).
Add in your CHRON plugin, and it becomes even more flexible.
webslicer: Jul 2, 2003, 6:45 AM