If you are using the Apache web server software on any Linux platform, you know how important it is for things to run smoothly.

Optimizing your Apache performance can mean the difference between a sluggish web server, and an efficient file serving machine. There should be nothing more important than getting your visitors the information they request as quickly as possible. This not only ensures that they’ll stick around to read it, but it’s a proven fact that a faster website gives the perception of higher quality, which benefits you in a number of ways.

Imagine reducing your network bandwidth output by up to 75% just by optimizing the web pages you are already serving. If this type of server performance appeals to you then using Aptimize, a server side software component that loads as an apache module, can offer you web performance tuning like this within minutes, and without any change to your existing web page code.

Aptimize works by taking the rendered HTML code, and making a series of optimizations to elements such as JavaScript, style sheets, images, etc. By reducing the size of the final rendered page by 33%-75%, the amount of bandwidth needed to send a page to a visitor’s web browser is dramatically reduced.

These optimizations are handled automatically by Aptimize - reducing time consuming 'manual' performance optimization. This saves you significant time when it comes to setup and maintenance of your Linux Apache server.

The fewer requests your web server has the less stress is placed on it. Aptimize achieves this by combining multiple files, images, and style sheets into one. This effectively reduces the amount of individual requests when a site is loaded. In addition to combining multiple files the module further increases your apache performance by compressing data, which reduces traffic.

To further reduce web server stress Aptimize features a robust caching system that limits optimizations to happen only once for each page. Once a change is detected to content the program will re-optimize the new content. Frequently updated content can also be excluded, which will further reduce stress on your Linux Apache server.

Prerequisites

1. Linux Kernel 2.6
2. libc 2.8+
3. Apache 2.2
4. 132 MB of free RAM (32 MB for the component and 100 MB for the memory cache)
5. Supports either single server or load balanced environment
6. Any Debian-based distribution*

* Support for other package management systems will eventually be added.

The biggest headache for most web developers is browser compatibility. Aptimize recognizes different browser types automatically and makes the appropriate optimizations.

In addition to reduced traffic, the software typically can Increase YSlow grade by 2 or more. This is by far the most cost effective, in terms of money and time, and easiest to implement options available for those looking for increased Linux Apache performance.