The journey of Cloudways has been an amazing one and it will surely get more amazing in 2015. However, we would like to end the year on a high note. Seven months ago, we introduced Basic Server Settings inside the Cloudways Cloud Console. Today, I am unveiling the Advanced Server Settings. These are for specialized needs; therefore, only tinker with these if you know what you are doing.
Nginx Static Cache Expiry
Nginx can serve static files very efficiently. With the Nginx Static Cache Expiry setting, you can control the “Expires” and the “Cache-Control” HTTP header fields for your static files. These allow you the flexibility to control for how long in minutes your users’ browsers will cache your static content. If a value of 0Â is set, Nginx’s static file cache will be disabled and all your static files will be served directly by Nginx without any caching.
MySQL Encoding
If you wish to store data in your MySQL tables that require a different encoding, such as UTF-8 or US-ASCII, you can use the MySQL Encoding setting to control that. By specifying an encoding, you can tell MySQL which encoding to use when storing your data. If your data is in a language that can only be safely represented by a particular encoding, you can tweak MySQL to use that encoding to properly store your data. By default, the US-ASCII encoding is set for MySQL.
MySQL Maximum Connection Limit
A MySQL server running has a limit to the number of connections it can allow simultaneously. With the MySQL Maximum Connection Limit, you have the option to control that limit. You can specify how many connections you want your MySQL server to serve at a given time in order to optimize your application’s performance. By default, a value of 150 maximum connections is set for MySQL.
PHP Maximum Input Variables
PHP Maximum Input Variables setting allows you to control the max_input_vars setting in PHP. This defines the maximum number of input variables that are allowed by PHP for each incoming PHP request. This limit is applied to the $_GET, $_POST and $COOKIE variables for each PHP request that comes in to your application. A value of 1000 is set by default, but you have the flexibility to tweak this value to your liking.
PHP APC Memory
PHP APC is a framework for caching and optimizing PHP intermediate code. It’s pretty good at what it does. The PHP APC Memory setting gives you the power to control the amount of memory limit you want to allow PHP APC to use for its operations. For your cloud servers, a default of 30 MB is set for PHP APC, but if you wish to increase or decrease this value to better suit your needs, you can.
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Want More?
We are always open to suggestions. So, if you think that there should be more Basic or Advanced Server Settings on Cloudways Cloud Console, then head on our Feedback page and write the things you would like to see for our consideration.
By the way, these settings are available for free trial users. This means you can just start your free trial now and start testing our platform.
Ayaz Ahmed Khan
Ayaz Ahmed Khan works as Senior Research and Development Engineer at Cloudways.
