News / Technical
SubscribeJul 17, 2020
PHP-FPM with OPcache Now Availablе in the US Data Center
Today we completed the third and final stage of the phased rollout of our new PHP execution model. PHP-FPM, combined with the OPcache caching system, is now available at no extra cost to all accounts in the US data center.
Every new hosting account created in the US data center from now on will have PHP-FPM with OPcache enabled by default. ICDSoft customers can easily configure their current accounts to use the new PHP execution model via the hosting Control Panel > PHP Settings section.
This completes the phased rollout of our new method for executing PHP scripts on our servers. Now the PHP-FPM with OPcache technology is available in all three data centers, for all hosting plans, at no additional cost for our clients.
Jul 17, 2020
Server-side Caching Now Available
Following up on our recent introduction of PHP-FPM with OPcache, we are happy to announce the addition of a brand new feature designed to further improve website speed and performance - Server-side Caching.
As of today, both PHP-FPM and Server-side Caching are available at no extra cost to all hosting accounts and all VPS solutions in all data centers.
You can find the PHP-FPM release announcement at:
А New, Faster PHP Execution Model Now Availablе
What is Server-Side Caching?
Our server-side caching mechanism uses an internal NGINX server which handles incoming requests for cached pages. When pages are cached and served by the NGINX server, their delivery speed is increased because each page is served as a static file from the cache instead of being generated on the fly.
The server-side caching mechanism has been tested and is compatible with the most popular software used on our servers - WordPress, and its e-commerce platform - WooCommerce.
The Server-Side Caching feature can be enabled with a single click via the hosting Control Panel > "Server-Side Caching" section.
Jul 10, 2020
PHP-FPM with OPcache Now Availablе in the Hong Kong Data Center
Today we completed the second stage of the phased rollout of our new PHP execution model. PHP FastCGI Process Manager (PHP-FPM) and the OPcache caching system are now available to all accounts in the Hong Kong data center at no extra cost.
All new accounts created in the Hong Kong data center from now on will have PHP-FPM with OPcache enabled by default. Customers can easily switch their existing accounts to use the new PHP execution model via the hosting Control Panel > PHP Settings section.
The last stage of the rollout will be the US data center. We plan to complete the rollout procedure within one week.
Jul 8, 2020
А New, Faster PHP Execution Model Now Availablе
Today, we are starting a phased rollout of a major change in our hosting infrastructure designed to speed up web content delivery.
On top of our new hardware platform, based on the latest Intel Xeon processors and Linux KVM virtualization, we are introducing PHP FastCGI Process Manager (PHP-FPM) paired with OPcache.
PHP-FPM speeds up PHP-based websites by maintaining pools of PHP worker processes that can handle incoming requests. This optimization technique not only significantly reduces the server response time (TTFB), but also allows websites to handle more requests compared to the traditional CGI execution scheme. PHP-FPM is paired with OPcache - a caching system that keeps precompiled script bytecode in the server memory, which further boosts PHP performance.
Will this speed up my site?
Website speed is a complex issue that cannot be solved entirely by using server-side mechanisms, but with PHP-FPM, and proper website caching, the server part of the equation should be taken care of. For more information about the full process of optimizing a website, you can check our detailed YouTube video and blog post that show you how to get a nearly perfect score with a WordPress site on GTMetrix and Google PageSpeed Insights:
How to Speed Up WordPress in 10 Steps
How to Speed Up WordPress and Get Top Results at Speed Tests
We have tested our new setup with a plethora of web applications to ensure full compatibility; however, it is still possible that some software, or some specific application feature, may be incompatible with it; for such cases, we are keeping the standard CGI execution mechanism, and you can always switch to it if need be.
Rollout schedule
PHP-FPM will be available to all hosting plans in all data centers, at no extra cost, immediately after the completion of the phased rollout.
As of today, PHP-FPM is available in the European data center. It will be followed by the Hong Kong data center, and the final stage will be the US data center. We expect the rollout to be fully completed before the end of the month (July, 2020).
New accounts on PHP-FPM-enabled servers will have it turned on by default. Existing accounts on such servers can be easily switched to PHP-FPM via the hosting Control Panel > PHP Settings section.
Stay tuned for the upcoming news about the availability of PHP-FPM and other advanced server technologies that are still in the works.
Jun 24, 2020
Delayed Delivery Notifications Now Available
If you send an email to a remote recipient and it is not accepted or rejected initially, the message remains in our mail queue. The mail server tries to deliver that message continuously for up to two days, waiting for the remote mail server to accept or reject the message. If our mail server is unable to send your message after retrying for two days, you will receive a bounce error message indicating the reason for the failed delivery.
By default, you will not receive any notifications during the two-day retry period if a message delivery is delayed. However, with our new "Delayed delivery notifications" feature, you can now receive a notification if a message is delayed. You can enable the new option with a single click from the hosting Control Panel > Mail Manager > Extra settings.
