A few weeks ago I mentioned the wesley.pl script from GitHub to optimize images, and how I had modified it to keep (or discard) the EXIF / XMP information. Making sure images are as small as possible is important to save bandwidth and improve page load times (and google rank), so I think it’s worth discussing my image optimization process in more detail.
Surnia Ulula
UNIX Ideas for SysAdmins
Wesley.pl optimize script for jpeg, png, and gif
Aside by Jean-Sebastien Morisset
- Saturday, December 29th, 2012 - (1)
To improve page load times (and Google ranking), you should make sure all jpeg, png, and gif files are properly optimized. Instead of writing my own script for jpegtran, pngcrush, and gifsicle, I used Mike Brittain’s Wesley.pl script on GitHub. It works great, though I did have to modify it to change the “jpegtran -copy” parameter it uses — I need to keep the EXIF on larger files, and strip it from thumbnails. I posted the diff on the GitHub Issues page.
Update 2012-12-31 : In case Mike doesn’t merge my diff, with the addition of the --copy=[all|comments|none] command-line argument (see my comment bellow for more info), you can download the patched wesley.pl script here instead.
Save Memory with Alternative PHP Cache (APC)
I’ve been looking for ways to improve the performance of my websites — several of them using PHP (WordPress), a few using mod_perl, and all running under the same Apache Httpd web server. The first thing I did was to sync all the static content to a Virtual Machine (VM) off-site, and redirect all requests for that content to the VM. Using redirects has several advantages, that (to me) outweigh the small disadvantage that all requests for static content still come to my web server, which then responds with a permanent redirect. The upside (to using a perl based rewrite map, for example) is that any change to the static content is immediately apparent to new visitors — excluding the usual browser cache issues. ;-)
I also wrote a script to check the Apache Httpd MPM config limits (prefork, worker, and event) and issue a warning or error message if those limits were set too high for the server’s memory. Writing this script made me realize just how much more memory each process was using since adding those PHP websites. Switching from the prefork MPM to the worker or event MPMs (where each process manages multiple threads / connections instead of just one) could have been one possible solution, but using PHP in a threaded environment is highly discouraged by the PHP team.
Freelance UNIX SysAdmin
Looking for a Sr UNIX Systems Administrator specializing in Systems Integration? I may be available for freelance or contract work, either remotely or on-site. You can contact me by email at jsm@surniaulula.com to discuss solutions specific to your needs.
- Location : Montreal QC, Canada
- Availability : 4-8 hrs / week freelance
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