Zend Core 2.0 Released. Zend Accelerator silently removed.
On Tuesday Zend released the final version of Zend Core 2.0. Zend Core is a fast and easy way to install a stable combination of PHP, MySQL and Apache on Windows, Linux or OS X. See my previous post for more details. Overall this release is good news, however there is one big change in the final package that nobody seems to be talking about.
Zend has silently removed one of the key components that it had offered in beta versions of ther product, the Zend Accelerator, an opcode cache which can boost performance by up to 300%. From the looks of it, this was a hasty, last-minute decision.
During the beta the overview page used this professionally designed diagram to illustrate then Zend Core architecture:
Original Zend Core Diagram
However now the website shows this simple diagram that looks like it was done by an intern using MS Paint. Note the absence of the Accelerator block.
New Zend Core Diagram
One can only guess what kind of internal turmoil could have caused this last minute policy shift.
The skeptics amongst us might wonder if it had anything to do with the newly appointed CEO who joined the company after the beta release. There is a obvious (albeit short-sighted) concern that releasing the accelerator component would cannibalize a part of their Zend Platform market.
Others might wonder if it has anything to do with the recent barrage of fixes that went into APC the popular open source opcode cache that is slated for inclusion in PHP 6. Has Zend finally woken up and realized that they should get behind APC right away? If so, why isn’t it included along with the other certified extensions.
Time may tell what really happened; for now I am going with a Zend Core + APC combo. APC’s recent inclusion in the Windows installer for PHP 5.2.1 alleviates some of my previous concerns about its stability on windows.
Update: It looks like the Zend Optimizer (used by Zend Core to run encrypted/obfuscated PHP files) has some inherent conflicts with APC. This makes the removal of the Zend Accelerator from Zend Core 2.0 even more unacceptable…now it seems the only options are to not use an opcode cache or buy Zend Platform…bad move Zend.
Submitted by Marc on March 9, 2007 - 5:59pm.
They are currently selling the accelerator as a part of their Zend Platform PS product. But if they continue to keep their implementation proprietary they will end up competing APC, which is open source and scheduled to be included in PHP6. That is not a good position to be in.
The math question is a simple CAPTCHA to keep out comment spam.
Thats really an interesting article indeed maybe they saving the accelerator as add on or something for us to buy at a later date.
Going off topic here (whats with the math question lol)