Varnish and Joomla

Varnish

Varnish Cache is a web application accelerator, developed and made available freely by Varnish Software. Depending on the application, it can result in a boost of 10x up to 1000x. With Joomla, typical acceleration is about 100 times.

Joomla doesn't make using Varnish easy, though. By default not only does it send headers that forbid caching, but also starts a session for every anonymous user. While the former is fixable using multiple freely-available plugins, the latter is an issue with the Joomla core.

MassiveScale.net has developed a patch for the Joomla core and a Varnish VCL file which work together to serve anonymous traffic from super-fast Varnish cache, while still allowing users to log in, bypassing cache.

Some numbers

We did a little test: we took a sample Joomla 1.5 page and load tested it using Apache Benchmark. 10000 requests have been sent, with 20 concurrent connections. The load generator has been running on the same machine as the web server - this is not the most precise test setup, but still it gives some insight into how load times relate to each other.

The results are two orders of magnitude (~100 times) better with Varnish than without it. Also, while a test without Varnish was running, load was high on the test machine. With Varnish it was close to nothing.

Interested? We add this patch upon request as a part of our Site Boost package for Joomla which also contains numerous other optimizations. We are also selling it as a self-service package with PDF instructions and 30 minutes of email support - it's just $70. Order now and make your Joomla fly.

Order now

Click on the button below and you will be redirected to 2checkout.com who is out payment processor. Prepare your credit card or PayPal details. Contact us if you prefer a different payment option (bitcoin, bank transfer, payoneer). If you need an EU VAT invoice, send us your company details after ordering.

2CheckOut.com Inc. (Ohio, USA) is an authorized retailer for goods and services provided by Enmasse (Szczecin, POL).

FAQ

Do I have to order whole SiteBoost package?

No. We will send you the Joomla! patch, VCL file and give 30 minutes of email support for $70. Order now

What is included in $70 package?

Patches for Joomla 1.5, 2.5, 3.0, VCL files for Varnish 2.1+ and 3.x, and 8 pages of documentation in PDF, ODT and TXT.

Will it help my e-commerce site?

Most trafic on e-commerce sites is coming from anonymous users, who just look at things without creating an account or buying anything. Varnish will help you.

Couldn't you just make it a plugin?

No, we couldn't. According to our best knowledge, there is no way a plugin can be used to bypass creating a new Joomla session. We'd be happy to be proven wrong, as patching is not the nicest solution in the world.

What was your exact test setup?

The machine was a quad-core PC with 4GB RAM and a 7200 SATA drive. It was running versions of Apache, PHP, MySQL and Varnish found in Ubuntu 11.04. The software configuration was out-of-the-box, it hadn't been tuned for performance. Joomla 1.5.23 was used with a default set of sample data.

What about 1.6/1.7?

These versions are unsupported. There are patches for these versions in our package, but we don't update them anymore. Both of them are at version 1.1. If you really need to upgrade them, we can do it for the standard hourly fee.

What extensions are supported?

Most well-written extensions work well with Varnish without any extra work. The most popular ones include JomSocial, Akeeba Backup, Admin Tools and Kunena. Experimental support exists for two not-so-well-written extensions: Community Builder and VirtueMart.

What Varnish versions are supported?

All versions from 2.1 up. We provide two separate VCL files - for 2.x and 3.x.

Can I try before I buy?

We have a sample optimized Joomla! website put online at http://joomla.varnishdemo.mvps.eu/. You can just browse this page or you can run some load testing tools against it. Try Apache Benchmark: ab -n 2000 -c 50 http://joomla.varnishdemo.mvps.eu and observe system load.

I've seen something similar for free

Yeah, right, so did we. If you find one that really works, be sure to drop us a line.

What is your return policy/warranty?

There are no returns. Should any defects be found in our software, we will repair them for free within 3 months of sale date. If the problem is not a fault of our software, customer may be charged our standard hourly rate for time spent beyond 30 minutes included with this package.

What payment options are available?

Paypal and credit cards when ordering online (order now). Bank transfer, Payoneer, and Bitcoin are available after contacting us.

Secure online payments are being processed by a 3rd party company, 2Checkout.com, Inc. We do not process or store any credit card data. Our physical address is: Enmasse, Iwaszkiewicza 73/9, 70-786 Szczecin, Poland.

License

This patch is licensed as GPL v2. Free as in speech, not as in beer.