SpeedyCGI version 1.3, 3/21/99

Overview
========

SpeedyCGI is a way to run CGI perl scripts persistently, which usually
makes them run much more quickly.  Converting scripts to use SpeedyCGI is
in most cases as simple has changing the interpreter line at the top of
the script from

    #!/usr/local/bin/perl

to

    #!/usr/local/bin/speedy

After the script is initially run, instead of exiting, SpeedyCGI keeps the
perl interpreter running in memory.  During subsequent runs, this interpreter
is used to handle new requests, instead of starting a new perl interpreter
for each execution.

SpeedyCGI conforms to the CGI specification, and does not work inside the
web server.  A very fast cgi-bin (written in C) is executed for each request.
This fast cgi-bin then contacts the persistent Perl process, which is usually
already in memory, to do the work and return the results.

Since all of these processes run outside the web server, they can't cause
problems for the web server itself.  Also, each perl program runs as its own
Unix process, so one program can't interfere with another.  Command line
options can also be used to deal with programs that have memory leaks or
other problems that might keep them from otherwise running persistently.


Installation
============

SpeedyCGI has been tried with perl versions 5.004_04 and 5.005_02,
and under Solaris 2.6, Redhat Linux 5.1, and FreeBSD 3.1.  There
may be problems wither other OSes or earlier versions of Perl.

To install, do the following:

    perl Makefile.PL
    make
    make test
    make install

This will install a "speedy" binary in the same directory where "perl"
was installed.



Using SpeedyCGI
===============

To convert a script to use SpeedyCGI, change the #! interpreter line to
call "speedy" instead of "perl".  The "speedy" binary, for the most part
accepts the same command line options as perl.

The speedy binary also accepts its own set of options, which must be put
after a "--" at the end of the perl options.  The speedy binary accepts
the following options:

	-tN		If no new requests have been received after N
			seconds, exit the persistent perl interpreter.
			The default is 3600 (one hour).  Use 0 to indicate
			no timeout.

	-rN		Once the perl interpreter has run N times, exit.
			The default is 0 (no max).

	-Tprefix	Use the given prefix for creating temporary files.
			This must be a filename prefix, not a directory name.
			The default is "/tmp/speedy".
	
	-bN		Use N bytes for the buffer that sends data to
			the CGI script.  Default is 1024.

	-BN		Use N bytes for the buffer that receives data from
			the CGI script.  Default is 8192.

For example:
	
	#!/usr/local/bin/speedy -w -- -t300

Will call SpeedyCGI with the perl option "-w" and will tell speedy
to exit if no new requests have been received after 300 seconds.


Sam Horrocks
Daemon Consulting Inc.
http://daemoninc.com
sam@daemoninc.com