Opera Unite Web Server Benchmarked 227
Posted
by
timothy
from the not-bad-for-a-bonus-feature dept.
from the not-bad-for-a-bonus-feature dept.
worb writes "Opera Unite comes with a web server which is supposedly going to 'redefine the web.' But how well does it actually perform? Is it a threat to other server solutions? Someone put it to the test, and published the results. While nginx, one of the fastest web servers available, is 5 times faster, a PHP+Apache+MySQL server is only 2 times as fast. A compiled C++ server, the MadFish WebToolkit, is 6 times faster. He concludes that Opera Unite's server is impressive, and that the others come nowhere close to the ease of use."
Re:Stupid benchmark (Score:3, Informative)
Re:So Opera web browser now runs as a system servi (Score:2, Informative)
Ever since version 3 of Firefox it's been one of the most misely in memory usage. It beats older versions of Opera by a long way (no benchmarks yet for Unite but i don't think it's better than the older versions).
http://avencius.nl/content/firefox-3-vs-opera-950-memory-usage [avencius.nl]
Re:So Opera web browser now runs as a system servi (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ [mozilla.com]
http://unite.opera.com/ [opera.com]
Opera Unite is a 40% larger download than Firefox.
Re:So Opera web browser now runs as a system servi (Score:4, Informative)
Also, with all this extra stuff, it still runs faster and smoother than any previous version of their browser, there is absolutely no feeling of 'bloat'... and when you turn something off, it stays that way, Turbo, Unite, Mail, Widgets, Dragonfly, etc...
v10 alpha was already faster than v9.64, and almost every new snapshot has been quicker/better than the previous.
It's memory footprint isn't really better, but isn't worse than most others... mine's been running for about 4 days since the last time I closed/re-opened it
Current: 161MB
Peak: 398MB
VM: 205MB
Handles: 708
Threads: 26
But I don't care about that, from a cold start it launches in under a second, whereas Safari and Chrome take about 4, IE and FF 3.5 take about 9, I've ran into 0 problems with webpages with Opera v10, but FF 3.5 (just as Beta as Opera) won't even allow Slashdot to work half the time, however it is a bit faster on some sites, like Facebook... Plus, Opera hides in the systray, and stays completely idle until i need it, or it shows me a new RSS, or email... making it show up instantly when asked, which is more important (to me) than any memory footprint.
Re:Disturbing trend (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Disturbing trend (Score:4, Informative)
So I can just download Opera and have it all work with out an Opera account? Nope, won't work, sorry. whoever is sharing HAS to have an Opera account.
So tell me mods, how exactly is this offtopic? he claimed that it would "decentralize the web" and I pointed out in the very article that was on Slashodt yesterday, and I again quote "Although Opera Unite claims to "directly link people's personal computers together," to use it you need an account on Opera's servers, and all of your exchanges pass through Opera's servers first.That's an effective way to get around technical difficulties like NAT firewalls, but more important, it makes Opera the intermediary in your social interactions -- not Facebook, not MySpace, but Opera."
Don't believe me? Read [infoworld.com] it yourself. The simple fact is if you have NAT there is NO WAY to use this at all without Opera servers as the MiTM, okay? And who doesn't use NAT in this day and age? Hell even my 67 year old dad who doesn't have a fricking clue about computers has a wireless router doing NAT.
So mod me down ALL you want, I've got enough karma to burn for centuries. Did I say Opera was bad? Nope, my oldest won't even touch anything else. But don't lie and say the sky is pink when it is blue. The simple fact is you CAN'T use this new feature without an Opera account. Sorry, but it just don't work, because it was designed to go through Opera's servers. So all you are doing with Opera Unite is moving the central server from Facebook to Opera. Sorry, but that doesn't sound very revolutionary to me.
Re:So Opera web browser now runs as a system servi (Score:3, Informative)
On my older computers I don't really have another option. I run 500Mhz Celeron comps with 64-128MB RAM running Damn Small Linux regularly. Firefox barely runs with one tab on those systems while Opera is still quick with 4 or 5 tabs. The difference is night and day.
Re:So Opera web browser now runs as a system servi (Score:5, Informative)
This is an Alpha or Beta. Opera 9.64 (final) is only 5.3MB large.
On my computer Firefox consumes way more memory than Opera - but it has so many extensions and plugins installed, that I'd be surprised if it didn't.
Re:Disturbing trend (Score:2, Informative)
You can connect directly to the IP and port 8840 without going through Opera's servers.
Re:Disturbing trend (Score:5, Informative)
I'm surprised to see that people are still linking to this. It's basically full of errors, and was written in rage [opera.com] over all the hype Unite was getting. He was angry about how people just repeated Opera's claims blindly. Kind of like you are blindly referring to his blog post even though it turns out that the post is too inaccurate to really be used for anything.
You really should read some of the comments on the page you are linking to, in order to see people correcting all the misconceptions. For example the misconception that everything goes through a proxy, as you claim it does. Furthermore Chris's comments where fun until Haavard took him down a notch on his own blog, resulting in Chris himself posting on Haavard's blog with a massively different tone.
Re:Disturbing trend (Score:5, Informative)
all of your exchanges pass through Opera's servers first.
Only if you're behind NAT, and your router isn't configured to allow UPnP.
Otherwise, individual connections are truly peer-to-peer. Opera servers don't get involved. They are only used to publish the list of services available for your account, not to access them (except for the NAT workaround).
Re:Misleading, again (Score:2, Informative)
Plus all the services are disabled by default. Something which most of the morons here seem to have trouble getting their head around.
Personally, I think it's a awesome innovation. It's not a web server, it's a personal content publishing service.
Re:Yeah, right . . . (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Misleading, again (Score:3, Informative)
Amen.
The Opera Unite service has several features so far: web server, file sharer, music streamer, fridge notes, lounge... It's direct communication for everyday users who will be able to host their own sites, files, music, photos locally on their home computers. Said content will be available as long as Unite is running. When Unite is not running or the computer is off, there's nothing being shared. Why all the fuss? it's easy to understand. Don't like it? Don't use it. The service is what it is, not a professional hosting service with backups and UPS's.
I think it's very good for home users to have the possibility of feeling like small Internet moguls, hosting some little web site and sharing family photos with grandma :)
Re:Disturbing trend (Score:4, Informative)
[...] he claimed that it would "decentralize the web" and I pointed out in the very article that was on Slashodt yesterday, and I again quote "Although Opera Unite claims to "directly link people's personal computers together," to use it you need an account on Opera's servers, and all of your exchanges pass through Opera's servers first.That's an effective way to get around technical difficulties like NAT firewalls, but more important, it makes Opera the intermediary in your social interactions [...] But don't lie and say the sky is pink when it is blue. The simple fact is you CAN'T use this new feature without an Opera account. Sorry, but it just don't work, because it was designed to go through Opera's servers. So all you are doing with Opera Unite is moving the central server from Facebook to Opera. Sorry, but that doesn't sound very revolutionary to me.
You're mixing a lot of half-truths in there.Opera Unite does directly link peoples computers together. Period. It _also_ acts as an intermediary where they can't use UPnP or in other situations. Opera also creates the links that direct people to the service you're hosting from your browser.
You _can_ use the features of Unite without an account, any browser can access my Unite fileshare with the write password and URL; same goes for accessing photos, media, chat. Oh, right, you want to host a service (with 3 clicks of your mouse!) on the internet without signing up for anything, good luck with that. Even backbone connections have peering contracts - every internet service has to sign up for something.
Remembering that this is a first alpha I think Opera has started a mass decentralisation of the internet, the peerweb as it were. I give it a few months before Opera Unite will connect to other intermediaries and perhaps a year before you can host that same intermediary on a box inside your firewall.