Understanding PHP Performance with PHP Vitals

performance benchmarks tutorial

PHP Vitals is a comprehensive benchmarking tool that helps you understand and optimize your PHP environment's performance. Let's explore how it works and how to interpret its results.

Quick Start

  1. Download the phpvitals.php script
  2. Upload it to your web server
  3. Access it via browser: https://yoursite.com/phpvitals.php
  4. Wait for the tests to complete

What Gets Tested?

Base PHP Tests

These core tests evaluate your basic PHP performance:

  1. PHP Features

    • Class instantiation
    • Method calls
    • Property access
    • Exception handling

  2. Mathematical Operations

    // Example of math operations tested
$result = 0;
for ($i = 0; $i < 1000000; $i++) {
    $result += ($i * $i) / 2;
}

  3. String Operations

    • String concatenation
    • String manipulation
    • Regular expressions
    • Character encoding

  4. Array Operations

    • Array creation and destruction
    • Array manipulation (push, pop, merge)
    • Array sorting and searching
    • Array to string conversions

Extension Tests

Additional tests for common PHP extensions:

  1. Image Processing

    • GD operations
    • ImageMagick operations (if available)
    • Image resizing and manipulation

  2. Compression

    • Gzip compression
    • Bzip2 compression
    • Zip operations

  3. Serialization

    • PHP serialization
    • JSON encoding/decoding
    • igbinary (if available)
    • MessagePack (if available)

Understanding Results

Time Score

The script measures execution time for each test:

  • A+ Grade (< 3s): Exceptional performance
  • A Grade (3-5s): Excellent performance
  • B Grade (5-10s): Good performance
  • C Grade (10-15s): Average performance
  • D Grade (15-20s): Below average
  • F Grade (> 20s): Poor performance

Operations per Second

Each test reports operations per second (op/s):

Test Name  | Time    | Op/s   | Op/s/MHz
-----------|---------|--------|----------
Math Test  | 0.0234s | 42,735 | 10.68
String Test| 0.0456s | 21,929 | 5.48
Array Test | 0.0789s | 12,674 | 3.17

CPU Normalization

The Op/s/MHz metric helps compare results across different CPU speeds:

  • Higher numbers indicate better efficiency
  • Useful for comparing different servers
  • Helps identify bottlenecks

Common Performance Issues

  1. Slow Math Operations

    • Check OpCache settings
    • Verify CPU governor settings
    • Monitor CPU throttling

  2. Poor String Performance

    • Check memory settings
    • Verify character encoding settings
    • Monitor memory fragmentation

  3. Slow Array Operations

    • Adjust memory_limit
    • Check for memory leaks
    • Monitor garbage collection

Optimization Tips

Based on test results:

  1. Enable OpCache
opcache.enable=1
opcache.memory_consumption=128
opcache.interned_strings_buffer=8
opcache.max_accelerated_files=4000
opcache.validate_timestamps=0
opcache.revalidate_freq=0
opcache.fast_shutdown=1
  1. Adjust Memory Settings
memory_limit = 256M
realpath_cache_size = 4096K
realpath_cache_ttl = 600
  1. Enable JIT (PHP 8+)
opcache.jit_buffer_size=100M
opcache.jit=1235

Comparing Results

The script automatically submits anonymous results to our database, allowing you to:

  • Compare your scores with similar environments
  • Track performance changes over time
  • Identify potential improvements

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues:

  1. Script Timeout

    • Increase max_execution_time
    • Run fewer tests simultaneously

  2. Memory Errors

    • Increase memory_limit
    • Monitor memory usage

  3. Extension Errors

    • Verify required extensions
    • Check extension compatibility

Next Steps

  1. Run the benchmark on your server
  2. Compare results with our baseline
  3. Implement recommended optimizations
  4. Re-run tests to verify improvements

Remember, performance optimization is an ongoing process. Regular benchmarking helps maintain optimal performance as your application evolves.