Replying to What 'reduced Functionality' Should I Expect With Php 5.2.17?

Hi Allison,

Having PHP version 5.2 over version 5.3 shouldn't hurt speed or cause any issues.

Host not allowing command line zip via PHP's exec() function will have BackupBuddy run in compatibility mode (using ziparchive or pclzip instead of exec) which isn't as fast. How much different the speeds make depend on the size of the site. Very large sites in compatibility mode can take long enough that timeouts become more likely depending on host's server configurations (max_execution_time).

So having PHP 5.2 shouldn't be an issue for the plugins. PHP version is a separate thing from zip methods (exec).


Thanks,
-Akers

Hi --
Just so I can be completely clear -- you're saying that all the programs will work, and BackUpBuddy will not work as fast as it would if we were running on a later version of PHP. Is that correct?

Can you give me an estimate of the difference in speed? Is it on the order of 1 minute vs 3 minutes or 10 minutes vs 3 hours?

Thanks for your help -- I'm making the purchase decision but as you can tell, I don't have a lot of the tech knowledge, so I appreciate your patience with  questions that I imagine most people wouldn't need to ask.
Allison

Hi Allison,

For BackupBuddy at least PHP 5.2+ will work fine, that part of it won't cause reduced functionality. The "reduced functionality" is mostly in reference to the server not having access to command line zip exec(), which without it then BackupBuddy will have to run in compatibility mode that isn't as fast as exec().

5.2 with the rest of the plugins should be fine as well.



Thanks,
-Akers

Hi -- am considering buying a Developer bundle of all your plugins.
All my sites run on PHP 5.2.17
I see that 5.3 is recommended. I would like to know what 'reduced functionality' mean -- what should I expect not to work if I go ahead with this purchase?
Thank you,
Allison