Anyone tried OwnCloud?

[SteveRiley]

I've got ownCloud up and running, and configured the way I'd like it (with the help of steve's post on the ownCloud forum!). It was actually relatively easy compared to some other things I've tried, which is encouraging.

Heh, glad you found that useful! Indeed, quickly getting up and running is one of OwnCloud's major attractions.

I've found the web interface a little slow to load (compared to wordpress, citadel mail server on the same hardware), but not prohibitively so. Both the desktop client (installed directly from ownCloud, not the repos - thanks Steve) and mobile client seem much faster, I can only assume that the web interface is the slow bit, and not what's under the bonnet.

Actually, it probably is your hardware. Raspberry Pis aren't exactly powerhouses, and PHP is a pig. Every time you browse to a page, the server has to compile the PHP for it.

But not all is lost. OwnCloud will work very nicely with the Alternative PHP Cache. APC optimizes and caches PHP's intermediate byte code; this should improve performance for you. Install it:

sudo apt-get install php-apc

Now restart your web server and browse to some pages. Is it faster, especially when you revisit pages?

Also... which web server and database are you using?

[Feathers McGraw]

I'm amazed how much difference that made.

Time taken to load index page before php-apc = 21 seconds

Time taken to load index page after php-apc = 7-8 seconds

Thank you!!

As for the web server and database:
Apache (Apache/2.2.22 (Debian))
MySQL (Version: 5.5.31+dfsg-0+wheezy1)

Feathers

[SteveRiley]

If one is only going to use a small subset of it's features (let's say one only needs an online calendar/addressbook...or only a cloud backup solution), one is likely to find a more efficient/better alternative that is optimized for that particular task.

I have been using DAViCal for my calendar and addressbook. Unfortunately, it's beginning to show signs of "maintainer fatigue." The server hosting the developer's wiki died, and it seems no one can find a decent archive. The developer has asked for volunteers, and while several folks have spoken up, nothing's actually happened. There's still some activity in Git and the mail list, but I wonder how much longer this will last.

All that's to say that at some point, migrating to OwnCloud might become a necessity for me, if for no reason other than needing a full CalDAV/CardDAV server. That the new sync client appears to be more network-friendly is also a plus, so I'd finally have something useful with which to replace Dropbox. One other app has promise -- the RSS aggregator. When I de-Google-fied myself, my replacement for Google Reader has been TT-RSS. It's actively developed and the Android client is quite nice. The Android client for OwnCloud's RSS aggregator needs more polish, especially for 10" tablets.

[SteveRiley]

I'm amazed how much difference that made... Thank you!!

I install php-apc whenever and wherever I need to run PHP apps, no matter how much raw horsepower might be on the hardware.

As for the web server and database:
Apache (Apache/2.2.22 (Debian))
MySQL (Version: 5.5.31+dfsg-0+wheezy1)Feathers

If you are still in experiment mode, you might try switching the database to Sqlite. It's lighter than MySQL.

The debate over whether to use Apache or Nginx is still raging. Both web servers seem to be sensitive to tuning; I've heard praises and gripes about both, and in roughly equal proportion.

[Feathers McGraw]

I'll definitely be remembering php-apc!

I don't really understand the inner workings of ownCloud, is PHP only used when you log in on a web browser, or will the cache affect the desktop sync client too?

Will consider switching to Sqlite. The main objective of all the tinkering is to learn, not because I really need 500GB of stuff in the cloud! In fact, I probably don't need 500GB of stuff at all.

As for Nginx... someday! I'm just starting to get my head around how Apache is configured, it was pretty daunting at first. Would love to learn how to use Nginx but I'd like to be in a position where I know enough about Apache to be able to make a meaningful comparison between the two.

Feathers

[SteveRiley]

I don't really understand the inner workings of ownCloud, is PHP only used when you log in on a web browser, or will the cache affect the desktop sync client too?

All of the code for OwnCloud's browser-based activity is written entirely in PHP, a language designed specifically for server-side processing. Pages that require the server to process a ton of PHP will perform more slowly, because the browser has to wait for the server to compile each page.

OwnCloud's sync is different. Their client is based on CSync and Mirall, both of which are compiled binaries. Mirall is the notifier that sits in your system tray; CSync is the backend synchronization mechanism. While there is a little PHP code that manages the server-side syncing process, that code is not doing the major heavy lifting of the actual sync process. Adding APC won't speed up your syncs.

[Feathers McGraw]

I see. That makes sense, the sync always seemed much faster than the web interface.

Where does the PHP cache store pages that have already been compiled? In RAM, or in a temp file on the hard drive?

Feathers

[SteveRiley]

Where does the PHP cache store pages that have already been compiled? In RAM, or in a temp file on the hard drive?

In RAM.

Want to see something interesting? Do this.

1. Run

cp /usr/share/doc/php-apc/apc.php /var/www/apc.php

2. Open /var/www/apc.php in your favorite editor. Find the line:

defaults('ADMIN_PASSWORD','password');

And change password to a password of your choice. Save your change and exit the editor.

3. Now browse to http://your-server/apc.php. Look at the stats and pretty graphs that show you cache hits and misses. In another browser tab, go do some stuff in OwnCloud. Then come back and click the Refresh Data button. Click around the other buttons to see the compiled objects that are cached and how often they're used. Now remember: before you installed APC, Apache had to recompile each object every single time your browser requested it.

4. Want more? In the upper right corner, click the Login button. Now login in, with the user apc and the password you placed in the file in step #2. Now you can see full paths of the objects and you'll have another button with yet more data.

NOTE: if you don't see graphs, then install the PHP GD module:

sudo apt-get install php5-gd

[Feathers McGraw]

That's a cool feature.

I tried it out, but when I tried to log in to owncloud I got an infinite redirect loop error. Removed apc.php to apc.php.BAK and the next time I tried to access the page (just to check it was gone) I downloaded the source... complete with the password I had chosen!! I guess that was apc caching the file?

Restarting apache didn't stop the redirect problem, but a reboot did. I guess that might have had something to do with a cached version of the index page too, as rebooting will have cleared the RAM?

Feathers

[SteveRiley]

That is really weird. OwnCloud might be changing the default behavior of Apache in some way that I'm not familiar with.

I'll have to ponder this one for a bit and get back to you.

[Feathers McGraw]

Oh and it was asking me to log in again to begin with. I cleared the cookies from my browser thinking that might help but apparently not!

[SteveRiley]

Are you saying that the presence of apc.php broke your ability to log into the OwnCloud interface?

[Feathers McGraw]

I'm not sure, it could have been a coincidence. But that's what I suspect.

Owncloud didn't reject my login in the normal sense, it just couldn't show me the index page (or any other page that would require a login) because of those redirect loop errors.

Feathers

[SteveRiley]

Presumably, completely removing /var/www/apc.php fixes OwnCloud, right?

Might need to create a separate virtual server for this in Apache.

[Feathers McGraw]

Yeah, I had to remove it and restart (to clear the cache, is there an easier way to clear the cache?).

Feathers