Product Updates: DreamPress Performance Improvements: PHP OPcache

If you’re a DreamPress user, you may have noticed that your website loads faster now. In mid-April 2023, DreamHost deployed new server settings that are better optimized for WordPress performance. This enhancement is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to delivering the best managed WordPress hosting experience to you.

DreamHost’s Product team analyzed tens of thousands of server statistics from a wide variety of customer websites. The findings directly contributed to the optimized settings for new and existing customers. As a result of the changes that were made, the team increased the amount of memory dedicated to PHP OPcache, a key performance-enhancing feature. Excitement ran high when testing showed decreased website loading times across the board!

About OPcache

There are many different techniques when it comes to website caching. The most well-known is browser caching. The browser caches files locally on the user’s disk so it doesn’t have to be retrieved over the internet again. There are also server-side caches including page cache and opcode cache. Page caching stores a rendered page in the server’s memory or disk for faster serving later. Opcode caches, like PHP OPcache, improve performance of PHP code by keeping compiled code in memory.

OPcache is a powerful tool that boosts PHP performance by storing precompiled code in memory. Without OPcache, every request to your website has to compile the necessary PHP code. By using precompiled code in memory, websites load faster and are more responsive. That’s particularly beneficial for content-heavy and dynamic websites by enhancing efficiency and performance.

The use of OPcache also improves the scalability of your website. By serving web pages faster, the server can handle more requests. This gives you the ability to handle higher traffic volumes more effectively with fewer resources and more stability.

A Faster Website, Done For You

Best of all, these enhancements have been implemented server-side, meaning you don’t need to make any changes or updates to your websites. The improvements are already in effect, and you should begin noticing a difference right away!