Use /var for storing webpages.. Why???

Greg 'groggy' Lehey grog at FreeBSD.org
Tue Dec 14 20:14:01 PST 2004


On Tuesday, 14 December 2004 at 22:05:20 -0600, Adam wrote:
> On Tuesday, 14 December 2004 at 21:50:45 -0600, Adam wrote:
>>> In Greg Lehey's book "The Complete FreeBSD" 4th edition, he says,
>>> "Do not have a separate /var file system unless you have a good idea
>>> how big it should be.  A good example might be a web server, where
>>> (contrary to FreeBSD's recommendations) it's a good idea to put the
>>> webpages on the /var file system." p.70
>>>
>>> Why is it a good idea to put webpages in the /var file system and
>>> not the /usr file system?
>>
>> Because they're not part of the system.  Despite the name, /usr is
>> mainly for the operating system.  /var is for content that frequently
>> varies.
>
> Okay, I understand not using /usr, but why not use /home? 

/var is for content that frequently varies.  That's its purpose.
/home is for user home directories.

> Does storing webpages in /var give you a performance increase?

No.

> Or is it convention that you would store webpages in /var?

It's certainly a convention.

> I'm setting up a webserver at my house where I'll serve several
> websites for my friends, should I have them store webpages in
> /var/username or keep them in /home/username?

I suppose if you're in a multi-user environment where each user has
his own web pages, it's better to have the users' web pages in his
public_html directory.  You can do this in either direction with
symlinks.

It's easy to read too much into these recommendations.  I personally
don't follow them.  There are hysterical raisins behind that: I set up
my original web server before I thought about the issue, and I've been
too lazy to move.  I *would* follow them with a new installation.  My
personal web pages are in my home directory, and
http://wwww.lemis.com/grog/ (count those wwwws) is a symlink to
~grog/public_html.

My externally visible web server is a colocated system which I share
with a number of friends.  They store the main web files in /var/www,
but individuals have their web pages in a subdirectory of their home
directory that matches the web site name (in my case,
~grog/www.lemis.com/).

> BTW, awesome book.  I love reading about the old RLL and MFM hard
> drives I used to config when I was a kid.  Brings back a lot of
> memories.

Thanks

Greg
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