Description:
------------
Having recently set up a Windows Server 2003 web development server it has been found that file access by way of PHP 'include' is much slower than it should be when compared to other platforms.

A small benchmark script (included) was run on four different platforms (none of them production servers), using both PHP4 and PHP5 as described below:

PLATFORM 1
----------
System:
Microsoft Windows XP
Professional
Version 2002
Service Pack 2

Computer:
Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 1600MHz
589 MHz, 512 MB of RAM

PHP versions tested:
4.4.4 and 5.2 2006-09-13 snapshot

PLATFORM 2
----------
System:
Microsoft Windows Server 2003
Enterprise Edition
Service Pack 1

Computer:
Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 2.80GHz
2.80Ghz, 2.00GB of RAM
Physical Address Extension

PHP versions tested:
4.4.4 and 5.2 2006-09-13 snapshot


PLATFORM 3
----------
System:
Microsoft Windows Server 2003
Standard Edition
Service Pack 1

Computer:
Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 3.00GHz
3.00Ghz, 3.50GB of RAM

PHP versions tested:
4.4.4 and 5.1.6

PLATFORM 4
----------
Fedora Core 4
Pentium 3 760MHz
256MB of RAM

4.3.11

The benchmark script was run 6 times on each platform.

Reproduce code:
---------------
benchmark.php
-------------
<?php
$tmp = split(" ",microtime());
$start = $tmp[0] + $tmp[1];

for ($i = 0; $i < 5000; $i++){
    include 'emptyfile.php';
}

$tmp = split(" ",microtime());
$end = $tmp[0] + $tmp[1];

print "Elapsed time: " . ($end - $start) . "\n";
?>

emptyfile.php
-------------
<?php ?>

Expected result:
----------------
I would expect the benchmark.php script to run more quickly on both PLATFORM 2 and PLATFORM 3 (both of which are high spec servers running Windows 2003 Server) than on PLATFORM 1 (a Compaq nx7010 laptop running Windows XP Pro) or PLATFORM 4 (a Dell Optiplex GX110 running Fedora Core 4).

Actual result:
--------------
The script completed more quickly even on PLATFORM 4 (Pentium 3 730MHz 256MB RAM) than on PLATFORM 2 and 3

The results are included below:

PLATFORM 1 - with no other apps running
=======================================

PHP 4.3.11
----------
>C:\php4\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.87640404701233

>C:\php4\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.89498400688171

>C:\php4\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.98714590072632

>C:\php4\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.92531800270081

>C:\php4\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.94181489944458

>C:\php4\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.92592406272888

PHP 5.2 (2006-09-13 snapshot)
-----------------------------

>C:\php5\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.6999979019165

>C:\php5\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.61439085006714

>C:\php5\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.66567397117615

>C:\php5\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.61945104598999

>C:\php5\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.64544701576233

>C:\php5\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.60436511039734


PLATFORM 2 - With no other apps running
=======================================

PHP 4.4.4
---------

>D:\php-4.4.4-Win32\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 2.6818718910217

>D:\php-4.4.4-Win32\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 2.6455881595612

>D:\php-4.4.4-Win32\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 2.6652920246124

>D:\php-4.4.4-Win32\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 2.8808929920197

>D:\php-4.4.4-Win32\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 2.7031700611115

>D:\php-4.4.4-Win32\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 2.6331689357758

PHP 5.2 (2006-09-13 snapshot)
-----------------------------

>D:\PHP\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 1.5149850845337

>D:\PHP\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 1.5081758499146

>D:\PHP\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 1.5118081569672

>D:\PHP\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 1.5036170482635

>D:\PHP\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 1.500696182251

>D:\PHP\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 1.5246729850769


PLATFORM 3 - With no other apps running
=======================================

PHP 5.1.6
---------

>C:\PHP\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.79046392440796

>C:\PHP\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.79226303100586

>C:\PHP\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.78908896446228

>C:\PHP\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.79035115242004

>C:\PHP\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.78956294059753

>C:\PHP\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.78894019126892

PHP 4.4.4
---------

>D:\php-4.4.4-Win32\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 1.2411949634552

>D:\php-4.4.4-Win32\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 1.2386450767517

>D:\php-4.4.4-Win32\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 1.2364308834076

>D:\php-4.4.4-Win32\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 1.23734998703

>D:\php-4.4.4-Win32\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 1.2394840717316

>D:\php-4.4.4-Win32\cli\php.exe -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 1.2390379905701


PLATFORM 4 - with no other apps running
=======================================

PHP 4.3.11 (cli) (built: Nov 15 2005 12:17:31)
----------------------------------------------

$ php -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.54825496673584

$ php -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.51459383964539

$ php -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.51424598693848

$ php -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.54676699638367

$ php -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.54855012893677

$ php -n benchmark.php
Elapsed time: 0.51129794120789