Optimizing Zend Server Performance

The Zend Server components are designed to encompass several different requirements. However, there is no point in adding or using certain components when they are not needed. This primarily happens when you install a component that you do not use. For example, if you do not need to call Java objects from your PHP code, there is no need to have the Java Bridge running. In addition, it would be better not to install this optional component at all, especially as you will be prompted to install a Java Runtime Environment that is not required if you are only running PHP.
In this section, we describe each performance component, including when you should install the component, when to disable the component and when applicable, when to remove the component.

Component	Description	Turn Off		Comment
Debugger	A remote debugging tool for developers working with Zend Studio.	Not recommended to turn off, as it is great for development environments. In production when not debugging code.		If you are not going to debug your code with the Debugger, for example in a production environment, disabling this component may provide a slight performance gain.
Optimizer+	Speeds up PHP execution through opcode caching and optimization.	Disabling has a negative impact on performance.
Guard Loader	Loads and runs encoded PHP scripts (Encoded with Zend Guard)	Required only if you are running PHP code that was encoded with Zend Guard.		If you are not a Zend Guard user either remove this component or do not install it (it is an optional component).
Data Cache	Cache data items or output	If you are not using the Data Cache API in your code for partial content caching.
Java Bridge	Calls Java classes and code from PHP	Required only If you call Java code or objects from your PHP.		If you are not a Java user either remove this component or do not install (optional component).
Monitor	Identifies performance issues	Turn off temporarily, only for performance testing reasons. Not recommended to remove this component however it is best to configure accordingly see " Working with Monitoring"
Page Cache	A URL based HTML output cache for PHP scripts	Always. If you are not using URL based Caching.		If you decide not to use this component.