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When you configure the php environment, zend optimizer, eaccelerator and inocube loader should always be included in your plan. But today when I make some update on client's website I received the error saying zend optimizer is not installed. Then I checked the phpinfo page and zendoptimizer not listed, neither inocube loader. I submitted a request for the installation and still waiting reply. Here I'd like to give some explanation to the two components and what's good of them.

What's zend optimizer?

Zend Optimizer is a component of Zend Server and Zend Server Community Edition. Zend Optimizer speeds up PHP execution by opcode caching and optimization. It stores precompiled script bytecode in shared memory. This eliminates the stages of reading code from the disk and compiling it on future access.

What's Eaccelerator?

Eaccelerator is the same purpose like Zend optimizer. It caches your PHP scripts so that the database is no longer being queried everytime someone needs a script. This is particularly useful for large forums, but not everyone can benefit from it. Since these scripts are cached, you’ll notice increase in memory usage and server loads. Eaccelerator is mostly used privately on VPS or dedicated server.

What's Ioncube loader?

ionCube loader is the PHP extension that decodes encrypted PHP files at runtime. It is freely available and installation is very easy. For some popular applications such as WHMCS, Ioncube loader must be installed on server or else it won't run.

Zend optimizer vs Eaccelerator, whic is better?

Well, if we only focus on the performance and efficiency, eaccelerator is definitely better than zend optimizer.  For example Zend Optimizer does not maintain a cache of PHP scripts, whereas eAccelerator does, Zend Optimizer does not do much if anything to "optimize" scripts, whereas eAccelerator does.

But why Zend optimizer is used more? Simply because zend optimizer is more easy to deploy under any kind OS, but eaccelerator has some specific requirement in order to running properly, for example you can't use PHPSuExec for eaccelerator but zend optimizer does not have such restriction. If you're running a personal server you can configure as you like since you control the entire system, but as for hosting server, it has to be configured to meet the requirement for most people and zend optimizer is good enough. Especially for shared hosting environment, a little change will affect many client's websites so stability is the most important thing.

So as for standard setting on hosting server, zend optimizer and ioncube loader should be included as default. But sometimes it's not loaded for some reason, you will need to contact hosting support to get it installed.

UPDATE: Zend Optimizer was renamed ZendGuard when it was released for PHP 5.3. ZendGuard cannot load files that were encoded for Zend Optimizer, and vice versa.

Roundcube Mail Introduction

Roundcube is a featured open source mail system with excellent GUI interface. The skins use the latest web standards such as XHTML and CSS 2. Roundcube includes other sophisticated open-source libraries such as PEAR and introduced tinymce rich text editors and googiespell check.

Being a web-based IMAP email client that's coded with PHP programming, Roundcube make full use of Ajax technology to present a more fluid and responsive user interface than that of traditional webmail clients. The first stable release of Roundcube was announced in early 2008.

Best Roundcube Mail Hosting

Roundcube mail program is offered as default by cpanel hosting provider. The best roundcube mail hosting with our in-depth review & experience is Arvixe.com!

Arvixe linux hosting is fully roundcube compatible and offers unlimited email accounts /alias /forwarding and all features that's from Roundcube software. Arvixe roudcube mail hosting plans are well known for it's industry leading performance and security setup. If your business is relying on email communication and you're fans of roundcube, arvixe is your best choice!

Arvixe Roundcube hosting core features includes

• Free domain name
• Unlimtied email accounts
• Unlimited Mysql database
• 60 days money back guarantee

Visit www.arvixe.com/linux_web_hosting to check plan details

More about Roundcube Mail system

Roundcube is absolutely the most beautiful and user friendly webmail program among many other open source mail. I think as long as you have communicated with this mail program you will love it.

Core features

• Completely open source and free
• Total of 67 available languages pack
• Full support for MIME and HTML messages
• Address book and calendar support
• IMAP and SMTP support
• Rich text editor with spell check
• Templates system for custom skins
• Global IMAP folders sharing
• Support for Mysql, Postgresql and Mssql.

Round cube hosting can be connected to any IMAPV4 server with full support for MIME and HTML messages. There is full featured address book based on vCard with group support. It provides full functionality you expect from an e-mail client, including folder manipulation, message searching and spell checking. In case you're going to offer round cube service to users. It can be setup via one click installation in control panel auto installer!

Round cube is popular in educational institutes including some famous universities such as Harvard university, UC Berkeley, University of Utah, University of Oregon, Stevens Institute of Technology, Tilburg University and the university of Sussex.

Roundcube vs SquirrelMail vs Horde Mail

• SquirrelMail – Undoutedly, squirrelmail is the most clean and simple mail program, if you have checked the interface you will found there's no much to say about it. It just list out your emails with a basic interface
• HordeMail – Hordemail is full featured program with all options from an email client. Either the GUI or the operational functions.
• Roundcube – Best of the best, roundcube has nice look and full functional mail options

All the three options are available together with standard cpanel hosting service. Most of the time, people's primary choice is roundcube and then hordemail, squirrelmail is the last option if the other twos are working fine.

Round cube official site: http://roundcube.net

Horde Mail Introduction

Horde is a Project name which is aimed at creating high quality Open Source web applications using intelligent object oriented design. Horde mail is their most featured product and popularly deployed to many hosting servers on the globe.

With Horde Mail, users can read, send and organize email messages and manage and share calendars, contacts, tasks and notes with the standards compliant components from the Horde Project.

Best Horde Mail Hosting

Horde is standard and the best email option in cpanel. We recommend the best horde mail hosting with our experience – WebhostingHub. Other popular names like Hostgator, Inmotion hosting are also highly recommended, but we most recommend whub for best performance and cost.

Webhostinghub has default support over Horde in cpanel control panel. Their group prepared lots of horde tutorials including FAQ and video tutorials on how to use/manage this platform. You can find nowhere else for such great offer. Webhostinghub hosting plan comes with following leading features

• Free domain name
• Unlimited domains, unlimited emails
• Fast web server and tech support
• 99% uptime guaranteed
• 90 days leading money back guarantee
• 100% satisfication guarantee

Visit www.WebhostingHub.com to check plan details

More about Horde Mail Hosting

Horde mail come with the optional choice from Cpanel hosting and it's almost the most standard option.  Aside Horde, there're several alternative email solutions in cpanel such as Roundcube, Squirrelmail. So basically if the hosting service is cpanel based, they should have all pre-configured and we just choose to use any. The effort in looking for such email solutions turns to find a quality cpanel hosting service.

How to Configure Horde Mail in cpanel?

Horde is just a webmail interface to manage your account incoming/outgoing emails. It's not default used option in cpanel. Here's guidance on how to redirect your webmails to horde directly.

• Login to the webmail program you prefer. You can get there by going to your-domain.com/webmail. You'll need to login using a username (which is the full email address) and password.
• Once you have logged into webmail, click on the webmail program of your choice.
• Copy the url in your address bar. It will look something like:
• http://your-domain.com:2095/horde/login.php

Note: You must replace your-domain.com with your actual domain name in the above examples.

Once you have the URL you'll be wanting to use, login to your cPanel.

In cPanel, setup a subdomain called something like myemail.your-domain.com (you can do this by clicking on the "subdomains" icon in cPanel). You can not use mail.your-domain.com since these particular subdomains are already in use on the server.

After you've setup the subdomain in your cPanel, setup a "redirect" for the subdomain (by clicking on the "subdomains" icon). You will need to setup the redirect so the subdomain goes to the URL of the webmail program of your choice.

More about Horde Mail

We call Horde mail is fully php based and completely open source solution, but it's more like a full featured email program. To be more clear, very similar to outlook. It has introduced all functions and options from outlook such as calendar, news, task, options etc. If you're looking for an excellent web email program but no time to familiar with it, horde mail is simply the best.

The horde project team always release the newest program with latest bug fix and improvement. It's supported by a large community and introduced new support member every day, dealing with horde mail is absolutely in safe hand. The hordemail leading features includes

• IMAP and POP3 webmail client
• 3-pane and 3-column-layouts
• Message filtering
• Message searching
• HTML message composition with WYSIWIG editor
• Spell checking
• Built in attachment viewers
• Encrypting and signing of messages (S/MIME and PGP)
• Quota support
• Flexible, individual alias addresses
• Support for mailing list headers
• Forwarding of multiple messages at once
• Attachments sent as links

Horde Mail official site: http://www.horde.org/apps/webmail

SquirrelMail Overview & Hosting

SquirrelMail is an open source web mail software written in PHP. It includes built-in pure PHP support for the IMAP and SMTP protocols. SquirrelMail is compatible with all popular browsers and email clients, the best of the best is it has very few hardware installation requirements, both administrator and end user will be able to deal with it properly.

Squirrelmail is included by standard cpanel installation. So most cpanel hosting providers support this mail program. Because of this, the research of best squirrelmail hosting is to pick up the best cpanel hosting service.

Best SquirrelMail Hosting

SquirrelMail has very few server side requirements thus almost 100% webhosts be able to support it. For fast, secure and reliable SquirrelMail Hosting, look no further than Arvixe for all your web hosting related needs. Arvixe has SquirrelMail pre-installed and ready to use from hosting control panel. Arvixe squirrelmail hosting core features include

• Unlimited space / data transfer
• One FREE domain for life
• cPanel control panel for unlimited emails
• 99.9% uptime and 60 day money back guarantee
• Multiple email options in control panel

Why Arvixe is the Best Squirrelmail Hosting Provider?

Arvixe is awarded the best hosting for squirrelmail not only because of it's 100% compatible hosting server and leading uptime guarantee, it's also because of their leading hosting features and worry free payment terms – up to 60 days full money back. Their people setup a dedicated page for squirrelmail service and FAQ base for this software. Arvixe optimized their hosting server specially for squirrelmail scripting and provides super friendly customer support in multiple channels.

More about  SquirrelMail

SquirrelMail requirements is pretty few. As long as the server has PHP and Mysql enabled then it will be working no matter if it's windows or linux. You need to configure php with "gettext", "mbstring" and "xml" extensions enabled.

Squirrelmail is actually an independent mail software that can be installed seperately on any servers, it's used by many hosting groups like iPage and webhostinghub such popular hosts. Squirrel is an easy and simple email solution. If you want to check your email while on the road or do not have a desktop email client, you can check and send your email using one of the webmail clients included with your hosting.

What's the best email solution?

Unless you have to go with those add-on softwares in control panel, we highly suggest the best windows email solution "Smartermail". It's recognized the alternative choice for microsoft exchange server but much cheaper with more user friendly design for better management. Being an independent software installer, you can get it installed pretty quick. Who offers smartermail hosting service? Hostgator is definitely the best one.