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PHP fsockopen for FAST DNS lookups over UDP

While reading up on gethostbyaddr on PHP.net, I saw a nice idea for using fsockopen to connect over UDP port 53 to any Public DNS server, like Google DNS 8.8.8.8, and sending the reverse addr lookup in oh about 100 bytes, then getting the response in oh about 150 bytes! All in less than a second. This is how/why to read/write data directly to the wire! This would be extremely valuable for use in things like my online header tool because it's faster than any other method. As usual, I went a bit overboard optimizing it to be lean and fast.

Fsockopen Magic

Fsockopen PowerPHP's fsockopen function lets you open an Internet or Unix domain socket connection for connecting to a resource, and is one of the most powerful functions available in the php language.

PHP to handle HTTP Status Codes for ErrorDocument

Fast, HTTP Protocol, protection. If you are reading this article, you already know enough about the benefits of making sure your site can handle HTTP Protocol Errors. This is a nice single php file with no dependencies or requirements, will work on anything. Optimized for minimizing bandwidth and resource-hogging connections from bots and spambots.

<?php
ob_start();
@set_time_limit(5);
@ini_set('memory_limit', '64M');
@ini_set('display_errors', 'Off');
error_reporting(0);

Creating an Offline Version of Page

I can do anythingSo, here's what I hacked together last night, that is being used today. It's essentially 2 files.

  1. A php file that scrapes uses curl to scrape all the urls for the page (favicon, css, images, pdfs, etc..)
  2. A simple bash shell script acting as a cgi that creates a zip file of all the urls, and a self-extracting exe file for those without a winzip tool

PHP Session File Hacks

What they say about kung-fu is true..

It can be attained by anyone through hard work over time. You can become as good as the amount of work you put in. Here's a short look at a basic technique that I use. Simply reverse engineering the source code and taking notes along the way...

static void php_session_send_cookie(TSRMLS_D)
  if (SG(headers_sent)) {
          if (output_start_filename) {
                  php_error_docref(NULL TSRMLS_CC, E_WARNING, "Cannot send session cookie - headers already sent by (output started at %s:%d)",
                          output_start_filename, output_start_lineno);
          } else {
                  php_error_docref(NULL TSRMLS_CC, E_WARNING, "Cannot send session cookie - headers already sent");
          }
          return;
  }

  /* URL encode session_name and id because they might be user supplied */
  e_session_name = php_url_encode(PS(session_name), strlen(PS(session_name)), NULL);

PHP Sessions/Cookies On The Fly

Multiple Web Technologies for dynamic php session controlThis article shows how to save and modify php session data, cookies, do anything really... without using ajax or iframes or forcing the user make a request.

Faster Form Submission and Processing with fsockopen

Speedy Forms using background-requestsPart II: Example illustrating how to speed up GET/POST form submissions. Uses fsockopen to initiate a server-side background request to process the submitted data, so that the result page of the form is displayed to the client lightningly quick.

The Latest and Greatest php.ini

Grab the latest php.ini developmental version and discover new or previously hidden php runtime configuration settings... ahead of everyone else!

PHP htaccess tips and tricks

Htaccess php tips and tricks for the Apache HTTPD Web Server, mostly these tips show you how to run customized versions with customized php.ini files, I require custom php.ini files because they are so useful!

Debug apache log files from php

Secure phpinfo.php with .htaccess, Now instead of getting a 404 error you will see debug information which will help you find out what the problem is.