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What Is Yii Hosting?

Yii is an oddly named PHP framework designed for rapid development of Web 2.0 applications. Yii stands for “simple and evolutionary” in Chinese, but at the same time it’s an acronym for “yes it is.”

Yii is a relatively new framework – version 1.1 was released in August 2013, while version 2.0 is still in beta, although it is available for download. The framework is released under the terms of the Berkely Software Distribution (BSD) license, which means it is free but there are some redistribution limitations.

As a generic Web programming framework, Yii can be used to develop various types of applications using PHP. It features a component-based structure, making it scalable and suitable for the development of large-scale applications. Yii relies on object-oriented programming (OOP).

Yii 1.1 and 2.0 are currently the most popular versions of the framework.

Yii 1.x and 2.0 Server Requirements

The Yii framework was designed to work on Apache servers, in Windows and Linux operating systems. However, it should work with other servers and platforms with support for PHP 5 or later versions.

Yii 1.x officially supports PHP 5.1.0 or above, while Yii 2.0, which is a complete rewrite of Yii 1.1, requires PHP 5.4.0 or above. Some developers may need to use legacy Yii 1.1 code with modern Yii 2.0 code, which involves a bit more planning.

Since Yii is a PHP framework, it does not have any special hosting requirements. Yii is ready to work with a default Apache web server configuration, but depending on your needs you may need to use mod_rewrite instructions to change the configuration on virtual hosts.

You can also use Yii with Nginx and PHP with FPM SAPI and you can find the necessary documentation on the Yii Framework website.

Yii is built on top of the PHP Data Objects (PDO) extension and can use a variety of database management systems including MySQL, PostgreSQL and SQLite.

Yii Installation

The installation process is straightforward. Get the latest copy of the Yii release file and unpack it to /wwwroot/yii. You should end up with the following directoy: /wwwroot/yii/framework.

The framework can be installed anywhere, as the /framework directory contains all framework code and is the only directory needed when deploying applications. Multiple Yii applications can use the same installation of the framework.

Also, since Yii does not necessarily have to be installed in a Web accessible directory, only the entry script needs to be exposed to web users. This is good news from a security perspective, as it restricts access to PHP scripts that could be used as an attack vector.

Yii provides extensive support for database programming and since Yii Data Access Objects (DAO) is built on top of PDO, it enables access to different database management systems. Applications developed using the Yii DAO can easily be switched to a different database management system without having to modify the code. This makes Yii more flexible than many other frameworks in a wide range of situations.

As far as the skill-set is concerned, developers with experience in object-oriented programming should have an easier time getting to grips with Yii, as it is a pure OOP framework.

Yii Hosting Services

Although Yii is a relatively new framework, many hosts are offering packages designed for Yii users. Since Yii does not have many exotic requirements and can run on a wide variety of platforms and databases, these plans usually don’t differ from hosting plans marketed for other frameworks.

Many hosts offer free Yii installation and timely framework upgrades. Hosts also offer the ability to extend Yii framework functionality with additional compatible modules and this is usually a 1-click affair.

Due to Yii’s advanced caching abilities, which make it suited for the development of big Web 2.0 sites, many hosts are keen to offer additional RAM or SSD upgrades, thus making the most of Yii’s caching prowess and boosting performance in the process.

Since Yii is a good choice for large scale Web 2.0 projects, many hosts offer scalable and dedicated Yii hosting, with daily backups, premium support and other perks. However, individuals and smaller businesses also have a lot of choice, whether they opt for VPS hosting or cloud hosting. These packages usually come at a fraction of the cost of a dedicated Yii server, yet they tend to offer good value for money and plenty of scalability.