Zend Technologies has released a public beta of Zend Server 5.0, a major new version of the company’s enterprise-ready PHP Web application server.

Zend Server 5.0 includes a ground-breaking new feature, Code Tracing, that enables users to slash problem resolution time by up to 50 percent, according to the company. For the first time, PHP developers and administrators can quickly pinpoint the root cause of a problem in production by viewing a “digital documentary” of the execution of their application–similar to a black box flight recorder in an airplane–and avoid the time-consuming task of recreating the problem.

“Zend Server gives organizations everything they need to deploy and manage business-critical Web applications, including the most up-to-date PHP, advanced application monitoring, and consistently high performance,” said Andi Gutmans, CEO and co-founder at Zend. “With Zend Server 5.0, we are revolutionizing how PHP developers can manage their production servers, significantly reducing the time spent on root cause analysis and resolution. We are proud to be the first to deliver this enterprise-grade feature to businesses using PHP.”

Zend Server is an essential part of Zend’s professional integrated solutions for developing and managing business-critical Web applications. Zend Server includes a complete, up-to-date PHP stack for PCI compliance, advanced monitoring and diagnostics for application reliability, industry leading code acceleration and page caching to maximize performance. This is coupled with access to Zend’s expert technical support, online updates, hot fixes and security patches. Zend Server is fully integrated with Zend’s Studio PHP IDE, Zend Framework, the most popular open source framework creating the fastest and easiest solution for developing and deploying reliable and secure Web applications.

The Code Tracing feature in Zend Server 5.0 takes root cause analysis to a whole new level, enabling operations, quality assurance, and development staff to significantly boost productivity and enhance application reliability. Similar in concept to an airplane black box flight recorder that captures the data required to analyze flight problems, Zend Server Code Tracing captures the full execution of an application in real-time, so IT staff can quickly find the root cause of a problem without having to reproduce it. Code Tracing can be turned on and off by Zend Server’s Event Monitoring capability so that real-time PHP code execution is captured only during specified events, such as those triggered by performance degradation or other error conditions. The trace is displayed in the Zend Server Web console to enable staff to view the complete execution history of an application and definitively pinpoint a problem’s root cause. Zend Server Code Tracing can cut problem identification and resolution time by up to 50 percent.

In addition to Code Tracing, Zend Server 5.0 includes many other features to maximize the performance and reliability of PHP Web applications, such as Job Queues. Zend Server Job Queues increases application performance and responsiveness by allowing jobs (tasks) to be performed asynchronously or at recurring intervals, offloading long-running tasks from Web servers to back-end servers. End users experience snappy responses in their Web browser while long-running jobs like credit card processing, shipping and other activities proceed in the background. In addition, maintenance tasks such as database cleanup and RSS feed pulls can be run at specific times or at recurring intervals. The Job Queue feature is fully integrated into the Zend Server monitoring system and Web console, giving developers and other IT staff one place to monitor the overall execution of their application.

Zend Server also includes support for PHP 5.3, enabling programmers to more easily maintain, organize, and deploy concise, professional code for their applications with modern language features like namespaces and closures.

With Zend Server 5.0, the product line will also support IBM i, in addition to Linux and Windows.

For a complete list of new features and functionality in Zend Server 5.0, please go to the Zend Web site at http://www.zend.com/products/server/zend-server-5-new.

Availability
A public beta version of Zend Server 5.0 is available today and can be downloaded directly from the Zend Web site at http://www.zend.com/products/server/zend-server-5-new. The Zend Server 5.0 production release will be available by the end of the year.

About Zend Technologies
Zend Technologies, Inc., the PHP Company, is the leading provider of products and services for developing, deploying, and managing business-critical PHP applications. PHP runs 35 percent of the world’s Web sites and has quickly become the most popular language for building dynamic Web applications. Deployed at more than 30,000 companies worldwide, the Zend family of products is a comprehensive solution for supporting the entire lifecycle of PHP applications. Zend is headquartered in Cupertino, California.