[Tickets #11809] Activesync push problems using file sessions

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Ticket URL: http://bugs.horde.org/ticket/11809
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  Ticket             | 11809
  Created By         | horde at albasoft.com
  Summary            | Activesync push problems using file sessions
  Queue              | Synchronization
  Version            | Git master
  Type               | Bug
  State              | Unconfirmed
  Priority           | 2. Medium
  Milestone          |
  Patch              |
  Owners             |
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horde at albasoft.com (2012-12-03 19:14) wrote:

This isn't actually a bug, but I haven't seen it documented anywhere.
I'm using Horde5 with Apache and mod_php. I've always chosen PHP file  
sessions to make tests, for simplicity.

When you choose push synchronization, your webserver uses a process to  
look for changes requested, and that process lives until a change is  
detected or until it reaches heartbeat seconds selected by ping  
command. Unfortunately, with file sessions this means the session file  
will be locked until process dies, so no other request from the same  
device can be replied. It will wait until first process dies and  
releases the lock on session file.

I've seen this when trying to access gal while another process is  
attending a previous ping command from the same device. As soon as  
ping finishes, gal results appear on my device.

If I choose memcache for sessions, these locking problems disappear,  
and requests from same device are processed as soon as they arrive to  
webserver.
This has been a very time consuming problem for me, as it prevents  
activesync from normal operation, and I think it should be clearly  
explained somewhere.