Question

How can we handle compression in both? Whose responsibility is it? Which one is better, using apache or php to compress files?
PHP compression code:

ob_start("ob_gzhandler");

Or the apache one:

AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html text/plain text/xml 

Is this right that requests first reach in apache then to PHP? If answer is positive so can we infer that we should use the apache one?

Answer 1

Well here is what I know, presented in a pros and cons way.
Apache:

• The .htaccess code will always be executed faster, because servers
  cache .htaccess files by default.
• With .htaccess, you can define custom rules for individual folders
  and the server will automatically pick them up

• With PHP, you cannot write everything in once place. There are
  many other things your .htaccess should have, besides compression:

• A charset, expiry/cache control, most likely a few URL re-write
  rules, permissions, robot(Googlebot etc) specific stuff.

As far as I know, you cannot do all of this solely with PHP, and since you may need to get all of this done, I don’t see why you should combine both of them.
I have always relied on .htaccess or server level configuration to control the above enumerated aspects, and rarely ever had a problem.

PHP:

• perhaps a bit more hassle free. With .htaccess files on shared hosting planes you are rather limited and you might run into tedious
  problems.
• Some servers won’t pick up certain commands, some(like 1and1) have a
  default configuration which messes with your settings(and nerves).
• probably easier to use for someone who is less of a tech person

Overall, Apache is the winner. That’s what I would go with all the time!