mod_auth_mysql
 

anyone use it on a busy members area? i've heard of some complaints like it hits the db multiple times per page request that really slow down the server, any one experience this?

It's going to be slower than .htaccess - but as long as your hardware is appropriate it shouldnt be a problem.

how many lines can you have in a standard flat text file before regular htaccess starts to slow way down, anyone know?

I think that would depend on the server but on a moderatly built server I had about 50K entries before logins got unbearably slow. You can also auth through mysql without using mod_auth_mysql which is what I did.

i like the idea of throwing an htaccess file into a directory and having it hit the mysql server for authentication, and then only having to change the directives in the htaccess for each site (group). I know it can be done different ways using mysql (ie sessions), but the apache module looked pretty sweet, just want to get some more input on it.

I tried mod_auth_mysql but members kept complaining that they couldn't log in. I could never duplicate the problem but when I switched to an auto_prepend scheme most of the complaints stopped. Apparently mod_auth_mysql works for some people but not for everyone all the time. I didn't trust it so I gave up on it.

I think there are 2 mod_auth_mysl's