Simplify Directory-level Configurations

The .htaccess files are an incredibly useful way of extending the configurable parameters of your Apache server without having to edit the main configuration file each time you want to change something. The problem is that the use of .htaccess files also slows down the server.

First, it has to look to see if a .htaccess file exists, then it has to parse and process the elements before finally applying the configuration to the directory in question. Worse still, Apache must determine this information not only for the current directory, but also for any parent directories and it then must make the changes based on the contents of all these files.

If you want maximum performance however, you should disable the use of .htaccess files altogether. Any directory specific configuration can go in the main configuration file where it can be parsed once by Apache when the server starts.

To disable .htaccess add the directive AllowOverride None to any <Directory> section.