Instant messaging on site, nodejs?

Question

PHP

There is a site running on php + Apache, you need to make chat groups on the site as well as instant messages like in VK. You need to dig in the direction of websocket, I understand this. But if you put the daemon's socket server in php, how much will it last? In general, what is the best way to do it? How to use a bunch of nodejs and Apache + php?

Answer 1

You can use Server-Side Events (on PHP + Redis using pub-sub) without a node.

Answer 2

There are also saas services that allow you to connect instant messages and do not load your hosting. For example comet-server.ru
And here is another article https://habrahabr.ru/company/comet-server/blog/272817/