Running 2 versions of PHP on the same apache server

Question

I am looking to use Symfony2 to help build a large web system. I want to run this on the same server that is being used by existing systems (It is an Apache2 server on linux). The issue I have is that the existing projects are not all compatible with the newer versions of php. To be able to get the best out of Symfony2, I'm wanting to run php 5.4.11 or above. Is there a way to run 2 versions of PHP? ideally 5.3.13 and the newest PHP version; 5.5.4.

Things I need to consider: Are there are any significant performance impact with doing this? Will there be any/much downtime to set it up?

I have found a couple of examples (below) but I dont know what is the best option, or if there is a better solution, hence the question. http://blog.servergrove.com/2011/08/22/how-to-setup-multiple-php-versions-on-apache/ http://www.metod.si/multiple-php-versions-with-apache-2-fastcgi-phpfarm-on-ubuntu/

Solution

I think you have to use fastcgi. Take a look at this this, it might help you:

Intall multiple version of php on one server

Comments

[ganesh]

IMHO: The best option would be to use jails so you can keep everything cleanly separated. That might not help you right now, but it is something to remember for your next server.