will php websocket server run in apache?

Question

I referred to this tutorial and managed to run the simple chat app in my localhost. https://www.sanwebe.com/2013/05/chat-using-websocket-php-socket

I would like to understand certain thing:

I'm thinking to switch from comet long polling technique to this websocket(php) due to only one concern in my mind which is NOT TO RUN IN APACHE. I learnt Apache is not the right choice for real-time stuff. It create request per connection thus takes up lots of memory which tremendously slows down my PC.

I hope websocket as per tutorial above will not deal with apache by any means. It should run on its own standalone server.

Yet I'm unable to identify whether it's running alone or making use of apache as I'm very new to websocket and real time thingy.

1) Handshake:

var wsUri = "ws://localhost:9000/server.php";   

here, the server.php should be a background running process, in that case is it running on Apache ?

Since it runs in the background, is it also known as daemon ? As I learnt shared hosting will find daemon and kill it, can I still implement php websocket as per the tutorial above in shared hosting? Or is there better way?

server.php

<?php
$host = 'localhost'; //host
$port = '9000'; //port
$null = NULL; //null var

//Create TCP/IP sream socket
$socket = socket_create(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, SOL_TCP);
//reuseable port
socket_set_option($socket, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, 1);

//bind socket to specified host
socket_bind($socket, 0, $port);

//listen to port
socket_listen($socket);

//create & add listning socket to the list
$clients = array($socket);

//start endless loop, so that our script doesn't stop
while (true) {
    //manage multipal connections
    $changed = $clients;
    //returns the socket resources in $changed array
    socket_select($changed, $null, $null, 0, 10);

    //check for new socket
    if (in_array($socket, $changed)) {
        $socket_new = socket_accept($socket); //accpet new socket
        $clients[] = $socket_new; //add socket to client array

        $header = socket_read($socket_new, 1024); //read data sent by the socket
        perform_handshaking($header, $socket_new, $host, $port); //perform websocket handshake

        socket_getpeername($socket_new, $ip); //get ip address of connected socket
        $response = mask(json_encode(array('type'=>'system', 'message'=>$ip.' connected'))); //prepare json data
        send_message($response); //notify all users about new connection

        //make room for new socket
        $found_socket = array_search($socket, $changed);
        unset($changed[$found_socket]);
    }

    //loop through all connected sockets
    foreach ($changed as $changed_socket) { 

        //check for any incomming data
        while(socket_recv($changed_socket, $buf, 1024, 0) >= 1)
        {
            $received_text = unmask($buf); //unmask data
            $tst_msg = json_decode($received_text); //json decode 
            $user_name = $tst_msg->name; //sender name
            $user_message = $tst_msg->message; //message text
            $user_color = $tst_msg->color; //color

            //prepare data to be sent to client
            $response_text = mask(json_encode(array('type'=>'usermsg', 'name'=>$user_name, 'message'=>$user_message, 'color'=>$user_color)));
            send_message($response_text); //send data
            break 2; //exist this loop
        }

        $buf = @socket_read($changed_socket, 1024, PHP_NORMAL_READ);
        if ($buf === false) { // check disconnected client
            // remove client for $clients array
            $found_socket = array_search($changed_socket, $clients);
            socket_getpeername($changed_socket, $ip);
            unset($clients[$found_socket]);

            //notify all users about disconnected connection
            $response = mask(json_encode(array('type'=>'system', 'message'=>$ip.' disconnected')));
            send_message($response);
        }
    }
}
// close the listening socket
socket_close($socket);

function send_message($msg)
{
    global $clients;
    foreach($clients as $changed_socket)
    {
        @socket_write($changed_socket,$msg,strlen($msg));
    }
    return true;
}


//Unmask incoming framed message
function unmask($text) {
    $length = ord($text[1]) & 127;
    if($length == 126) {
        $masks = substr($text, 4, 4);
        $data = substr($text, 8);
    }
    elseif($length == 127) {
        $masks = substr($text, 10, 4);
        $data = substr($text, 14);
    }
    else {
        $masks = substr($text, 2, 4);
        $data = substr($text, 6);
    }
    $text = "";
    for ($i = 0; $i < strlen($data); ++$i) {
        $text .= $data[$i] ^ $masks[$i%4];
    }
    return $text;
}

//Encode message for transfer to client.
function mask($text)
{
    $b1 = 0x80 | (0x1 & 0x0f);
    $length = strlen($text);

    if($length <= 125)
        $header = pack('CC', $b1, $length);
    elseif($length > 125 && $length < 65536)
        $header = pack('CCn', $b1, 126, $length);
    elseif($length >= 65536)
        $header = pack('CCNN', $b1, 127, $length);
    return $header.$text;
}

//handshake new client.
function perform_handshaking($receved_header,$client_conn, $host, $port)
{
    $headers = array();
    $lines = preg_split("/\r\n/", $receved_header);
    foreach($lines as $line)
    {
        $line = chop($line);
        if(preg_match('/\A(\S+): (.*)\z/', $line, $matches))
        {
            $headers[$matches[1]] = $matches[2];
        }
    }

    $secKey = $headers['Sec-WebSocket-Key'];
    $secAccept = base64_encode(pack('H*', sha1($secKey . '258EAFA5-E914-47DA-95CA-C5AB0DC85B11')));
    //hand shaking header
    $upgrade  = "HTTP/1.1 101 Web Socket Protocol Handshake\r\n" .
    "Upgrade: websocket\r\n" .
    "Connection: Upgrade\r\n" .
    "WebSocket-Origin: $host\r\n" .
    "WebSocket-Location: ws://$host:$port/demo/shout.php\r\n".
    "Sec-WebSocket-Accept:$secAccept\r\n\r\n";
    socket_write($client_conn,$upgrade,strlen($upgrade));
}

Answer 1

Short answer

1. No, server.php is not run in Apache as you have said.
2. No, most shared hosting will not allow you to open port 9000. You need to contact system admin or you can subscribe VPS service if you are low on budget.