Multiple WordPress Sites, 1 Server, Sym Linked Core

If you are like me, you have multiple installs of WP on your server. I have four different installs, one for each site, not to mention some other sites off of my server I manage. When an upgrade comes along, updating all of the sites is not only a time eater, it is boring.

Also, I have configured the server to use APC for opcode caching to speed up PHP scripts. When all of the sites are using the same version, it just seems ridiculous when I view the cached list that 4 of the same file are in the cache. Basically, every time I add a new WP install, it adds more load on APC and hence, takes more memory away.

I tinkered around with it for a few days, and have found a way to easily convert all of my WP sites so they all use the same code base. When I need to do an update, I just upload the files to the core, and push any new sym links (for new files) to each site with a shell script.

The amount of memory used to cache the scripts has dropped significantly. I would estimate the old method used 4 times as much memory on my server!

Not counting backing up the sites before I convert/update them and upload the new core files (once), the entire process is cut down by about 90% when it comes to upgrades. After the push, I just have to run the WP upgrade script on each site.

Also, plugins are easy to deploy network wide. If I want a particular plugin on all sites, I just add it to the core files and initiate a push (shell script).

I am considering releasing this free to the public, but would like to get some feedback and/or suggestions..