What does it mean when a php script is executed as a cgi??

[Adam Y.]

PHP: For security reasons, user web pages containing PHP are run as CGI scripts on the COE web server. This ensures that your script is executed with your own user permissions. We also use PHP in "Safe Mode", which places certain restrictions on what you can do in your scripts.

Will this affect anything if I were to run a php script on my webserver beyond the obvious fact that safe mode is on?

[AIBob]

PHP as CGI:
This means they call the compiled exe using the sdtin, stdout, and such, they do not use the library/SAPI that php makes. On windows this would mean they are executing the exe file and not linking through the dll files. I think it is slower, but it is still fine, other than safe mode, there should be almost no differences except some of the server variables may not be passed through to php, depending on which type of server they are using.