Huge memory use on wordpress + custom apache

Question

Hi, Webfaction is fast but recently I got interested in seeing whether I could improve performance with a custom Apache and W3 Total Cache. I set up the custom Apache process with mpm=worker and enable-mods-shared=all and edited the httpd.conf file to try to keep memory use down.

For example here's a bit of my server settings:

ServerLimit 1
MinSpareThreads 3
MaxSpareThreads 7
ThreadsPerChild 3
MaxClients 15
<VirtualHost >
    # Other settings

However when I start this Apache, while it is fast it immediately uses about 55M of memory. This is too much as I run other apps on my account. I'm not sure what the problem is, or whether this is just the smallest Apache and wordpress will get. I have about 11 plugins and the normal 10-posts on the homepage (the only page I've tested).

I've read other posts on this forum that have recommended nginx + memcached and I might try one of those. Thanks for your patience, I'm trying to get better at server administration and maximizing performance while keeping memory use low.

Thanks, Kevin

Answer 1

55MB is about normal for a custom apache stack, what you could do at this point is possibly convert your other apps to use this stack using VirtualHost directives, or something along those lines. Using nginx and memcached is also a good option. If you are not already using this method is the easiest fix to deploy,

http://docs.webfaction.com/software/wordpress/advanced.html#serving-uploads-faster

That will place a fair share of content on the front-end nginx, which is the fastest for serving static content possible, as all traffic goes through it anyway.

http://docs.webfaction.com/user-guide/_images/inside-the-server.png

Huge memory use on wordpress + custom apache

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