what is the fastest, stable vps configuration?

Posted by socialtalker on March 5, 2012 at 11:10pm

hello. i have two linode accounts. the larger one will have aegir/barrucuda/octopus on it when i get it to working again. the Linode 512 vps account will have a detroit community site in drupal, it will be a large site with lots of features. i am using ubuntu 10.4, because i like the word ubuntu.
i will probably start with drupal 7 acquia, i have put two smaller sites like a radio station with voipdrupal on the account later, the linode 512 is too small for aegir, so i am looking for a good stackscript or manual nginx configuration. i am not a developer or web master, i just cant afford to hire one just now, so i have to do it myself. i am learning most
basically i am looking for the nginx configuration or stackscript that will give me the most bang with the least memory usage as of march 2012. i have come across a few stackscripts, including the ones on the home page of this group. the thing is i am not sure what if anything should be added to the scripts.
do i use
Varnish?
memchache?
apc?
boost?
what else?
do i use them all, or just two or three of them? which ones? which stackscript should i start with? if a stackscript has nginx and memcache, do i add varnish?
can i use them with a CDN?
i would like some thoughts/advice on what people are using. thanks.

Comments

My suggestions

Posted by perusio on March 6, 2012 at 12:51am

in the back of a napkin.

Nginx with php-fpm.
APC, using it also for drupal caching.
Use the Nginx cache.
No Memcache.
No Varnish.
Alternatively to the Nginx cache use Boost.

thanks so much. i hate when i

Posted by socialtalker on March 7, 2012 at 1:28pm

thanks so much. i hate when i have too many choices, it really puts me in a tail spin!

Why nginx+php-fpm, not

Posted by chilic on March 17, 2012 at 1:41pm

Why nginx+php-fpm, not nginx+apache+mod_php?

Because the OP

Posted by perusio on March 17, 2012 at 5:48pm

requested the setup to be the leaner and meaner possible in resource usage. Apache doesn't qualify. Furthermore fpm has a much more features for managing the PHP processes than Apache.

apache doesn't qualify by

Posted by locuse on March 17, 2012 at 6:19pm

apache doesn't qualify

by what subjective measure?

properly-configured (meaning, you tweak it system-wide for your particular usage, obviously) nginx/varnish3/apache24/mod_php/memcached/mysql/apc/drupal7 runs, in my case, on a linode 1024 without issue.

of course, less can run on less.

... fpm ... much more features ... processes

depends on what you're trying to tune, and whether you're looking at your system-wide resource utilization

e.g., apc opcode caching has great utility, particularly on low-resource sites.

using mod_php, a single apc opcode cache can be shared across all mod_php processes. using fcgid/fastcgi, apc is not shared across multiple processes -- there's one memory-using apc cache for each php/cgi process. if you tweak down to a single php process, then the mutli-process 'flexibility' is moot anyway.

php process tuning and process separation, in addition to separate apache process tuning, is certainly of value when there are multiple tenants on the webserver. but, that scenario shouldn't be on a low-resource VPS to begin with.

Not exactly so

Posted by perusio on March 17, 2012 at 6:31pm

(...)
using mod_php, a single apc opcode cache can be shared across all mod_php processes. using fcgid/fastcgi, apc is not shared across multiple processes -- there's one memory-using apc cache for each php/cgi process. if you tweak down to a single php process, then the mutli-process 'flexibility' is moot anyway.

In fact php-fpm is completely compatible with an opcode cache and shared memory models.

php-fpm is compatible with

Posted by chilic on March 17, 2012 at 10:36pm

php-fpm is compatible with shm model in APC only?
What about xcache and eAccelerator?

The same applies

Posted by perusio on March 18, 2012 at 1:13am

xcache and eAccelerator are both shared memory based too.

i thought nginx and apache

Posted by socialtalker on March 18, 2012 at 5:14am

i thought nginx and apache were the same thing?

now if we only had a good

Posted by gateway69 on March 9, 2012 at 12:12am

now if we only had a good linode stack script for your kick ass drupal nginx setup :)

i am looking at this script

Posted by socialtalker on March 13, 2012 at 11:47am

http://vpsbible.com/vps-setup-guides/stackscripts/lemp-stack-ubuntu-32bi...
by the guv

its a memberships site. so you wont see the code in the windows..(NO that is not an affliate link) it cost 15 bucks a year, but it was soooooo worth it. let me tell you early last year i was so confused and lost on how this vps bash script, command line stuff worked, i felt like my brain was in pain. never in my life was i more confused. i felt like my ...anyway l , this site literally guided me by the hand how managing a vps works.
anyhoo i am familiar with this site, so i will try his script and incorporate Perusio's suggestions into the stackscript. mainly adding:
2.
APC, using it also for drupal caching.
3.
Use the Nginx cache.
although i have to confess i dont know how to do 2 or 3 to a script. .

You should not hate when you

Posted by joelwallis on March 8, 2012 at 4:35am

You should not hate when you have many choices, but when you have no one choice, socialtalker.

Joel Wallis

that correct, but only if you

Posted by socialtalker on March 11, 2012 at 5:47am

that correct, but only if you know what you are doing!