On this optimization process we will go over the Apache core configuration and modules that are part of Apache core. We think that with the correct settings of Apache and MySQL you can get excellent results and the correct level of resource use without installing third-party proxy and cache modules. So let’s start,

Apache & PHP

In the first stage we run the Easy Apache and selected the following:

* Apache Version 2.4+

* PHP Version 5.4+

* In step 5 “Exhaustive Options List” select

– Deflate

– Expires

– MPM Prefork

– MPM Worker

After Easy Apache finished go to your WHM » Service Configuration » Apache Configuration » “Global Configuration” and set the values by the level of resources available on your server.

Apache Directive 	 	(From 2GB memory or less and up to 12GB memory) 	 	

StartServers 	 	 	4 	 	8 	 	16 	
MinSpareServers 	 	4 	 	8 	 	16 	
MaxSpareServers 	 	8 	 	16 	 	32 	
ServerLimit 	 	 	64 	 	128 	 	256 	
MaxRequestWorkers 	 	50 	 	120 	 	250 	
MaxConnectionsPerChild 	 	1000 	 	2500 	 	5000 
Keep-Alive			On		On		On
Keep-Alive Timeout	 	5	 	5	 	 5
Max Keep-Alive Requests		50	 	120	 	120
Timeout				30		60		60

Now go to WHM » Service Configuration » Apache Configuration » Include Editor » “Pre VirtualHost Include” and allow users minimal cache and data compression to allow the server to work less for the same things by pasting the code below into the text field.

# Cache Control Settings for one hour cache
<FilesMatch ".(ico|pdf|flv|jpg|jpeg|png|gif|js|css|swf)$">
Header set Cache-Control "max-age=3600, public"
</FilesMatch>

<FilesMatch ".(xml|txt)$">
Header set Cache-Control "max-age=3600, public, must-revalidate"
</FilesMatch>

<FilesMatch ".(html|htm)$">
Header set Cache-Control "max-age=3600, must-revalidate"
</FilesMatch>

# Mod Deflate performs data compression
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
<FilesMatch ".(js|css|html|php|xml|jpg|png|gif)$">
SetOutputFilter DEFLATE
BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4 gzip-only-text/html
BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4.0[678] no-gzip
BrowserMatch bMSIE no-gzip
</FilesMatch>
</IfModule>

Go to WHM » Service Configuration » “PHP Configuration Editor” and set the parameters according to your needs:

– memory_limit

– max_execution_time

– max_input_time

MySQL

For MySQL you need to update the configuration file that usually in /etc/my.cnf

Best config base on 1 core & 2GB memory MySQL 5.5:

[mysqld]
    local-infile = 0
    max_connections = 250
    key_buffer = 64M
    myisam_sort_buffer_size = 64M
    join_buffer_size = 1M
    read_buffer_size = 1M
    sort_buffer_size = 2M
    max_heap_table_size = 16M
    table_cache = 5000
    thread_cache_size = 286
    interactive_timeout = 25
    wait_timeout = 7000
    connect_timeout = 15
    max_allowed_packet = 16M
    max_connect_errors = 10
    query_cache_limit = 2M
    query_cache_size = 32M
    query_cache_type = 1
    tmp_table_size = 16M
    open_files_limit=2528

[mysqld_safe]

[mysqldump]
    quick
    max_allowed_packet = 16M
[myisamchk]
    key_buffer = 64M
    sort_buffer = 64M
    read_buffer = 16M
    write_buffer = 16M
[mysqlhotcopy]
    interactive-timeout

Best config base on 8 core & 12GB memory (Shared server) MySQL 5.5:

[mysqld]
local-infile=0
max_connections = 600
max_user_connections=1000
key_buffer_size = 512M
myisam_sort_buffer_size = 64M
read_buffer_size = 1M
table_open_cache = 5000
thread_cache_size = 384
wait_timeout = 20
connect_timeout = 10
tmp_table_size = 256M
max_heap_table_size = 128M
max_allowed_packet = 64M
net_buffer_length = 16384
max_connect_errors = 10
concurrent_insert = 2
read_rnd_buffer_size = 786432
bulk_insert_buffer_size = 8M
query_cache_limit = 5M
query_cache_size = 128M
query_cache_type = 1
query_prealloc_size = 262144
query_alloc_block_size = 65535
transaction_alloc_block_size = 8192
transaction_prealloc_size = 4096
max_write_lock_count = 8
slow_query_log
log-error
external-locking=FALSE
open_files_limit=50000

[mysqld_safe]

[mysqldump]
quick
max_allowed_packet = 16M

[isamchk]
key_buffer = 384M
sort_buffer = 384M
read_buffer = 256M
write_buffer = 256M

[myisamchk]
key_buffer = 384M
sort_buffer = 384M
read_buffer = 256M
write_buffer = 256M

#### Per connection configuration ####
sort_buffer_size = 1M
join_buffer_size = 1M
thread_stack = 192K

Repair & optimize databases then restart MySQL:

mysqlcheck --check --auto-repair --all-databases
mysqlcheck --optimize --all-databases
/etc/init.d/mysql restart

Security & Limit Resources

Install CSF (ConfigServer Security & Firewall) at: http://configserver.com/free/csf/install.txt

1) Go to WHM » Plugins » ConfigServer Security & Firewall » “Check Server Security” And pass on what appears as required to repair:

2) Go to WHM » Plugins » ConfigServer Security & Firewall » “Firewall Configuration” and set the parameters according to your needs:

PT_USERMEM=180

PT_USERTIME=180

PT_USERKILL=1

PT_USERKILL_ALERT=1 (Optional)

Now enjoy your new fast and more effective server.