How to Optimize Apache Web Server for High Traffic Websites

[brettlee 007]

I am currently running a high traffic website on my cPanel server with Apache web server. I have noticed that the website is starting to experience slow response times and occasional downtime during peak traffic periods.

I am looking for advice and guidance on how to optimize my Apache web server to handle high traffic and improve website performance. Are there any recommended configurations for Apache settings, such as MaxClients, KeepAlive, and Timeout?

In addition, what are some best practices for optimizing website content, such as minimizing image and file sizes, enabling browser caching, and using a content delivery network (CDN)?

I am using cPanel with WHM access and Apache version 2.4. Any advice or guidance on optimizing Apache web server for high traffic websites would be greatly appreciated.

 

[cPRex]

Hey there! There isn't going to be a simple answer to this question. To know what you need to change, you'll first want to identify where the slowness is coming from. During periods of slow activity, running this command will show you what Apache is doing in real-time on your server:

apachectl status

Seeing what the issue is - maybe with sites waiting, or too many keep alive requests sitting - will help you make changes to the configuration.

I'm sorry I don't have more specifics, but without actually investigating the server in action, we'd just be guessing at random configuration options.