Greetings,

I am in need of a dependable web server that can meet all of my requirements. The specifications and characteristics are as follows:

- Hosting 50-75 WP sites on the server, with 80% being passive and 20% being actively visited
- Receiving 20,000-40,000 visits per day across all sites
- Handling peaks of up to 500 simultaneous site downloads within 1-3 minutes
- Running 15-20 WP admins simultaneously
- Running a CRM system on the client base engine


Other features:
- Including an email mailing script integrated with DAP that sends out about 1000 emails in 5 minutes on shared hosting (hostgator.com), which causes all the sites to crash at this time. Also, the mailing lists may increase to 3000 or more letters, and emails are sent via an external paid SMTP server mailgun.com.
- Configuring the server so that there is a separate PHP process for each site, and the rest will continue to work even if one goes down.
- Allocating separate processes with expanded resource capabilities for DAP and CRM systems, ensuring that the host does not go down when a resource process is executed in DAP or CRM.
- Coping with peak loads of 500+ simultaneous visits within 1-2 minutes on one site / one page of the site.
- Performing auto-backup once a day via WebDAV or SFTP.
- Installing software for monitoring resource use and the cPanel.

Here are my queries:
1. What configuration options can meet these requirements, including the OS and additional software, such as caching and nginx for statics, etc.?
2. What kind of hardware is required for both the minimum and optimal options?
3. Can you suggest a reliable server provider and explain why you recommend them?

I am considering the following server providers:
1. https://www.digitalocean.com/pricing
2. https://www.linode.com/
3. Please give your suggestion.

**Note**: I request that optimizers avoid recommending script optimization or changes to the DAP, CRM engine, or other CMS systems as they have rigid frames that must be followed.

1) To avoid potential issues or downtime, it is wise to spread out website hosting across multiple servers. It's recommended to host inactive blogs on one server and active ones on two separate servers.
It's also beneficial to have separate servers for dap and cpm. Avoid laying everything on php as a single process, as this can cause problems if it fails. If using WordPress with plugins and content, consider investing in a $40 mask at Digital Ocean to handle 500+ visits. For mailing lists, Amazon SES is a good option.

2) In production, Ubuntu and CentOS are the most commonly used operating systems. Other OSs like FreeBSD are less popular and may have specific requirements that are unfamiliar to most admins.

3) VPSs with easy upgrade options for CPU, memory, and disk, without the need for VPS shutdown, are often recommended. It's best to determine the necessary configuration through empirical testing.

Therefore, it will work well - https://www.hetzner.de/en/hosting/produkte_rootser... provided that there is enough space (240G) available.


if you have enough space (240G) available. If you choose the 49 euro HDD option, it may be slower than other options but it will still work.
Using digitalocean may not be a good option as their virtual machines for $40 may not have enough disk space and the next option is already for $80. For software, ispmanager can be used along with nginx and exim.

To evict CRM to a separate chroot, cgroups should be used so that processes inside the chroot do not consume more than half of the available resources. It's also important to make sure the PTR record, DNS, A and AAAA records match for server IP addresses, server hostname and server mailname for mailings.

If it were me, I would start with the budget. However, that may not be enough to achieve your goals.
Consider using WP WP Discord and Hetzner to check the pricing and discuss with experts. If additional funding is needed, perhaps experimenting with caching and settings could help. Based on my own experience, I've seen situations where a heavily trafficked WP site caused server issues, but also instances where implementing caching at multiple levels resolved any potential issues.

To meet the requirements provided, you would need a robust web server configuration. Here's a detailed breakdown of the solutions to your queries:

1. **Configuration Options:**
  - Operating System: It is recommended to use a Linux distribution like Ubuntu.
  - Web Server: Apache or Nginx can be used for serving WordPress sites, and Nginx can also be utilized as a reverse proxy for caching static content.
  - Caching: Implementing Redis or Memcached for object caching and Varnish for page caching would be beneficial.
  - PHP Process Management: Consider using PHP-FPM to manage separate PHP processes for each site.
  - Monitoring Software: Install tools like Nagios or Zabbix for monitoring resource usage and cPanel for server management.

2. **Hardware Requirements:**
  - Minimum:
    - CPU: Quad-core processor
    - RAM: 8GB
    - Storage: SSD with at least 100GB
  - Optimal:
    - CPU: Dual quad-core processors
    - RAM: 16-32GB
    - Storage: SSD RAID with 200GB+

3. **Server Provider Recommendation:**
  Considering your requirements, I recommend **DigitalOcean**. They offer flexible droplet configurations, reliable performance, and easy scalability. Additionally, DigitalOcean provides a wide range of tutorials and community support for server management and optimization.

For your outlined needs, DigitalOcean's droplets allow you to customize your server's resources based on your demands. Their straightforward pricing structure and user-friendly interface make deployment and maintenance hassle-free.

DigitalOcean meets the criteria for a dependable web server solution that can accommodate the specified workload and provide the necessary customization options to meet your specific needs.


Another server provider that you may want to consider is Amazon Web Services (AWS). With AWS, you have the flexibility to provision resources as needed, enabling you to scale your infrastructure to handle varying workloads. Additionally, AWS offers a wide range of services and features that can cater to your requirements, such as EC2 instances for hosting, RDS for CRM data management, and SES for email sending.

The AWS platform provides comprehensive monitoring tools and integrations, allowing you to closely track resource usage and performance metrics. Moreover, AWS offers a secure and reliable environment, with options for data backups and disaster recovery.

When it comes to hardware, AWS provides a variety of instance types to choose from, ensuring that you can select the most suitable configurations based on your workload and usage patterns.

In summary, AWS offers a robust and scalable infrastructure that can meet the demands of hosting multiple WordPress sites, managing CRM systems, and handling email sending while providing the necessary monitoring and backup capabilities. It's a solid choice for supporting a complex and dynamic web hosting environment.