Recommended Resources
Server resource recommendations for Laravel applications vary based on traffic and complexity. A practical approach is to start with a modest setup and scale resources (CPU, RAM, storage) as your application's needs grow
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Below are general recommendations for small, medium, large, and enterprise-level Laravel applications:
| Resource Type | Small Application (e.g., blog, simple internal tool) | Medium Application (e.g., e-commerce, CMS) | Large Application (e.g., social network, SaaS) | Enterprise Application (e.g., mission-critical, very high traffic) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | 1-2 vCPUs | 2-4 vCPUs | 4-8 vCPUs | 8+ vCPUs |
| Server RAM (Total) | 2-4 GB | 4-8 GB | 8-16 GB | 16-32+ GB |
| RAM Allocated to PHP | 512 MB - 1 GB (memory limit per script) | 1-2 GB | 2-4 GB | 4-8+ GB |
| RAM Allocated to DB Server | 512 MB - 1 GB | 1-2 GB | 2-4 GB | 4-8+ GB |
| Hard Disk Space | 20-50 GB SSD | 50-100 GB SSD | 100-200 GB SSD (or more) | 200 GB - 1 TB SSD (or more) |
Key Considerations
- Traffic and Complexity The primary drivers for resource needs are the expected traffic volume and the complexity of application logic.
- Database Performance A well-designed database and efficient queries are critical. Ensure sufficient RAM for the database server (especially for the InnoDB buffer pool in MySQL) to optimize data access speed.
- Caching and Queues Implementing caching mechanisms (like Redis or Memcached) and using Laravel's built-in queue system to offload resource-intensive tasks can significantly improve performance and reduce immediate resource consumption.
- Disk Type Using SSD or NVMe storage is highly recommended for better performance compared to traditional hard drives.
- OS Overhead Always reserve an additional amount of RAM (e.g., 1 GB for the OS by default) to ensure system stability.
- Monitoring Continuously monitor CPU and memory usage to identify bottlenecks and scale resources proactively rather than waiting for performance issues to arise.
- Separation of Concerns For large or enterprise applications, consider running the web application and the database on separate, dedicated servers to optimize performance and availability