Running memcached in self, or in a separate, droplet?

October 12, 2013 5.4k views
jaimeloci
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jaimeloci
I'm thinking about using memcached and before reading https://www.digitalocean.com/community/questions/running-memcache-on-separate-droplet-worth-it I didn't think of running memcached on a separate droplet/server. Given, for example, that I had a 2GB droplet and would like to give memcached 2GB (just for keeping simple this example), what would you think of getting another 2GB droplet? and of having only one droplet but x2 capacity (4GB)? Informed advice is much appreciated. Thanks!
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4 Answers
pablo October 12, 2013
It depends on the amount of load you're going to put the servers through. What are you hosting on your servers? Website(s)? App(s)? Mostly static content? Or, mostly dynamic?
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jaimeloci October 12, 2013
I'll be hosting a dynamic website with more read than write operations, kind of news site. Users will be able to log in but I expect to have anonymous traffic mainly.
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pablo October 13, 2013
IMHO, the more relevant factor is probably the number of CPU cores. Generally speaking, MySQL will perform better w/a multi-core VPS b/c it eats up a lot of resources.

I would go w/this set-up: How To Install Wordpress, Nginx, PHP, and Varnish on Ubuntu 12.04, with either :

1.) Your entire site on the $20/mo. droplet (you can always scale up, easily, if needed); or

2.) Everything but MySQL on a $5 droplet + MySQL w/memcached on a $10 droplet.

If monthly budget is not a limitation, check out either of the loadbalancing articles, as well.
How To Install Wordpress, Nginx, PHP, and Varnish on Ubuntu 12.04
by Etel Sverdlov
Varnish is an HTTP accelerator and a useful tool for speeding up a server, especially during a times when there is high traffic to a site. It works by redirecting visitors to static pages whenever possible and only drawing on the server itself if there is a need for an active process. This tutorial covers installing wordpress on a LEMP stack (with nginx instead of apache), and then installing varnish.
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daniellekwint March 23, 2014
Pablo
That is a very good advice, thanks :)
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