I have a VPS running apache that keeps running out of memory at Dreamhost. Dreamhost says that the problem is the wordpress configuration, but I think that's their stock answer. I've looked and the main web hosting is coming from mediawiki. I sometimes have 20-30 http processes running, and they are all running php, and mediawiki is powering my top two sites.
So I am looking for suggestions on ways to reduce the memory footprint of mediawiki. I'm currently running version 1.16.4, which I see is significantly behind the current version. (Dreamhost is supposed to upgrade it for me, but apparently they haven't.)
- Does version 17.2 have lower footprint than 16.2?
- Is there a clever way that I could use caching to reduce the amount of memory?
- Are there configuration options that will reduce the memory?
- Why do I have both apache httpd running and php5.cgi running?
- Is there an easy way to find out which mediawiki parts are using the most ram?
- Is there a way to reduce the number of files that are fetched? My web logs are filled with fetches to user.gif, bullet.gif, external.png, document.png — how come mediawiki's themes don't use sprites?
Thanks!
Best Answer
My first suggestion would be to ensure you are fixing the right problem.
Determine what process(es) are actually using your memory.
Reduce Apache's memory usage
There are additional suggestions on this very good guide to optimizing Apache for low memory.
Does version 17.2 have lower footprint than 16.2?
Is there a clever way that I could use caching to reduce the amount of memory?
There are some less than ideal options you may consider:
Why do I have both apache httpd running and php5.cgi running?
Is there an easy way to find out which mediawiki parts are using the most ram?
Is there a way to reduce the number of files that are fetched? My web logs are filled with fetches to user.gif, bullet.gif, external.png, document.png --- how come mediawiki's themes don't use sprites?