August 14, 2016 — WordPress runs on a technology stack that provides many options for your choice of web server, database, version and flavor of PHP; this talk explores the commonly used options, and the various pros and cons of each choice, i.e., nginx or apache; PHP 5.x, PHP 7, or HHVM; and MySQL or MariaDB.

Take aways:

No tool is best for all jobs.
There are many implicit trade-offs to consider with software platforms, such as optimizing for speed vs memory usage, or using an older solution because it may be more stable, more well-tested, or more widely supported.
With any new project, these factors should be considered to ensure that you choose the best tools for your particular job.

Presentation Slides »

May 2, 2015 — This presentation looks at different combinations of web server technologies including Apache, NGINX, HHVM, PHP-FPM, and more, it runs load tests on each one of them (all running a WordPress site) in a head to head competition to find out which one is the Last Stack Standing.

Presentation Slides »