Getting Started/Webserver

Web Server Optimization

The web server is a critical component of your DreamFactory deployment. Proper configuration of NGINX or Apache, combined with PHP-FPM tuning, can dramatically improve API throughput and response latency. This guide covers the essential settings for production DreamFactory environments.

NGINX Configuration

NGINX is the recommended web server for DreamFactory due to its efficient event-driven architecture and superior performance under high concurrency. Below is a production-ready NGINX configuration for DreamFactory:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name api.example.com;
    root /opt/dreamfactory/public;
    index index.php;

    # Gzip compression for API responses
    gzip on;
    gzip_types application/json text/plain text/css application/javascript;
    gzip_min_length 256;
    gzip_comp_level 5;

    # Increase client body size for file uploads
    client_max_body_size 100M;

    # Keepalive connections
    keepalive_timeout 65;
    keepalive_requests 1000;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.2-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;

        # Buffer and timeout settings for large API responses
        fastcgi_buffer_size 32k;
        fastcgi_buffers 16 32k;
        fastcgi_read_timeout 300;
    }

    # Deny access to hidden files
    location ~ /\. {
        deny all;
    }
}

Key NGINX Tuning Parameters

In the main nginx.conf file, adjust the following global settings:

worker_processes auto;           # Match the number of CPU cores
worker_connections 4096;         # Max simultaneous connections per worker
multi_accept on;                 # Accept multiple connections at once

Enable gzip compression to reduce bandwidth usage for JSON API responses. This is especially important for endpoints returning large datasets.

Apache Configuration

If you are using Apache instead of NGINX, ensure the following modules are enabled:

sudo a2enmod rewrite deflate headers ssl
sudo systemctl restart apache2

A minimal Apache virtual host configuration for DreamFactory:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName api.example.com
    DocumentRoot /opt/dreamfactory/public

    <Directory /opt/dreamfactory/public>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
        Options -Indexes +FollowSymLinks
    </Directory>

    # Enable compression
    <IfModule mod_deflate.c>
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/json text/html text/plain text/css application/javascript
    </IfModule>
</VirtualHost>

AllowOverride All is required for DreamFactory's .htaccess routing rules. Without it, all API routes will return 404 errors.

PHP-FPM Pool Tuning

PHP-FPM (FastCGI Process Manager) manages the pool of PHP worker processes that handle API requests. Proper pool sizing is critical for handling concurrent API traffic.

Edit your PHP-FPM pool configuration (typically at /etc/php/8.2/fpm/pool.d/www.conf):

[www]
; Use static process management for predictable performance
pm = static
pm.max_children = 50

; Or use dynamic management for variable workloads
; pm = dynamic
; pm.max_children = 50
; pm.start_servers = 10
; pm.min_spare_servers = 5
; pm.max_spare_servers = 20

; Recycle workers after handling N requests (prevents memory leaks)
pm.max_requests = 1000

; Slow request logging for debugging
request_slowlog_timeout = 10s
slowlog = /var/log/php-fpm-slow.log

Calculating pm.max_children

The formula for determining the maximum number of PHP-FPM workers:

pm.max_children = Available RAM / Average PHP process memory

For example, on a server with 4GB of RAM dedicated to PHP-FPM and an average PHP process size of 50MB:

pm.max_children = 4096MB / 50MB = ~80

Reserve memory for the operating system, database, and web server. A conservative rule is to allocate 60-70% of total RAM to PHP-FPM.

SSL/TLS Configuration

Always serve DreamFactory APIs over HTTPS in production. A recommended NGINX SSL configuration:

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name api.example.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/api.example.com.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/api.example.com.key;
    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
    ssl_ciphers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;
    ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
    ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:10m;
    ssl_session_timeout 10m;

    # HSTS header
    add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains" always;

    # ... rest of server block
}

Reverse Proxy Considerations

When running DreamFactory behind a load balancer or reverse proxy (e.g., AWS ALB, Cloudflare, HAProxy), configure the following in your .env file:

# Trust proxy headers for correct client IP detection
TRUST_PROXIES=*

# If the proxy terminates SSL
HTTPS_FORCE=true

Ensure the proxy forwards the X-Forwarded-For, X-Forwarded-Proto, and Host headers so DreamFactory can correctly identify client IPs and generate proper URLs in API responses.

See also

• PHP and Laravel
• Database APIs