PHP-FPM, the FastCGI process manager, evolved from being a 3rd party patch to the de-facto standard for running web applications with PHP. By default though, the configuration shipping with most distributions is designed for minimal resource usage. And while production servers can run with these settings even under relatively high load without problems for a while, getting the most out of FPM will require some tuning. Preparing the PHP stack for high load situations and monitoring the performance, optimizing the runtime for specific types of requests or hardening the security of your environment – there is much to consider.