Gzip is the most popular and effective compression method. Most modern web browser supports and accepts compressed data transfer. By gziping response time can reduced by 60-70% as compare to normal web page. The end result is faster web site experience for both dial up (they're not dead yet - I've dial up account for backup purpose) and boradband user.

http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/lighttpd-mod_compress-gzip-compression-tutorial.html

This guide explains how to integrate XCache into PHP5 on a Debian Etch system (with Apache2). From the XCache project page: "XCache is a fast, stable PHP opcode cacher that has been tested and is now running on production servers under high load." It's similar to other PHP opcode cachers, such as eAccelerator and APC.

http://www.howtoforge.com/xcache-php5-apache2-debian-etch

Security, speed, compliance, and flexibility--all of these describe LightTPD which is rapidly redefining efficiency of a webserver; as it is designed and optimized for high performance environments.

A chroot on Linux or Unix OS is an operation that changes the root directory. It affects only the current process and its children. If your default Document Root is /home/lighttpd normal user can access files in /etc, /sbin or /bin directory. This allows an attacker to install programs / backdoor via your web server in /tmp. Almost all-cracking web based attacks/attempts requires a shell access - /bin/sh or /bin/bash and compiler collection etc.

This tutorial shows how to install and use suPHP with the ISPConfig control panel on a Debian Etch server. When you have set up suPHP on your ISPConfig server, you are able to run the PHP scripts under the admin user of the website instead of the Apache user.

http://www.howtoforge.com/suphp_debian_etch_ispconfig

This tutorial shows how to set up a Debian Etch (Debian 4.0) based server that offers all services needed by ISPs and hosters: Apache web server (SSL-capable), Postfix mail server with SMTP-AUTH and TLS, BIND DNS server, Proftpd FTP server, MySQL server, Courier POP3/IMAP, Quota, Firewall, etc. This tutorial is written for the 32-bit version of Debian Etch, but should apply to the 64-bit version with very little modifications as well.

http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect_setup_debian_etch