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Insight Horizon Media

Why is Apache using so much memory?

Author

Mia Smith

Published Mar 12, 2026

Why is Apache using so much memory?

Apache comes with a lot of default settings. And, these default settings can unintentionally become one of the major causes for the high memory usage.

How do I fix high virtual memory usage?

Fix 4: Increase virtual memory

  1. Step 1: Find virtual memory and click Change. Open File Explorer and right click This PC, and then select Properties.
  2. Step 2: Cancel virtual memory on partition C. Uncheck Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.
  3. Step 3: Set suitable virtual memory on non-system partition.

How much RAM does Apache use?

Most operating systems’ default Apache configurations are not well suited for smaller servers– 25 child processes or more is common. If each of your Apache child processes uses 120MB of RAM, then your VPS would need 3GB just for Apache.

Why are so many httpd processes running?

The upshot is that you have lots of processes because you have lots of connections. If your server is running slowly as a result then here are a few options: Optimise your application: profile your application’s code and try and optimise the areas that place the most load on the server.

How do I allocate more memory to Apache?

You can achieve this performance boost by changing a few settings.

  1. Locate and open the httpd. conf file with a text editor.
  2. Locate the following settings within the httpd.
  3. Update the StartServers, MinSpareServers, MaxSpareServers, ServerLimit, MaxClients and MaxRequestsPerChild values.
  4. Save the httpd.

How much RAM does a webserver need?

So the most important thing is, that you have enough RAM for all your running processes. For a web server, with MySQL installed and little to average traffic, 2 GB RAM is recommended for a VPS.

How much RAM does PHP need?

You should set your PHP memory limit as low as you can while still allowing your site to function normally. 128 MB is a good baseline. That’s a decent amount of memory that will take care of most intensive plugins.

What is Max clients in Apache?

By default, Apache comes preconfigured to serve a maximum of 256 clients simultaneously. This particular configuration setting can be found in the file /etc/httpd/conf/httpd. conf (though the location of the file may vary, depending on the Linux distribution you use).

How can I make Apache faster?

Here are top 5 ways to speed up Apache web server.

  1. Use Apache Latest Version. Every Apache version contains performance improvements that make it faster than previous versions.
  2. Use Disk based caching.
  3. Choose the right MPM module.
  4. Use mod_gzip/mod_deflate modules.
  5. Do Not set High KeepAliveTimeout.