The nice command in Unix and Linux systems is used to alter the scheduling priority of processes. A lower nice value means higher priority. However, using nice -20 to set the highest priority for your PHP-FPM and Nginx processes isn’t likely to have a significant impact on your WordPress site’s speed unless your server is very busy with other processes.
If PHP-FPM and Nginx are the primary services running on your server, they are already likely to be using the bulk of available CPU time. On a busy server with lots of competing processes, increasing the priority might give you a minor performance increase, but it could also starve other processes of necessary resources, leading to a less stable system overall.
If you’re looking to increase your WordPress site’s speed, you might have better luck with these approaches:
- Caching: WordPress plugins like W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache can drastically improve performance by reducing the number of dynamic page loads.
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Optimizing your database: Regularly clean your WordPress database of unnecessary data, and consider using a database optimization plugin.
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Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN): This can speed up delivery of static resources like images and CSS/JavaScript files.
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Upgrading your hosting plan: If your site is getting more traffic than your current hosting plan can handle, upgrading to a better plan with more resources can improve speed.
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Optimizing images: Using a plugin to compress and optimize images can significantly speed up page load times.
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Keeping WordPress and its plugins up-to-date: Updates often include performance improvements, in addition to new features and security fixes.
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Removing unnecessary plugins: Every plugin adds some overhead to WordPress, so remove any that you don’t absolutely need.
Remember, changing the priority of a process should be done with care, as it can have system-wide effects on process scheduling and overall performance. It’s not a substitute for good application and server optimization.