seanradio,
Some things to consider as far as optimizing your Apache server:
1. The operating system. All OS's consume RAM and CPU clock cycles. A minimal OS, such as running Linux in command-line mode will consume less system resources than, say, Windows XP Professional.
2. Your high-speed connection may have a high-speed downstream bitrate (coming into your PC), but a much, much, much lower upstream bitrate (going out of your PC). If your upstream is only 128k, then you may want to check for alternatives.
3. The maximum concurrent connections to your Apache server will impact its performance. In other words, the harder the CPU works, the longer things take. If you get many concurrent connections, users may notice the latency.
4. If you have any DNS forwarding in place, where your domain name resolves to a forwarding service, that then forward the traffic to your Public IP, this could slow things down. If you have a NAT router, this could lag traffic to your server as well.
I'm sure that there are some other factors, these are just the ones that come to mind.
Wishdiak
A+, Network+, Security+, MCSA: Security 2003
