Knowing what to optimize beats knowing how to optimize. Therefore, load testing and collecting usage statistics (see last chapter) is paramount to improving throughput and minimizing latency. Probably, the most important thing about optimization is to know when to stop.

At the moment, there is no easier way than trial and error to find out what makes our Lighttpd work faster. On the other hand, optimizing for performance may conflict with other goals such as security and maintainability.

Logging the timing of the request or response phases can give us a broad overview where to optimize first. Knowing which system resources limit our Lighttpd's performance can also give us a hint on what to do. If we need a more detailed picture of where our Lighttpd spends its time, profiling is our course of action.