Top 7 Wnmp Tips to Speed Up Your Local DevelopmentWnmp (Windows + Nginx + MySQL/MariaDB + PHP) is a lightweight local development stack that’s fast, configurable, and well-suited for modern web workflows. If you use Wnmp for building PHP sites or apps, small optimizations across configuration, caching, and tooling can dramatically reduce iteration time and make development smoother. Below are seven actionable tips — with examples and configuration snippets — to get the most responsive local environment.
1. Use PHP-FPM pools and tune worker settings
PHP-FPM (FastCGI Process Manager) is what handles PHP requests behind Nginx. Proper pool configuration reduces latency and prevents your system from thrashing under concurrent requests.
- Edit your php-fpm pool file (commonly www.conf or a per-site pool):
- Set pm = dynamic for most dev machines.
- Adjust pm.max_children to a realistic number based on available RAM.
- Use pm.start_servers, pm.min_spare_servers, and pm.max_spare_servers to keep a pool warm.
Example (php-fpm pool):
pm = dynamic pm.max_children = 20 pm.start_servers = 4 pm.min_spare_servers = 2 pm.max_spare_servers = 6 ; set a reasonable request timeout request_terminate_timeout = 30s Why it helps: reducing spawn overhead keeps PHP ready to serve requests immediately, which is especially noticeable when you reload pages repeatedly during development.
2. Enable OPCache and tune its settings for development
OPCache compiles PHP bytecode and stores it in shared memory, dramatically reducing PHP parse/compile overhead. By default OPCache may be disabled in dev builds; enable it with development-friendly settings.
Recommended php.ini settings:
opcache.enable=1 opcache.enable_cli=1 opcache.memory_consumption=128 opcache.interned_strings_buffer=8 opcache.max_accelerated_files=10000 opcache.revalidate_freq=0 ; 0 = check for file changes on every request (dev) opcache.validate_timestamps=1 Why it helps: opcode caching cuts CPU time per request. Setting revalidate_freq to 0 ensures you still see code changes immediately in dev.
3. Use fast storage (SSD) and place project files outside heavy antivirus scans
File I/O matters. Nginx, PHP, and MySQL all read from disk; an SSD reduces latency, and placing projects on an SSD-mounted folder speeds file reads/writes.
- Move Wnmp project directories to your SSD.
- Exclude development folders (and Wnmp binaries) from real-time antivirus scanning or add them to trusted exclusions.
Why it helps: faster read/write reduces PHP include/require and Composer dependency load times. Antivirus scanning can significantly slow file access on Windows — exclusions for your dev folders often produce immediate speedups.
4. Use Nginx tuning and efficient static file handling
Nginx is very fast, but a few configuration tweaks make it even more responsive in dev:
- Serve static assets directly with caching headers.
- Use gzip or brotli compression for local testing if you simulate production.
- Increase worker_processes and worker_connections appropriately.
Example nginx.conf excerpts:
worker_processes auto; events { worker_connections 1024; } server { location ~* .(js|css|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|svg|ico)$ { expires 7d; add_header Cache-Control "public"; } location / { try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string; } } Why it helps: offloading static assets to Nginx avoids hitting PHP for every request and reduces latency.
5. Use a local DNS/resolver and short hostnames
Avoid delays from Windows name resolution and misconfigured hosts files:
- Use the hosts file for simple projects (127.0.0.1 example.test).
- For many sites, run a local DNS resolver (dnsmasq or Windows DNS) or use tools that auto-resolve .test/.localhost domains.
- Keep hostnames short and avoid long, multi-label domains that can cause lookup delays.
Why it helps: name resolution delays add milliseconds to each request; at scale (when reloading many assets) that becomes noticeable.
6. Optimize MySQL/MariaDB for development and use a lighter storage engine
Database tuning reduces query latency during development tasks like migrations, seeding, and functional testing.
- Use smaller buffer sizes than production but ensure queries fit in memory.
- Enable the query cache (for local testing) or use MariaDB’s Aria/InnoDB settings tuned for low-latency.
- Use tmpfs (RAM disk) for ephemeral data like caches, sessions, or testing databases when safe.
Example my.cnf suggestions:
[mysqld] innodb_buffer_pool_size=512M innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit=2 ; safer and faster for dev query_cache_type=1 query_cache_size=64M Why it helps: reducing I/O and tuning caching improves response for DB-heavy pages and test suites.
7. Use developer tooling: hot-reload, file watchers, and caching proxies
Let tools handle repetitive work so you see changes instantly.
- Use hot-reload tools (Browsersync, Vite, webpack dev server) for front-end assets.
- Use PHP built-in server for specific tasks or run PHPUnit with process isolation flags tuned for speed.
- Use a local reverse caching proxy (like Varnish) when testing caching behavior, or a simple in-memory cache (Redis) for session/cache storage.
Examples:
- Configure Browsersync to proxy your Wnmp site so CSS/JS changes auto-inject.
- Run Redis locally and set your app cache driver to Redis for faster lookups.
Why it helps: tooling cuts manual steps and reduces wait time between code change and visual feedback.
Conclusion
Small, targeted changes across PHP-FPM, OPCache, Nginx, disk I/O, DNS, MySQL, and developer tooling add up. Start with OPCache and PHP-FPM tuning (biggest immediate wins), then address disk/antivirus and Nginx static handling. Finish by integrating hot-reload and caching tools to make your edit–test loop feel instantaneous. These seven tips combined will noticeably speed up Wnmp-based local development.
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