Best EC2 instance for Angular Laravel

Here’s a practical menu for your Angular + Laravel (API + Reverb websockets) setup:

### If you’re starting / single-server (up to ~1–2k concurrent sockets, light API):
– **Best value (x86):** `c7i.large` (2 vCPU, 4 GB)
Faster CPU bursts for PHP, queue jobs, and WS handshakes.
– **More headroom:** `m7i.large` (2 vCPU, 8 GB)
Extra RAM helps PHP-FPM, Redis, and MySQL (if co-located).
– **Cheapest to run (ARM, ~20–30% cheaper if compatible):** `c7g.large` or `m7g.large`
Use if your PHP extensions and Node builds are fine on Graviton.

**Avoid:** old T-class burstable (t3/t4g) for sustained real-time traffic; they’re fine for staging but CPU credits can throttle you during spikes.

### If you expect real traffic (API + WS) and want smooth scaling:
Split concerns into two Auto Scaling Groups (ASGs) behind an ALB:
1) **API / PHP-FPM group**
– Start with `m7i.large` (or `m7g.large`).
– Scale on **ALB target 5xx** and **CPU > 60%**.

2) **WebSocket / Reverb group**
– Start with `c7i.large` (or `c7g.large`).
– Scale on **active connections per target** and **CPU > 50%**.
– Terminate TLS at ALB and **proxy WS over 443** (no custom 6001 exposed).

### Quick sizing rule of thumb
– **~500–1,000 concurrent WS connections** with light message fan-out: 2 vCPU / 4–8 GB (c7i.large or m7i.large) is fine.
– **~2,000–5,000 connections** or heavier broadcast: 4 vCPU (c7i.xlarge / m7i.xlarge) and move Redis off-box.
– Heavy fan-out (rooms, presence, lots of broadcasts): scale out WS nodes horizontally; don’t only scale up.

### Minimal reference architecture (what I’d set up for you)
– **ALB (HTTP/2 + WebSocket)**
– Listener 443 → Target group “api” (Nginx/Apache: `/api/*`)
– Listener 443 → Target group “ws” (path `/reverb/*` or host `ws.*`) → upstream to Reverb on localhost:6001
– **EC2**:
– API node(s): `m7i.large` (Ubuntu 22.04 / Amazon Linux 2023)
– WS node(s): `c7i.large`
– **RDS MySQL 8** (or Aurora MySQL) – don’t keep DB on EC2 for prod
– **ElastiCache Redis** for queues, cache, and Reverb presence/broadcast
– **SQS** for queued jobs (optional but robust)
– **EBS**: gp3, start at **50–100 GB**, baseline 3,000 IOPS; bump if logs/builds live here
– **AMI**: PHP-FPM 8.3, Nginx (or Apache MPM event + PHP-FPM), Node LTS builder for Angular
– **Security groups**: 443 from Internet → ALB; ALB → EC2 on 80; Redis/RDS restricted to app SG only
– **Logs/metrics**: CloudWatch Agent, alarms on CPU, 5xx, latency, and connections/target

### App tweaks that matter for real-time
– **Terminate WS at ALB on 443** and reverse-proxy `/reverb` → `127.0.0.1:6001`.
Keeps firewalls/CDNs happy and simplifies SGs.
– **PHP-FPM**: pm = `ondemand`, tune children (start ~ `pm.max_children = 20–40` on 8 GB RAM; adjust via metrics).
– **OPcache** enabled, `opcache.memory_consumption` 256–512MB for large apps.
– **Redis** for Laravel cache/sessions/queues; horizon workers on API nodes or a separate small `c7i.large`.
– **Static Angular** on S3 + CloudFront if possible; keep EC2 for API/WS only.

### What I suggest you pick today
– **Staging/dev:** `t3.small` or `t4g.small` (cheap)
– **Production single node (budget, still solid):** `m7i.large`
– **Production split (clean & scalable):** `m7i.large` for API + `c7i.large` for WS

If you tell me your **expected peak concurrent users** and whether Redis/MySQL will be on EC2 or managed (ElastiCache/RDS), I’ll size it to the dot and give you exact PHP-FPM/NGINX and ALB target-group settings.

### Pick one
– **Primary (x86): `m7i.xlarge`**
Balanced CPU/RAM, high single-core, great for PHP-FPM + Reverb on the same box.
– **Cost-saver (ARM): `m7g.xlarge`**
Same shape, usually **~20–30% cheaper**. Use if your PHP extensions and Node builds are fine on Graviton.

> Avoid `c7i`/`c7g` here if you must have 16 GB with only 4 vCPU (the closest C-size with 16 GB is **2xlarge = 8 vCPU**).

### What this box comfortably handles
– **API + WebSockets (Reverb)** on one server
– **~2–3k concurrent WS connections** with light/medium fan-out (move Redis/RDS off-box for best results)

### Minimal prod layout on this single instance
– **OS:** Ubuntu 22.04 or Amazon Linux 2023, ENA enabled
– **Web:** Nginx → PHP-FPM 8.3
– **WS:** Reverb bound to localhost:6001, proxied over HTTPS 443
– **Caches/Queues:** Redis (local or ElastiCache), Horizon workers
– **DB:** Prefer RDS/Aurora; only keep on-box for dev

### Nginx snippet (WS over 443 to Reverb)

# in your server { ... }
location /reverb {
    proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
    proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    proxy_http_version 1.1;
    proxy_read_timeout 300s;
    proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:6001;
}

### PHP-FPM pool (good starting point for 16 GB)

pm = ondemand
pm.max_children = 64        ; ~8–10 GB free -> ~64 workers (@~120–150MB peak per req in bursts)
pm.process_idle_timeout = 10s
pm.max_requests = 500
; Opcache
php_admin_value[opcache.enable]=1
php_admin_value[opcache.memory_consumption]=512
php_admin_value[opcache.max_accelerated_files]=100000

### Reverb / Horizon
– **Horizon workers:** start 2–4 queues with concurrency 5–10; scale by CPU > 60%
– **Reverb:** 2–4 processes (or pm2) to match cores; backplane = **Redis**

### Storage & networking
– **EBS:** gp3 **100 GB**, baseline **3,000 IOPS / 125 MB/s** (raise if builds/logs grow)
– **Security groups:** 443 → Nginx; 80 internal only; 6001 **not** public (proxy only)
– **TLS:** terminate at Nginx (ALB optional later)

### If you ever split roles later
– Keep **`m7i.xlarge` for API** and add a **`c7i.xlarge` for WS** (more CPU per RAM for handshakes/broadcasts).

If you tell me whether you’ll run **Redis/MySQL on-box or managed**, I’ll tune the `pm.max_children`, open-file limits, and give exact CloudWatch alarms.

—

### Recommended Option

#### **m7i.xlarge** (General purpose, Intel x86)
– **Specs**: 4 vCPU, 16 GiB RAM
– **On-Demand Price**: approximately **$0.2016 per hour**, or around **$4.84 per day** and **$147.17 per month** citeturn0search5turn0search7
– Built on 4th-gen Intel Xeon (Sapphire Rapids) processors; strong consistent performance across workloads citeturn0search3turn0search9

—

### Budget ARM Alternative

#### **t4g.xlarge** (General purpose, AWS Graviton2 ARM)
– **Specs**: 4 vCPU, 16 GiB RAM
– **On-Demand Price**: roughly **$0.1344 per hour**, i.e., **~$98.11 per month** citeturn0search11
– Cheaper but burstable; may throttle under sustained load. Best for development or lightweight workloads.

—

### Other Option (GPU-equipped)

#### **g4dn.xlarge**
– **Specs**: 4 vCPU, 16 GiB RAM + 1 NVIDIA T4 GPU (useful for GPU-accelerated tasks)
– **Price**: around **$0.526 per hour** citeturn0search8turn0search15
– Strong but overkill (and costly) unless you need GPU capacity.

—

### Price Summary

| Instance Type | vCPU | RAM | Approx. Price (On-Demand) |
|——————-|——|———-|————————————–|
| **m7i.xlarge** | 4 | 16 GiB | ~$0.2016/hr → ~$147/month |
| **t4g.xlarge** | 4 | 16 GiB | ~$0.1344/hr → ~$98/month |
| **g4dn.xlarge** | 4+GPU| 16 GiB | ~$0.526/hr — much more expensive |

—

### Final Recommendation
– **Go with `m7i.xlarge`** for reliable general-purpose compute, especially for production-grade Laravel + Angular applications with real-time features.
– **Choose `t4g.xlarge`** if you're on a tighter budget and your workload doesn't demand sustained heavy CPU usage.
– **`g4dn.xlarge` only makes sense** if you have GPU-dependent processing requirements.

Need pricing for other regions, Reserved Instances, Spot savings, or Savings Plans? Just say the word—I’ve got the info ready for you!