WordPress powers over 40% of the web, but unoptimized PHP-FPM setups frequently suffer from slow Time to First Byte (TTFB) and database bottlenecks under moderate traffic. In this deep dive, we explore how BoltPane's default WordPress stack eliminates database latency through Redis object caching and Nginx caching layers. ### The Problem: Repetitive SQL Queries Every uncached WordPress page load triggers dozens of SQL queries to fetch wp_options, post metadata, and active plugin state. When 100 concurrent visitors arrive, MySQL threads spike, CPU utilization hits 100%, and TTFB degrades past 1.5 seconds. ### The Solution: Redis Object Caching By pairing BoltPane's embedded Redis instance with the WordPress object cache drop-in: - Transients and database queries are stored in fast system RAM. - Database query counts drop by over 80%. - Server response times drop to under 150ms consistently.