the better :) Local site? Local server! • Avoid DNS redirects (don't use lots of CNAMEs) • Split static file resources to subdomains • Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
PHP, MySQL etc. • Enable server caching (APC, Memcache etc.) • Enable MySQL caching • Enable cache expiration headers for static assets (images, CSS, JS, fonts) • Cut off session cookies - Joomla!'s big PITA • mod_pagespeed for Apache by Google • Use a different webserver • Use a web accelerator • Use an alternative webserver to Apache • Add a CDN to your server • MySQL cluster (minimum 3 instances), Percona Server • Use a "real" cloud provider :)