Historically, I have done most of my development on the same web server as the Production web site resides or will reside. Except initial PHP or MySQL work, to avoid the risk of an infinite loop or other event that might impact the Production web site.
What I wanted to suggest is that you think seriously about compatibility issues. I’ve lost count of the times that I have developed something that did not end up working on the Production web site because of differences in PHP or MySQL versions, Permissions, or even operating system. You will also find that some plugins or services you will want to use require a URL accessible from the public internet. These are all reasons that any computer in your office may not be the best choice for a development environment.
In my own case, I currently have two 2GB RAM VPS accounts, each running identical software, one for Prod and one for Test web servers. I have to take care of all the software myself but each VPS cost me less than $4 a month. In other words, if you don’t need software support, just “hardware” and network support, you can find affordable and reliable VPS solutions that make a lot more sense than recycling an old computer on your office floor.
See 100+ raw CPU tests: https://github.com/szepeviktor/wordpress-speedtest
Bold msec values are of my liking.
Thats a good deal, who is your vps with? I use serverpilot to manage my LEMP stack and am currently on Digital Ocean
@patbell101: I’m afraid that discussions of hosting too often turn into a spamming session, so I am not allowed to name names of hosting companies here.
I will say though that, if you want to go with a VPS, 2GM of RAM is a good minimum to stick with for a WordPress site.
