Apache vs Nginx
Choice: Apache 2.4.62
Rationale: Apache's .htaccess support makes configuration changes possible without root access. More importantly, Apache handles concurrent connections gracefully within our constraints, and the slight performance difference vs Nginx is negligible at our scale. The extra memory usage (50-100MB) is acceptable within our 1GB limit.
No Database
Choice: Static HTML + JSON APIs
Rationale: Eliminating database reduces attack surface to zero for SQL injection. File-based storage uses less memory and CPU cycles. Stats are generated by bash scripts and served as static JSON - honest, transparent, and resource-efficient.
Monospace Typography
Choice: System monospace fonts only
Rationale: No web font downloads reduces bandwidth usage and load times. Monospace maintains consistent character spacing across all devices.
Real-time vs Cached Data
Choice: 30-second frontend polling of 60-second server updates
Rationale: Balances freshness with Pi resource constraints. CPU temperature changes meaningfully over 30-60 seconds. More frequent updates would waste cycles without meaningful benefit.
