I am running my own dedicated server with centOS 5 and WHM/cPanel. I would like to configure my server to meet my needs but I need a little help. It will only be my own websites being run on this server. I'm still a little green when it comes to server administration so please forgive my ignorance.

What I Would Like to Have:

• I need some public directories to be writable (for user image uploads and things like that) but I don't want those directories to have 777 permissions.
• I need individual accounts to have the ability to set custom php settings for their own account without affecting other accounts, whether through a php.ini file or through .htaccess or any other method.
• I would like things to run as fast as possible, whether that means using a php optimizer or cacher, such as eaccelerator or xcache or anything else.
• I need things to be as secure as possible.

Here Are My Questions

• What should I use for my php handler? DSO? CGI? fastCGI? suPHP? Other?
• Should I be using suEXEC? What are the benefits or downfalls of this?
• What php optimizer/cacher is best to use?
• Are there any other security tips I need to know about all of this?

I'd appreciate any advice or direction that can be offered.

Thanks!