Can a Raspberry Pi serve a mobile app with lots of users?

As well as running the DingleberryPi website, I work on a number of other personal projects, one of which has had a lot of my time over the past few months (which is why I've slightly neglected this site somewhat, my apologies) is my first mobile app.

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My first attempt at a commercial mobile app is built with HTML5, and will be coming soon to iOS, Android and BlackBerry 10. It's a tidal predictions and maritime weather app, serving every major port and seaside location in the UK.

Data supply, from a Raspberry Pi?

As part of the development, I've written a web service which synchronises nightly with the API's that supply the tide and weather data. Its also this web service that provides the app with the data it needs to work.

The web service is written using CodeIgniter PHP framework, and makes around 1,100 api calls to collect its data. Once the app launches, it will then provide this data to possibly hundreds, hopefully thousands of users.

My next test is; can a Raspberry Pi host this web service reliably? I think it can, and will be testing the web service from a 256mb Model B that I have spare.

When I launched this site, I set out to see what the Raspberry Pi was really capable of, and I've found it to be a very capable web server, hosting this WordPress site to over 7,000 visitors a month. The next test is using one for a commercial product, and I have every confidence in these excellent bits of kit.

Are you running a CodeIgniter installation from a Raspberry Pi? Do you have any thoughts or suggestions? comment below.