Keep Lighttpd + FCGI?

I’m considering moving from my Lighttpd + FCGI setup to some server
(Apache, Nginx, or Lighttpd) balancing a Mongrel cluster. As you
know, everyone has different opinions about which setup is best.

I have 512 MB VPS, currently running the LxAdmin control panel.

I have two questions:

  1. Can anyone with similar setup recommend a good Mongrel cluster-
    based setup for a VPS of this size?

  2. One way I’m looking to free up resources is by not using a control
    panel, say if I move to Nginx. I’m certainly not a seasoned admin,
    but I can manage via the command line. How necessary is a control
    panel, in your experience, given that I want to manage a single Rails
    app that on my VPS? What features are most necessary?
    (I think i would need to manage DNS and database backups at least,
    right?)

Thanks so much for your insight.

Oops, posted twice. Please disregard this one.