When I say two servers I mean two VMs to get the system to work effectively.

From memory, the admin interface doesn’t get an SSL certificate issued to it. It perpetually stays HTTP. If you don’t set up another server as a reverse proxy, it won’t let you log in due to CORS issues. Add another server as a reverse proxy, and it’ll come good and let you log in.

Hopefully that makes sense?

I just set up Pixelfed myself. I’ve got it running on a 1GB Linode. Would definitely recommend at least 2GB RAM, because mine is using swap like there’s no tomorrow.

Processor wise, one core seems to be OK. My load averages are 0.11-ish.