It isn't always about performance when choosing a technology. It's a combination of tools and technologies that help you build applications with high performance. Every tool has its ups and downs but when combined together, they can be really powerful.
PHP7 can be used together with NodeJS to build a real-time web application. I had a chance to build one few months ago. It was fun.
As for nodeJS and performance, LinkedIn, MySpace, PayPal, Netflix and many other famous web apps and services use it.
As for logs and configuration, you have to probably look for npm packages that allow you to do that, since that's how the NodeJS platform works.
Check out NodeJS at Netflix, also search for their tech blogs where they explain more why they switched and how better it is with it.
Remember that, no web stack is perfect, you just have to choose the tools that are best for your application and when you get into trouble, scale it accordingly.