What is Magento Hosting?

Have you ever wondered what is important for webstore performance? Hosting is one of the most crucial parts. Any ecommerce site needs a reliable hosting provider to run properly. However, finding the right solution can be rather complicated. You should take into account such features as price, performance, security, support, scalability, etc. Different web hosts offer multiple service packages with various pros and cons.

Do you have any idea what is hosting? Do you know any Magento 2 hosting types? What do you look for in optimized hosting? This article will help you find the answer to these questions. You will learn the key features of Magento hosting types, compare them and find the differences. In addition, we consider the pros and cons of managed and unmanaged Magento hosting. Finally, you will discover how to install cloud Magento for your ecommerce site.

Table of contents:

What is Hosting?
What are the Types of Magento Hosting?
Managed vs Unmanaged Magento Hosting
What do you Look for in a Magento 2 Hosting?
What is Magento Cloud Hosting?
How to Configure Magento Cloud Hosting?
How to Configure Magento AWS Host?

What is hosting?

What do you know about web hosting? Why do websites and especially ecommerce need it? Why is it important to have a reliable web hosting provider? Let us consider all these questions in detail.

Web hosting is a must for any website. Why is it so? Hosting is the online location of your website, a database of your site content (information, images, video, etc). Hosting lets companies or individuals to post a website or web page on the Internet. But how can your customers see your website? In a nutshell, it is all rather simple.

Websites are stored on special servers. When clients want to see your web page, they need to type your website address or domain in their browser. Their computer will connect to your server and your web pages will be presented. Most hosting providers require your domain in order to host with them. If you don’t have a domain, they will help you purchase it.

How can your ecommerce business benefit from web hosting?

There are a great number of advantages when it comes to hosting. First, it can help your site run well 24/7. Second, web hosting professionals provide great support to their clients. It is really crucial in the competitive ecommerce business, where interrupted availability may lead to decreasing sales and losing customers who will leave your site after a negative experience. Moreover, when website owners need help or troubleshooting, the web hosting provider is ready to solve their problems.

So, a web hosting service provides a hassle-free experience for store owners and enables them to efficiently focus their time and effort on their businesses.

What are the Types of Magento Hosting?

Choosing the perfect web hosting provider for your online store is a rather complicated task. There are lots of factors to take into account in order to make the right decision. Uptime and load time, costs are the most important features to consider when choosing a web host.

So, let us describe different types of Magento hosting, how they work, their advantages and disadvantages.

Shared hosting

Shared hosting means that your account is sharing resources with multiple other sites on the same server. So, your site is located on the same server as a group of other websites. The number of them depends on your setup and provider.

What are the benefits of this hosting type? First, it is money-saving because you share the server costs with other people. It is the most affordable solution and is perfect for small businesses and beginners. On top of that, choosing shared Magento hosting, you are completely assisted with setup. You have the opportunity to focus on creating and customizing your website. However, there are some shared disadvantages to consider as well.

Sharing the server with many different websites can cause certain difficulties. Since all websites on a shared host put demand on the server’s resources, you can run into problems if one of them is taking all the processing power through increased traffic or faulty code. It can lead to downtime or reduced loading speed.

So, this web hosting is perfect for websites that don’t get a lot of traffic: personal, development, test, etc. If you have a small business or tight budget, it’s highly recommended to choose this website hosting type. If you’re just starting out, then it is a good option as it requires less advanced maintenance and technical skills. Finally, you spend less money because you share the fee with other server users. Some of the most popular web hosts are Bluehost, Siteground, and InMotion Hosting.

VPS hosting

The next popular type of web hosting is VPS (Virtual Private Server). Why do many online store owners choose it? What makes it different from other solutions? With VPS, your ecommerce hosting account is on a server with others, but you have more dedicated resources for performance, which are divided up equally among the accounts.

It is rightfully considered the most well-balanced server. Having shared features, it has a different setup. While all sites on VPS share one server, it has numerous, separate virtual machines. It lays in between shared Magento 2 hosting and dedicated server.

What are the advantages of VPS? To begin with, VPS is more stable and reliable compared to shared hosting. Only 10-20 websites are able to use a server, which decreases the resource demand. All resources are spread equally and no website is allowed to exceed the limit. This is achieved by via virtual machines that create a separation within the server.

Secondly, VPS servers offer you more flexibility and let deeply customize your online store. It is possible to do without affecting others because your account is contained within a virtual machine. Shared hosting doesn’t allow you to do it as it will change other users’ configurations.

Finally, VPS Hosting is scalable. Since you are running a virtual machine which takes some part of the server resources, you are able to increase them.

However, VPS has several disadvantages. The main one is the price: VPS hosting is more expensive than the shared hosting solution – around $50- $200/month. However, there is an opportunity to get VPS from around $20/month. Another drawback is that without significant experience you may have configuration difficulties and accidentally remove important files or software.

So, this web hosting is suitable for people who are not short of money. Some best-rated and popular VPS solutions are offered by inMotion Hosting and Dreamhost.

Dedicated hosting

Dedicated hosting means that your server is yours only. You can fully optimize and customize your website. There is no need to worry about other server accounts causing problems that might impact you. As you pay more, you have more control.

Dedicated hosting has both pros and cons. The main benefit of dedicated hosting is that there are no bad neighbor problems. Other websites can’t affect you negatively, steal your resources or endanger security. This feature gives dedicated hosting a competitive advantage over VPS and shared hosting. Moreover, having a server all on your own, you may customize it greatly. You are flexible to choose any OS, the memory amount, etc.

However, there are some dedicated hosting drawbacks. First, this is not a cheap solution – dedicated Magento hosting may cost $60 – $350+ per month. Besides that, you should have some knowledge of server technologies. While there are managed dedicated hosting options, you’ll still have to do a lot on your own.

It is possible to get a completely unmanaged service where you would need to configure the OS yourself, provide security scanning, etc. Of course, you can employ a server admin, but it will make extra costs. In addition, if your hardware fails, your site is out. In other arrangements, other modules can take over in case of failure or be replaced automatically. With dedicated servers, especially if you are monitoring them yourself, this could take longer. The examples of dedicated hosts are LiquidWeb, GreenGeeks, PickaWeb and Nexcess Magento hosting.

Cloud hosting

Cloud hosting means that your site is a part of a computer network from which it can take all the power it needs. Cloud has a variety of benefits. The first advantage is its scalability. It combines a few computers into a powerful virtual server that provides the required resources. Your website gets all that it needs. You pay only for the resources that you use instead of paying a fixed price for a dedicated server.

Another cloud hosting advantage is that you now have additional redundancy against hardware failure on any one server. Also, it is more flexible and this web host is perfect for your website security. It helps to avoid DDoS attacks when the server is overpowered by a lot of parallel requests until it crashes. Cloud host also helps you to spread them among different computers. However, the costs of cloud hosting are not always expected as the providers work with a mix of fixed pricing and pay-as-you-go fees.

This hosting type is one of the best solutions for those who want a powerful solution to scale and advance the website. The following cloud providers are considered to be the best: Dreamhost, Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Service, Linode and Nublue Magento hosting.

Managed vs Unmanaged Magento Hosting

Choosing a hosting plan is one of the first steps you should take when creating your website. It enables your site to be visible on the Internet. If you are looking for a new hosting plan, you will face the following choice – managed or unmanaged hosting. It is important to know all the differences between these 2 variants in order to choose wisely, and in this paragraph, we will explore both types and their ins and outs.

Managed Magento Hosting

If you decide to choose this plan, you will be able to get support for every problem or task. Your OS, server setup and the control panel are managed. To top it off, managed hosting includes automated backup and monitoring. However, if you have a coding problem, you may have to fix it on your own.

So, a managed plan means you have fewer tasks to worry about. In addition, crucial features like security and updates are taken care of. You’ll get access to great support, which can answer any questions and solve your problems. The main disadvantage is that managed website hosting is rather expensive. It is not suitable for a small business with a tight budget. Another drawback is that you don’t get full access to your site’s server. It is impossible for you to make customizations.

Unmanaged Magento Hosting

First, unmanaged hosting is way cheaper as it doesn’t provide management and routine support. The host can replace failed components, reset servers, but it won’t support any software or set up. You have to install everything but the OS, fix error messages. Most unmanaged hosts are not responsible for a control panel or web server software. If you want to get basic help, your host will charge you an hourly rate. It can turn out to be rather costly.

Unmanaged hosting advantages:

• It gives you complete control over your site: it’s your responsibility to maintain it over time, improve and ensure security.
• It is considerably cheaper than managed hosting.

Unmanaged hosting disadvantages:

• You may have problems without tech experience.
• You need extra time to manage a server.
• You may have to hire people who will carry out website support.

While a hosting provider will support you when needed, general maintenance tasks are your job. You are responsible for website security, running backups, optimizing the loading time. However, you will save some money with lower hosting fee.

Which Magento Hosting Solution is for You?

Since both plans have their benefits, it’s essential to take into account your site’s needs. By considering the key features of managed and unmanaged plans, you will be able to choose the right one for your site.

Managed plans with their excellent technical support are good for a small business and site owners beginners. You can take advantage of them without tech expertise. Moreover, these plans are time-consuming. You are able to focus on creating better content, building client relationships, etc.

The unmanaged hosting option is perfect if your budget is tight and you are able to solve any website support task on your own. If you have enough money and want great support, choose a managed plan.

In addition to managed and unmanaged plans, there are some providers that offer hybrid solutions. They give you total access to your server but include limited support which gives only several hours with a tech support agent.

So, if you’re not sure what to select, consider a hybrid plan: it may give you the best of managed and unmanaged plans.

What do you Look for in Magento Hosting?

When you choose the right and fast Magento hosting provider, take into consideration the most important categories: price, support, Magento experience, PCI Compliance and management level.

Price

Budget is a vital consideration for host selection. However, when hosting is expensive, it does not necessarily mean that it is the best one. To choose a hosting company, take into account the size of your business, your budget and other requirements. Pricing differs depending on hosting providers and their plans. It can vary from $3.95/month for Siteground and to $250/month for Rackspace.

Support

Support is a distinctive feature for all ecommerce hosting plans. It is crucial to have good support from your hosting provider. It’s highly recommended to choose a provider with 24/7 support that solves any problem as fast possible. The company should reply fast to your emails and chat messages. It’s better to have different contact ways – phone, chat, email, etc. Magento expertise is also rather essential. How helpful can a provider be in case of a problem? Do they have enough experience and can you rely on them?

Managed vs unmanaged

Unmanaged hosting plans provide no or very few extra services. You’ll basically get a server with an operating system installed. You’re responsible for adding anything else.

Managed plans include a lot of extra services such as automated backups, malware scanning, status monitoring, etc.

Looking for website hosting providers, consider their management services. If you have support problems, you should be able to pay for a fully managed service.

In addition, it’s highly recommended to consider some extra features:

Reliability

It is essential that you can rely on your Windows or Linux for Magento hosting provider which will offer you the best service and support. In the case of the wrong solution, you may lose customers and have sales decrease.

There is a great variety of official Magento hosting partners. It’s important to choose an experienced provider with an excellent service. Before making a decision, you should consider:

• When the hosting company was founded
• Location of data servers
• Number of developers
• Number of databases
• Speed ratings

Moreover, it’s highly recommended to read reviews about each hosting provider.

Hosting performance

Fast loading speed is vital for your ecommerce business because it helps you rank higher in search engines and also increases conversion rates and sales. Hosting providers enable you to check page load time on Demo Magento websites. And you will be able to choose the server with the best loading speed.

On top of that, your Magento ecommerce hosting solution should offer:

• No limit on bandwidth
• Unlimited storage
• Unlimited add-on domains and subdomains
• WHM/CPanel support

Security

A server with a high level of security is a must because your clients want to protect their personal information. That’s why you should look for things like SSL to ensure customers safety. Also, you need SFTP to make the FTP connection less accessible and provide security for file upload. In addition, advanced spam and virus detection must be provided by your host. Finally, it’s essential to look for backup options which will help you get ready for problems and quickly restore your website.

Scalability

With traffic growth, you will need to scale your infrastructure. It must be done fast and easily, without any problems. Be ready for the seasonal traffic spikes and ensure your website won’t go down out of the unsuspected visitors. In addition, it’s important not to exceed your hosting provider capabilities. Magento websites with heavy traffic require multiple server clusters with load balancing to work properly. So, it’s better to start with a dedicated hosting instead of other host types.

What is Magento Cloud Hosting?

Cloud hosting is a reliable and scalable hosting based on cluster servers with a distributed load. The system is highly flexible, which allows configuring the system depending on traffic and its seasonal fluctuations, or any other factors.

The aspects of security and support are also worth mentioning. It is crucial for a hosting platform to ensure solid protection for all kinds of information, including your personal files, payment information customer data, etc., as well as provide high-quality support.

Most cloud hosting services provide integrated cloud analytics, providing you with in-depth reporting that is essential for further business development. With this information on hand, you can also track certain indexes and create specific reports.

Sometimes the need to restore a certain piece of data may occur in your work. With cloud hosting, it is possible to save the most valuable data, store it in a secure place and allow to recover the information when the need arises.

How to Configure Magento 2 Cloud Hosting?

Follow this clear instruction and configure Magento cloud hosting step-by-step.

Step #1: deploy the development environment.

All the environments in Magento Commerce Cloud (Integration, Staging and Production) are read-only. Due to this, all the development work must be performed in the local workspace, using the clone of the integration environment, and introduce changes into the deleted read-only Magento Commerce Cloud Git repository.

There are two ways of deploying the development environment:

• via Launch Docker – the ece-tool package to deploy a read-only file system in the Docker environment. The deployed system will mirror the Production environment file system.
• create the host manually.

Step #2: create a Magento Commerce Cloud project.

Step #3: install CLI Magento

Magento Cloud Command-Line Interface (CLI) allows managing projects and code paths in Magento Commerce Cloud. Below we will describe step-by-step how to install CLI and describe its commands for Unix environment.

How to install CLI Magento Cloud

Step #1: enter your local development environment or switch to Magento file system owner mode.

Step #2: navigate to the catalog that Magento file system owner has to write access (a home catalog, for instance).

Step #3: enter the following command:

Step #4: after the interface command line is loaded, the command relating to the operation will appear:

You can also add:

of Magento user PATH:

Step #5: make sure that magento-cloud command is in your path by entering the following command

The list of the most common commands:

• magento-cloud login – enter the project
• magento-cloud project:get -e – clone the project
• magento-cloud environment:list – list project environment
• magento-cloud environment:branch – create a new branch
• magento-cloud environment:checkout – check the current environment
• magento-cloud environment:merge -p -e – merge changes
• magento-cloud environment:synchronize -p -e {code|data} – synchronize with the parent
• magento-cloud variable:list – list of the variable environments
• magento-cloud variable:set – install environment variable
• magento-cloud environment:redeploy – redeploy
• magento-cloud update – update CLI Magento Cloud
• magento-cloud clear-cache -clear cache for CLI
• magento-cloud clean – delete old projects deployments
• magento-cloud docs – puts out the link to documents
• magento-cloud help – open help window
• magento-cloud list – list all the available commands in CLI Magento Cloud
• magento-cloud multi – run the command for multiple projects
• magento-cloud web – open the web-interface based on the parameters you entered

It is possible to create a Magento Commerce Cloud project either from an empty template or by importing existing code. Magento recommends to create an empty template and then import the existing Magento code into it.

Before we begin, it is necessary to perform the following:

• Add the existing Magento Commerce code into Git-repository (Magento recommends using GitHub).
• Configure local deployment environment.
• Gather the following information: access link to SSH (enter environment:ssh –pipe to find out) and Database records (go to server magento-cloud ssh -p -e and enter the command echo $MAGENTO_CLOUD_RELATIONSHIPS | base64 -d | json_pp )

After you have imported the Magento Commerce data base into Magento Commerce Cloud, change your base URL to gain access to Magento admin and storefront. To do this, run the command:

As we have deployed the store, we need to configure the environment.

In Magento Commerce Cloud, an environment consists of containers with applications, services and the database that ensures the full system for our codebase and Magento application files.

We can configure the application parameters, routes, creation and deployment actions, support notifications for our projects’ environments, using the following configuration files (it also can be done in web interface).

.magento.app.yaml – defines how to create and deploy Magento, including services, hooks and cron tasks.

.magento.env.yaml – centralizes the management of assembly and deployment in your environments, including Pro Staging and Production, using environment variables. We do not need to open a support ticket to send these changes to the staging and production environment.

.magento/routes.yaml – run to configure caching, redirect and enabling at the server side.

.magento/services.yaml – defines the services that Magento uses by name and version. For example, the file may contain MySQL versions, PHP extensions, Redis, RabbitMQ, and Elasticsearch.

When you press code changes, the active environment provides container updates using the YAML configuration files.

In order for the services to be available for the application in our project, we must specify the relationship between the applications and services in the .magento.app.yaml file.

How to Configure Magento AWS Host?

Step #1: select the Dedicated Host in the left menu.
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/v2/home

 

Step #2: select Allocate a Host to be able to launch instances at this host.

 

Step #3: specify host (or hosts) attributes. Set up the availability range, configuration of host instance types, the number and the unnecessary attribute of the automatic instance location.
The instance type configuration for a dedicated host determines the number of sockets and cores per host, the type of instances that can be run on the host, and the number of instances that you can run on each host.

Step #4: select Allocate host.

After the host were allocated to your account, you can see them at the dedicated EC2 hosting console. Then, we proceed with instance launch.

Step #5: select the host in EC2 dedicated hosting console. Press Actions and Launch Instance(s) onto Host. After completing several simple steps, we will be able to launch an instance at this host.

Step #6: configure instance according to your needs. The type of instance will be set up automatically, based on the host configuration the instance is launched at.

Step #7: select Review and Launch.

Step #8: select Launch at the final step. The instance will be launched by default launched at the service you chose earlier.

Step #9: configure the key pair with which you will connect to your instances. Create the key pair in case it does not exist yet.

Step #10: in the console left menu, select Instances to see the newly created instances. Press Dedicated Hosts to see the instances that work at the dedicated host.

How to check whether Magento 2 server works?

In order to make sure whether your Magento server operates properly, you can always check whether the Magento server works by executing the command:

Wrapping it up

So, we hope that this article was useful to you. Here, you have learned about different hosting providers for Magento and what parameters should you consider to select the best one for your website, taking into account their vital categories. As a result, you will be able to increase your sales and conversion rates. Considering all the pros and cons of managed and unmanaged plans, you can select the best one for your ecommerce business. Finally, with the help of our article, you can set up and manage Magento cloud hosting easily and without any problems. We believe that it will help you to engage in customer experience and balance your business goals with clients needs.

Feel free to share your opinion in the comments, and if you have any questions – you are welcome to ask them as well. And if you are looking for a reliable custom Magento development partner, turn to BelVG!

What Magento hosting do you use? Share in the comments your hosting reviews and what do you think the best hosting Magento plans. Let us discuss in the comments below!