Results 1 to 10 of 10
  1. #1

    Decide on using clouds: Wordpress (cloud good) versus Wordpress+Forum (cloud bad)

    Help me out here:

    The thought of going cloud versus dedicated becomes complicated when a Wordpress user wants to add a forum. Popular forums have huge replication overhead when run in a cloud, it's better for a forum to run on a dedicated server. However, Wordpress blogs work great off the cloud.

    Dedicated Hosting - This allows Wordpress and forum on the same server, and I have more generous bandwidth limits, etc.

    Cloud Hosting/CDN - Expensive per hit, but theoretically fast response all over the world; many would work great for Wordpress but may not work great for forum due to the replication overhead.

    Separate hosting - Host Wordpress and the forum on separate services. Cloud for Wordpress, dedicated for forum. Expensive. Makes integration more difficult (can't share logins for Wordpress comments & discussion forum software).

    Incremental - A person goes for a small dedicated server and hope for the best; gradually upgrade to bigger servers at same hosting service and split servers later.

    This is all dizzying, especially for a person like me, who are on small web accounts but need to expand, and decide which direction to go, especially since the forum has not yet been started.

    Ideas?
    Last edited by gd2013; 11-16-2013 at 02:44 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    5,393
    Most "cloud" environments don't actually replicate your data to different data centers. It's generally just a case of your instance being stored in a local SAN that can be loaded by any hypervisor with access to the SAN. A forum won't really complicate matters much in a typical cloud hosting environment. You could add a CDN layer over the top to push static content closer to users, many cloud hosts offer this as an addon service.
    WHMEasyBackup.com - Take Control Of Your Backups!
    Complete Backup Solution For WHM Reseller Accounts

  3. #3
    So one cloud use case: You're always in a single instance of a virtual machine, and that the virtual machine might relocate anywhere in the world on the fly (while the website is still running). Virtual machines moving between real machines without rebooting. If so, then that's neat.

    My concern was actually forums+CDN, I've often confused clouds & CDN, but I guess they can be separate elements.
    Last edited by gd2013; 11-16-2013 at 04:38 PM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Kepler 62f
    Posts
    16,703
    Cloud doesn't replicate datacenters. That's something else.
    But cloud is about more than SAN.
    It's failover architecture.

    All the definitions of what "cloud" is, is almost becoming ridiculous these days.
    || Need a good host?
    || See my Suggested Hosts List || Editorial: EIG/Site5/Arvixe/Hostgator Alternatives
    ||

  5. #5
    Let's say someone on GoDaddy Deluxe (~$10/mo) wanted to switch to something resembling managed dedicated ($300/mo). Would $300/mo be best spent on a dedicated server, or on a "cloud" server? Assuming I already did complete offsite backups (including database) on a daily basis?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Kepler 62f
    Posts
    16,703
    Dedicated.
    Most all clouds are still shared hosting, either standard or VPS.

    $300 buys an awesome dedicated server. I really, really like the ones from Namecheap.
    You'd need at least $700 to get a private cloud. For that, I'd use EuroVPS.
    || Need a good host?
    || See my Suggested Hosts List || Editorial: EIG/Site5/Arvixe/Hostgator Alternatives
    ||

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Finland
    Posts
    1,471
    I'm using a "cloud server", which behaves much like a dedicated box. The main difference from my perspective: I can change the level of resources without migrating to another dedicated box. The scale goes from "hibernated" to 32GB of memory and 8 CPU cores. The cloud setup is in one datacenter so it's not distributed geographically.

    $300 would get me around 15GB and 4 cores. Or if I'd order server management, perhaps 10GB and 3 cores. I'm sure this kind of service is cheaper in the US. (There are other factors to the pricing, such as bandwidth and hard drive space. They're included in the example, but trying to keep this simple.)

    However, you can get pretty sweet deals on dedicated servers, so that might be less expensive.

  8. #8
    I got the dedicated server upon the advice.

    However, because of an unexpected event requiring an emergency datacenter migration, I was given the option of 24 hours downtime, or switching to a different server (e.g. new dedicated server, new virtual server) in advance of the datacenter move.

    I am now on a virtual server (4GB, 4core), and the phpbb performs faster, while Wordpress performs slightly slower. I'm now considering other options, either to optimize the Wordpress installation or to move to a different hosting service.

  9. #9
    Based on my current experience, I am now seriously considering going with a larger service but going with unmanaged, now that I have gained enough cpanel experience to handle that (hopefully). The new questions for this thread are:

    (1) Should I expand my cloud server to 8 gigabyte for faster Wordpress performance?

    (2) Currently, I'm on managed professional virtual server temporarily now, as mentioned above. When I move, should I switch from managed server (dedicated/professional virtual) to unmanaged server? I am worried about falling behind on Linux OS security updates. Do hosting services typically update the OS with latest security patches even on unmanaged servers?

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    1,427
    Quote Originally Posted by kpmedia View Post
    Cloud doesn't replicate datacenters. That's something else.
    But cloud is about more than SAN.
    It's failover architecture.

    All the definitions of what "cloud" is, is almost becoming ridiculous these days.
    Quote Originally Posted by kpmedia View Post
    Dedicated.
    Most all clouds are still shared hosting, either standard or VPS.

    $300 buys an awesome dedicated server. I really, really like the ones from Namecheap.
    You'd need at least $700 to get a private cloud. For that, I'd use EuroVPS.
    ^This. The term "cloud" in most cases is merely just a buzz word being thrown around. You'll it a lot with just being able to scale the server/plan yourself...You also have companies putting CloudLinux on servers and calling it cloud hosting.

    As @kpmedia said, it's much more than that, at least an "actual" cloud. That said, each company defines their "cloud" a little differently.

    To do it correctly, and achieve extreme high availability you need good quality gear, not whitebox pieced together stuff. Storage is only 1 part - you also have to factor in power, network, host nodes etc, all of which need to be redundant.



    Quote Originally Posted by gd2013 View Post
    Based on my current experience, I am now seriously considering going with a larger service but going with unmanaged, now that I have gained enough cpanel experience to handle that (hopefully). The new questions for this thread are:

    (1) Should I expand my cloud server to 8 gigabyte for faster Wordpress performance?

    (2) Currently, I'm on managed professional virtual server temporarily now, as mentioned above. When I move, should I switch from managed server (dedicated/professional virtual) to unmanaged server? I am worried about falling behind on Linux OS security updates. Do hosting services typically update the OS with latest security patches even on unmanaged servers?
    Quote Originally Posted by gd2013 View Post
    I got the dedicated server upon the advice.

    However, because of an unexpected event requiring an emergency datacenter migration, I was given the option of 24 hours downtime, or switching to a different server (e.g. new dedicated server, new virtual server) in advance of the datacenter move.

    I am now on a virtual server (4GB, 4core), and the phpbb performs faster, while Wordpress performs slightly slower. I'm now considering other options, either to optimize the Wordpress installation or to move to a different hosting service.
    Are you having memory/CPU issues now? If not, adding more isn't going to make any difference. I'd suggest monitoring the resource usage and figuring out where the bottleneck is as opposed to just throwing more resources in hopes it'll fix the problem. For example, if the VM has 4GB of RAM now, and is only using 2GB, adding another 4GB would most likely just be a waste of money. The same goes with CPU.

    When you mention not wanting to fall behind on updates, security etc...you might want to stick with a managed service and have someone handle that for you. Trying to cut corners now to save a couple bucks may end up costing you much more in the long run.

Similar Threads

  1. Recommend a VPS for Growing Wordpress site + Forum
    By Tiger333 in forum VPS Hosting
    Replies: 40
    Last Post: 05-09-2011, 09:29 AM
  2. Need Help Deciding On Host - 500-1,000 Visits/Day
    By PerryR in forum Web Hosting
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 09-05-2010, 09:03 PM
  3. SALE: THEIMAGEOUTLET.COM - Fast Growing Image Host $58+/Month Rev. & 35K Visits/Month
    By Shaw Networks in forum Domain Name with Web Site Offers
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 08-06-2008, 02:38 PM
  4. Proxy site for sale!!! 25k+ unique visits a month and growing
    By budman714 in forum Other Offers & Requests
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 08-03-2006, 08:52 PM
  5. PR6, 300k monthly visits, AIM Icons site
    By fryman in forum Advertising Offers
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 07-16-2005, 12:09 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •