A lot has changed in web hosting just the last few years. Most of our clients were hosted on “affordable” shared web hosting. A single physical server hosts multiple sites. Many users utilize the resources on a single server, which keeps the costs low. Users each get a section of a server in which they can host their website files.
Shared servers can hosts hundreds of users. Each customer using the shared web hosting platform server has access to features like databases, monthly traffic, disk space, email accounts, FTP accounts, and other add-ons offered by the host. System resources are shared on-demand by customers on the server, and each gets a percentage of everything from RAM and CPU, and other elements such as the single MySQL server, Apache server, and mail server.
Now we have cloud web hosting taking the main stage. Large data centers that take their combined computing power and segment off predefined “Virtual Servers”. You can start off with plans as low as $2/mo to plans costing hundreds. unlike traditional VPS, cloud hosting can be scaled on-demand to a higher package as your need arises. You can start hosting a Website or eCommerce Store for as little as $5/mo and as your business and capital grow so can your server.
Our Recommended Hosting & Server Setup
We offer specialized server setups (when best for a project). with Digitalocean web hosting, options become affordable and limitless. We also have a great standard and versatile setup. Ubuntu 20.04 LTS server running our open-source control panel and server stack:
- Apache2 with PHP-FPM and NGINX reverse proxy
- Multiple PHP versions (5.6 – 7.4, 7.3 as default for optimal compatibility)
- DNS Server (Bind) or Cloudflare DNS and firewall.
- POP/IMAP/SMTP mail services (Exim4 and Dovecot) with Anti-Spam, Anti-Virus, and Webmail (ClamAV, SpamAssassin, and Roundcube)
- MariaDB or PostgreSQL databases
- Let’s Encrypt SSL support with wildcard certificates
- Firewall with brute-force attack detection and IP lists (iptables, fail2ban, and ipset).
*Most client’s projects only require DO’s $5/mo to $10/mo plans.
*Antivirus requires mail to be run on a separate $5/mo server or hosting to be upgraded one level more than needed otherwise.
Our Top Website Framework
Our website is built on WordPress, as is 38% of the internet. Most major news outlets and well over half the top 1000 sites run WP. With its popularity and widespread deployment comes good and bad. Many of our clients have had bad experiences with WordPress. Either slow sites, cookie-cutter “WordPress Look” or both. We combine top development and top web hosting in all projects.
With WordPress so heavily used, it has become easy and standard practice for amateur designers to offer low-cost flat rate WP websites. (You probably seen the ads; $400 WP Site!!) These are built on dirty cheap, low-end shared web hosting. Some as cheap as $1/mo running several sites. They use a $35 template they purchase or already own and just add your logo and text. These end up being slow websites that all look the same!
We understand the code behind WordPress and how it works; We use that to create optimized sites like ours. Our site runs WordPress and loads pages in under a second. We use multiple caching layers and code optimization. We also rely on the web servers that our sites run on to do as much of the work as they can; as it is more efficient than having WP do it.
WordPress Caching we employ
1. Object caching. We’ll go into this in more detail below, but object caching involves storing database queries so that the next time a piece of data is needed, it is delivered from the cache without having to query the database.
2. Page caching. Page caching involves storing the entire HTML of a page so that on subsequent views, the content—including files and database queries—can be generated and displayed without WordPress having to do it each time.
3. Opcode caching. Opcode caching involves compiling PHP code between every request. For PHP code to execute, the PHP compiler has to compile the code first and then generate executable code for the server to execute. Opcode caches the already compiled code.
4. CDN caching. Content delivery networks (CDNs) using edge servers around the world to store static website files (i.e., CSS, JavaScript, and media files) for faster delivery to users who are geographically distant from the host server.
Stunning Modern & Security Focused Design In SouthWest Florida
With multi-layer caching, optimized code, and using modern technologies; We can create fast stunning sites. Using Nginx reverse proxy with your site you can handle 250k visitors a day with just $5/mo web hosting. Apache web server is the most used and compatible but Nginx is 100 times faster and uses 1000 times fewer resources. Using Apache with PHP-FPM separates apache from PHP (normally apache loads PHP into every one of its processes.) By butting Nginx in front of Apache as a reverse proxy, Nginx can cache static copies and server static files directly avoiding processing Apache and PHP. This allows for immense traffic potential.
As for security, Nginx is the only open and visible target for the attack but it doesn’t process any complex coding like PHP that can be used as a vector. We also include WordFence, a web application firewall aka WAF. It is loaded in front of all PHP processing to block attacks, as well as comparing WordPress’s core code to the official repository and repairing any file changes a hacker may have made.
Advantages of WordPress
Today all websites are run on dynamic frameworks, static HTML sites can’t provide the function people expect. With WP accounting for almost 40% of websites and 60% of eCommerce; It is a platform that will be here to stay for the near future. Having a framework that you know will be continuously updated saves time and money on costly migrations and updates.
Choosing a free and open-source CMS is vastly more cost-efficient than custom development (That can take 6 months and $100k.) WP’s wide usage has supplied Us with many low-cost and free options to the extent it with features you may need. Such as online invoicing, customer portals, memberships, eCommerce, and more.
Even If Your Needs Differ
We have solutions that work. Not everyone’s needs are the same and We understand that. We take each client on a case by case and in our first meeting find out what is the best solution for you. WordPress, Joomla, or other solutions like Shopify. We can customize many integrations and frameworks for your needs.
