Managed Container Hosting For Magento

Container hosting is the latest trend that has taken the world by storm. Containers are individual, lightweight isolated environments that share a common operating system layer and underlying hardware platform. Container hosting differs significantly from other virtual hosting solutions in several respects including speed, allocation of resources and dynamic operating parameters of the environment.

From the user’s perspective, there is no difference between a container based hosting solutions and any other hosting solution. The server setup and directory structure are almost identical, and the user could install and launch a similar list of apps without even noticing any differences.

Benefits of Container Hosting

Container hosting solutions offer significant benefits when compared to hosting solutions with similar environment variables.

The first and the most important benefit is the fact that container hosting solutions use much fewer resources for the similar level of performance. In simpler term, container hosting makes do with much fewer resources, resulting in a corresponding reduction in the operational costs of the solution. For many end users, this is a major factor that influences decision-making processes of the end users.

Speed is another important benefit of container based hosting. To a large extent, the speed factor has to do with the way in which container based hosting solutions are deployed. The lean structure and the fact that individual containers do not have to load up the OS layer in every instance means that the users can launch and use apps at blazing fast speeds.

While all hosting options offer some level of security, container hosting solutions are particularly secure because of their setup. First, containers are isolated sandboxes that only allow select connections to the outside world. These connections are monitored on several layers (application, server, and hardware) to make sure that containers remain secure and isolated from the dangerous world. In addition, since the underlying OS layer is also isolated from individual containers, it is easy to defend against the OS level attacks. Finally, the structure of the container hosting setup makes sure that every software vulnerability is readily identified and patched.

Finally, the most recognizable benefit of container based hosting solutions is the auto-scaling capabilities of the platform. Unlike other hosting solutions where resources could not be increased once the server has been deployed, container hosting could be scaled up dynamically to accommodate spikes in traffic. This means that container hosting solutions almost never fail for want of resources.

Auto-Scaling Explained

To understand auto-scaling capabilities of the container based hosting and the benefits it offered to online stores and web app, it is important to know what happens when the servers operate near the upper edge of their operational parameters (CPU, RAM, and disk space).

As the load increases regarding some requests and demand son processing power and storage, the server starts to struggle. The result is a noticeable drop in performance for the users. As the load increases further, the resources are completed committed, and the server crashes. This is a critical mission failure as the server downtime translates into a loss of revenue and customer goodwill.

In the case of container based hosting solutions, the usage of resources and the load on servers are continuously monitored by overwatch processes. These process measure and average demands on CPU cores, RAM, and disk space and determine when the load crosses pre-set thresholds. Once this happens, additional resources are allocated in real time. The process is seamless, and the end users do not see any drop in performance. In many cases, the thresholds are set at 90% of the averaged load. However, this number could be set to any limit.

It is important to note that the automated processes handling auto-scaling capabilities are vertical and uni-directional. This means that while the increase in resources is automatic, the downscaling is not! The customer has to manually scale back the parameters to original values after the crunch time. For many hosting platforms, this is a matter of sliding back the sliders! Please remember that the server might restart after downscaling and might not be available for a few moments.

Cloudways and Kyup Powered Container Hosting Solutions

Cloudways have recently partnered with Kyup to provide the customers with an efficient container based hosting solution. Kyup is already an outstanding player in Container Hosting industry and this partnership with Cloudways means that the customers could avail the best format of container hosting — Managed Container Hosting.

Management of hosting solution is a complex and time-intensive task that requires dedicated staff. The health of the servers and the applications has to be monitored and sampled consistently. Even with the help of software tools, it is still a major chore.

In addition to this, security of the servers and application is a major hassle in its own. Combine these two major and a couple of minor (but related) hassles and it is easy to see the benefits of Managed Container hosting solutions offered by Cloudways.

Cloudways takes care of three of the most critical aspects of server management. The customer does not have to worry about the server security because Cloudways takes care of all security related matters. All the OS level and application level patches are promptly applied as soon as the vendors/developers release them. Similarly, the system handling offsite backup is completely automated with the option of manual backups on demand.

Security has been built into the Cloudways platform at all levels. The platform supports HTTP/2 resulting in blazing fast speed without any compromise on security and performance of the websites hosted on the platform. On top of this, every customer could avail of Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates for free! This is especially important for ecommerce stores where SSL certificates greatly add to the credibility of the store.

The managed container based hosting solution is ideal for mid- to high-traffic websites, web apps and, particularly online stores that see surges in traffic and processing demands during specific months only. For such apps and stores, instead of investing in the maximum operational variables (CPU cores, RAM, and disk space), it is more cost effective to invest in the container based hosting solutions that could deal with spikes more efficiently and without the additional cost.

Installing Magento on Cloudways Container Hosting

Launching a Magento powered online store on Cloudways Managed Container Hosting solution is a matter of minutes. Just follow the following steps and you will have a fully functional Magento store in no time.

First of all, login or signup on Cloudways Platform.

Once logged in, click the Add Server button.

Select Magento from Select Your Application drop-down.

Type in your App/Server/Project name.

Select Kyup as a provider.

Select your CPU/RAM/Storage size.

Select your Location from the available options. Please make sure that you choose the closest location to your intended audience because of latency issues. The closer the server is located to your customers, the faster service they would experience.

Finally, hit the Launch Server button.

Cloudways will now deploy the server and the Magento store.

In just a few minutes, your Magento store hosted in its own container based hosting space is ready for further action(s).

As you can see, Cloudways emphasize ease of deployment of servers and application on its container-based hosting solutions. By ensuring that its solutions perform flawlessly over an extended period means that the customers could focus on their Magento store rather than the hassles and issues of server management.

The Final Word

In many cases, container hosting solutions offer a higher level of economy that is particularly important for online stores. The low cost of operation and the capability of utilizing resources on demand means that there is minimal downtime for the store. However, the best way of enjoying the benefits of container hosting is to opt for managed container hosting solutions that offer all the capabilities of container hosting coupled with the ease of professional server management by experts.