The majority of website owners sign up for shared hosting plans from Hostgator and Bluehost because, in addition to being inexpensive, they are also suitable for beginners. The majority of shared hosting plans are adequate for websites with low traffic and pose no risk. However, for speed and performance reasons, it is preferable to move to a virtual private server (VPS) if your website is busy. Compared to traditional shared hosting, VPS plans are faster and can handle more traffic.
The issue is that Linux systems administration expertise is required to set up and manage a virtual private server (VPS). Therefore, unless you are willing to devote countless hours to learning Linux and how to manage and configure a server, it is in your best interest to hire an expert. The majority of website owners would be reluctant to spend money on additional costs like that. ,'_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_5',191,,_('div-gpt-ad-_com-medrectangle-3-0');
The good news is that managed VPS providers like Cloudways make setting up, configuring, and managing a virtual private server simple for you. You won't need to be familiar with Linux systems administration or server maintenance to use managed VPS hosting. You can build websites, keep an eye on your server's health, and do a lot more with the web-based platform provided by these companies.
Table of ContentsWhat is Cloudways?Why Should You Use It?How to Sign Up for CloudwaysActivating Your Cloudways AccountLaunching Your First Cloudways ServerManaging the ServerMaster CredentialsMonitoringManage ServicesSettings and PackagesSecurityVertical ScalingBackupsSMTPManaging Your ApplicationsAccess DetailsMonitoringDomain ManagementCron Job ManagementSSL CertificateBackup and RestoreDeployment Via GitApplication SettingsMigration ToolsCloud
For developers, website owners, digital agencies, online businesses, and anyone else who requires a fully managed solution for hosting websites and applications, Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS). At the moment, five cloud hosting providers are supported by Cloudways: Vultr, Linode, DigitalOcean, Amazon AWS, and Google Cloud
Cloudways provides 24/7/365 support, real-time monitoring, managed security, and automated backups to developers of all skill levels through an easy-to-use control panel. With dedicated resource allocations, SSD drives, advanced caching, security firewalls, seamless vertical scaling, regular security patches, and numerous other features, Cloudways-powered servers are optimized for speed, performance, and dependability. Here is a comprehensive list of features: [300,250], [ezslot_6], [com-medrectangle-4], [div-gpt-ad-_com-medrectangle-4-0];
A DigitalOcean droplet with 1GB of RAM and 25GB of storage costs $10 per month. PayPal and credit and debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, and American Express) are accepted by Cloudways. On this page, you can learn more about pricing and plans.
Why Utilize Cloudways?
To put it simply, Cloudways is a far superior option to shared hosting. Although there are issues with speed, uptime, and performance, shared hosting is a good option for most beginners and small website owners.
In shared hosting, dozens or even hundreds of users compete for a limited amount of memory, bandwidth, and disk space on the server. If Joe Bloggs runs a script that uses a lot of memory, it will have a big impact on other users on the same server, making websites slow and possibly going down.
The dedicated resources on Cloudways servers, on the other hand, ensure that your website or application operates at peak efficiency and speed. In a private environment, you are given a certain amount of resources, which is why it is called a ""virtual private server."" You can easily upgrade the server to a higher plan with more RAM and disk space if you go over your allotted resources. '_com-box-4','ezslot_7',193,,_('div-gpt-ad-_com-box-4-0');
Before I discovered Cloudways and realized how superior it is, I used to host my websites on shared hosting plans with Hostgator, Namecheap, and other web hosting companies. Both in the frontend and the backend, all of my websites that are hosted on the Cloudways platform load extremely quickly. I decided to move all of my websites to Cloudways because I knew how important it was for SEO and user experience to have a fast website.
I used GTmetrix to measure the speed of one of my slow-loading websites before and after moving it to Cloudways. As can be seen in the screenshot above, the loading time of the website was cut almost in half, from 4.5 seconds to 2.5 seconds. I could potentially reduce the site's loading time to less than two seconds by further speed optimization, such as removing render-blocking resources and utilizing a content delivery network (CDN).
Besides, my sites on Cloudways seldom experience the ill effects of any personal time. According to Uptime Robot, one of my websites has a 99 percent uptime rate in the last 30 days.
Although Cloudways is more expensive than inexpensive shared hosting, the advantages far outweigh the extra costs. Currently, I pay $40 per month to host five websites on Cloudways; in my opinion, it is well worth the money. 300,250],'_com-banner-1',);
Keep in mind that a faster website improves search engine rankings and reduces bounce rates if you're still undecided about joining Cloudways. When a website takes longer than three seconds to load, 40% of Internet users leave. In addition to faster loading times, Cloudways websites rarely experience downtime, preventing you from losing sales and customers.
How to Sign Up for Cloudways To begin your free three-day trial of Cloudways, visit this website (affiliate link). After upgrading your account, you will also receive $15 in hosting credits, which will be added to your available funds.
You can launch a server, deploy an application, and migrate your website for free during the free trial. To continue using Cloudways after the trial ends, you will need to provide a payment method like a credit or debit card or PayPal.
Since Cloudways is a ""pay as you go"" service, you will only be charged for the resources you use. At the beginning of the following month, you will receive an invoice for the resources and services you used in any given month. To learn more about Cloudways' billing process, please click here.
Moreover, you can save 20% on your initial bill by applying the coupon code. Clicking ""Have a Promo Code?"" will prompt you to enter the coupon code. when you sign up. The discount will be applied to your first invoice and you can continue to enjoy the free trial.
In order to receive $15 in free hosting credits, don't forget to add a payment method after the free trial ends.
Your account will be ready in a moment. However, you must first use the activation link that was sent to you via email to verify your account.
If you don't verify your account, you won't be able to start servers or deploy applications.,,_;
Activating Your Cloudways Account Examine your email for a message titled ""Activate Your Cloudways Account.""
Click on the ""Activate Account"" link in that email.
Your mobile phone number will be required of you. Click ""Send SMS"" or ""Call Me"" after entering it into the provided field.
Enter the six-digit verification code that was sent to you by phone or SMS. The code only works for two minutes. If that doesn't work, you'll have to ask for a new code.
You are now able to start your first server, create applications, and do more after successfully activating your Cloudways account. Keep in mind that there is a cost-free three-day trial available to you. By adding a payment method, you can choose to continue using Cloudways after the trial. '_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_14',197,,_('div-gpt-ad-_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0');
Launching Your First Cloudways Server In the beginning, you must create and configure your server in Cloudways. Your applications and websites will be hosted here.
Enter the following information to start your first server:
WordPress 5.3 is the default application type, but PHP, Laravel, Magento, Drupal, OpenCart, PrestaShop, or Joomla are all options. Application Name: You can use your website's name here. The server's name can be anything you want it to be. Server Name Useful for organizing your applications into various projects or clients. Project Name This can always be changed later.
The next step is to select one of the following cloud hosting providers: Vultr, DigitalOcean, Linode, Amazon EC2, and Google Cloud Platform are a few examples. Vultr or DigitalOcean come highly recommended because they are the least expensive options.
If you only host one website and only receive a small amount of traffic, you can select 1GB of RAM for the server size. You can always increase the size of the server at any time. Depending on how resource-intensive your applications are, the ideal server size is needed. In any case, Cloudways lets you keep an eye on how much resources are being used by your applications to see if they are using too much memory or disk space. That will be discussed further in the article.
During the free trial, you can only start a server with a maximum size of 2 GB. You will need to upgrade your account by adding a payment method in order to increase the server size to more than 2GB. '_com-large-mobile-banner-2','ezslot_15',198,,_('div-gpt-ad-_com-large-mobile-banner-2-0');
Select the location of your server, last but not least. In most cases, it doesn't matter where your server is, though you might want to choose one close to where people who visit your website are most likely to be. For instance, picking a server location like Los Angeles is preferable if the majority of your website visitors or customers are from the United States.
You will find your monthly and hourly fees at the bottom of the page. I will pay $10 per month for a 1GB DigitalOcean server in New York in this example, or $0.0139 per hour.
To set up the server, select ""LAUNCH NOW."" The server will be added after a short period of time.
You will be able to see the IP address and the date that the server was created after it is created. By clicking the ""Add Server"" button, you can add as many servers to your projects and applications as you like.
Managing the Server Cloudways' web-based platform makes managing cloud servers extremely simple for both novices and experts. Although advanced users still have the option to connect to the server via secure shell (SSH), they are not required to do so.580,400],'_com-leader-2','ezslot_16',199,,_('div-gpt-ad-_com-leader-2-0');
To begin managing, click the server's name.
There are now a number of options for managing, configuring, and monitoring your server. Let's examine each option one at a time.
Master Credentials is where you can see the public IP address, username, and password for your server.
Using a SSH client like PuTTY or SFTP, you can use these master credentials to access your server. You can also add your SSH keys to access the server without being asked for a password.
Monitoring You will need to keep an eye on how much your server uses in order to keep it running smoothly. You can keep track of resource usage statistics in Cloudways, such as RAM, CPU, and disk usage. You can quickly determine if your server is using too much CPU or RAM, which could slow it down. It is time to upgrade your server if you notice that it consistently runs out of memory.
You can view graphs for each type of resource usage by clicking the DETAILS tab. These graphs include idle CPU, free disk, free memory, incoming and outgoing network traffic, monthly bandwidth, and more.300,250],'_com-leader-3','ezslot_17',600,,_('div-gpt-ad-_com-leader-3-0');
Control the core services, such as Apache, MySQL, and Nginx, that are required for the operation of your applications in Manage Services. You should keep the settings as they are unless you know better.
Packages and Settings Cloudways makes it simple to modify the settings of your server with just a few mouse clicks.
For instance, you can change your website's default memory limit from 128 MB to 256 MB or more if you want it to be able to handle more complex tasks.
By clicking the ADVANCED tab, you can also modify the various settings for core services like PHP, MySQL, Apache, and Nginx. You can access the PACKAGES tab to upgrade your PHP or MySQL version.
Security You can block IP addresses that try to access your server for additional security.300,250],'_com-leader-4','ezslot_18',601,,_('div-gpt-ad-_com-leader-4-0');
In addition, you can block all IP addresses with the exception of those on your whitelist. If you have a dynamic IP, avoid doing this.
Vertical Scaling Adding block storage or increasing the size of your server is simple. The server size can only be increased on DigitalOcean; it cannot be decreased. You will need to clone the server in order to reduce the size of the server and the amount you pay each month.
Click ""Scale Now"" after selecting the new server's RAM size. It will only take a few minutes to upgrade. Keep in mind that upgrading the server will temporarily halt all processes; therefore, you might want to perform this action at a time that isn't as busy, like at midnight.
Backups Cloudways offers both scheduled and on-demand backups, ensuring that you won't lose your websites or applications. You can schedule when the backup process will run, as well as the retention period (up to 4 weeks) and the frequency (up to 7 days).
If you enable local backups, a second copy of your backup will be saved to your server. The local backup can then be downloaded using SFTP or SSH.
Click ""Take Backup Now"" to perform an on-demand backup, and Cloudways will create off-site and local backups of all server applications, if enabled.
SMTP: If you want to use a transactional email service like Mailgun or SendGrid, you can set it up on Cloudways, and the service will send your incoming emails.
Elastic Email, which can be activated from the Addons section, or your own SMTP (such as Mailgun, SendGrid, or Mandrill) are the options available to you.
You can put the SMTP service to the test by sending a test email after adding it.
Cloudways makes it possible to install and manage a wide range of web applications on your server. Cloudways makes setting up and creating a WordPress website a breeze, and they even provide paying customers with free website migrations.
You can either ask the Cloudways staff to transfer your website to your new server or use the Cloudways WordPress Migrator plugin to transfer it automatically if you already have one. We will discuss how to use the plugin to move your website to your new server in the following chapters, but first, we will go over the fundamentals of Cloudways application management.
Select the application you want to manage by clicking the Applications link in the top menu.
You will find options for managing your application in the left sidebar. Let's take a detailed look at each one.
Access Details: On this page, you can see important information about your application, like its URL and the MySQL database and admin panel usernames and passwords.
Additionally, you might want to develop a one-of-a-kind set of this application's application credentials (username and password). You can access your app via FTP or SSH with these credentials.
Click the button labeled ""Launch Database Manager"" to gain access to the MySQL database.
Monitoring The monitoring section provides an overview of important statistics regarding site traffic, PHP performance, MySQL queries, running cron jobs, and disk usage if you want to monitor the performance of your application.
Both the error logs and your access logs will be accessible to you.
Domain Management The domain management section lets you change your application's primary and additional domains.
You should update the nameserver settings by creating the appropriate DNS records on your domain registrar or DNS hosting provider after setting the primary domain. Learn how to set the correct DNS records for your domain to point to your Cloudways application by reading this page.250,250],'_com-narrow-sky-2','ezslot_22',605;
Management of Cron Jobs You can add your cron jobs to the schedule of future tasks.
Click ""Add New Cron Job"" to create a cron job. After that, enter the scheduled command and the time in minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months. To insert cron syntax, select the ""Advanced"" tab.
SSL Certificate Let's Encrypt provides Cloudways with free SSL certificates for all applications. You can add your own custom certificate if you don't want the free SSL certificate.
To avoid having to manually renew your Let's Encrypt certificate after it has expired, I recommend turning on auto renewal.
Backup and Restore This is one of my favorite features, and it was one of the reasons I switched from shared hosting to Cloudways. Both on-demand and automatic off-site backups are carried out by Cloudways. Cloudways takes care of this for free, so there's no need to pay for a backup plugin or service.250,250],'_com-portrait-1','ezslot_25',606,,_('div-gpt-ad-_com-portrait-1-0');
Using any of your backups, you can easily restore your app. The frequency and retention period that were set in the Backups section of Server Management determine the number of available backups. Therefore, if you set the retention to one week and the backup frequency to daily, you will have seven backup options to choose from.
When something goes wrong with my website (like a plugin error) or I want to go back to a previous version, the backup and restore feature comes in handy. I can make modifications to my website, and if something goes wrong, I can simply restore the previous version with a few clicks.250,250],'_com-mobile-leaderboard-1','ezslot_19',705;
Cloudways makes it possible to deploy code from git repositories like Github. This article explains how to deploy your application's code using git.
Application Settings Modify your application's default webroot, TLS version, Varnish cache, SSH access, CORS headers, and other settings. For a quick overview of each setting, hover your mouse over the ""i"" icon. In most cases, this section doesn't need to be changed at all.
Tools for Migration The Cloudways WordPress Migrator plugin moves your website from your previous host to the new Cloudways server on its own. The plugin will take care of everything by providing only the details of your application. I'll show you how to use the plugin to move your website to Cloudways in the next chapter.250,250],'_com-netboard-2','ezslot_24',607,,_('div-gpt-ad-_com-netboard-2-0');
Cloudways CDN Cloudways provides a content delivery network, or CDN, to help your application load faster and deliver static resources more quickly.
Cloudways CDN currently charges $1 per 25GB. While BunnyCDN, which I'm using, and other CDN providers like it have lower prices, Cloudways CDN can be activated right away if you don't want to deal with setup or other issues.
How to Move Your Website to Cloudways The WordPress Migrator plugin, developed by BlogVault, makes it simple to move your website to the Cloudways platform.
Log in to your WordPress admin area first, then select Plugins > Add New to install the plugin. Install and activate the plugin after searching for ""Cloudways migrator.""
Click ""Cloudways Migrate"" in the left pane after the plugin has been activated.250,250],'_com-sky-3','ezslot_28',608,,_('div-gpt-ad-_com-sky-3-0');
Enter the necessary application information, such as the name of the database, the public IP address of the server, the SFTP username, and the SFTP password. These details can be found in Cloudways under Applications > Access Details.
Click ""Migrate"" after checking the box that says ""I agree to Blogvault Terms of Service..."" ”{300,250],'_com-mobile-leaderboard-2','ezslot_20',706,,_('div-gpt-ad-_com-mobile-leaderboard-2-0');
The migration process will take several minutes, depending on the size of your application.
You can now view the newly migrated website using the destination or application URL (for example, http://wordpress-209663-886119-cloudwaysapps.com) if the migration was successful.
Check to see if everything works as expected on both the backend and the frontend by logging into the WordPress admin area of your migrated website. You can add your domain and modify the DNS records on your domain registrar by going to Applications > Domain Management if you are satisfied.
Log into your domain registrar or DNS provider (such as Cloudflare) and change the A records to point to your public server IP. 250,250],'_com-small-rectangle-1','ezslot_30',609,_('div-gpt-ad-_com-small-rectangle-1-0'); 250,250],'_com-small-rectangle-1','ezslot_31',609,,'1'_(' none!important;display: block!important;float: none!important;line-height:0;margin-bottom:15px!important;margin-left: auto!important;margin-right: auto!important;margin-top:15px!important;max-width:100%!important;min-height:250px;min-width:250px;padding:0;text-align: center! Vital Type: At (A recordHost) for wwwValue or the root domain: your server's IP address, such as 157.245.87.8 automatic I set the A records to point to my Cloudways app in this manner:
You can edit the A records in your Cloudflare account's DNS management page, so you don't have to change the DNS records in your registrar if you use Cloudflare.
Use What's My DNS to see if your changes have spread after updating the A records. The propagation of changes to domain records can take up to 48 hours.
You will need to manually migrate your website for non-WordPress applications by uploading the database tables to MySQL and the files via SFTP using Filezilla or any other FTP application.300,250],'_com-small-rectangle-2','ezslot_32',610,,_('div-gpt-ad-_com-small-rectangle-2-0');
How to Set Up a Staging Environment in Cloudways Using Cloudways, you can set up a staging environment where you can make changes to a copy of your website or app before deploying them to the live site once everything is working as expected. Developers can test new features or changes on a website without affecting the live or production site in a staging environment.
You can, for instance, set up a staging site to test a WordPress plugin if you are concerned that it will have a negative impact on your website. The changes will then be pushed to the live site once everything is working properly.
With just a few clicks, you can easily create a staging environment with Cloudways. Click the icon with three vertical dots on the right side of your application list. ""Clone App/Create Staging"" will appear.
Check ""Create as Staging"" after selecting the server where you want to create the staging application. Choose ""Continue.""
The staging application will be created over the course of a few minutes.300,250],'_com-sky-4','ezslot_29',611,,_('div-gpt-ad-_com-sky-4-0');
A brand-new application with the name ""Staging-(Name of App)"" will be listed in the list of applications. You can begin managing that application by clicking on it, just like you would with a real app.
You are now able to begin making modifications to the staging site, access the database, view the frontend, update the application settings, and do many other things.250,250],'_com-narrow-sky-1','ezslot_21',707,,_('div-gpt-ad-_com-narrow-sky-1-0');
On the left menu, select ""Staging Management"" to push your changes to the live site. Click ""Push"" under ""Copy Data from Staging to Live"" to apply your modifications to the live website.
By going to the Applications page and clicking ""Delete"" when you are finished, the staging application can be safely deleted.
Conclusion and Verdict Cloudways is the best choice if you're looking for web hosting that combines user-friendliness, outstanding features, speed, and dependability. Although there are numerous web hosting providers, Cloudways stands out to me as the best. At a cost you can easily afford, you will have access to a powerful platform that gives you total control and flexibility over web development. Cloudways is ideal for both solo website owners and digital agencies with a large clientele. [250,250] ['_com-portrait-2','ezslot_26',612,,_('div-gpt-ad-_com-portrait-2-0'); [250,250] ['_com-portrait-2','ezslot_27',612,,'1'_('div-gpt-ad-_com-portrait- none!important;display: block!important;float: none!important;line-height:0;margin-bottom:15px!important;margin-left: auto!important;margin-right: auto!important;margin-top:15px!important;max-width:100%!important;min-height:250px;min-width:250px;padding:0;text-align: center!important The feature of Cloudways that I found to be the most appealing to me was the capacity to establish a staging environment. I find this feature to be extremely useful whenever I wish to test a number of changes before deploying them to the live site. Developers would need to use a plugin or a third-party service to use a staging environment because the majority of shared hosting plans do not provide one.
The free automated and scheduled backups are another feature that swayed me to Cloudways. Cloudways backups saved me every time I messed up something on my website, which I lost track of. My website will immediately restore to my selected backup with a single button click.
The absence of cPanel, in my opinion, is the most significant drawback. The simplicity and ease of use of cPanel make it possible for non-technical users to launch their own websites. The Cloudways control panel may be somewhat confusing to the majority of users, particularly those who are accustomed to shared hosting.
Therefore, Cloudways might seem a little overwhelming to you if you are accustomed to uploading your files and creating MySQL databases through cPanel. However, I believe Cloudways designed its platform well for novices. Each setting or option has a brief explanation in the form of tooltips, which also include links to helpful guides. You can also access the knowledge base, start a live chat, or open a support ticket by pressing the support button on the right side of the screen.
I can say that I am extremely pleased with the support. Usually, I got an answer to my questions in less than an hour. I recommend starting a live chat if you have an urgent question because they will respond more quickly, but there is a 20-minute time limit. It is preferable to submit a support ticket if you anticipate needing assistance for more than 20 minutes.250,250],'_com-netboard-1','ezslot_23',613,,_('div-gpt-ad-_com-netboard-1-0');
I sincerely hope that this Cloudways review has aided you in determining whether it is the ideal web hosting service for your requirements. Cloudways has been a wonderful experience for me, and I'm sure it will be for you as well. With the help of Cloudways, you can say goodbye to slow shared hosting and welcome fast, dependable, and optimized cloud hosting.
Disclosure of Affiliate: There are affiliate links in this post to products and services. When you make a purchase using one of these links, we might be compensated.
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