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Shared vs. Dedicated Database: When to Use Which

With our entry VPS products, you have a dedicated (EC2) server for your WordPress sites; it has all of your files for WordPress with a set amount of CPU cores and memory allocated completely towards your incoming traffic to that server. And by default, we load your database on a shared Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service) cluster that we manage, giving you separate resources to process the database queries.


Using a Shared Database


Our shared RDS solutions are designed to handle average-to-short spikes in database activity, ensuring activity is not abusive or hindering the performance of other websites. These default servers run on massive instances sufficient to support enterprise WordPress websites.

It’s important to note while we maintain a generous capacity of resources for our shared database users, there are limits that some customers may eventually reach which can start to degrade performance, especially with larger database footprints.

If you’re wondering about security in a shared database scheme, we’re way ahead of you. A unique database user is created for each site, shielding itself from any potential outsider impact. Read into how we store and protect your data.

This isn’t necessarily the case for every customer. Sometimes a large database can sustain quality performance due to the query load running smoothly, but if you have a large backend and the queries are complex then that is when we start to see issues.

In any case, we can pair you with a standalone database server at an additional fee that is designed to better handle your database load. Our Sales & Ops teams are here to guide you on which solution and size is appropriate for you. This is available with any VPS option we provide in any size Amazon offers.


Upgrading to a Dedicated Database


Upgrading to a dedicated RDS database instance is as simple and seamless as our server plan upgrades. Our Ops team will deploy your new RDS instance and begin carefully migrating your sites over, with each taking as little as a few minutes time — always scheduled in advance, to accommodate your traffic.

No need to sweat over downtime. We can perform the transition without affecting the accessibility of your website, and your visitors won’t see any difference. Any sites using caching correctly will continue to serve cached pages. Database requests that need access to the database will just be either slightly slower during this time or time out altogether during that site’s migration.


Reaching Top Performance


All database usage is monitored by our Ops team for us to be proactive on how we can assist with keeping performance tuned at all times. Before rightsizing you, we run a full in-depth analysis of your slow queries and CPU load to identify where areas can be better optimized with indexes or rewritten with less complexity.

Your involvement is always welcome in working with us to achieve a long term remediation for any presenting concerns, with the possibility of resorting back to the shared database clusters again, once we have a better handle on your needs.

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