There are two common ways you can scale managed WordPress hosting: horizontally and vertically. Horizontal scaling refers to adding addition web nodes to your server layout whereas vertical scaling is simply increasing the size of the existing machine(s) you have set up. They accomplish different goals and are appropriate in different situations.

Horizontal Scaling For WordPress

Horizontal scaling typically coincides with a High Availability configuration. Having a load balanced synchronized group of servers gives you added reliability and fault tolerance through active file replication between multiple web nodes. In the event the primary server were to fail, you have an elevated backup server ready to jump in and field your traffic. This also provides you immunity to any downtime caused by a hardware failure, network outage or update that would require a server restart.

Vertical Scaling For WordPress

Vertical scaling involves adding more compute power (CPU & memory) to your existing server, offering you more performant hardware and resources to handle a larger volume of requests per second. A typical scenario more appropriate for vertical scaling is when you have a growing WooCommerce site that begins to experience issues under load. If performance is your bottleneck or you find yourself reaching critical CPU thresholds, then vertical scaling is the more suitable choice.

Note: If traffic uncertainty is the primary condition you are looking to address, we generally recommend upgrading to a larger-sized single server, which will give you greater computing power for supporting higher volumes of requests, and with less complexity than a HA setup.

What Does Pagely Offer?

Both solutions are available with Pagely. Additionally, we offer completely dedicated RDS options for added scaling potential on the backend.

Whether you’re looking for added peace of mind or exceptional horsepower for supporting your Enterprise WordPress hosting needs, we have the architecture to support your most crucial, sophisticated needs.