I recently did an article about how we do website security and figured we probably need one on website hosting and managed cloud hosting in particular.
Sure we have other web pages dedicated to this but I figured we should probably get into a little detail… You know for the CTOs and IT folks out there that want to grill us a little about our enterprise managed WordPress hosting solutions before they sign on.
All Servers Are Dedicated To FatLab
All of our servers are 100% dedicated to FatLab. We are not simply reselling cheap space on a shared hosting plan that we have no idea how many other sites are running on and what kind of traffic they drive.
When we launch a server those resources are dedicated to just FatLab and our clients. We can see exactly what is happening on a server and move sites that need more resources and/or scale servers in minutes.
Unlimited Resources
Our website maintenance plans include hosting but do not specify specific RAM, CPU, or network resources. This is because we give each site the resources it needs. We are able to scale quickly for temporary spikes in traffic or ensure a large pool of resources is available at all times for sites that regularly receive high traffic levels.
We do not bill extra when additional server resources are required and dedicated VPSs are available for those that require dedicated environments.
Current Datacenter Locations
We have the ability to launch servers in over 65 global data centers. We can do this on a temporary or permanent basis. We currently maintain servers in the following geographic locations and will choose the geographically most appropriate data center for each individual client.
- Seattle
- Atlanta
- New York
- Dallas
- Chicago
Currently Utilized Server Providers
- Google Cloud
- Digital Ocean
- Vultr
- We have access to Linode and AWS servers as well but are not currently utilizing these providers.
CPUs
- Typical servers have 4 dedicated cores
- In 2021 we started launching servers with “high-frequency” or “premium” CPU configurations where available (Digital Ocean or Vultr)
- We have the ability to provide up to 32 CPU cores.
RAM
- All servers provisioned after 2022 have a minimum of 8GB of RAM.
- We have the ability to provide servers with up to 192GB RAM.
Storage
- All storage is solid-state for speed, stability, and performance.
- Premium NMVe SSD drives are used where available.
- Most servers provide 80-160GB in storage.
- We are able to provide up to several terabytes of storage if needed.
Server Environment
- Minimum PHP 7.3
- Server launched beyond 2021 utilize PHP 7.4
- PHP 8 is available
- PHP FPM
- MySQL or MariaDB
- Apache (serves dynamic files)
- NGINX (serves static files)
- Varnish
- Memcache
- Redis Pro
Server Load
We never allow a server to have an average usage of over 50% of available resources. When this becomes the norm we launch a new server. In fact, most of our servers utilize only 10% of their CPU capacity and 25% of their RAM capacity on average, ensuring we are ready for sudden changes in traffic.
We also utilize static page caching via plugin and Varnish on all our hosted sites/servers to increase performance and keep resource usage steady.
Additionally, all hosted sites utilize a global Content Delivery Network (CDN). This means that static files such as images, videos, pdfs, javascript files, etc are rarely requested from the web server and instead are delivered via the global CDN system without hitting our web servers again.
Application Isolation
Each application (website) is isolated from the rest, thus preventing application-level issues to compromise the entire server.
Server Based Services
- Server-Based Firewalls
- Managed backups
- Performance Monitoring
- Managed Security Patching
- Staging Environments Deployed Quickly
- Auto-Renewing SSL Certificates
Client Access
- SFTP
- SSH (locked to client’s environment), not activated if not requested
- MySQL Web GUI
- Hosting control panel available
Managed Cloud Hosting Designed for Performance
A website’s loading speed is important for a number of reasons. First, faster loading websites provide a better user experience. Studies have shown that users are less likely to stay on a website if it takes too long to load.
In addition, fast-loading websites are also more likely to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This is because search engines take into account a website’s loading speed when determining its position in the SERP.
Finally, faster loading websites also tend to convert better than slower ones. This is because users are more likely to complete a purchase or sign up for a service if the website they’re using loads quickly.
Overall, it’s important to make sure that your website loads quickly. Faster loading websites provide a better user experience, rank higher in search engines, and tend to convert better than slower ones.
There are a number of ways to improve your website’s loading speed, including optimizing images, minifying code, using server and database caches, and using a CDN. We provide all these services for you.
Static Page Caching & File Optimization
We install the WP Rocket plugin on all WordPress sites hosted with us, the license for this premium plugin is provided free of additional charge. This plugin provides some easy-to-use performance optimizations that we configure.
WP Rocket will minimize code, optimize scripts like JavaScript and CSS, and produces a static page cache. This in combination with server and database technologies like Varnish and Redis Object Pro provides a massive speed boost to any WordPress website.
Content Delivery Network (CDN)
Every site hosted with us utilizes the Cloudflare Enterprise firewall and CDN service. This global CDN reduces server load greatly by delivering static assets from a server node closest to the user.
The result of delivering static assets from a global network optimized for fast delivery is another massive performance boost for any website.
Automatic Image Optimizaiton
Image optimization is one of the most important factors in achieving website page speed. Image files are often larger than other types of files, and thus can take longer to load.
By optimizing images it is possible to reduce their file size without compromising quality, thereby increasing page speed. Additionally, image optimization can help improve search engine ranking and visibility.
As part of our enterprise managed WordPress hosting service we provide access to the Imagify image optimization service. The plugin license is provided for your site at no additional cost and all images can be automatically optimized.
Additionally, Imagify gives us the ability to convert all images to WebP, a next-generation image format, that when used not only provides a performance boost but also boosts Google’s Page Speed scores instantly.
Enterprise Managed WordPress Hosting
We are a Cloudways Gold Agency Partner and therefore do all of our hosting through Cloudways. Cloudways is not actually a hosting company but a managed server company.
Best In Class Hosting Environments
They offer us the ability to spin up servers with Digital Ocean, Vultr, Amazon AWS, Google, and Linode. Typically when you get a server with one of these companies, everything is on you: from installing the correct server-ware, dealing with security, monitoring it, installing websites, setting up firewalls, and more.
This is where Cloudways comes in. They have developed a best-of-class server environment for hosting WordPress websites and when we order a server through Cloudways, we get that environment.
Dedicated Engineers, 24/7 Monitoring, Priority Support
Cloudways then monitors our servers, responds to any issues, ensures the latest security patches are installed and provides access to knowledgeable engineers when we are working to troubleshoot a specific client issue.
Through this partnership, we are able to say that we have a team of dedicated engineers that are monitoring and ready to react to any issue that may arise.
Combined with our staff of WordPress experts we are able to provide managed hosting to enterprise customers that is fully managed and provides incredible response times.
Designed For Mission Critical Websites
Our clients are organizations that consider their websites to be mission-critical. They expect a support team to be available when support is needed and they expect high performance from their cloud service provider. We understand all this and this is why we invest so much into this part of our business.
- Priority support w/ a dedicated partnership manager
- Software support (not just server support)
- 24/7 incident response
- Security services
- Early access to new features
In other words, we are not just one of the hundreds of customers reselling cheap space who have to wait in the same support hold queues as everybody else.
Dedicated Servers
- Dedicated servers are available to our clients.
- Beginning in 2021 dedicated servers are provided automatically to clients with at least a $1,000 monthly maintenance/hosting agreement.
