Sometimes, growth is inevitable and it’s important to plan ahead and be ready for it. Read on if you currently hosting your website on a Shared Hosting plan.
Some key signs indicating that you've outgrown your current shared hosting environment and should consider upgrading to a VPS (Virtual Private Server)
- Degrading/Diminishing Website Performance
If you noticed your website is performing slower than usual, it could mean that your website is increasing in traffic and that you are now exceeding the resource limit that shared hosting providers typically impose per account to ensure stability for everyone hosted on the server.
More often than not, these limits are implemented by software the hosting provider implements called CloudLinux – which limits certain resources your account can use, such as IOPS, I/O, RAM, NPROC, CPU.
It’s no secret that shared hosting is perfectly capable to meet the needs of basic and intermediate websites, but as you start to grow in traffic and visitors, diminishing performance can be a sign that you should consider upgrading to a VPS.
- Out of Storage Space
If you are running out of storage space on your shared hosting account, it can be a sign that you need to either upgrade your storage allocation of your account, or use this as an opportunity to upgrade to a VPS. As this is an obvious sign you’ll need a bigger package, it can in some cases be more cost effective to actually upgrade to a VPS, depending on the storage you need.
- When Shared Hosting is No Longer Cost Effective
Touching a bit more on the above point, if you notice that you are not receiving an appropriate value for the resources you’re receiving, it may be time to upgrade to a VPS.
For example, in some cases, it can actually be more expen$ive to upgrade to, say, a 300 GB shared hosting plan, compared to purchasing a VPS with 300 GB of storage. This is because you receive a better value (generally speaking) when you buy a bigger package that already includes the additional resources you’re in need of, instead of paying the additional resource rate. This, of course, varies from hosting provider to hosting provider.
Be sure to factor in any additional costs that your business/website demands, this can include but not limited to: control panel, software licenses, web server licenses. At the same time, with the growth you’ve experienced, it may be safe to say that your budget would allow for additional resources, full root access, and peace of mind.
If while you’re at it, looking for a free control panel to save some more costs(*)
Closing Thoughts
If you resonated with one or more of the above points, it can be a sign that you need to invest a few extra dollars ( or potentially save some hard earned money ) by migrating over to a VPS solution.
Hopefull, this post will help members weigh what is best for them, based on their current business/personal use case.
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Free Control Panels for Linux
At a glance:
Ajenti
ISPConfig
Webmin
CentOS Web Panel
CyberPanel
Ajenti
Ajenti is a feature-rich free control panel that is based on Python. It is supported on most Linux distributions, including Debian and Ubuntu. The user interface on Ajenti is easy to navigate and non-intrusive. It focuses on the optimizations and administration of the servers.
The features provided by Ajenti include the ability to set up firewalls, web terminal, monitoring of usage, install plugins, and packages. Moreover, you can also develop the plugins on Python yourself.
ISPConfig
ISPConfig is one of the most reliable open source web control panel. It provides features that most other free control panels lack. It is also quite popular, with up to 40,000 downloads per month. With a user base that large, you are guaranteed to get an optimized and reliable experience.
It can be used to configure Apache or Nginx based web servers, DNS, mail servers, and more. However, the same can be done with Ajenti. So, what makes ISPConfig different? It is the ability to control multiple servers from a single control panel. This can be fantastic for people who wanted a consistent experience for all their servers without the hassle of installing control panels on each server separately.
ISPConfig is available on Debian, CentOS, and Ubuntu.
WebMin
Webmin has tons of features and competes closely with even paid control panels, such as cPanel. It provides a ton of control to the user. With the built-in modules, it is easy to configure Apache servers, monitor resource usage, and bandwidth, and to establish a firewall for the server.
The list of features goes on and on. However, the reason that Webmin is not first on our list is because of its user interface. It looks outdated and far from the modern looks of other control panels on this list. Though if you are looking for tons of features in a free control panel, then Webmin is the option for you.
Webmin is available on Ubuntu, Debian, and CentOS. A thread of relevance is right here on Ausgeek
CentOS Web Panel
CentOS Web Panel is another brilliant free control panel. It makes it incredibly easy to deploy an Apache server, set up firewalls, connect to databases such as MySQL. Moreover, this feature-rich control panel lets the user manage the visitors, make backups of the configurations, and monitor the system.
However, one downside of the CentOS Web Panel is that it is not available on other Linux distributions such as Ubuntu and Debian.
CyberPanel
CyberPanel is a free control panel that is gaining in popularity for those who are looking to host websites on their VPS or dedicated server, and don’t wish to pay for a control panel such as cPanel/WHM. CyberPanel offers an intuitive and easy to use design, and comes with features such as a built in File Manager, ability to create/delete FTP accounts, email accounts, and more.
CyberPanel offers OpenLiteSpeed functionality built-in, so all of your websites will be powered by LiteSpeed Web Server, providing faster speeds and better security compared to Apache, while retaining all of the functionality you are accustomed to with Apache (it’s a drop-in replacement for Apache).
CyberPanel also comes with Lets Encrypt functionality, for free SSL certificates.
