{"id":139786,"date":"2019-12-18T09:53:39","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T15:53:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getflywheel.com\/?p=29766"},"modified":"2025-05-12T14:44:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T19:44:28","slug":"what-is-cloud-hosting","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/case-studies\/resources\/what-is-cloud-hosting\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Cloud Hosting?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While \u201cthe cloud\u201d is a little hard to initially wrap your mind around, it\u2019s a great resource for everyone from mobile phone users to website developers. When we talk about the cloud, we\u2019re talking about a virtual system rather than physical hardware.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The cloud is a series of networks that acts as one to pull information from data centers and connect devices. You\u2019ve probably heard of cloud storage \u2013 it\u2019s the most popular example, with tools like iCloud, Dropbox, Google Cloud Storage, etc. These tools help illustrate how the cloud works.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But what does cloud hosting mean? Well, the answer might be simpler than you think. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s what we\u2019ll cover:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#cloudvstraditional\">Cloud hosting vs. traditional hosting<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#keybenefits\">Key benefits of cloud hosting<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#howtopicktherightcloudhost\">How to pick the right cloud host for your site<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#discover\">Discover the WP Engine<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#discover\"> Cloud Platform<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr id=\"cloudvstraditional\" class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"1\">Cloud Hosting vs. Traditional Hosting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With traditional hosting, you have one physical server that keeps your site up and running and connects to your data center. Both your file system and your database are on the exact same system. Whether you\u2019re on shared or dedicated hosting, it works fairly similarly. All your resources run through the server in order to connect to a data center and provide all the necessary information to your site.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cloud hosting offers a different solution that uses a network of servers and brings many added benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t get this confused with \u201cthe cloud,\u201d though. Cloud hosting doesn\u2019t completely get rid of servers and data centers. It\u2019s actually a certain server configuration that\u2019s built to optimize performance for your web infrastructure. The magic here is, with this configuration, you can pull from a network of servers to keep your site up and running! This makes it a great solution for anyone who\u2019s concerned about their website staying up and running 24\/7.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr id=\"keybenefits\" class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Benefits of Cloud Hosting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like I mentioned, moving your site to cloud hosting is a great option for every site! If it costs the same, there\u2019s no reason not to do it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thinking about how your site is set up is also important. For example, if you\u2019re on WordPress, cloud hosting is an excellent solution. Working with a cloud hosting provider that\u2019s specifically tuned for WordPress is bound to optimize your website.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/getflywheel-images.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Cloud-Platform_Cloud-Icon-Paper-662.png\" alt=\"paper cloud with sun peeking out behind it on bright blue background\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s take a deeper look at the best benefits of cloud hosting and why it\u2019s a great solution.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Reliability and Security<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What exactly makes cloud hosting more reliable than traditional hosting? The short answer is the network. Because your site now has access to a number of servers, it\u2019s likely you\u2019ll experience less downtime (especially if you were previously on shared hosting). And did I mention it\u2019s lightning fast?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All these servers work together to make up for each other, should something go wrong. While this might sound like shared hosting between multiple servers, cloud configuration is slightly different in that it has public and private networks.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both public and private hosting will use resources from a variety of available servers and are great for most everyone\u2019s needs! The main difference is that private will give you<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">better security and privacy. Private cloud hosting requires more time, setup, and money. The added level of security can make a difference, especially if you\u2019re handling very confidential information like a bank or hospital might.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Public cloud hosting offers many of the same benefits with less management from the server-side. But don\u2019t let the word \u201cpublic\u201d be a concern. Because it\u2019s largely virtual, it\u2019s still much better security than your traditional hosting setup.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"3\">Scalability and Customization<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/getflywheel-images.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2018\/10\/2018-07-26_Cloud-Platform-by-Flywheel_Shoot-7446-662.png\" alt=\"what is cloud hosting explained by flywheeler in cloud scene backdrop setup in flywheel coworking space in background\" class=\"wp-image-29859\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because the network of servers can use resources between themselves differently, this means your site is automatically set up to<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">grow with you and your business. Just the opposite is also true. Say you did an audit and want to delete a bunch of content, your site can easily and quickly scale down with you, too.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adding and decreasing server space only takes seconds without all the complications that can come with traditional hosting. This means your web infrastructure is as flexible as you are!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr id=\"howtopicktherightcloudhost\" class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>How to Pick the Right Cloud Host for Your Site<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cloud hosting is becoming more and more popular for all websites because of these awesome features. The key is to pick the best host for your background and site setup. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether you have a small personal site and don\u2019t want to deal with hosting or you\u2019re an advanced user who appreciates a hosting partner, you might want to consider something like<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/managed-wordpress-hosting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">managed hosting<\/a>. It provides a great solution for anyone who\u2019s looking to save time and have a team of experts to provide peace of mind. This means you\u2019re able to focus on growing your business or get back precious billable work hours.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many <a href=\"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/managed-wordpress-hosting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">managed hosts like WP Engine<\/a> have a cloud hosting solution available. The key is looking for a team with excellent support and an intuitive platform that saves you time. Again, it just depends on what you\u2019re looking for when it comes to features and your own site setup.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that you have all the information, are you ready to try cloud hosting?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This article was originally published in 2018. It was updated December 20, 2019.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While \u201cthe cloud\u201d is a little hard to initially wrap your mind around, it\u2019s a great resource for everyone from mobile phone users to website developers. When we talk about the cloud, we\u2019re talking about a virtual system rather than physical hardware. The cloud is a series of networks that acts as one to pull<span class=\"tile__ellipses\">&hellip;<\/span><span class=\"tile__ellipses--animated\"><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":297,"featured_media":147211,"template":"","resource-topic":[],"resource-role":[],"resource-type":[916],"class_list":["post-139786","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What is Cloud Hosting? | WP Engine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn what cloud hosting is and how it benefits your website. Discover the advantages of scalability, reliability, and performance in cloud hosting.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is Cloud Hosting? | WP Engine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn what cloud hosting is and how it benefits your website. 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