What Is WP Cloud? A Complete Guide for Developers and Website Owners (2024)

WordPress community members in the know might have heard the term WP Cloud floating around over the last few years, and it has gained strength in the last few months. The promising platform is catching the attention of WordPress developers, and many website owners are also starting to wonder what WP Cloud is and what it has to offer.

WP Cloud is the Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) version of the Automattic infrastructure. It handles the complexities of website hosting, such as network setup, data center positions, server connections, and security measures.

WP Cloud has been the structural force behind popular hosting platforms like WordPress.com and Pressable, providing excellent hosting services. While the service was officially launched in August of 2021, Pressable was the original hosting company to use WP Cloud and this great platform has been in place since the summer of 2019.

A quick heads up before we get started, it is important to note that WP Cloud is specifically made for hosting providers to level up their services. While website owners cannot buy WP Cloud itself, they can choose a hosting company, like Pressable, that offers it.

What Features Does WP Cloud Offer?

The WP Cloud platform was designed specifically for WordPress website hosting. It offers lightning-fast speed, flexible scalability, dedicated security, and efficient server management.

Let’s take a closer look at the features that set WP Cloud apart.

Scalable, High-Speed Network

WP Cloud is an extremely reliable and scalable cloud hosting platform. Not only is it built to hold strong when faced with enormous traffic spikes, WP Cloud is prepared to take care of your sites in the most unlikely of catastrophes. Its robust, geo-redundant automatic failover system works in real-time, strategically distributing resources across multiple locations to ensure consistent uptime and performance.

It’s incredibly fast as well. Employing increased CPU frequency with scalable PHP workers, and using the newest server technology available, WP Cloud allows your websites to process more visitor and customer requests in less time.

With this, multiple layers of caching are available for each WP Cloud site. This includes page caching (Batcache leveraging Memcached), database query caching (WordPress Persistent Object Caching, leveraging Memcached), OPCache, and the global WP Cloud Edge Cache.

WP Cloud’s ultra-powerful Edge Cache first handles incoming traffic. If it has a cached version of the site, it returns one – if not, it routes the request to one of four origin data centers. The primary server promptly provides the information – should it fail for whatever reason, the secondary server picks up the task. Meanwhile, your service goes on, uninterrupted.

This setup ensures that WP Cloud’s infrastructure can support thousands of active users per site, handle massive bursts of site traffic, and cater to some of the largest eCommerce sites on the web.

Built-in, Layered Security

WP Cloud prioritizes security by incorporating several features into its platform.

WP Cloud’s architecture protects each site by isolating websites on the server using Linux namespaces and control groups, often called cgroups. Linux namespaces restrict process access to allocated resources, while cgroups control and isolate resource usage for process groups. This strictly separates each website’s data from other sites and users in the pool, increasing security.

During DDoS attacks – as well as benign surprise traffic spikes – WP Cloud’s cgroups and custom scheduler minimize the impact on performance and resources for other websites in the same pool. This means your website will always have the resources it needs to keep running well, even if traffic suddenly surges.

All site traffic is encrypted with Transport Layer Security (TLS) as soon as they hit one of WP Cloud’s edge servers, which protects the data shared between the user and the website. This foundational layer of security is essential for keeping sensitive information confidential and maintaining the site’s integrity.

Managed Hosting, All In House

WP Cloud proudly manages every facet of its hosting in-house. As Joshua Goode, Pressable’s Senior Technical Lead, explains it:

“Since we’ve built our own cloud, rather than relying on public clouds like AWS & Google, we’re able to offer the platform at a very competitive price while delivering better performance.”

This has a major impact on the quality and speed of customer support.

Pressable has its own in-house support team, independent of WP Cloud. However, the teams work together as needed to triage issues and quickly provide support to the end user. This collaboration makes it possible for Pressable to offer 24/7 expert support for every website.

A strong community spirit drives WP Cloud’s service and infrastructure management. Created by and for WordPress community members and experts, WP Cloud is truly tailor-made for WordPress.

How Is WP Cloud Different From Traditional Website Hosting?

WP Cloud stands out from traditional hosting not just because of its technological capabilities, but also because of its team’s extensive knowledge and experience in WordPress. This expertise is the foundation of the platform’s architecture, making it truly unique.

WordPress sites are often hosted on platforms that are not specifically designed for the CMS. However, WP Cloud is different. When your website is hosted on WP Cloud, you know it was carefully crafted by the WordPress experts at Automattic.

WordPress, as an open-source and community-driven platform, makes for the perfect environment for crafting a hosting solution tailored to its users’ specific needs. Jesse Friedman, Head of WP Cloud at Automattic, highlights this in an episode of The WP Minute. He emphasizes the uniqueness of WP Cloud’s dedication:

“Unlike the other cloud providers who split their focus across dozens of verticals, powering everything from logistics for warehouses to virtual reality, from game services to websites written in all sorts of languages, WP Cloud is 100% focused on hosting WordPress.Since WP Cloud is layered under Pressable’s platform and UI, you can choose the hosting experience that is right for you while leveraging the speed and availability of the Cloud.”

WP Cloud goes beyond regular hosting by embodying shared knowledge and a passion for open source, offering an outstanding hosting experience for WordPress users.

Who Is WP Cloud Right For?

Site owners interested in a switch to WP Cloud first need to know that, strictly speaking, they’re not its target audience. The platform is a B2B product that’s mainly focused on hosting providers, not individual website owners.

Although website owners cannot directly access WP Cloud, they can choose hosting providers that use the platform, such as Pressable. These hosting providers act as the interface for website owners to use the WP Cloud infrastructure. Stated differently, WP Cloud is the engine that powers amazing website hosting.

Types of Websites Benefitting from WP Cloud

• E-commerce Websites – WP Cloud provides e-commerce websites with fast load times, which are important for conversion rates and sales. This prevents shopping cart abandonment and enhances customer satisfaction.
• News and Magazine Websites – WP Cloud is an ideal hosting solution for news and magazine websites with lots of images and videos. Its ability to efficiently handle media elements ensures a smooth user experience. This is important for websites that heavily rely on multimedia content to deliver news effectively.
• Membership Sites – When users log in for exclusive content, they expect to get it fast. Good performance improves the user experience and reduces membership cancellations.
• Educational Websites & Online Courses – High performance is also important for sites hosting videos, interactive lessons, and downloadable resources since it provides a seamless experience without interruptions.

With Pressable, businesses can offload the intricacies of website hosting management, meaning they can focus on what matters most to them. Having WordPress experts involved in the process from top to bottom makes for an efficient hosting experience all around.

Advantages and Disadvantages of WP Cloud

Advantages of WP Cloud:

• WP Cloud offers several advantages, including seriously fast speeds facilitated by its dedicated infrastructure and Edge Cache.
• Its highly scalable nature allows users to effortlessly adjust resources, maintaining consistently high performance for end users even under varying traffic loads.
• The platform has multi-layered security features such as TLS encryption and server isolation embedded into its infrastructure.

Disadvantages of WP Cloud:

• WP Cloud does not host non-WordPress sites.
• Another limitation is that it does not yet allow for subdomain multisite installations, though subdirectory multisite networks are supported.
• The platform may not be suitable for users who desire direct control over server configuration. The core structure of WP Cloud isn’t customizable – after all, that’s the S in PaaS. That’s not to say you can’t customize your setup, but those looking to have direct server configuration input may not be satisfied with WP Cloud.

How to Migrate Your Website to WP Cloud

If you’re thinking about hosting your website on WP Cloud, you’ll need to move it to a service like Pressable. Thankfully, it’s very easy for website owners to migrate to Pressable. You can either use an automated WordPress plugin or you can let the Pressable team manage the migration for you.

If you’d prefer to manually migrate using a more direct method, these steps can help you with the process:

1. Use PHPMyAdmin or MySQL/the command line to export your database.
2. Use cPanel or another file manager to access and download files from your website’s directory for a thorough site file export.
3. Create a new WordPress website through your chosen WP Cloud-powered provider.
4. Import your database into the new environment using PHPMyAdmin or the command line.
5. Use cPanel or another file manager to access your new site’s servers and upload the previously exported site files.
6. Confirm your site’s security by verifying its TLS registration. WP Cloud includes this by default.
7. Carefully check your transferred site to find and fix any problems, like broken links, pages that are missing, or errors with loading. These issues could mean that some files or tables were lost during the transfer.

Migrating your website to Pressable’s WP Cloud-based service is made easier by our managed hosting. With 24/7 support, Pressable offers a stress-free experience, allowing you to focus on other things.

Experience the Power of WP Cloud With Pressable’s Managed Hosting

Are you ready to improve your website hosting? Developed by Automattic, the WP Cloud PaaS is ready to change the game with its speedy and secure infrastructure. Managed and created by WordPress experts, it guarantees dependability and outstanding performance.

Interested in learning more? Dive into the WP Cloud experience and start hosting with Pressable today!