Fully Managed Dedicated Hosting for WordPressⓇ
The wrong web host can feel like a bottleneck, limiting your site’s traffic, performance, and growth. You’ve put in the work on design and development, but choosing the right web hosting solution is the make-or-break decision for your online presence. If you don’t make the right choice, poor performance and unexpected issues are virtually guaranteed.
The good news is there’s a relatively simple answer. For high-traffic, high-value websites, a dedicated server is the way to go. This option offers unparalleled reliability, the flexibility to scale your resources as needed, and one of the most secure hosting options for WordPressⓇ[1] sites.
In this post, we’ll dive deep into fully managed dedicated hosting for WordPress and explore all its benefits. We’ll also compare it to other popular options like shared, Virtual Private Server (VPS), and cloud hosting.
To understand the difference, imagine the web hosting landscape as swimming pools. You can choose a crowded, shared public pool on a hot day (shared hosting), a more organized pool in an apartment complex with designated swim lanes (VPS hosting), or your own private, exclusive pool at a residence (isolated, dedicated hosting). Let’s explore why having your own private server is the best way to ensure your site performs without limits.
What is fully managed dedicated hosting for WordPress?
In simple terms, dedicated hosting is a plan that provides the use of an entire server just for your site. This differs significantly from shared and VPS hosting, both of which involve storing multiple sites on one server.
A dedicated server is commonly used for enterprise-grade websites, including corporations and eCommerce storefronts. This is directly related to the benefits that this solution provides, as these websites typically require higher levels of security, reliability, and flexibility to process payments and handle large volumes of traffic.
As we mentioned, dedicated hosting offers many benefits that can justify the higher price tag typically associated with this type of plan.
Fully dedicated hosting provides the most reliable service and the greatest amount of uptime. This is crucial for all websites, but is even more valuable for high-traffic ones (i.e., sites with 300,000 or more visitors per month). Typically, these websites require more resources than a shared server can provide.
Perhaps most importantly, a dedicated hosting environment ensures top-notch security. While other hosting types have their own security measures, a dedicated server gives you total control over the setup, allowing you to own, customize, and secure your content fully. This is a significant advantage over a shared plan, where your site’s security can be indirectly dependent on the actions and protection measures of other websites sharing the same server.
When combined, it’s easy to see why so many business owners trust dedicated hosting for their WordPress sites. However, it’s always wise to consider other options. Let’s take a look at how this solution compares to three other popular plans: shared, VPS, and cloud hosting.
The major difference between dedicated and shared hosting is the number of websites stored on one server. With shared hosting, the server is split between multiple customers, usually with minimal to no configuration options. Dedicated hosting means you have your own isolated server and full access to its resources.
Considering this difference, it makes sense that dedicated hosting is more flexible. On a shared server, you’re competing with other customers for storage space, memory, and power. It’s harder to scale your resources to accommodate high website traffic and ensure your site performs at its best.
Additionally, with dedicated hosting, your own site’s security is not dependent on whether other websites on your server are protected. Instead, you have total control, so you can better prevent attacks and data loss.
Automatically managed updates
One of the primary benefits of dedicated hosting for WordPress is the ability to run managed, automated updates. While it’s true that WordPress offers automatic updates for both the core platform and plugins, blindly updating a site isn’t always the best idea. Sometimes new versions come with bugs or compatibility issues that may cause problems.
For this reason, many site owners disable automatic updates entirely. That strategy carries risks of its own, since updates often fix security flaws. Managed dedicated hosting that comes with plugin management tools, such as the WP Engine’s Smart Plugin Manager, ensures you get the best of both worlds: your site is kept secure automatically, but the updates are vetted first to ensure that they won’t introduce any new problems.
Dedicated vs. VPS or other isolated hosting plans
While similar to a shared plan, VPS hosting is a more secure option than shared hosting. Your site resides on a server with others, but it’s more flexible because your resources are guaranteed through the use of virtual divisions.
However, compared with VPS and other isolated hosting plans, dedicated hosting takes security and flexibility one step further. While virtual divisions do help separate your site from other customers’ websites on dedicated servers are (of course) more isolated. Where you may face resource limitations with the former option, the latter enables you to truly have access to exactly what you need.
Security is another factor to consider and, arguably, the most important. VPS hosting certainly offers protection beyond a shared hosting configuration, but not to the same level as fully dedicated hosting, which allows you to truly lock down your personal server to ensure a safe experience.
Dedicated vs. isolated cloud hosting
Isolated cloud hosting is another option for your WordPress website. This kind of plan takes advantage of multiple server resources that are all connected virtually. Consequently, your website can be isolated but not rely on just one single, physical server, as it would with a dedicated hosting plan.
By comparison, cloud hosting is highly scalable and affordable. This is due to the fact that it’s leveraging several different servers across a network. As such, there is no single point of failure. If one server goes down, your website should remain operational as it’s supported by resources from several computers.
When it comes to security, cloud hosting can be tricky. Overall, it can be very secure due to its ability to segment sensitive data. This allows you to separate sensitive information, like credit card details, but it also requires a highly knowledgeable programmer to set it up properly.
How to choose the right type of hosting for your business site
We’ve covered a few elements that set dedicated hosting apart from other options. However, if you’re looking for the right solution for your business website, there are some additional factors to consider.
If you’re on the fence about what kind of hosting you need, here are a few helpful things to keep in mind:
- Domain name. You likely already have a web address for your business. Understanding how your host handles domain purchasing and registration is something to consider. Watch out for transfer fees or other potential roadblocks.
- Security. Security is particularly important if your site handles sensitive data, processes customer information, or accepts payments online. Dedicated servers provide significant protection, especially when combined with additional security measures. Evaluating your host’s security features can save you potential headaches down the road.
- Bandwidth and resource limits. If users will be viewing or loading videos and large images from your server, you’ll want to explore how your bandwidth, monthly visits, and storage limits are handled. Dedicated and isolated servers have a key advantage: your resources are solely for your site, meaning you don’t compete with other customers and are less likely to face slowdowns or bottlenecks, which is often reflected in more generous resource limits like unmetered bandwidth.
- Support and expertise. If you prefer to handle problems on your own, some dedicated hosting plans let you do so. However, when the unexpected happens, managed hosts, like WP Engine, can help you through it. Our plans include professional, expert help and support for WordPress sites, which extends beyond standard technical support. With dedicated hosting, you get additional “people support” that shared plans don’t offer, including dedicated account management and customer success representatives who can assist with onboarding, migrations, and strategic planning.
- Guarantees. Most web hosting plans include “guaranteed uptime.” It’s wise to monitor your uptime and check your Service Level Agreement (SLA) to ensure your provider is keeping their promise and to determine what to expect in terms of uptime. Be sure to look closely at any hosting company’s promises and “freebies,” as these often come with fine print that can limit their actual value.
Not all business websites require the same hosting. For example, your company’s online presence may be primarily on social media. Alternatively, you might be looking to launch a full eCommerce solution for your products. Assessing the factors listed above can help you determine whether a dedicated server is right for you.
Dedicated servers and managed hosting for WordPress with WP Engine
By far the most popular Content Management System (CMS) on the web, WordPress is an excellent option for many types of websites. These include personal blogs, small business sites, and even enterprise-grade online properties.
Just like with any other CMS, you have your pick when it comes to hosting. However, a dedicated server can be one of the best ways to store and deploy your site.
With a dedicated hosting plan, you get access to high-performance infrastructure and expert support. This means your site will be secure, reliable, and flexible enough to meet all of your needs.
As a premium dedicated hosting platform, WP Engine offers plans for a variety of website needs, including managed hosting for WordPress on a dedicated server.
Are you ready to learn more? Take a look at our managed hosting plans!
