Demystifying Autoscaling in WordPress: Scalability & High Availability

Many managed WordPress web hosts advertise “autoscaling” without really offering it. Instead of using true autoscaling systems, they manage deployments manually when needed. Worse, they might ask you to upgrade your hosting plan when you get a significant traffic spike on your site.

True autoscaling is fully automated, both up and down. Autoscaling systems can work seamlessly with WordPress projects, leading to deployments with near-perfect availability and high degrees of scalability. With the right web host, you can have true, fully automated WordPress autoscaling.

In this article, we’re going to demystify autoscaling in WordPress. By the time we’re done, you’ll know how to spot a true autoscaling system, ideal for high-traffic sites like yours. Let’s get to it!

The Technology Behind True Autoscaling

To understand true autoscaling, we need to look at the technology that makes it possible. When websites need to handle varying amounts of traffic efficiently, they need a system that can automatically add or remove computing resources as needed. This is where container orchestration comes in.

Kubernetes (K8s) has emerged as the industry standard for managing these containerized applications at scale. Think of Kubernetes as a highly intelligent traffic controller that can instantly spin up new instances of your website when traffic increases and scale them back down when traffic decreases.Over 60% of companies running large-scale applications use Kubernetes for this very reason – it provides the most reliable and efficient way to implement true autoscaling.

Image source: kubernetes.io

However, implementing Kubernetes-powered autoscaling isn’t simple. This is why many businesses turn to managed WordPress hosts that promise to handle this complexity for them. But here’s where things get tricky – many managed hosts use “autoscaling” as a marketing buzzword rather than offering true automated resource scaling.

The Reality of “Autoscaling” in Managed WordPress Hosting

Unless you’re using a web host that’s upfront about how they implement autoscaling, it can be safe to assume they’re using it as a buzzword. To double-check, take the time to look through the web host’s documentation or talk with a sales agent. If they offer a proper autoscaling implementation, they should be willing to share that information with you.

A real hosting autoscaling solution should be fully autonomous. If your WordPress website requires more resources, the host should allocate them without requiring manual confirmation which can slow the process down. Once traffic dies down, the autoscaling solution should reduce the resources allocated to your website. It can be that simple.

Achieving True Autoscaling: The Hard Way

There are several approaches to implementing true autoscaling for WordPress sites, but they aren’t all created equal:

Setting Up Your Own Infrastructure

You could set up your own Kubernetes cluster on cloud providers like AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure. While this gives you complete control, it comes with significant challenges:

• High technical complexity requiring DevOps expertise
• Substantial time investment in setup and maintenance
• Unpredictable costs that can quickly spiral
• Ongoing infrastructure management overhead
• Security and compliance considerations

For small to medium-sized businesses, this approach often proves too resource-intensive and costly. Many companies find themselves spending more time managing infrastructure than focusing on their core business.

The Easy Way: Cloudways Autonomous for Managed WordPress Autoscaling

This is where Cloudways Autonomous comes in. Cloudways Autonomous is a fully managed autoscaling solution for WordPress and WooCommerce applications.

We’ve taken all the complexity of Kubernetes-powered autoscaling and packaged it into a simple, predictable solution starting at just $35/month. With Cloudways Autonomous, you get:

• True, Kubernetes-backed autoscaling without the technical overhead
• Pre-configured and optimized WordPress environment
• Integrated enterprise tools like Cloudflare Enterprise CDN & Caching and Object Cache Pro
• Predictable pricing with no surprise infrastructure costs
• Zero DevOps knowledge required

Instead of spending weeks setting up and maintaining a Kubernetes cluster, you can get started with true autoscaling in minutes. While other managed WordPress hosts may claim to offer autoscaling, Cloudways Autonomous is the only solution that leverages the power of Kubernetes in a fully managed, WordPress-optimized environment.

With Cloudways Autonomous, your website gets assigned more pods depending on the demand it’s facing. Once that demand subsides, it scales back down automatically, so you’re not paying for unneeded resources. In fact, in a test by Koddr.io, Cloudways Autonomous was able to handle up to 12.5 add-to-cart actions per second for 1,000 users while still loading without errors.

Comprehensive Features of Cloudways Autonomous

Every Cloudways Autonomous plan includes:

• Real autoscaling and high availability. Autoscaling is not a buzzword with Cloudways Autonomous. We offer a fully automated scaling implementation for WordPress websites. This can help ensure high availability for any of your projects.
• Unlimited PHP workers. The more PHP workers that are available for your application, the more simultaneous requests it will be able to handle. This can help reduce loading times and offer a better user experience.
• Integrated Cloudflare Enterprise CDN. This gives you access to Cloudflare’s edge cache and global CDN. Combined with Cloudways Autonomous autoscaling, this will make your site load blazing fast.
• Integrated Object Cache Pro. This helps speed up database queries and cache frequently accessed data. In Cloudways Autonomous, we use Object Cache Pro to help your WooCommerce cart and checkout pages and the WordPress admin load as fast as possible.
• Advanced security features. These features include DDoS mitigation at multiple layers, integration with Cloudflare’s Web Application Firewall (WAF), and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates.
• Automated backups and staging. Cloudways Autonomous offers automated backups and staging functionality. Staging sites come with one-click pull and deployment options.
• Access to expert support. With Cloudways Autonomous, you get access to actual WordPress experts around the clock. That’s almost as good as autoscaling in terms of helping keep your WordPress application running smoothly.

Use Cases for WordPress Autoscaling

Not every website needs an autoscaling hosting solution. However, many website owners encounter common scenarios that can be solved using autoscaling. Let’s discuss them.

1. Handling Sudden Traffic Spikes

As your WordPress website grows, you’ll need to deal with spikes in traffic and possibly increasing demands. These are moments when you have a large number of users trying to access your site all at once, be it due to an offer, a viral social media post, or just a matter of chance.

Traffic spikes can wipe out a lot of basic hosting plans. Since the server doesn’t have the necessary resources to handle so many requests, it starts returning errors. If the spike is huge, it can take down the server altogether.

With true autoscaling, your site automatically gets the resources it needs to handle these surges seamlessly.

Additional resources mean that your website should be able to load quickly and without errors, even if it’s getting a lot of traffic. Combine autoscaling with a Content Delivery Network (CDN) and you can greatly reduce the chances of experiencing downtime due to traffic surges.

2. Preparing for Seasonal Fluctuations

If you run a WooCommerce store or any other kind of ecommerce website, you know that when holidays and other seasonal dates roll around, the sales can be massive. In the US alone, customers spend $254 billion in online shopping during holiday retail sales. That’s a lot of traffic and sales that online stores need to account for.

Since you know those seasonal fluctuations are coming, it makes sense to prepare your website for them. Using an autoscaling WordPress and WooCommerce hosting provider can be a smart solution.

With Cloudways Autonomous’s autoscaling capabilities, your store can handle these predictable yet intense traffic periods without breaking a sweat.

4. Optimizing Costs for High Traffic

High-traffic websites can cost a fortune in hosting fees. Without an autoscaling solution, you need to budget for the plan that will get you through high-traffic events without your site going offline.

That’s very hard to plan around since you can’t be sure when you’ll need more resources for your site. Overall, you end up paying for more hosting resources than you need for a majority of the time.

A WordPress autoscaling solution assigns your application the resources it needs dynamically. When there’s little traffic, resources scale down for the sake of efficiency. That means more reasonable costs since you only pay for what you’re using.

Conclusion

True autoscaling solutions should be fully automated, adapting to your WordPress website’s needs in real-time. While you could build your own autoscaling infrastructure, Cloudways Autonomous offers a more accessible solution that combines the power of Kubernetes with the simplicity of managed WordPress hosting.

It’s ideal for high-traffic WordPress websites and applications. You get access to all the perks of managed hosting, while also leveraging Kubernetes autoscaling, load balancing, and high availability.

Cloudways Autonomous offers several hosting plans depending on your needs. Check out our plans starting at $35 and let us handle your migration for free.