Rolling Your Own Server
The alternative to WordPress-specific managed hosting is to roll your own server, either
on dedicated hardware or in a cloud environment.
On the dedicated side, Rackspace is a popular choice, and 1and1 provides powerful
hardware at wholesale prices. On the cloud side, Amazon EC2 is very popular, and
Digital Ocean is a cost-effective alternative.
No matter which route you go, you will have to set up your own web server, install PHP
and MySQL yourself, and manage all of the DNS and other server maintenance yourself.
Depending on your needs and situation, this could be a good thing or a bad thing. If
you need a more specific configuration for your app, you have to roll your own server.
On the other hand, you’ll have to spend time or money on server administration that
might be better spent elsewhere.
It’s important to know where your limits are in terms of server administration. For
example, Jason is very experienced setting up web servers like Apache and configuring
and maintaining PHP and MySQL. On the other hand, he has little experience managing
a firewall against denial of service attacks or load balancing across multiple servers.
You’ll want to choose a hosting company and option that works to your strengths and
makes up for your weaknesses.
Rolling your own server and getting 10 times the raw performance for 1/10th the cost
of a shared hosting plan can feel pretty good. But when you find yourself up at 3 a.m.,
wasting time struggling to keep your server alive against automated hacking attempts
from foreign countries, the monthly fee of the managed options may not seem so steep.
