When it comes to Sylius (open source ecommerce framework), you have various options to choose from, starting with shared hosting and ending with private clouds. Sylius doesn’t have a preferable hosting provider. Due to that fact, it is crucial to conduct research and choose the hosting option best suited for you.
<div class="rtb-text-box is-blue-50">Sylius is an open headless eCommerce platform for mid-market and enterprise brands that need custom solutions. With powerful features and scalability designed for modern commerce, Sylius stands out among ecommerce platforms for its flexibility and advanced integration capabilities. It is an excellent choice for businesses looking to unlock the full potential of their online stores.</div>
Along our eCommerce journey, we came through many hosting providers while implementing projects for our clients. This article aims to present the available solutions when it comes to hosting your Sylius platform and show the good and the bad sides of each solution, helping businesses choose the right hosting to support their commerce needs.
Shared hosting
Shared hosting is based on sharing hardware resources between many users; for example, a client buys space on a computer disc dedicated to his ecommerce project. As a result, multiple websites utilize a single server. Shared hosting environments typically use a web server (such as Apache or Nginx) to host and manage multiple sites, allowing for efficient administration and customization.
Sylius framework is very efficient when it comes to shared hosting; nonetheless, nothing is perfect. Fortunately, we can fix any obstacles that may be encountered on the way, thanks to our experience with this platform.
It is the most economical hosting option because the cost of maintaining the server is spread over many customers and starts at 10 €. Also worth mentioning here is that there are software applications within the server that make accessing and controlling your website easy. These tools help manage hosting settings, including options to manage SSL certificates for secure connections, ensuring your site is protected and trustworthy. The downside of this solution is that due to the shared resources, heavy traffic like e.g. Black Friday, may slow down the client’s website.
Virtual Private Server and Dedicated Server
A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is a virtual environment separated from a physical server that, in contrast to shared hosting, does not limit your customization options and provides dedicated resources usable only by one account.
VPS and dedicated hosting are very similar. In both options, a client gets a dedicated server in a server room. However, the difference is that in the case of VPS, a hard drive is shared between other users. Due to that, some issues may occur, like in the case of PHP Symfony. Symfony uses a drive to save data and utilize it when needed, e.g. during repeatable operations. Therefore, drive speed is crucial for this. Sharing a hard drive with other users may cause its slower performance which will also slow down the website hosted on it. A dedicated server can handle heavy traffic without a drop in performance due to the dedicated resources and hard drive. Naturally, it comes with a higher price. VPS price starts at 60 €, while the price of a dedicated server is 100 € upwards.
While hosting VPS or a dedicated server, it is possible to partially automate maintenance of the server, e.g. automatic backup in case of a crash. However, it is important to have an administrator or DevOps engineer who will maintain the server and take care of malfunctions. Unfortunately, the price of such a service will definitely be higher than the price of hosting itself. Nevertheless, both options are better than shared hosting.
When setting up a Sylius application on a VPS or dedicated server, the installation process typically starts with ensuring the correct operating system is installed. You need to install all required components, including MySQL, PHP, and Composer, before proceeding. Begin by creating a new directory for your Sylius project, then configure the .env file with your environment variables and database connection details. To install Sylius, use the following command: composer create-project sylius/sylius-standard. Part of the Sylius setup may involve creating a symbolic link for your web server (like nginx) to point to the public directory, and running Sylius for development using the Symfony server. Proper deployment and configuration are essential for running Sylius efficiently and ensuring optimal performance and scalability on these hosting solutions.
What’s more, it is crucial to check if the provider has SSD NVMe drives in order to avoid performance issues with your website.
Platform as a Service
Platform as a Service (Paas) is a form of cloud computing that offers a platform and environment so that developers can create apps and services for the Internet. This hosting solution means the service is a platform where we can upload our code or website. The official Symfony PaaS is Platform.sh.
Such a hosting platform is even more automated than shared hosting and provides you with everything needed to establish your website. The configuration is very easy, thus, no programming knowledge is required. These platforms are optimized for high availability and optimal performance, aiming to deliver lightning speed for demanding ecommerce applications. PaaS providers often focus on optimizing infrastructure to ensure reliable uptime and performance, though real-world results may vary.
Nonetheless, the performance of this solution leaves a lot of room for improvement. The poor performance is a result of sharing a single machine between many users and a lot of automation. Like in the case of a dedicated server at a similar price, even a well-written application will run slower when hosted on a PaaS, similarly to a dedicated server.
This hosting solution is worth consideration when it is eventually configured for a particular website and doesn’t require DevOps engineer interference. However, the implementation cost of such an operation may be too high for many.
Public and Private Cloud hosting
A public cloud is very close to VPS, which means that we share a disc on a machine. The only advantage of the public cloud over VPS is the possibility of extending resources when needed. As a result, the pricing is higher than VPS.
Private Cloud is a dedicated server that has individual disc and individual resources available only to one customer. Those resources can be easily changed; for instance, a client may add another disc, add RAM, CPU, etc. In other words, the private cloud sells dedicated servers that can automatically scale up, which gives us flexibility.
Unfortunately, it comes with a price. The cost of a private cloud starts at a few thousand euros. However, it can be rented by the hour and paid for using resources.
A private cloud differs from dedicated servers with the possibility of extending resources in real time. Additionally, operating a private cloud is very easy and doesn’t require much effort e.g. adjusting sliders to increase RAM. This hosting solution is best for enterprises with large budgets.
Summary
Explore every solution available on the market and only then make a decision. Don't believe in everything you see in the advertisements of hosting platforms. Pay attention to the solution's infrastructure to get the desired performance and avoid problems. If you are a software developer who programs for yourself or just wants to show your work to the client, choose shared hosting or VPS. Even the PaaS will work if automation and performance aren’t your priority. But if you are focused on production and sales, we recommend a dedicated server or private cloud.
Worth mentioning is also the location of the server room. If it is, for example, in Warsaw, the website will run very fast for users from Central Europe. But if the same website is opened in America, it will most likely run slower. That’s why it is important to choose the location of the server room wisely for the best performance.
<div class="rtb-text-box is-blue-50">If we recommended a platform, we would choose OVH dedicated servers and Google Cloud Platform, which we successfully use for our client’s projects. If you are struggling with the topic of Sylius hosting or need help in Sylius development, don’t hesitate to contact us, we will do our best to help you. So let's get started and get your Sylius installation up and running!</div>
