Magento e-commerce website hosting is quite similar to hosting other platform-based e-commerce sites (CMS) Joomla or WordPress, however there are unique recommendations for Magento website hosting. Magento is a flexible open source e-commerce platform that provides businesses of all sizes with an online e-commerce store. Magento includes tools for customizing the e-commerce store: external appearance, content, product catalog, functionality (search, product comparison, magnifying glass for products, wish list, purchase management and more), marketing tools, analysis and search engine optimization. Magento e-commerce website hosting must be based on LAMP: Linux, Apache, Nginx, PHP as well as make use of the MySQL database management system. Magento e-commerce site hosting servers must be running an up-to-date Linux kernel and must also be able to run scheduled cron jobs. It should be noted that for Magento e-commerce site hosting it is recommended to use virtual server storage (VPS), mainly due to the improved security, faster performance, dedicated allocation of volume, memory and processing power as well as the ability to adapt the server to e-commerce site needs.

Magento Ecommerce Website Hosting – Recommendations

Magento’s e-commerce website hosting is intended to enable online commercial activity and includes a number of basic conditions mentioned earlier. We will present the following recommendations to Magento website owners when purchasing a storage plan (whether it is shared storage or storage on a virtual server – VPS):

Website Security –

Hosting an e-commerce website requires a high level of security to prevent attacks or hacking into the site and theft of sensitive information such as customer information and payment information. The credibility of an e-commerce site is a touchstone of the site’s customers for the purpose of making a purchase and remaining as the site’s customers. Magento website owner must make sure that the website hosting company provides 24/7/365 monitoring service for the website hosting system (shared storage or storage on a virtual server) and prevents attacks and hacks to the storage system. An e-commerce site that has been hacked even once – the damage to reputation may be critical to the continued commercial activity of the site! In addition, hosting an e-commerce site must include built-in protection mechanisms that operate in the background and do not affect the site’s performance, in a way that prevents entry to the site management panel from hostile countries and also allows FTP or Cpanel access outside Israel by setting friendly IP addresses.

High Availability –

Magento e-commerce site hosting must be based on the maximum availability of the storage server. If the Magento site is not available to its customers, no purchases can be made and not only that – it damages the site’s long-term reputation. Magento storage must give the site owner the knowledge that the site will be available at all times, even when the server is maintained and even if the server crashes – the site will upload an alternate look server.

SSL –

An SSL certificate installed on an e-commerce site hosting server enables encryption of the traffic that takes place between the site users and the site itself. Traffic means the transfer of data between the site’s storage server and its database and the site’s users (filling out forms, making payments, searching queries, entering a personal area, etc.). The use of an SSL certificate on a Magento commerce site is a reference for the users of the site because all information transmitted between them and the site hosting server is encrypted. This reference is very important for the reliability of the site and the peace of mind of its users. E-commerce website hosting must allow the use of an SSL certificate, when there are two options: a free self-signed SSL certificate or a commercial SSL certificate that is renewed for a fee each year.

Fast hosting server –

E-commerce website hosting requires the use of a fast and reliable web hosting server. It is advisable to make sure with the web hosting company that the storage servers are based on SSD disks that are significantly faster and critical compared to regular web based web hosting servers. The high loading speed of the Magento e-commerce site will keep the site users and potential customers on the site as it responds quickly to queries and actions as well as quickly loads the site pages. Low loading speed of e-commerce site pages will cause site users to be frustrated and leave the site in favor of a competing site – faster.

Technical Support –

Magento e-commerce site hosting requires more knowledge and experience from site owners than image site hosting. E-commerce site owners do not always have the knowledge and experience necessary for day-to-day independent operation and therefore there is a need for a web hosting company that will provide the highest level of technical support and efficiency, both in terms of site hosting and on the Magento level. It is highly recommended to make sure with the website hosting company that you can get such technical support via email, service call system and phone.

Backup and Restore –

One of the things that can bring down an e-commerce site and severely damage its reputation and probably its ability to generate profits from sales, is due to a situation where the trading site collapsed for some reason: human error, installing an inappropriate plugin, hacking and so on. E-commerce website hosting must include the option of automatic backup, both of the website files and of its database, so that if necessary it can be easily and quickly restored to one of the last backup points.

Working with CDN – Content Transfer System –

CDN is intended primarily for uploading a site stored on the servers of one country, on the servers of another country – without delay in loading due to the geographical distance. E-commerce site hosting should include the possibility of using the CDN in a way that will make it easy for site owners to perform the steps required to operate the CDN and use it on a regular basis.