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How to decide on the most appropriate hosting solution for my freelancing needs

Posted September 19, 2017 3.8k views
Server OptimizationWordPressGetting StartedSecurityEmailBackupsConfiguration ManagementSystem ToolsControl Panels

I have spent the better part of a week tumbling down the rabbit hole that is modern Wordpress hosting solutions. I am in the process of setting up a freelance web business, starting off with basic Wordpress website development and management and have made it to the point of having to decide on using a managed Wordpress host (SiteGround) or go the VPS route for hosting client websites.

Going the VPS route and using DO seems like the all-round best solution, but I have read enough opinion pieces on server and Wordpress maintenance to scare me right on back to a managed hosting solution.

I am by no means an experienced sysadmin (but am willing to learn). What I am unsure of in point form is:

  • What exactly is involved with ongoing server/cms maintenance. Security, Firewall, Backups, Software updates (Server and CMS)
  • What tools, if any, can help with ongoing maintenance? e.g. ServerPilot? CloudFlare? Cloudways?
  • The best solution for client emails (G Suite?)
  • If using DO, which setup is most appropriate i.e. Droplet per website or several sites per (larger) Droplet?
  • Not specifically related to my initial questions, but how do other freelancers handle client billing from a hosting perspective?

So finally, for someone trying to do what I am doing, with my level of experience, what is the most appropriate hosting solution?

Thank you in advance for any insight on this :)

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simmowright
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simmowright

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1 comment
  • nickreiner April 23, 2018
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    I know it’s a pretty old question but there wasn’t much activity so I thought I’d comment.

    First off, since you’re not an experienced admin, you did the right thing not going straight to unmanaged servers.
    There’s a lot involved in server management, but basically, it’s:

    • Security ( firewall setup, ssh keys, malware monitoring, troubleshooting, and A LOT more)
    • 24/7 proactive monitoring (meaning you do something ASAP if something goes wrong)
    • Server Updates
    • Backups
    • Server maintenance (checking for any errors, disk space usage, monitoring usage) Just because of this I never recommend unmanaged hosting to beginners. There are plenty of cheap managed alternatives that I mention here. The price difference is something like $20 per month. So you get full management, a great control panel, and ease of mind for $20.

    You can still test and learn stuff and experiment on your own with some droplets.
    Some tools do most of this and will help you a lot, but using a tool without any input from you is not enough. Tools such as ServerPilot and RunCloud are great if you need such a tool. You can also use a CLI tool like Centmin Mod or EasyEngine to automate the installation of WordPress, but they don’t do much for server management.

    G Suite is one of the best solutions for emails. You can use something like MX Route if you need a cheaper alternative.

    DO setup depends on your websites and how big they are. There are plenty of tutorials here on DO on how to do most setups. A starting guideline is to use one droplet per one active website. But of course, you can host multiple websites on the same droplet or configure high availability for one website on multiple droplets.

    Freelancers mostly handle billing via PayPal and Stripe. If you’re using WHMCS or something similar, it’s easily integrated with most billing systems. If you have PayPal you can just create an invoice.

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1 answer
soufianebouchaara September 19, 2017

Hi,
What exactly is involved with ongoing server/cms maintenance. Security, Firewall, Backups, Software updates (Server and CMS)
What tools, if any, can help with ongoing maintenance? e.g. ServerPilot? CloudFlare? Cloudways?

It depends the level of security you want to implement, you can for the first time as begineer protect your server with cloudflare against waff, ddos,brutforce attacks or all other attacks, so you let cloudflare manage your security, once you gather some experience in sysadministration you can do all the security implementations yourself in the same server all for free.

The best solution for client emails (G Suite?)
If using DO, which setup is most appropriate i.e. Droplet per website or several sites per (larger) Droplet?

All you need to do is to configure your domain name dns to point on your DO droplet, then setup your GSuit by confirming your ownership of the domain name then add a few MX Records in DNS section to point on the google mail servers.

I advice you to start with a small droplet and make it as a webserver using apache or nginx then master all the sysadmin stufs, once you can handle and troubleshoot all the common errors, bugs, problems then try virtual hosts , in the same time you can enlarge you droplet memory, storage so your droplet will be able to handle more than website in separated folders.

Not specifically related to my initial questions, but how do other freelancers handle client billing from a hosting perspective?

You can bill server administration maintenance, bill security optimization, server reporitng , backups strategies, High availability servers using load balanacers

I hope I was so clear and my good english, wishing you good luck in your business, keep it up 👍

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