Magento is proving its might once again as the platform steadily becomes a major force in the world of cloud-hosted solutions. Increasingly, online retailers are realizing the extraordinary value of Magento-optimized cloud hosting with leading providers. Among the major players entering the arena is Amazon Web Services (AWS), which offers a full range of cloud hosting services for Magento stores.
In contrast to conventional services, cloud hosting with a provider such as AWS gives retailers access to data services on demand — not round the clock. This operating model has opened up a wealth of eCommerce opportunities.
One of these is flexibility. On the cloud, retailers are able to scale data to sync with the spikes and dips of web traffic. And because the data flow is being transmitted in just the right quantities, deployment speed and efficiency jump considerably.
Reliability also plays a starring role in Magento cloud hosting services. That’s because the cloud is not banking on the dependability a few large servers. Instead, it harnesses the combined power of multiple smaller servers. With more workhorses covering the load, the chances of overall failure plummet.
Perhaps the most appealing benefit of Magento cloud hosing services is the inherent cost savings. Instead of shelling out money for 24/7 service, merchants ‘rent’ data on the cloud – what they use is what they pay for. Gone is the agony of paying for things like server maintenance. When things go wrong, it’s the provider’s headache, not yours.
Of course, as with almost any business decision, retailers will discover certain drawbacks associated with cloud hosting services for Magento stores. One of these is potential resource conflicts. With conventional hosting, you’re in your own space and place. On the cloud, however, your Magento store is part of a community of other occupants all sharing components such as CPU cores and Network I/O. Occasionally, there isn’t enough to go around.
Retailers also must consider the lower privacy threshold of the cloud. Since this domain is a public space, online stores pitching their tents here are at greater risk for breaches arising from software bugs, improper disposal, human error, and other factors.
Finally, retailers opting for Magento cloud hosting services must be willing to give up a certain amount of control. Like it or not, the cloud gives you far less say in features, hardware specification, and the like.
Indeed, cloud hosted eCommerce sites present certain challenges. Nevertheless, many Magento stores can sail above these issues and profit enormously by relocating to a cloud hosting service such as AWS.