Does Magento Hosting Matter?
web hosting general July 31st, 2010Magento Hosting is a very well-liked ecommerce solution, so it’s perfectly understandable that individuals are looking for hosting plans that are optimized accordingly. Just like specialized wordpress hosting companies, vBulleting hostings companies and others have managed to make subniches so far as web hosting is concerned, “Magento web hosting” will likely be a term increasingly more people will be using.
There can be quite a few cPanel hosting companies, for instance, with hosting packages which have been optimized for Magento and if that’s the case, you will likely locate a descriptive sales page on their website which does all of the explaining. If ever the hosting company doesn’t have a hyperlink to a Magento hosting package on its homepage, you can still determine if it could represent a Magento hosting solution by:
Analyzing Magento’s System Requirements
To begin with, you have to go with a Linux box, this much is certain. Magento commerce supports Apache 1.3.x, Apache 2.0.x and also Apache 2.2.x, so most web hosts would be eligible from this perspective. Now so far as PHP is concerned, there are certain things which are required to hold in mind.
Magento is compatible with PHP 5.2 (start with a memory limit of 128 Mb at the very least) but you’ll want to make sure that the safe_mode function is off. In addition there are certain necessary extensions which you may need to remember about: iconv, SOAP, GD, simplexml, PDO_MySQL, DOM mcrypt, has and cURL.
Your server needs to have the ability to run cron and it also needs to be able to override options as far as the .htaccess file is concerned. And finally, with regards to SSL, you’ll want to know that it doesn’t support self-signed certificates.
Which Web Hosts Meet the Criteria?
Most companies which provide Linux hosting (i.e. cpanel shared hosting, reseller hosting, domain hosting , etc.) services will be able to cater to your needs, nevertheless it’s extremely important to ensure that your package supports Magento before making the payment. When you’re not 100% sure, contact the sales department of every host and ask them.
A lot of companies employ a live online support interface, so you’ll be able to find someone who can answer this inquiry right away and without even picking up the phone. If an internet support interface is not available, you are able to simply email them or (if you need a response ASAP) give them a call. Most good reseller hosting companies and even unlimited domain hosting companies offer 24×7 support, so getting in touch with someone should not be complicated at all.
It’s extremely imperative that you choose only companies with whom you’re 100% comfortable. On the one hand, it can be true that cheap webhosting packages are always tempting, but in relation to Magento hosting, going with providers that have proven themselves time and time again is unquestionably the best long-term solution.
After all, would you rather save a couple of dollars here and there but face the risk of the site being offline a lot? The consequences are a lot more than obvious: less traffic, ultimately fewer sales, you’d probably wind up losing considerably more assets than you’ve managed to save by going with the lowest priced option. Better to spend a bit more money but know that you’re working with true professionals.
Magento Hosting Mistakes?
Unfortunately, there are a lot of mistakes affiliated with Magento hosting which could cost you. Leaving the previously mentioned mistake aside (always going with all the cheaper options), you will find quite a few other things which could cause problems.
To begin with, not monitoring your site on a daily basis is certainly not a recommended practice. You never know what could fail, so keeping track of things will definitely not hurt. Maybe your hosting companies will upgrade one thing or another and that could interfere with Magento, you just never know. As soon as you notice an issue, contact your host ASAP and don’t forget to mention that you’re running Magento. A superb Magento Web hosting support representative should be able to determine the reason for the problem quickly and will make the necessary changes within moments.
Don’t forget to be cautious when installing other applications in your server. There is certainly instances where certain scripts or applications can interfere with Magento. It’s not uncommon to modify your settings in order to be able to run a particular application, only to come to find that the new settings caused problems with Magento afterwards. Anyone makes mistakes and, again, that’s why always monitoring things is recommended. Any time you follow these simple guidelines, finding an excellent Magento Web hosting company and running a profitable Magento website will be a piece of cake.

