Overview Hosting isn’t just about where your site lives—it’s about how well it performs, how safely it operates, and how easily it grows. This lesson compares the performance, security, and scalability needs of WordPress, Magento, and Joomla, helping learners align infrastructure with platform-specific realities.
WordPress
Performance
- Lightweight core, but plugins and media can slow things down
- Benefits from SSD/NVMe storage, object caching (Redis), and CDN integration
- PHP 8.2+ and HTTP/3 support recommended for optimal speed
Security
- Frequent target for brute force, XSS, and plugin-based vulnerabilities
- Requires SSL, daily backups, WAF (e.g., Sucuri), and plugin/theme hygiene
- Update discipline is critical—auto-updates help, but manual review is safer
Scalability
- Scales well from shared to enterprise cloud environments
- Managed WordPress hosting (e.g., Pagely, Kinsta) offers auto-scaling, staging, and containerized deployments
Magento (Adobe Commerce)
Performance
- Resource-intensive: demands high CPU, RAM, and fast I/O
- Requires optimized database servers, persistent caching (Varnish, Redis), and tuned PHP-FPM
- CDN and edge caching essential for global catalog delivery
Security
- PCI compliance is mandatory
- Needs strict access controls, secure deployment pipelines, and regular patching
- WAF protection for checkout and admin panels is non-negotiable
Scalability
- Built for growth: supports multi-store setups, global traffic, and large catalogs
- Best hosted on VPS, dedicated, or cloud platforms with horizontal scaling and container orchestration (e.g., Kubernetes)
Joomla
Performance
- Moderate resource usage; runs well on shared or VPS hosting
- SSD/NVMe storage, caching plugins, and CDN integration improve speed
- PHP 8.1+ and MySQL 8+ recommended
Security
- Needs SSL, backups, and firewall protection
- Extension management and permission hardening are key
- Regular updates and monitoring reduce risk from third-party components
Scalability
- Ideal for multilingual and structured content sites
- Scales effectively on cloud or VPS hosting with flexible resource allocation
Visual Summary
|
CMS |
Performance Needs |
Security Focus |
Scalability Path |
|
WordPress |
SSD/NVMe, caching, CDN |
WAF, backups, plugin hygiene |
Shared → Managed → Cloud |
|
Magento |
High CPU/RAM, DB tuning |
PCI, WAF, secure deployments |
VPS/Dedicated → Cloud |
|
Joomla |
SSD, caching, CDN |
SSL, extension control |
Shared/VPS → Cloud |
Key Takeaways
- WordPress is flexible but benefits from managed environments and caching
- Magento demands high-performance hosting with strict security and compliance
- Joomla sits in the middle—scalable and secure with moderate resource needs
- Matching hosting to CMS ensures better performance, fewer issues, and stronger security
Exercise Files
