What Is Cloud Hosting? Resource Pools, Auto Scaling, Cloud VPS vs. VPS, Pros and Cons

Cloud hosting is hosting where virtual servers draw CPU and memory from a resource pool built by combining multiple physical servers through virtualization. This guide covers the resource pool structure, auto scaling, usage-based pricing, and how cloud hosting differs from a VPS.

Cloud hosting is not tied to a single physical server, but the bill changes with how much you use. This guide also covers the pros and cons of cloud hosting and which sites it suits.

1️⃣ How Cloud Hosting Works: Many Servers, One Resource Pool

Cloud storagecombines multiple physical servers through virtualization into a single resource pool. Virtual servers draw CPU and memory from this pool. Disks usually sit on network storage outside the physical servers. That is why a virtual server is not tied to any one physical server.

If one physical server fails, the virtual server restarts on another physical server.

2️⃣ Two Meanings of Cloud Hosting: Infrastructure and Product

Cloud hosting is used in two senses. Sometimes it refers to infrastructure, and sometimes to a product.

Cloud as infrastructure is the resource pool of a cloud provider such as AWS or Google Cloud. Anything that runs on this infrastructure, whether shared hosting, a VPS, or managed WordPress hosting, gets called cloud hosting.

Cloud hosting as a product is a plan where you use the resource pool directly. Resources grow and shrink with traffic, and you pay for what you use.

3️⃣ How It Differs from a VPS: Cloud VPS

A VPS is a virtual server carved out of one physical server. If that physical server fails, the virtual server stops with it. Cloud hosting launches virtual servers from a resource pool, so they restart on another physical server.

A cloud VPS is a product sold per virtual server on cloud infrastructure. DigitalOcean, Vultr, and AWS Lightsail belong here. The infrastructure is cloud, but you use it the same way as a VPS.

With a cloud VPS you choose the virtual server size by plan and pay a fixed monthly price. Resources do not grow automatically. When traffic grows, you move to a larger plan yourself.

Some cloud VPS products keep the disk inside the physical server. In that case, if the physical server fails, the virtual server stays down until it is recovered.

4️⃣ Auto Scaling and Usage-Based Pricing

Auto scaling automatically adds and removes server resources to match traffic. Rather than making one server bigger, it usually adds more servers. A load balancer in front of the added servers spreads visitors across them.

With usage-based pricing you pay for what you use. Server running time, data transfer, and storage are each metered separately. In a month when traffic spikes, the bill rises with it.

A cloud VPS is also billed by the hour, but it has a monthly cap. That cap is the fixed monthly price.

You can build the same setup with several cloud VPS instances and a load balancer. In that case you configure the scaling up and down yourself.

🔲 AWS and Managed WordPress Hosting

Auto scaling and usage-based pricing are sold as-is by cloud providers such as AWS. With AWS EC2, the number of servers grows and shrinks automatically, and you pay for what you use.

Even within AWS, Lightsail is a cloud VPS. You pay a fixed monthly price and move to a larger plan yourself when resources run short. This site runs on Lightsail.

Cloudways is a managed cloud VPS where you choose the infrastructure from DigitalOcean, Vultr, AWS, and Google Cloud. It is billed by the hour and has no visit limits. Auto scaling comes in a separate product called Cloudways Autonomous.

Managed WordPress hosting mostly runs on cloud infrastructure but is sold as monthly plans. Infrastructure and limits differ by provider.

Kinsta is moving its infrastructure from Google Cloud to Oracle Cloud. If you go over the visit limit, the site stays online and you are charged an overage for the excess. Pressable runs on Automattic's WP Cloud and fails over automatically to another data center if a server has a problem. WPX has three data centers and splits its plans by number of sites, with no visitor limits.

5️⃣ Pros and Cons of Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting is not tied to a single physical server. If one server fails, the site keeps running. When traffic spikes you get more resources, and when it drops they scale back down.

The trade-off is that the bill is hard to predict. Server running time and data transfer are metered separately, so the bill rises in a month when traffic spikes. On AWS, data transfer is free up to 100GB each month, and beyond that you pay for what you use.

The setup is also on you. You configure auto scaling and the load balancer yourself.

If you want a fixed monthly price, use a cloud VPS or a managed cloud VPS. Cloudways starts at $11 a month. Lightsail charges an overage only when you exceed the data transfer allowance.

6️⃣ Who Should Use Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting suits sites where traffic spikes suddenly. Online stores that lose sales when they go down and services accessed from many countries also belong here.

For a blog or company site with steady visitor numbers, a cloud VPS is enough. You run it within a fixed monthly price.

If you don't want to configure servers yourself, use a managed cloud VPS or managed WordPress hosting. The providers we recommend are Cloudways, Kinsta, Pressable, and WPX, and we are direct affiliates of each.

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