WP Super Cache Lowers My Hosting Cost
A couple of weeks ago I began re-testing a popular WordPress plugin called WP Super Cache. I had tried it before but had installed it incorrectly and crashed my biggest blog. This time I installed it right and it works great. It works by making flat HTML files of your blog’s web pages and moves the traffic load to Apache (the web server software) and off MySQL (the database software).
The benefit of this is that Apache can take the load and MySQL burns up the servers processor, relatively speaking. My host, Media Temple, charges more money when you use more than your fair share of your shared server’s processor. This seems fair and I like Media Temple because their system can auto scale-up to take huge traffic days, and I’ve had several on Tiny House Design.
My testing has shown that WP Super Cache does reduce my cost because it lightens the load on MySQL. It also speeds up my page loads because Apache is incredibly efficient at serving up flat HTML pages and images.
So I highly recommend WP Super Cache but will also warn you to be sure to read all the installation documentation and learn how to back it out if you experience a crash.
Here are screenshots from my GPU usage (processor use) at Media Temple and Google Analytics during the same time period. As you can see traffic was flat and GPU usage remained low.
Above: Control panel on Media Temple that shows low GPU usage.
Below: Report on Google Analytics.
