Magento 2 is a widely-used e-commerce platform for businesses, particularly in the B2B sector. However, setting up an online store with Magento 2 can be challenging due to its demanding system requirements.
Choosing the right hosting solution that can handle high traffic loads is crucial for the success of your store.
In this article, we will discuss tips and checklists for choosing the best Magento 2 hosting solution, covering essential requirements such as operating system, web server, PHP version, database, and other important Magento hosting requirements.
Additionally, we will show you how to easily install Magento 2.4.X with a single click on Cloudways, ensuring that your store runs smoothly and efficiently.
Magento 2 Hosting Requirements
To ensure a smooth installation and optimal performance of Magento on managed cloud hosting, it is essential to check whether the server meets the necessary requirements for Magento.
Therefore, before proceeding with the installation process, it is recommended to run through the checklist of Magento server requirements.
At this point, you might wonder: do I really need to care about Magento 2 server requirements?
The answer is straightforward – you can’t host your Magento application on any hosting platform you come across.
Why?
Well, Magento has complex architecture and technology dependencies. For optimal hosting experience, it is crucial to ensure that the recommended server requirements, as mentioned in DevDocs, are fulfilled. Failure to meet these requirements can lead to long-term performance issues for your store.
That’s why you need to look for the best Magento 2 hosting requirements, so you can offer your visitors an excellent user experience as they browse your ecommerce store.
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Let’s check out Magento hosting requirements in detail.
Technology Infrastructure |
Description |
| Operating systems (Linux x86-64) | For Linux distributions, such as RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), CentOS, Ubuntu, Debian, and similar. Magento is not supported on Windows and MAC OS. |
| Memory Requirement | Upgrading the Magento applications and extensions you obtain from Magento Marketplaces and other sources can require up to 2GB of RAM. If you are using a system with less than 2GB of RAM, creating a swap file is recommended; otherwise, your upgrade might fail. |
| Web servers | |
| Database | MySQL 5.6, 5.7 Magento is also compatible with MySQL NDB Cluster 7.4.*, MariaDB 10.0, 10.1, 10.2, Percona 5.7, and other binary-compatible MySQL technologies. Magento only uses MySQL features compatible with MariaDB. However, MariaDB may not be compatible with all MySQL features, so be sure to research compatibility issues before using this in your Magento module. |
| PHP | Supported PHP versions: ~8.1 ~7.4 ~7.3 |
| Required PHP extensions |
|
| PHP OPcache | It is strongly recommended you verify that PHP OPcache is enabled for performance reasons. The OPcache is enabled in many PHP distributions. |
| PHP settings
|
I recommend particular PHP configuration settings, such as memory_limit, that can avoid common problems when using Magento. |
| Mail Server | Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) or an SMTP server |
| SSL
|
A valid security certificate is required for HTTPS. Self-signed SSL certificates are not supported. Transport Layer Security (TLS) requirement – PayPal and repo.magento.com both require TLS 1.2 or later. |
| Required System Dependencies | |
| Cache |
|
| Supported Browsers |
Microsoft Edge, latest–1 Firefox latest, latest–1 (any OS) Chrome latest, latest–1 (any OS) Safari latest, latest–1 (Mac OS only) Used for a desktop storefront Safari Mobile for iPad 2, iPad Mini, iPad with Retina Display (iOS 12 or later). Used for a mobile storefront Safari Mobile for iPhone 6 or later; iOS 12 or later, Chrome for mobile latest–1 (Android 4 or later). |
| Other Technologies |
|
The best hosting platforms provide these Magento requirements and ensure these technologies are easily manageable. In fact, the real challenge involves finding the right hosting provider for your website.
Magento 2 Technology Stack
In addition to Magento 2 system requirements, here is an overview of the Magento 2 Technology stack:
| Programming language | Magento 2 is written in PHP, which is a server-side scripting language. The currently supported version is PHP 8.1. |
| Composer | Composer is required for developers who wish to contribute to the Magento 2 codebase or anyone who wishes to develop Magento extensions. |
| Operating System | Magento 2 is supported on Linux (such as RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), CentOS, Ubuntu, and Debian), and MacOS, but not supported on Windows OS. |
| Coding Standard | Magento 2 puts a lot of emphasis on coding standards. These include PSR-0, PSR-1, PSR-2, PSR-3, and PSR-4 (recommended). |
| Web server | Magento 2 can be run on any web server, but it is typically deployed on Apache or Nginx. |
| Database | Magento 2 supports several popular databases, including MySQL, MariaDB, and Percona. |
| Framework | Magento 2 uses the Zend Framework and Symphony |
| Front-end technologies | Magento 2 uses several front-end technologies such as HTML 5, CSS 3, JQuery, Require JS, Knockout js, and others. |
| Caching | Magento 2 has strong caching mechanisms to improve performance, including full-page caching such as Redis and Varnish, database caching, and object caching. |
Install Magento 2.4.X in a Single Click On Cloudways
Cloudways Managed Hosting is a one-window solution to power up your Magento store. Our managed hosting solution offers optimized server environment, easy-to-use control panel, and extensive security features, which provide a reliable and scalable solution to power up your Magento store.
Let’s now see how easy it is to deploy the latest version of Magento 2.4.x on a Cloudways server.
Start by logging in to the Cloudways Platform using your preferred method.
- From the top menu bar, click Servers.
- Then, click Add Server.
- Next, you need to select your preferred Magento 2.4.x version.
- Type the name of your application.
- Type the name of your server.
- Next, select your Project.
- Now, choose your cloud provider.
- Select the server size.
- Choose the server location.
- Finally, click Launch Now.
Your high-speed Magento application will now be deployed in a few minutes. If you want to access your application information, such as your application URL, admin credentials, and other relevant details, you can check out our separate blog.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s proceed to run the checklist on Cloudways to explore how it offers the best Magento hosting requirements.
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Checklist for Magento 2 Hosting Requirement on Cloudways
This checklist section highlights the Cloudways Platform’s compatibility with the official Magento hosting requirements.
Hardware Requirements
Memory Requirement
Cloudways’ hosting plans begin with a minimum of 4GB of RAM, as officially recommended by Magento, providing a solid foundation for your Magento store.
If you try to host your Magento store on a 2GB server with Cloudways, the platform won’t allow it. Instead, it will suggest hosting your store on a server with at least 4GB of RAM, which is what Magento recommends.
Database
With Cloudways, you have MariaDB v10.4 as the default database. However, you can upgrade the database version to MariaDB v10.5 or v10.6 as per your requirements.
Another benefit of using Cloudways as your Magento hosting provider is the ability to verify and view available database versions directly from the platform. This is crucial because the database version plays a vital role in optimizing your hosting environment for Magento.
Disk Space Requirements
For optimal performance, Magento 2 needs fast access to many files stored on disk, which are occasionally rewritten. To avoid the constant need to search for files to delete and free up space, it is recommended to have at least 20GB of disk space and up to 100 GB.
With Cloudways, disk space is based on the server, and the application manages web application files, databases, logs, and system files. This means that Cloudways provides ample disk space to meet the recommended server requirements for hosting Magento 2.
Web Servers
Web servers are the first and the most common contact point between the user and the Magento store. Here again, Cloudways supports Apache and NGINX, which are already installed as a part of the default Cloudways web stack.
Below in the screenshot, you can find the NGINX version details required for Magento’s best hosting.
And in the screenshot below, you can find the Apache version details that are required for the best hosting for Magento.
Software Requirements
Operating System
As per the official Magento server requirements, Linux (x86-64) distributions are recommended. Cloudways offers the Debian operating system for all Magento servers, which meets these requirements and provides a stable and secure operating environment for hosting your Magento store.
PHP Version(s)
The latest version, PHP 8.1.X, is compatible with Debian 11, Debian 10, and Debian 9 while the PHP 7.4 is not compatible with Debian 7 servers but will work flawlessly with Debian 8 and Debian 9 servers. And it’s one of the most important server requirements to check when choosing any top Magento hosting.
PHP 7.4.x is the default PHP version when you launch a new Cloudways managed Magento server. However, it is very easy to upgrade or downgrade to a different PHP version, all of which are supported on the Cloudways Platform.
To verify the PHP version, first, connect to your server via SSH and run the following command:
php -v
Required PHP Extensions
PHP extensions are compiled libraries that support specific functionalities in your PHP code.
Many PHP extensions/modules are installed according to the selected PHP version. The following image shows a list of available PHP extensions.
OPcache
Magento strongly recommends installing OPcache because it allows you to handle more requests per second, and thus return a response quicker. With Cloudways, OPcache is quite easy to install and configure.
You can also increase the OPCache memory size under the Advanced tab of Setting & Packages.
Email Services
The recommended email services that can be used as default are Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) or an SMTP server.
Cloudways does not provide servers for email hosting. However, we do provide different email solutions through Cloudways Email add-ons. For example, if you want your email inboxes, use the Rackspace Email Hosting add-on to get a robust, 24×7 email hosting solution.
Free SSL Certificates
Cloudways allows you to install SSL certificates on the Magento stores for free. However, before you start configuring Magento 2 SSL, make sure you’ve signed up for a full Cloudways Platform account, and that your domain is pointed to the target Magento application.
If you have any confusion about Magento SSL, read this article to know more about it.
Required System Dependencies
Magento Open Source requires the following system tools for some operations to run smoothly:
- bash
- gzip
- lsof
- mysql
- mysqldump
- nice
- php
- sed
- tar
But for Cloudways, you don’t need to install any of the dependencies individually. For a full list, all you have to do is connect your SSH, access your Magento application, and type: ls /bin/
Other Cache & Necessary Technologies
Magento recommends that Varnish and Redis should both be a part of server requirements.
So let’s run this final point by the checklist to see if Cloudways measures up.
I can see that Cloudways supports Varnish. Similarly, I can also check for the Magento Redis cache, which is just right above the Varnish.
Lastly, you can also install Elasticsearch for your Magento store with just a few clicks.
Best Magento Hosting Requirement Checklist For Cloudways
I hope this article answers your questions about the best Magento hosting requirements. For a quick refresher, here’s a cheat sheet to use before choosing any hosting.
Server Requirements for Magento |
Status |
| Operating systems (Linux x86-64 or distribution) With Debian 9 |
Checked |
| Memory Requirement | Checked |
| Web servers | Checked |
| Database (MariaDB) | Checked |
| PHP(7.4 – 8.1) | Checked |
| Required PHP extensions | Checked |
| PHP OPcache | Checked |
| PHP settings | Checked |
| SSL | Checked |
| Required System Dependencies | Checked |
| Other Technologies | Checked |
Final Words
There’s no doubt that Magento is a powerful ecommerce platform. However, to make full use of the powerful features, you have to install it properly on a server that meets all the Magento hosting requirements.
The best Magento hosting providers, like Cloudways, provides an easy-to-use and scalable solution to give your Magento ecommerce store the best possible start.
If you have any queries, let me know in the comments section below.
What are the minimum hardware requirements for Magento 2?
The minimum hardware requirements for Magento 2 are as follows:
- Web Server: Apache 2.2 or 2.4, or nginx 1.8 or later
- Database Server: MySQL 5.6, 5.7, or MariaDB 10.0, 10.1, 10.2, or 10.3, 10.4
- PHP: 7.4.x, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2.X
- RAM: 2GB or more
- Disk Space: At least 2GB of free disk space
Which OS is best for Magento 2?
Linux is the most widely used and recommended operating system for Magento 2, particularly the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and CentOS distributions. However, there are other Linux distributions that are also compatible with Magento 2, such as Ubuntu, Debian, and Fedora.
How much RAM is needed for Magento 2?
The amount of RAM required for Magento 2 depends on the size and complexity of your online store, as well as the number of concurrent users and the amount of traffic it receives. However, as a general rule of thumb, you should have at least 4GB of RAM available for Magento 2.
Jyotishna Kumari
Jyotishina is the Magento Community Expert at Cloudways and has 4 years of experience in web development. She has worked on e-commerce sites since the turn of the millennium and was working with Magento before version 1 was released. She loves to travel and explore new ideas whenever she finds time. Get in touch with her at [email protected].
