Hosting a site on a home server is viable, but it may not be the most beneficial way to host your site. There are at least ten steps needed to host your site on a home server. There are a few external influences that could affect your site. Here are the steps and things to consider if you are using your server and residential internet to self-host.
It would be best if you were tech-savvy.
When deciding if self-hosting a WordPress site on residential internet is viable for you, the first consideration is to ask yourself how tech-savvy you are. The first thing you must do when setting up your site is limit your inbound ports on your ISP router. If you do not know how to do this, setting up for residential hosting is not for you. Limit the ISP inbound to 80 and 443.
Unlike shared domain and web hosting services, you are the IT for the hosting. Everything depends on how well you use your server, the size of your server, and the policies you put into place.
The security factors
Security should be a significant concern for those wishing to self-host. While shared servers have security measures in place, indeed on the top-rated web hosting sites, you will need to create the security protocol for your site. To do this, set up a dedicated firewall for the site. Deny any access from sites that do not have the exact URL and domain. Do not allow any outside countries to access any of the information. When setting your password, choose to encrypt your pages with string characters, symbols, and upper and lowercase random. Do not have this password used for any other sites and publicize no information, leading to a password reset.
You should strongly consider security before hosting. First, if there is a breach of security and personal information, if hacked, you are responsible. With even the meekest of affordable WordPress hosting, the server provider takes on the security liability of the site. Second, you may not get an SSL. This depends on how you set up the site. No SSL could get your site flagged by browsers as being potentially malicious, which would push your site back in the SERPs.
Loading Times and Performance
To have a self-hosting WordPress site, you will need a powerful server. The server must be dedicated to just the WordPress page. If you host several sites from the server, ensure that you have the spare capacity and the speeds to keep the site up and to go. Your site should not take over 2 seconds to load. Longer loads will reduce the traffic to your site.
On the other side of the coin are quick loading times and increased traffic. Do you have the methods in place to keep your server running with increased traffic loads? Are there methods to keep the server from overheating and going down?
Besides loading times, factor in the necessity of a backup server. The server should be programmed to kick in immediately if the site goes down on the primary. Again, this is a technical/IT-related issue. A dev license may allow you to back up the information online and maintain your home server. However, using online backup licensing increases the risk of security breaches.
Bandwidth and ISPs
WordPress Blogs and Websites are not substantially big. Yet, traffic to the site may cause your ISP to take notice. This is especially true if you have an ISP that regulates the bandwidth and the amount of data accessed each month. Consider this. If you have five gigs of data a month and use that up within the first 20 days, you will need to have ten days of data paid for. The cost can get relatively high. If the data must be uploaded every time someone accesses the page, the cost could get excessively high.
Is self-hosting a WordPress site on residential internet viable
The question of viability is based on several factors. First, there is the assumption that you are using your server and not relying upon local ISP providers’ servers to host your page. Most local ISPs will not allow you to host sites on their servers as these are dedicated to running and operating their client list. Those which do offer servers for self-hosting will have regulations. Each ISP regulates self-hosting differently.
Second, self-hosting relies upon being technologically savvy and understanding coding, security protocols, and complex IT. The user assumes all responsibility for security breaches. If hosting from a home server, this includes if your server is physically damaged, stolen, or corrupted.
Is self-hosting viable? Yes. Is it beneficial? Not really. The affordable WordPress hosting sites, both shared and VPN, make self-hosting unnecessary. With the tools, resources, customization, and security offered in affordable WordPress hosting and VPNs, it makes little sense to allocate time and funding to self-hosting on a residential internet.