Managed hosting for PrestaShop: what it should include and what to ask first

When a store is slow or goes down, the conversation is usually the same. The host says the server is fine and it must be PrestaShop. The developer says the code is fine and it must be the server. And meanwhile, the store is not selling.

Managed hosting should solve precisely that. It is not just a server with more memory: it means someone makes sure the server is ready for your store and responds when something happens. This article goes through what it should include for PrestaShop and what to ask before signing up. If you are torn between shared, VPS or cloud, that is a separate decision; here we assume you want someone to manage it for you.

PHP versions and the rest of the software

Each PrestaShop version supports a range of PHP versions, and each PHP version has a date after which it stops receiving security patches. The host has to let you:

• Choose the PHP version your store needs, without being tied to just one.
• Change it with notice and a way back, ideally testing it first on a copy.
• Have supported versions. A host that only offers old versions stops you upgrading PrestaShop; one that forces the newest without warning can break modules that are not yet compatible.

Also ask about the database (MySQL or MariaDB and its version), the PHP extensions PrestaShop needs and the memory and execution time limits, which affect imports and scheduled tasks.

Backups that can be restored

Every host says it makes backups. The useful questions are different:

• How often, and how many days are they kept? An infection you take two weeks to discover needs a backup from three weeks ago.
• Do they include files and database, taken at the same time?
• Where are they stored? A backup on the same server is useless if the server fails.
• How are they restored and how long does it take? Can you recover just one file or just the database?
• Has a restore ever been tested?

Even if the host makes backups, it is wise to keep another one elsewhere, under your control.

Performance: what you really notice

• Fast disks (NVMe or SSD). PrestaShop reads thousands of small files on every request.
• OPcache enabled and properly sized for PHP.
• A web server with caching and compression, and HTTP/2 or higher.
• Guaranteed resources, not shared without limits with hundreds of websites. Ask what happens during a traffic peak: does it slow down or cut out?
• The option to use Redis or Memcached if your store needs it.

Server security

A good share of a store's serious problems start on the server, not in PrestaShop. Managed hosting should include:

• Operating system and services kept up to date continuously.
• Anti-malware and a firewall that detect and block malicious files and known attacks.
• SFTP or SSH access with keys, no plain-text FTP and one account per person.
• An SSL certificate renewed automatically.
• Isolation between accounts, so that a compromised website on the same server cannot reach yours.

Email

The store's email (order confirmations, password recovery) has to arrive. Ask whether email goes out through a server whose reputation is monitored, whether you can set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC on your domain, and what happens if another website on the server sends spam and gets it blacklisted. If the host offers no guarantees, use a separate sending service for transactional email.

Support: the part that is not in the price table

This is what most distinguishes managed hosting from hosting that is not:

1. Who answers and when? Hours, channel and actual response time, not the promised one.
2. Do they know PrestaShop? Support that only knows how to restart services leaves you on your own as soon as the problem is in the application.
3. Is there a single point of contact? If the store fails, do you have to work out yourself whether it is the server or PrestaShop?
4. Do they actively monitor the server, or do you find out when a customer complains?
5. Do they help you migrate from your current host?

A test environment

To update with peace of mind you need a copy of the store to test on first: a new PrestaShop version, a module, a PHP change. Ask whether the plan allows a test subdomain with its own database, password-protected and not indexed, and whether email from that copy can be disabled so it does not write to real customers. A store that cannot be tested outside production is a store that is rarely updated, and that, in the medium term, is a security problem.

Changing host without losing sales

If you decide to switch, the migration is planned: a full copy, set-up on the new server, checking the checkout and emails while the domain still points to the old server, and the DNS change at a low-traffic moment, with the record TTL reduced a few days beforehand. Orders that come in during propagation must end up in a single place.

Signs that yours is no longer enough

• The back office is slow even though the store has little traffic.
• 500 or 503 errors when visits peak.
• You cannot upgrade PrestaShop because the host does not offer the PHP version required.
• Order emails go to spam or do not arrive.
• Nobody can tell you when the last backup was or how to restore it.

How to handle it in PrestaShop

Rekire is not a hosting company, but it offers managed hosting plans (Profesional, Premium and Élite) with a Spanish provider we work with: servers with NVMe disks and LiteSpeed, daily backups and anti-malware protection, configured for PrestaShop from day one. The difference is the point of contact: if the store fails, you call us, because we know your store, and we talk to the server provider if needed. Migration from your current host is done with support hours: we move files and database, check that everything works and switch the domain when it is ready.