PrestaShop is one of the most popular e-commerce solutions, used by thousands of online stores worldwide. It offers flexibility, a rich set of modules and themes, and full control over the source code. However, PrestaShop’s potential largely depends on the quality of the environment it is installed in.
Incorrectly chosen hosting can result in slow site operation, traffic management issues, or limitations that become apparent during use. In this context, choosing a VPS (Virtual Private Server) with ROOT access proves to be a strategic decision.
Not all “beautiful” hosting is actually good
Many hosting companies present very attractive parameters in their package specifications:
* unlimited transfer,
* fast NVMe disks,
* specified amount of RAM memory,
* theoretical high limits for PHP processes.
However, the devil is in the details. In practice, limits such as maximum number of simultaneous database connections (e.g., MySQL/MariaDB) are often set at relatively low levels – even in “premium” plans. When a store starts handling more customers simultaneously, it can lead to errors 500, slow page loading or complete unavailability during peak hours.
Moreover, on shared servers, many other clients run in the background. If another store or website consumes a significant portion of common resources, your e-commerce may feel its impact through slowdowns or temporary unavailability.
Server VPS with ROOT access – full control over the server
The solution is to choose a VPS (Virtual Private Server) with ROOT access, which provides full administrative rights. This model gives store owners or system administrators full control over environment configuration, including:
* Full optimization of the web server – choosing the right software (Apache, Nginx, LiteSpeed), configuring cache, compression, and HTTP/2 or HTTP/3 support.
Individually set limits for connections, processes PHP, memory for each process, or timeouts.
Ability to choose software versions – freedom in selecting PHP, MySQL/MariaDB or system module versions, allowing the environment to be adapted to PrestaShop and store module requirements.
No “invisible” neighbors – resources are assigned only to your instance, ensuring stable performance.
Possibility of implementing advanced monitoring – tracking processor load, RAM usage, or disk load in real-time.
Security and performance
VPS with ROOT access is not just about performance but also security. With full administrative rights, you can:
* Configure system-level firewall rules
* Implement automatic security updates
* Adjust DDoS and brute force attack protection rules
* Install SSL certificates from your own sources (e.g., Let’s Encrypt or commercial CAs)
In the case of PrestaShop, where customer data and financial transactions are processed, security should be an absolute priority.
Hidden limitations of shared hosting
Although shared hosting may seem cheaper and easier to manage, in practice, it has numerous restrictions that are often overlooked:
* PHP process limits per user
* Disk I/O limits
* Memory limits for individual processes
* Configuration restrictions preventing store optimization for increased traffic
It’s worth noting that even if the client panel shows attractive parameters, hosting administrators can apply internal policies to limit resources “to ensure stability” at the expense of individual users’ performance.
Conclusion and recommendation:
From experience, I know that even well-optimized code will not save a situation if hosting imposes narrow configuration constraints. Choosing VPS with ROOT access eliminates this problem, provided the server is correctly configured.
If you plan to deploy or migrate PrestaShop and want to be sure your environment will run smoothly, stably, and without hidden limits – consult me. For many years, I have been installing and configuring Linux servers for online stores and would be happy to help you choose and configure an optimal solution for your business.
