Moderator
James Huff
(@macmanx)
Volunteer Moderator
There are a variety of plugins that will allow you to use CDNs instead of your own site’s storage: https://wordpress.org/plugins/search/cdn/
Some allow you use multiple third-party providers, like https://wordpress.org/plugins/amazon-s3-and-cloudfront/ and https://wordpress.org/plugins/ilab-media-tools/
Keep in mind though that you’ll placing the burden to store and serve your media onto a third-party, and they will all either charge for or limit your ability to do that.
Thread Starter
megb23
(@megb23)
Thanks much. It’s gonna be way more expensive if I keep it on my server, no? There’s gonna be a lot of it. I mean, I’d prefer that, but I see everyone say it will slow everything down and be expensive.
Moderator
James Huff
(@macmanx)
Volunteer Moderator
It’s gonna be way more expensive if I keep it on my server, no?
It all depends on your hosting provider and the CDN you’re comparing it to.
CDNs typically have server hardware and configurations designed specifically for serving media only, and quite often they clone your content across several data centers to ensure that it’s always served from a data center as close as possible to the visitor. All of that can come at quite a premium.
Overall, in my experience, media served by CDN is indeed faster, but serving from your own server is often cheaper.
For hosting your media on a third-party site, you can explore various plugins that support content delivery networks (CDNs). These plugins allow you to offload your media to external storage providers. Some options include plugins like Amazon S3 and CloudFront or iLab Media Tools.
While using CDNs can optimize performance, it’s essential to consider the associated costs and limitations imposed by third-party providers. Depending on your specific needs and budget, serving media from your own server might be more cost-effective.
Ultimately, the decision hinges on factors like hosting provider capabilities, CDN performance, and your budgetary constraints.
Here’s an example using the “Amazon S3 and CloudFront” plugin:
- Install and Activate the Plugin:
- Go to your WordPress dashboard.
- Navigate to “Plugins” > “Add New.”
- Search for “Amazon S3 and CloudFront.”
- Click “Install Now” and then “Activate.”
- Set Up Amazon Web Services (AWS) Account:
- If you don’t have an AWS account, sign up for one at aws.amazon.com.
- Once logged in to your AWS account, navigate to the Amazon S3 service.
- Create a Bucket:
- In Amazon S3, create a new bucket where you’ll store your media files.
- Follow the prompts to set up the bucket, choosing a region and configuring permissions.
- Generate AWS Access Keys:
- In your AWS account, navigate to “My Security Credentials.”
- Under “Access keys for CLI, SDK, & API access,” create a new access key if you haven’t already done so.
- Configure Plugin Settings:
- In your WordPress dashboard, go to “Settings” > “Amazon S3 and CloudFront.”
- Enter your AWS access key ID and secret access key.
- Configure other settings as needed, such as bucket name and region.
- Upload Media to Amazon S3:
- Once the plugin is configured, upload your media files directly to the Amazon S3 bucket.
- You can do this via the AWS Management Console or using a third-party tool like Cyberduck or FileZilla.
- Enable CloudFront (Optional):
- If desired, set up a CloudFront distribution to serve your media files with a content delivery network (CDN).
- Configure the CloudFront settings in the plugin to link your bucket to the distribution.
- Update Media URLs:
- Once media files are uploaded to Amazon S3, the plugin will automatically serve them from there.
- Any existing media URLs in your WordPress site will now point to the Amazon S3 bucket.
- Test and Verify:
- Visit your site and ensure that media files are loading correctly from Amazon S3.
- Test the performance and verify that everything is functioning as expected.
By following these steps, you’ll be able to host your media on Amazon S3 and potentially utilize CloudFront for improved performance and scalability.
