On the Virtuozzo Application Managements with multiple availability zones (data centers), you can use specialized packages to deploy your WordPress application (standalone and cluster) across several regions. This allows you to create a distributed WordPress application that can handle high-traffic loads and provides better performance for users in different geographical locations.
You can find specifics and installation instructions for the Multi-Region WordPress packages in the following sections below:
Multi-Region WordPress Standalone
The Multi-Region WordPress Standalone package installs two instances of the WordPress standalone applications in different regions and connects them into a single multi-region WordPress solution.
1. To install the Multi-Region WordPress Standalone package, click the Marketplace button at the top of the Virtuozzo Application Management dashboard. In the opened window, use the search bar to find the package and click the Install button.
2. The installation package includes the following advanced features:
- Install LiteSpeed High-Performance Web Server instead of the default NGINX web server
- Enable Brute Force Attack Protection and Web Application Firewall features for LiteSpeed
- Install Let’s Encrypt SSL with the Auto-Renewal add-on to issue a free SSL certificate automatically
The package requires two regions to be selected for the installation. Click the Install button to start the installation process.
3. The WordPress Standalone environments will be automatically created and configured according to the selected options in a few minutes.
Once the deployment is finished, you will have two WordPress Standalone environments, each running in a separate region. The environments will be interconnected to work as a single multi-region WordPress solution.
4. All the admin panels’ URLs and access credentials will be displayed in the success message and sent to your email.
By default, the first environment will be used as the primary, while the second will be used as a replica. You can assign a custom domain to your primary environment according to the linked guide. To create a geo-distributed WordPress solution, you’ll need to attach public IP addresses to both environments and configure the DNS load balancing to distribute traffic between them.
Multi-Region WordPress Cluster
The Multi-Region WordPress Cluster package installs several instances of the WordPress cluster applications in different regions and connects them into a single multi-region WordPress solution. Depending on the selected Database Topology, the package will have a slightly different topology:
- Async Primary-Replica Distribution (at least two regions) – two interconnected primary databases based on asynchronous replication. The primary server in the first region handles read/write requests, and the primary in the second region handles reads only. If the first primary goes down, the second one will start accepting write operations. If more than two regions are selected, all other regions will have the replica database servers. This topology is more efficient for the cases where:
- Read operations are significantly dominant over the write/update ones
- connection latency between Regions is more than a few tens of milliseconds
- transaction time during the replication process is not vital and may take much longer compared to a single cluster
- Sync Galera Distribution (at least three regions) – the MariaDB Galera Cluster employs a multi-data center topology (i.e., a single cluster with members grouped into segments and located across different regions). Due to its true multi-primary topology with automatic new-node provisioning, Galera ensures no data loss when a node crashes, no lost transactions, and supports multi-cloud and multi-region deployments. This topology may be considered more suitable for projects where:
- Instant data availability is required in all Regions upon transaction completion
- latency between regions is very low
Tip: If you are not sure which option to choose, we recommend evaluating the latency between regions. If the average ping time is less than 20ms for all regions, you can use the Sync Galera Distribution option. Otherwise, it is better to use the Async Primary-Replica Distribution option.
Additionally, the package uses the GlusterFS Cluster to provide a fault-tolerant shared storage solution for static assets. It provides functionality similar to a RAID 1 configuration over the network. Each independent server contains its own copy of the data, allowing WordPress to access any of these copies, thereby helping to balance the read load. To ensure data synchronization between regions, the GlusterFS native Geo-Replication feature is used. It’s built based on the Primary-Replica model, where one GlusterFS cluster serves as the primary and accepts write operations.
Due to the platform networking architecture, all available Regions are transparently interconnected at the environment level, like they are in the same LAN. So, the GlusterFS Geo-Replication over Local Area Network Deployment Scenario is implemented.
1. To install the Multi-Region WordPress Cluster package, click the Marketplace button at the top of the Virtuozzo Application Management dashboard. In the opened window, use the search bar to find the package and click the Install button.
2. The installation package includes the following configuration options:
- Database Topology – choose the database schema used for the multi-region cluster.
- Regions – select the regions where the WordPress clusters will be deployed. At least two regions are required for the Async Primary-Replica Distribution, and at least three regions for the Sync Galera Distribution.
- Environment – specify the environment name that will be used for the multi-region WordPress cluster.
- Scaling Strategy – choose the scaling strategy based on the expected load (see the tooltips or refer to the WordPress cluster documentation for details on options).
- Advanced Features – select the advanced features to be installed with the WordPress cluster package.
- Enable Brute Force Attack Protection and Web Application Firewall features for LiteSpeed
- install, Let’s Encrypt SSL with Auto-Renewal add-on to issue a free SSL certificate, automatically
- configure WordPress Multisite Network
Be patient, as the installation process may take a while depending on the number of regions and selected options.
3. You’ll see a success pop-up in the dashboard and will be notified by email once the installation is completed. All the required access credentials will be provided in these notifications. However, for the best experience, we recommend assigning a custom domain to your multi-region WordPress cluster and configuring the DNS load balancing to distribute traffic between the regions.
