Website Hosting
Host Your Site Without a Panel Deciding How It Runs.
Tired of the panel deciding which PHP version you get? A VPS makes sense once picking your own stack is worth the work of running it yourself.
A busy site is a small system: web server, app, database. Root access lets you run that system your way instead of squeezing it into someone's panel.
Panel or VPS
When It Is Time to Leave the Panel
Move when the panel starts dictating your architecture. If nobody on your side wants to patch Linux and mind a database, stay on managed hosting; there is no shame in that.
The Panel Says No
You need a PHP version, a background worker, or a cron setup the panel does not offer. On your own server that conversation ends.
Deploys Have Outgrown the File Manager
Maybe you want git push deploys, real application logs, or the ability to restart a service yourself. A shared panel was never built for that.
Someone Will Own the Box
A VPS only works if someone on your side patches Linux, minds the database, and tests restores. That person can be you.
Request Path
Follow One Request Before You Blame the Server
Root access removes the panel's limits. It does not move your bottlenecks. Walk one request through the stack so you know whether the slow part is the server, the query, or the page itself.
- 01
The Front Door
Nginx or Caddy terminates HTTPS, serves the static files, and hands the rest to your app. Keep this surface small.
- 02
The App Itself
PHP-FPM pools, a Node process, a queue worker. Give each one sane limits and its own log so you can see who misbehaved.
- 03
The Data Behind It
Keep MySQL or Postgres and the cache listening on loopback only, and watch slow queries and disk use separately from the web tier.
What You Get
The Server Is Ours, the Stack Is Yours
Riven Cloud hands you a Linux server with clear limits and stays out of the rest. What runs on it, how it deploys, and where the logs go are your decisions.
- Install any stack you likeFull root access
- WordPress on PHP 8.3, a Rails app, a static site behind Caddy. If it runs on Linux, you can run it.
- Size against real numbersPremium, Ultra, Max plans with current vCPU, RAM, NVMe, and monthly transfer limits
- Pull your current CPU, memory, and disk figures and hold them against the plan table. Leave headroom for the busy evenings.
- Test from where your visitors sitTokyo or Singapore
- Run the Looking Glass from your visitors' networks, then load a real page over HTTPS. Both locations, quiet hours and peak.
Tokyo or Singapore
Test the Route Your Visitors Actually Take
Tokyo usually wins for visitors in northern and eastern China, Singapore for the south and Southeast Asia. Usually is not always, so test both before you commit.
Current mainland-China paths: China Telecom: CTGNet (formerly China Telecom CN2 GIA, AS23764 / AS4809); China Unicom: CUP (China Unicom Premium, AS9929 / AS10099); China Mobile: CMIN2 (China Mobile International N2, AS58807).
- 01Run the tests from the carriers and cities your real visitors use, not from your office.
- 02Check both locations at a quiet hour and again at evening peak; routes behave differently under load.
- 03Then load a real page over HTTPS. A clean network path cannot rescue a slow query or a heavy homepage.
Looking Glass output is a snapshot of the path at the moment you ran the test; day-to-day latency and app performance can differ. Read the network and locations pages for route terminology and facility context.
Picking a Plan
Watch the Site Before You Pick a Plan
Run the current site under normal traffic for a week and note what it actually uses. Then leave room for deploys, imports, and the odd traffic spike.
Where the CPU Goes
Watch CPU and memory at your busiest hour. If workers queue up or the box starts swapping, size up.
Your Database Will Grow
Uploads, logs, and tables all creep. Count the space a backup and a restore will need, too.
How Pages Actually Load
Time a cached page and an uncached one from the regions you care about. The gap tells you where the work is.
Premium
- 2 vCPU (AMD Ryzen 9950X)
- 4 GB RAM
- 40 GB NVMe
- 1 TB/mo transfer
Ultra
- 2 vCPU (AMD Ryzen 9950X)
- 8 GB RAM
- 80 GB NVMe
- 2 TB/mo transfer
Max
- 4 vCPU (AMD Ryzen 9950X)
- 16 GB RAM
- 160 GB NVMe
- 4 TB/mo transfer
Your Side of the Deal
Without a Panel, the 2 a.m. Problems Are Yours
Root access covers every listener on the box, which means securing them does too. Keep the admin surfaces deliberate and the database off the public Internet.
Riven Cloud supplies an unmanaged Linux KVM VPS with full root access. Everything inside it, from the firewall to the backups, is yours to operate.
- TLS renewals, web server config, runtime updates, and deploy credentials are all yours to look after.
- Take your own database dumps and keep a copy off the server. Our daily backups are a safety net, not proof your data restores cleanly.
- After any big schema or storage change, actually run a restore. A backup you have never restored is a guess.
Further reading
Read Before You Migrate
Questions
Website Hosting FAQ
Can I host WordPress or an e-commerce site?+
Yes, both run well on a Linux VPS as long as the software's own licensing terms allow it and someone keeps the CMS, plugins, database, and backups in shape. The plan is unmanaged; if you would rather we install software or maintain the system, that service is $100 per hour.
Will moving to a VPS make my website faster?+
Not by itself. If the slow part is a heavy page or an unindexed query, it stays slow on better hardware. Time the pieces first, from DNS through TTFB to the queries, so you know what a new server can and cannot fix.
How should I test a mainland-China audience?+
Test from both Looking Glass locations, then load the full site from the carriers your visitors actually use. A Looking Glass shows the path at one moment in time; treat it as a starting point, not a promise.
Ready to Run the Stack Yourself?
Put your site's real CPU, memory, and traffic numbers next to the current plans, and test both locations from your visitors' networks before you pick one.