From Shared Hosting to Raff for Growing SaaS Teams

Introduction

Moving from shared hosting to a cloud infrastructure platform like Raff is a critical step for growing SaaS teams. As your product gains users, shared hosting environments quickly become a bottleneck—limiting performance, flexibility, and scalability.

Shared hosting is designed for simplicity, not growth. Resources are shared across multiple users, which means unpredictable performance, limited control, and restrictions on customization. For early projects this works, but for a growing SaaS product, it becomes a constraint.

In this guide, you will learn when it’s time to leave shared hosting, what changes when you move to Raff, and a practical migration path that minimizes downtime and risk.

Why Shared Hosting Breaks at Scale

Shared hosting works by placing multiple websites on a single server. While this keeps costs low, it introduces several limitations.

Resource Contention

Your application competes with other users for CPU, RAM, and disk I/O. If another site experiences traffic spikes, your performance can degrade instantly.

Limited Control

You often cannot:

• Install custom software
• Configure system-level settings
• Optimize server performance

This becomes a major blocker for SaaS applications.

Scaling Constraints

Most shared hosting plans don’t scale well. Upgrading usually means switching plans manually or migrating entirely.

Signs You’ve Outgrown Shared Hosting

You don’t need to guess when it’s time to migrate. The signals are clear:

• Slow page load times during traffic spikes
• Frequent downtime or throttling
• Inability to install required dependencies
• Growing database performance issues
• Manual deployment processes becoming error-prone

If you experience even two of these consistently, it’s time to move.

What Changes When You Move to Raff

Migrating to Raff means moving from a constrained environment to full infrastructure control.

Dedicated Resources

With a Raff Linux VM, your CPU, RAM, and storage are isolated. No noisy neighbors.

Full Control

You can:

• Install any software
• Configure your environment
• Optimize performance for your specific workload

Predictable Scaling

You can scale vertically (resize your VM) or horizontally (add more servers).

Cost Transparency

Raff’s pricing is straightforward:

• Starts at $3.99/month for 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM
• Hourly billing means you only pay for what you use

This makes it easier to grow without overcommitting.

Migration Strategy Overview

A successful migration is not just about moving files—it’s about minimizing risk.

The recommended approach:

1. Prepare your Raff environment
2. Replicate your application
3. Sync your data
4. Test thoroughly
5. Switch traffic

Let’s break this down.

Step 1 — Prepare Your Raff Environment

Start by creating a new Raff VM that matches your workload requirements.

For most SaaS applications:

• 1–2 vCPU
• 2–4 GB RAM

is a good starting point.

Set up:

• Operating system (Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 recommended)
• SSH access
• Firewall rules

Step 2 — Replicate Your Application Stack

Install everything your application needs:

• Web server (Nginx or Apache)
• Database (MySQL, PostgreSQL)
• Runtime (Node.js, Python, PHP)

Mirror your current environment as closely as possible to avoid compatibility issues.

Step 3 — Transfer Your Application and Data

You can transfer your data using tools like:

bash
rsync -avz /local/project user@server:/var/www/app

For databases:

• Export from shared hosting
• Import into your Raff VM

Example:

bash
mysqldump -u user -p dbname > backup.sql
mysql -u user -p dbname < backup.sql

Verify that all data has been transferred correctly.

Testing Before Going Live

Before switching traffic:

• Test all endpoints
• Verify database connections
• Check background jobs
• Validate authentication flows

Access your app using the server IP or a temporary domain.

Switching Traffic (DNS Update)

Once everything is working:

• Update your domain’s DNS records
• Point it to your Raff server

DNS propagation typically takes a few minutes to a few hours.

After propagation:

• Monitor logs
• Watch performance
• Check for errors

Common Migration Mistakes to Avoid

Avoid these pitfalls:

• Migrating without testing
• Underestimating resource needs
• Forgetting environment variables
• Not backing up data before migration
• Switching DNS too early

Planning is what separates smooth migrations from outages.

Cost Comparison: Shared Hosting vs Raff

While shared hosting may appear cheaper initially, the hidden cost is performance and lost flexibility.

Raff-Specific Advantages for SaaS Teams

Raff is particularly well-suited for growing SaaS teams because:

• You can scale instantly without migration
• You get predictable performance with NVMe SSD
• Hourly billing reduces financial risk
• Infrastructure remains simple without unnecessary complexity

You can also extend your setup using:

• Block storage volumes
• Private networking
• Automated backups

Conclusion

Moving from shared hosting to Raff is not just a technical upgrade—it’s a growth decision.

It gives you:

• Control over your infrastructure
• Predictable performance
• The ability to scale with your users

Most importantly, it removes the limitations that hold SaaS products back.

If your application is growing, the question is not if you should migrate—but when.

And the best time is before your infrastructure becomes the bottleneck.