The document discusses setting up a WordPress site on AWS using serverless computing, eliminating the need for server management. It covers serverless architecture, installation steps, benefits such as enhanced security and reduced costs, and limitations related to dynamic processing. The presentation includes demos, use cases, and recommendations for further action.

1. WHO NEEDS A SERVER?
SETTING UP WORDPRESS IN AWS
WITHOUT A SERVER
Carel Bekker
@ClickHOST & @carelbekker

2. Carel Bekker - @ClickHOST
Overview
In this session we’ll be exploring how to
setup WordPress in AWS (Amazon
Web Services) without using a server.
It is also referred to as serverless
computing. It takes the pain out of
having to setup and manage aVPS, or
dedicated server for WordPress.
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3. Carel Bekker - @ClickHOST
What we’ll cover
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• Serverless definition
• WordPress architecture & installation
• Why Serverless ?
• Use cases
• Serverless WordPress & Demo
• Opportunities for growth (aka limitations)
• What next?
• Q&A and Discussion.

4. Carel Bekker - @ClickHOST
Serverless Definition
• No servers to manage
• No software to manage
• No software to upgrade
• Pay for execution time only
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5. Carel Bekker - @ClickHOST
WordPress Architecture
• How does it currently work?
• Backend & Website hosted on the same server.
• Hosted on a LAMP stack.
• Pages generated dynamically.
• Without caching or CDN it may be slow.
• Data written to a local MySQL DB.
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6. Carel Bekker - @ClickHOST
Why Serverless?
• Security:
• Can’t hack backend
• Can’t hack PHP/plugins
• Less urgent to keep versions up-to-date
• Speed:
• Fast local editing of backend.
• Static HTML loads very fast vs dynamically generated pages.
• Cost:
• No server costs. Minimal storage & Lambda execution cost.
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7. Carel Bekker - @ClickHOST
Serverless use cases
• WordPress serverless use cases:
• Fairly static business websites.
• Smaller websites < 1,000 pages.This is a
limitation of the Static Page generation plugin.
• Don’t need dynamic server side processing.
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8. Carel Bekker - @ClickHOST
Serverless Architecture
• OK, cool, how can we do this?
• In 3 stages:
1. Install local Mac/PC LAMP stack & install
WordPress
2. Setup AWS S3 to host static website files.
3. Generate static WordPress files & upload to S3.
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9. Carel Bekker - @ClickHOST
Install Local LAMP stack
• Many ways to setup a local LAMP stack.
• I used Softaculous ampps software.
• Quick & easy to install
• Free
• Includes WordPress installer
• Design your WordPress site on your local Mac/PC.
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10. Carel Bekker - @ClickHOST
Setup your AWS env.
• Create an S3 bucket.
• Setup S3 bucket for static hosting.
• Important: bucket name should match domain
name, e.g., carelbekker.com is the bucket and
domain name.
• Setup Route 53 entries.
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11. Carel Bekker - @ClickHOST
Generate static pages
• Now the magic happens…
• Install Simply Static or Simply Static S3 Plugin.
• Generate static files.
• Copy these files to S3.
• WHAM!
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12. Carel Bekker - @ClickHOST
DEMO
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13. Carel Bekker - @ClickHOST
Contact Us Page
• Use the following AWS services:
• SES — Simple Email Service to send email.
• API Gateway — API endpoint that can be used
to activate a Lambda function.
• Lambda — Uses SES to send email containing
data from Contact Us Page.
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14. Carel Bekker - @ClickHOST
Areas of research
• Aka, limitations.
• No dynamic / server side code
• 3 common areas & solutions:
1. Forms: use Lambda or wufoo
2. Comments: use Facebook & Disqus
3. Search: use Google Search or Aliquo
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15. Carel Bekker - @ClickHOST
What next?
•Cloudfront for caching
•Automate the publishing
•Publish only changed content
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16. Carel Bekker - @ClickHOST
Q&A
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17. Carel Bekker - @ClickHOST
Resources
•AWS Overview
•AWS S3 Static Website Hosting
•ClickHOST AWS Blog Posts
•ClickHOST Managed AWS Hosting
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18. Carel Bekker - @ClickHOST
Carel Bekker
President&Owner
carel@clickhost.com
Twitter: @clickhost, @carelbekker
Tel: 404.220.8110
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