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In this guide, you will learn more about DigitalOcean’s Premium Droplets and why they are different from the standard series machines. Moreover, we will show how to set up this high-performance machine through the Cloudways Platform and migrate the existing website to DigitalOcean’s infrastructure.
DigitalOcean Premium Droplets
Robust Intel Xeon Processors (built-in AI acceleration)
DigitalOcean Premium series is a significant performance upgrade to their Standard series. The Premium Droplets are powered by Intel Xeon 2nd Generation Scalable processors with built-in AI acceleration and Intel mesh architecture to deliver superior and consistent high performance. These processors are clocked at a base frequency of 2.50 GHz and a max turbo frequency of 3.90 GHz. A computer’s processor clock determines how fast your CPU can retrieve and interpret instructions. Therefore, 3.90 GHz CPUs offer faster content delivery due to their robust architecture.
Tip
Clock speeds are measured in gigahertz (GHz), with a higher number representing higher clock speed.
Accelerated Memory and NVMe Storage
These machines provide enhanced memory performance with a frequency of 2933 GHz bundled up with an NVMe storage drive. This memory is better in performing data store, and data read operations much faster due to the high clock rate. On the other hand, an NVMe storage offers greater read/write speed than the traditional SATA SSD drives. All these positives complement the CPU and boost the overall server performance, and it is also a very cost-effective option.
Availability
DigitalOcean currently has eight data centers worldwide, and Cloudways gives you complete freedom to develop and deploy on the ones closest to you and your clients for low latency. All data centers are equipped with premium-type machines, but they are subjected to availability as these high-performance computing instances are in huge demand.
Important
Unavailable regions and machines should be available as soon as DigitalOcean replenishes their availability.
Please note that if you are scaling up in a region where your desired server is unavailable, then you can clone your server to a different region to get that machine.
Benchmarks
We have benchmarked a few DigitalOcean Standard, DigitalOcean Premium, and Vultr High Frequency servers to compare the performance. This benchmark includes a Page Response comparison of each server from the following series.
DigitalOcean Standard — 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB
DigitalOcean Premium — 1 GB Premium, 2 GB Premium, 4 GB Premium, 8 GB Premium, 16 GB Premium
Vultr High Frequency — 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB
Tip
Page Response evaluates the number of responses the server can handle under a sustained load from the users
Test Environment Conditions
All the benchmarks were carried out using the same testing conditions for each machine.
Server Region | Toronto, Canada |
Server Application | WordPress |
Test Duration | 1 Minute |
Concurrent Clients | 1-250 Client |
Load Test Algorithm | Maintain Load |
Page Response Comparison (Varnish Cache Enabled)
The first comparison was between the chosen machines keeping Varnish cache enabled. The request count (y-axis) between DigitalOcean Premium Droplets and Vultr High Frequency is not significant. However, DigitalOcean Premium Droplets handled a higher number of requests and performed well among others when it comes to 1 GB, 2 GB, and 8 GB machines (x-axis). The Vultr High Frequency 4 GB machine was able to handle a slightly higher number of requests.
Page Response Comparison (Varnish Cache Disabled)
The second comparison was between the same machines keeping Varnish cache disabled. The requests count drops significantly due to no server caching; however, the DigitalOcean Premium Droplets of 1 GB, 2 GB, and 8 GB performed well and handled more requests. In contrast, the Vultr High Frequency machine of 4 GB outperformed others.
Launching a New Application On a DigitalOcean Premium Droplet
New DigitalOcean Premium Droplet — Accessing the Cloudways Platform
Log in to your Cloudways Platform using your credentials.
From the top menu bar, open Servers.
Then, click Add Server.
Classic Interface
New Interface
New DigitalOcean Premium Droplet — Launching a New Server
Select the application you want to deploy.
Name your application.
Next, type the name of your server.
Select your project.
Select DigitalOcean as an infrastructure provider.
Next, choose your desired server size.
Choose your server location from the list.
Finally, click Launch Now.
Tip
It is recommended to deploy your server on the data center closest to your clients to minimize the network latency.
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New Interface
That’s it! Your new DigitalOcean Premium Droplet will be deployed in a few minutes.
Tip
If you are new to Cloudways and already have an existing website, request a managed migration from our support heroes, and experience the difference.
If you have a WordPress website to migrate, you can also use Free Cloudways Migrator Plugin to migrate yourself.
Once your server and application(s) are created, then don’t forget to follow the take site live checklist to take your website online.
Upgrade an Existing Server to a New DigitalOcean Premium Droplet
If you use DigitalOcean already, you can easily scale up to a new DigitalOcean Premium Droplet using a vertical scaling feature. Else, if you use any other cloud partner and want to switch, you can clone your server.
Moving from the Existing DigitalOcean Server
You can scale up your current DigitalOcean instance to the latest Premium Droplet using the following steps:
Important
We recommend taking on-demand server backup before doing any scaling operation on your server; this will ensure you have a good restore point if you need to restore your applications’ previous versions.
The scaling operation will take your server offline while resources are being allocated to your server. The process should be lean and swift, yet it is good practice to scale during off-peak hours to minimize your website’s downtime effect.
Log in to your Cloudways Platform using your credentials.
From the top menu bar, open Servers.
Then, choose your desired server to scale up.
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New Interface
Under Server Management, select Vertical Scaling.
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New Interface
Under server size, hover over different server sizes to get more information. Once decided, you can select that server size.
Finally, click Scale Now.
Important
Please note that if you are scaling up in a region where your desired server is unavailable, then you can clone your server to a different region to get that machine.
Classic Interface
New Interface
You will be prompted with some warnings about the scaling process. Once you are ready, you can click Proceed.
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It may take a few minutes to get your server up and running again with new specifications.
Swapping Your Current Server with a DigitalOcean Premium Droplet
Upgrading from other cloud providers to a new DigitalOcean Premium Droplet is possible by cloning the server.
Log in to your Cloudways Platform using your email address and password.
From the top menu bar, open Servers.
Then, select your desired server.
Click ⋮ and click Clone Server.
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New Interface
You will be prompted for the cloning process. Click Yes.
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New Interface
Select DigitalOcean as your infrastructure provider.
Next, select your desired server size.
Select your server location.
Finally, click the Clone Server.
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Your new instance will be deployed in a few minutes. Please bear in mind that the cloning process only creates an identical copy of your website contents. It does not merge previously applied configurations or settings through the Platform. Once the cloning process is completed, you will need to follow the take site live checklist and update your DNS records to get your website online.
That’s it! We hope this article was helpful. If you need any help, then feel free to search your query on Cloudways Support Center or contact us via chat (Need a Hand > Send us a Message). Alternatively, you can also create a support ticket.
FAQs
Can I scale from a Standard Server to a Premium Droplet?
Yes, you can easily scale up to a new DigitalOcean Premium Droplet using a vertical scaling feature.
Can I keep the same IP address when cloning my server to DigitalOcean Premium Droplet?
No, the new cloned server will have a different IP address; therefore, you need to point your DNS records to the new server IP after the cloning process.
I am trying to choose a bigger server size, yet the Cloudways Platform tells me that the selected server is not available within the selected region; what can I do?
Unfortunately, we do not have any control over DigitalOcean’s server distribution and availability. The recommendation is to either select the nearest region where the server type is available or choose another server to handle the forecasted load until the required server unit is available.