Drupal Brief

The Scalable CMS: Automating WordPress on AWS

Drupal Brief Season 2026 Episode 9

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WordPress powers over 43% of the web, but as traffic spikes, manual server management quickly becomes a bottleneck for growing teams. In this episode, we explore the practical architecture of auto-scaling WordPress on AWS to handle unpredictable surges while potentially cutting hosting costs by over 50%.

What we discuss in this episode

  • The Blueprint: Why a mix of EC2/Kubernetes, RDS, and shared storage like EFS is the gold standard for high-performance CMS sites.
  • Performance Gains: How moving to an autoscaled AWS setup can improve TTFB from 135ms to 55ms.
  • Control vs. Convenience: Comparing the DIY AWS approach, managed platforms like Pantheon, and using DevPanel to automate your own AWS account.
  • Standardization: Using workspaces and templates to manage multi-site portfolios and launch new sites with hardened security blueprints.
  • Safer Development: Creating branch-based dev environments that mirror production to test scaling before it's live.

Read the full guide here: https://www.devpanel.com/blog/auto-scaling-wordpress-aws-guide/

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This episode of DrupalBrief is sponsored by DrupalForge.org

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