Scaling your server on the Cloudways Platform is seamless and flexible.
Whether you're experiencing increased traffic or expanding your application needs, Cloudways gives you full control to upgrade your server’s hardware resources; CPU, RAM, and storage - without migrating to a new environment.
This process, known as Vertical Scaling or “scaling up,” involves enhancing the computing power of your existing server within the same data center region.
With Cloudways’ user-friendly platform and managed hosting capabilities, you can boost server performance and improve resource availability to match your growing business or application demands; quickly, efficiently, and with minimal disruption.
Table of Contents:
Guide to Scale Servers on the Cloudways Platform - Why & When to Scale up?
Vertical Scaling is the process of increasing your server’s computing capacity—CPU, RAM, and storage—without changing the server or its location.
It’s a cost-effective and efficient solution for improving performance while keeping all your data, applications, and configurations intact.
If your application is experiencing performance slowdowns, high CPU or memory usage, or increasing traffic spikes, vertical scaling is the ideal approach to prevent bottlenecks and downtime.
Upgrading your server resources ensures your website or application continues to run smoothly—even under heavier workloads—while maintaining availability and speed.
The scaling process may vary slightly across different cloud providers. While the steps for Linode and Vultr are the same, scaling procedures differ somewhat for DigitalOcean, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
This guide covers all provider-specific steps to help you scale confidently and effectively.
Important:
Trial accounts are limited in their ability to scale servers due to specific restrictions. Users on trial accounts cannot upgrade server configurations or launch larger servers directly. Full account activation is necessary to unlock unrestricted scaling.
Account Prerequisites
Before scaling, users must ensure their account is upgraded from trial to full status by adding necessary billing details and funding. Trial accounts are subject to scaling restrictions, preventing certain upgrades until the account is upgraded.
Scale Up Your DigitalOcean Server
Cloudways makes it easy to scale DigitalOcean servers based on your application’s growing needs. With DigitalOcean, you have the flexibility to upgrade server resources with or without adjusting storage.
You can choose from the following scaling options:
Scale only CPU and RAM – Ideal for short-term traffic surges or performance boosts without increasing storage capacity.
Scale CPU, RAM, and storage together – A more permanent option for long-term growth and expanded resource requirements.
This flexible scaling approach helps you optimize server performance while maintaining cost-efficiency based on your workload and usage patterns.
Note:
Scaling only CPU and RAM: You can revert to your original server size anytime, making this option ideal for temporary resource upgrades.
Scaling CPU, RAM, and storage together: This change is permanent. To scale back down, you’ll need to clone the server, as direct downgrading is not supported.
Need more storage only? Instead of scaling the entire server, consider using DigitalOcean Block Storage for flexible, cost-effective storage expansion.
Step #1 — Access the Vertical Scaling Option:
Log in to your Cloudways Platform using your registered email and password.
From the side menu, click on “Servers” to view your list of active servers.
Select the server you want to scale from the list to open its management dashboard.
4. Under Server Management, select Vertical Scaling.
Step #2 — Select the Right Server Size:
Under the Vertical Scaling tab, DigitalOcean offers flexible scaling options tailored to your performance and workload needs. Here’s how to proceed:
By default, you can scale your server’s CPU and RAM independently of storage—ideal for temporary resource upgrades.
Tip: Scaling only CPU and RAM allows you to revert to your original server size later. This is useful for handling short-term spikes in traffic or load.
2. For example, if you launched a 16GB DigitalOcean Basic Premium server, you can scale it up to 48GB and later scale it back down to 16GB. However, you cannot downgrade below your original size.
3. If you're using a 16GB Basic server, you can upgrade it to General Purpose or CPU-Optimized configurations—whichever best suits your application's needs.
4. Once you've selected the desired server size, you’ll see hourly and monthly pricing details displayed for full cost transparency.
5. For enhanced performance, you can toggle between Standard and Premium CPUs.
6. If you wish to scale storage along with CPU and RAM, simply enable the toggle to adjust all resources simultaneously.
7. Click Scale Now to apply your new configuration.
8. Want to undo your changes? Click Reset to revert to the default selection before confirming.
9. You can also click on 'See Benchmark Results' to learn more about each server time and their suitability,
Step #3 — Confirm the Scaling Operation:
After selecting your desired server size and configuration, a confirmation prompt will appear outlining important details about the scaling process—such as potential downtime and scaling limitations based on your selected options.
Carefully review the information provided. Once you're ready to proceed, click “Proceed” to initiate the server scaling operation.
Note:
DigitalOcean servers launched using the New Unified Experience support advanced vertical scaling features not available in the Classic interface. For the best experience and access to the latest scaling capabilities, we recommend managing these servers within the Unified interface.
Scale Up Your Vultr Server
Cloudways offers seamless support for scaling your Vultr server as your application demands grow. Vultr allows you to upgrade your server to a larger instance across the following families:
Standard
High Frequency
General Purpose
CPU Optimized
With Vultr, you can scale your CPU, RAM, and storage together—making it ideal for long-term upgrades that require a more powerful infrastructure.
This flexibility helps ensure your server is equipped to handle increased workloads, traffic spikes, or resource-heavy applications.
Important:
Scaling on Vultr is permanent—you'll need to clone the server to scale down.
Always create an on-demand backup before scaling.
The server goes offline briefly during the process—scale during off-peak hours.
You can’t scale a Standard Vultr server to a High Frequency one—cloning is required.
Step #1 — Navigate to Vertical Scaling:
Log in to your Cloudways Platform using your registered credentials.
From the side menu, click on “Servers” to view your active server list.
Select the server you want to scale from the list.
In the Server Management panel, click on “Vertical Scaling.”
Step #2 — Select the Right Server Size:
In the Vertical Scaling tab, scroll through the available server size options.
Hover over each server size to view its specifications and performance details.
Choose the server size that best fits your needs.
Review the hourly and monthly pricing displayed below.
Click “Scale Now” to proceed with scaling.
Step #3 — Confirm and Proceed:
A confirmation prompt will appear with important details about the scaling process.
Review the information carefully to understand any implications, such as downtime or limitations.
Once ready, click “Proceed” to start the scaling operation. (The server may take a few minutes to restart and apply the newly allocated computing resources.)
Note:
The scaling steps are identical for all four Vultr server types—Standard, High Frequency, General Purpose, and CPU Optimized.
Cross Scaling Between Vultr Families (General Purpose ↔ CPU Optimized)
What is Cross Scaling?
Cross scaling changes your Vultr server’s family (General Purpose ↔ CPU Optimized) while keeping the same server, IP, and data. It’s different from Vertical Scaling, which only changes size (RAM/CPU/storage) within the same family.
When to use it?
Need more CPU per GB RAM (move to CPU Optimized) for compute-heavy tasks.
Need a balanced CPU–RAM mix (move to General Purpose) for typical websites/apps.
Restrictions & considerations:
You can only scale up your server — No downscaling to Standard or High Frequency from these advanced families.
You can switch only between General Purpose and CPU Optimized.
Disk size cannot be reduced; make a recent backup/snapshot before changing.
To reduce server size, you’ll need to clone your server and select the desired smaller configuration.
How to cross scale?
Go to Servers → select your server → Vertical Scaling.
Open Server Type and choose General Purpose or CPU Optimized (see screenshot).
Review the size slider and price.
Click Scale Now and confirm.
Wait for the server to apply changes and restart.
Want to learn more about Cross-Series Vertical Scaling on Vultr? Click here.
Important:
Cross scaling is available only on Vultr Advanced plans. You cannot switch from General Purpose/CPU Optimized back to Standard or High Frequency families.
Scale Up Your Linode Server
Cloudways makes it easy to scale your Linode server as your application or business needs grow. Linode supports vertical scaling, allowing you to upgrade CPU, RAM, and storage together as a bundled resource package.
Linode allows you to upgrade your server to a larger instance across the following families:
Standard
General Purpose
CPU Optimized
Unlike some providers, Linode does not support independent scaling of resources. This makes it an ideal choice for planned, long-term growth where you need a consistent increase across all hardware resources.
Note:
Scaling is permanent on Linode—once increased, you cannot scale down directly. You’ll need to clone the server to move to a smaller instance.
Always take an on-demand backup before scaling to ensure a restore point is available.
Your server will go temporarily offline during the scaling process. It’s recommended to scale during off-peak hours to reduce downtime impact.
Step #1 - Access the Vertical Scaling Option:
Log in to your Cloudways Platform using your registered credentials.
From the side menu, click on “Servers” to view your active server list.
Select the server you want to scale from the list.
4. In the Server Management panel, click on “Vertical Scaling.”
Step #2 — Select the Right Server Size:
In the Vertical Scaling tab, scroll through the available server size options.
Hover over each server size to view its specifications and performance details.
Choose the server size that best fits your needs.
Review the hourly and monthly pricing displayed below.
Step #3 — Confirm and Proceed:
A confirmation prompt will appear with important details about the scaling process.
Review the information carefully to understand any implications, such as downtime or limitations.
Once ready, click “Proceed” to start the scaling operation. (The server may take a few minutes to restart and apply the newly allocated computing resources.)
Note:
The scaling steps are the same for all Linode server types offered on the Cloudways Platform.
Scale Up Your AWS/GCP Server
Cloudways supports vertical scaling for both Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP), allowing you to upgrade CPU and RAM together based on your evolving resource needs.
Unlike other providers, both AWS and GCP also allow you to scale down your server size if needed—giving you more flexibility and control over your infrastructure costs.
Each AWS and GCP server includes three attached disks:
A disk for application files (expandable)
A disk for database storage (expandable)
A disk for OS requirements (fixed at 25GB)
While you can increase the size of your application and database disks during scaling, the OS disk remains fixed and cannot be expanded or repurposed.
Note: The example shown in this guide uses an AWS server, but the process is identical for GCP servers.
Important:
Storage scaling is permanent—you must clone the server to reduce disk size.
Always create an on-demand backup before scaling.
Your server will go briefly offline during scaling—perform the operation during off-peak hours to minimize impact.
Step #1 — Navigate to Vertical Scaling:
Log in to your Cloudways Platform with your registered credentials.
From the left menu bar, click on “My Servers” to access your list of deployed server(s).
Select the AWS/GCP server.
4. In the Server Management section, click on “Vertical Scaling” as shown below.
Step #2 — Select the Right Server Size
In the Vertical Scaling section, review the available server size options.
Hover over each option to view specifications and choose the one that fits your needs.
The hourly and monthly pricing will be displayed below for transparency.
Click “Scale Now” to continue.
5. A prompt will appear with important warnings and details about the scaling process. Once reviewed, click “Proceed” to begin the upgrade.
Step #3 — Scale Disk Space (Optional):
To increase storage, switch to the Disk Size for Application and Disk Size for Database tabs.
Adjust the sliders or values based on your desired disk space.
Once configured, click “Scale Now” to apply the changes.
Your server may take a few minutes to restart as the new computing resources are applied.
At Cloudways, scaling your server is quick and hassle-free. Choose our WordPress hosting servers to upgrade resources anytime based on your growing needs.
That’s it! We hope this article was helpful.
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