Hey team, I'm facing a sticky situation. My WordPress site has been with Namecheap for two years, and before June, I hadn't encountered any DDoS attacks. But then, Namecheap suddenly shut down my site for 30 minutes, claiming an attack was imminent and suggesting I enable Cloudflare's under-attack mode. I did that, and everything seemed to get back to normal.
Fast forward to July, and I experienced another DDoS attack. This time, I just checked the 'under attack' box and waited for support to kick in. They got me back online, no sweat.
But the third attack in August was a different story. Namecheap cut off my site for three days, and their suggested solution was to migrate to their VPS or CDN, or even switch to another provider. The price tag was steep, and I don't need that level of tech wizardry for a small WP site that's only 200MB.
As a non-expert in this space, I'm looking for some advice. Here are my options:
Set up a secondary hosting and link it to my Namecheap account. I'm not sure how to do this, but maybe it's free for now. Any recommendations?
Move to a new registrar and see what Cloudflare's hosting conditions are like. I couldn't find any info on that front.
I'm hoping someone can help me out and give me some actionable advice. Anyone got some war stories or tips to share?
I'd advise you to take a step back and assess the situation. Namecheap's DDoS protection may be sufficient for small sites, but it's clear they're not able to handle the volume of attacks you're experiencing. Setting up a secondary hosting and linking it to your Namecheap account is a viable option, but it's not a free solution.
You'll need to consider the costs of additional hosting and potential downtime during the transition. Moving to a new registrar and exploring Cloudflare's hosting conditions is also worth investigating.
It's not necessary to stick with the same provider for both your domain registration and hosting. You can choose any hosting service that fits your needs and then set up Cloudflare for DNS management. Just point the DNS records to the IP address of your hosting provider in the Cloudflare dashboard.
When you're at the registrar, make sure to update the nameservers to those provided by Cloudflare. This will ensure that all traffic is routed through their network, which can enhance performance and security. If this process seems a bit overwhelming, you might want to consider hiring a freelancer for around $50 to handle the configuration. Just remember to change all relevant passwords afterward to maintain security.
Cloudflare ain't no hosting platform, you can't literally relocate your website there. It's like trying to swap your domain registrar with a CDN. You're mixing apples and oranges, my friend. Cloudflare does offer domain registration services, but it's not a hosting solution.
If you've already set up shop on Cloudflare, you'll need to switch to a new hosting provider. And let me tell you, the next DDoS attack will be the real test of whether you've got your security ducks in a row or not. You'll see how your new hosting provider handles the situation. It's like checking if your hosting provider is a reliable 'netizen' or not. So, don't get it twisted, Cloudflare is a content delivery network, not a hosting service.