A next-generation hosting platform
Find out how OVHcloud significantly improves your websites’ performance, while reducing their environmental footprint. This is all thanks to our new Scale-a5 Gen2 server-based infrastructure, which prioritises speed, reliability, resilience, and eco-responsibility.
We’ve upgraded our entire system, replacing all of our machines with a new generation of Scale-a5 Gen2 servers. This new shared platform is designed for performance and energy efficiency to (i) address the growing needs of today’s websites and, (ii) meet technological and environmental challenges.
These new servers can now improve website reliability, handle higher traffic, and lower the carbon footprint of your hosting plans. This way, we can help you integrate eco-design principles into your web projects and hit your environmental targets.
Our goal is to provide you with fast, reliable, and eco-friendly—at no extra cost.
“The Scale-a5 Gen2 server ticks all the boxes in terms of speed, stability, and low power consumption, which is why we decided to make it the substructure of our new shared platform.”
Arnaud Jost, Product Unit Lead, OVHcloud
Up to 3x faster speeds during peak traffic
We’ve phased these new servers in across our shared web hosting plans, and can already measure the tangible improvements they bring to all our hosted websites. These are available now, and customers can benefit from them without needing to do anything.
Websites with high traffic and resource demands see particularly high performance improvements. We measured this by analysing how the 10 most resource-intensive websites on our infrastructure performed before and after deployment.
On average, these high-traffic sites sped up page processing by 1.93, with the most resource-intensive sites reaching a threefold increase. During periods of peak visits, the AMD EPYC-based Scale-a5 Gen2 servers show superior CPU parallel processing capabilities.
| CPUs can perform several tasks at once by drawing on their multiple cores; this is known as parallelisation. It allows a web server to handle a high volume of concurrent visits or requests by efficiently distributing the processing load. |
An average 30% performance gain and increased resilience for low-traffic sites
Low-traffic websites also see a performance boost, with 30% faster page load speed on average.
These results clearly correlate traffic volume with higher speeds. Compared to our last generation of servers, you could see an average performance boost of 30% (1.3x) to 200% (3x), depending on your website’s traffic and load.
In practical terms, this translates to:
- faster server response times, even during peak hours;
- noticeably higher capacity to absorb traffic spikes without impacting performance;
- and overall, a more responsive, stable, and positive user experience.
The tests also showed that Scale-a5 Gen2 servers were superior in several other areas. In addition to offering best-in-class loading times and processing capacity, the machines provide a maximum level of resilience and uptime (Tier 4). This helps us to optimally meet our quality-of-service requirements.
| What is Tier 4? The data hosting industry uses a tier system (1 to 4) to rank datacentres, the physical locations where servers are housed, based on their reliability. The higher the number, the higher the availability and redundancy levels. With Tier 4 infrastructure, you can count on maximum uptime, as outages are highly improbable—even during unexpected scenarios. A Tier 4 system incorporates multiple power sources, backups, and redundant equipment for uninterrupted service. |
“These improvements underscore the advantages of our new platform, especially for customers managing high-volume traffic and peak resource demands.”
Bruno B., IT Team Leader Infrastructure, OVHcloud
Massive benefits for website KPIs
To fully assess the benefits of the new Scale-a5 Gen2 servers, we also looked at how they impacted KPIs related to user experience. We used the Core Web Vitals metrics, which serve as benchmarks for assessing a website’s loading speed and visual appeal. Google uses this data to rank websites, which is why it matters for both user experience and organic SEO.
The metrics we track:
- Time to First Byte (TTFB): the time it takes for a website’s server to send the first byte of data after a user requests a webpage. This data mainly shows how well the web hosting plan performs, as it directly measures a server’s response. Fast server response times, reflected in low TTFB, are a key indicator of a hosting plan’s speed and reliability. While not a definitive sign of poor hosting, a high TTFB usually points to problems with website optimisation or network infrastructure. This metric should therefore be compared with additional metrics (below) to get a comprehensive performance overview.
- First Contentful Paint (FCP): the point in time when the first visual element (text, image, etc.) appears on the screen after a page loads. User experience improves with a shorter FCP.
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): the time it takes to load the largest visible element on a webpage. A website’s core content loads quickly and smoothly when its LCP is well designed.
- Full Loaded:the total time a webpage (images, text, scripts, etc.) takes to fully load. The shorter the loading time, the smoother the experience.
We measured performance metrics in a live production environment, using the GTmetrix tool. These are the common results for low-traffic websites:
Our new infrastructure has improved our average Time to First Byte by 36% (1.36x faster).
The noticeable improvement in TTFB is proof of quicker server response, leading to:
- speedy websites;
- smoother navigation for users;
- higher search engine rankings.
Deploying the Scale-a5 Gen2 servers is a giant leap forward in web performance; the upgrade is now available to customers without any further steps needed.
“We’ve noticed a remarkable increase in website performance; our websites are now loading faster, a difference our customers are already seeing. This is a huge improvement that greatly enhances service quality, user experience, and search engine optimisation.”
Maxime Cavoizy, Associate Technical Director, Agence Rezo 21
A faster, greener platform
Our infrastructure upgrade isn’t just about speeding up the websites we host; it also marks a major step forward towards reducing our environmental footprint.
Scale-a5’s increased power and efficiency enable us to use fewer servers to host all our customers’ websites, which as a result, considerably reduces our power consumption.
Specifically, the upgrade cuts our energy use by up to 82%, without making your websites’ slower or less responsive. This approach is fully in line with our goal of providing more responsible, efficient, and sustainable hosting plans.
Our commitment to a sustainable cloud
OVHcloud’s commitment to eco-responsibility began with its founding, and continues through energy-efficient datacentres and innovative cooling systems. We strongly believe that performance and sustainability are two sides of the same coin.
This energy efficiency is also made possible by our water-cooling technology, which we’ve been perfecting in-house since 2003. It allows us to cool our servers with efficiency superior to conventional methods, significantly reducing our overall energy consumption.
Our one-of-a-kind approach to global cloud services includes manufacturing our own servers, and fully recycling them. We have complete oversight of our production chain, from design to disassembly. As a result, our machines are built to last for at least five years. In addition, we rigorously test all components for reuse whenever feasible. By choosing OVHcloud, you directly benefit from this circular and sustainable approach, and in doing so, optimise your carbon footprint.
These actions reflect our objective to offer high-performing and sustainable web hosting plans, and meet our customers’ expectations while minimising the environmental impact.
Your success at the heart of our technological innovation
“This major platform upgrade attests to our commitment to offering more efficient, reliable, and eco-friendly web hosting plans at the best price.”
Sébastien Cavaillé, Product Marketing Manager, OVHcloud
We’re honoured to help you succeed by providing you with innovative, eco-responsible, and high-performance services. This upgrade will provide lasting, quantifiable benefits—whether you’re a growing business, handling a high-traffic e-commerce site, or managing web projects focused on sustainability.
Not a customer yet? Our scalable, high-performance web hosting plans are built for all your projects. Check them out today!
