How MySteel Doubled Traffic Without Downtime

Spring always brings a fresh wave of opportunity for MySteel. As a popular webshop for outdoor steel models, seasonal weather changes directly impact customer behavior. When the sun comes out, customers show up and this year, Sparkable, their digital agency, knew they had to be ready.

Anticipating a sharp traffic spike as temperatures rose, Sparkable partnered with Hypernode to prepare MySteel’s infrastructure for the surge. The goal? Upgrade performance without introducing risk or disrupting operations. What followed was a smooth migration, real-time optimization, and performance gains that exceeded expectations.

The Challenge: From Stable to Scalable Before Spring Arrived

Although MySteel had been a long-standing Hypernode customer, they were still on a Falcon 2XL plan sufficient for steady winter months, but not ideal for seasonal surges. With spring just around the corner, Sparkable noticed potential trouble brewing: the increased load could lead to slower response times, server timeouts, and a degraded shopping experience at the worst possible moment.

The team at Sparkable reached out to Hypernode for advice. Together, we reviewed the server usage and concluded that a Jackal L plan would be a better fit. Naturally, there were initial concerns about switching to a different server type, even within the same hosting environment. But ensuring MySteel could scale smoothly and confidently was worth it.

The Solution: A Seamless Migration and a Self-Healing System

Hypernode’s team carefully explained the technical requirements and migration plan, giving Sparkable and MySteel enough time to prepare on their side. With everything aligned, the upgrade to a Jackal L server was executed with minimal downtime. Once live, the new setup offered not only more power but also access to Hypernode’s Autohealing feature.

A few weeks later, the first truly warm weekend of the year arrived and so did the traffic. Pageviews skyrocketed, revealing a few inefficiencies that hadn’t been noticeable during quieter months. But thanks to Autohealing, the site stayed accessible and responsive throughout the day. While collectors browsed without interruption, Sparkable worked hand-in-hand with the Hypernode support team to identify and fix the underlying performance issues.

This level of collaboration made all the difference. Hypernode’s support team wasn’t just reactive they were a true partner in optimizing the shop’s performance at a critical moment.

The Impact: Record Speeds, More Visitors, Better Experiences

The results speak for themselves. Since the migration, MySteel’s site performance has improved dramatically.

Their 95th percentile response time, as measured by Tideways, dropped from a peak of 2,500 seconds in February to just 385 milliseconds today even including some slower API endpoints. That’s a 649% improvement.

Time to First Byte (TTFB) also saw a massive boost. According to RUMVision, it went from a peak of 2,031ms in February to just 417ms for visitors in the Netherlands, and 551ms globally, a 487% improvement locally.

And while performance metrics soared, customer engagement followed suit. Weekly active users more than doubled, as reported in Google Analytics.

Looking Ahead: MySteel is Ready for What’s Next

Thanks to the thoughtful collaboration between Sparkable and Hypernode, MySteel now has the infrastructure it needs to thrive in high-demand moments without the stress of technical bottlenecks or surprise slowdowns.

“With Hypernode, our Magento environments are in safe and capable hands. Their support is top-notch and always available, even if just for advice.”
— Jeroen Gerrits, Sparkable

With spring traffic conquered, MySteel is ready for whatever comes next.