Setting up S3 to host 'wp-content' folder

Question

If this is not the right SE to post the question, please kindly direct me to the right one.

I've seen configuration of setting up S3 to host wp-content folder, what are the advantages of doing so? and possibly what are the disadvantages?

Answer 1

This site is a pretty good reference for using S3 and Wordpress.

Wordpress S3 Guide

It calls out some very good advantages to using S3 with Wordpress:

• Reduced requests to server – because your server no longer has to deliver media files (or potentially assets), you can reduce your page load times.
• More affordable storage – if you’re butting up against your host’s storage limits, I can almost guarantee that S3’s storage prices are cheaper than what your host will charge.
• Detached media – because your media files are detached from your site, it’s a heckuva lot easier to move your WordPress site around (like between hosts). You’re basically just moving the PHP files, which takes up almost no space.
• Scalability – because Amazon S3 powers the entire Internet (ok, that’s a bit of hyperbole), you can be pretty confident that Amazon can scale with whatever’s happening to your site.

You can also use CloudFront.

A couple of disadvantages spring to mind

The first is performance, and the second is security. In reverse order: you'd be using a public S3 bucket. You need to be cautious about what is stored in that bucket.

From the site below it looks like there are performance differences between using a web server to serve the content and S3. I'd recommend experimenting with a WP server and S3 to see which is best for you. It could be combination of S3 and CloudFront.

Shouldn't Serve Assets on S3