Compare Node. js support on different PaaS platforms

Node. js may still be younger than other languages, but its VM has many options. In this article, let's take a look at several "Platform as a service (PaaS)" providers.

I do not cover certain infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) options, such as AWS and Joyent, although the boundaries between some PaaS and IaaS in these options are slightly blurred.

In this round, I mainly examine two aspects: Deployment and environment variable configuration. I also included some observations on the dashboard and other miscellaneous operations. In future articles, we will run some basic performance tests to see how easy the architecture is to scale.

The Players

Provider	Deployment method	Environment variables	Performance
Nodejitsu	CLI	CLI or web interface	Coming soon
Heroku	Git	CLI
Modulus	CLI or web upload	CLI or web interface
App Fog	CLI	CLI or web interface
Azure	CLI or git	CLI or web interface
DotCloud	CLI	CLI or. yml file
Engine Yard	Git	Ey_config npm module
OpenShift	Git	SSH and create file
CloudFoundry	Coming soon	Coming soon

Set

I started with a very simple Express app. Using nconf can provide a variety of methods, so that we can specify a port for the app and listen to our application (if necessary) and a dummy variable, I call it SECRET. It first looks for the parameters and environment variables passed by the node command, and then tries to load the config. json file from the upper level of the root directory to the default location we have set. When loading an app, we can know whether the variables are correctly loaded from external sources. If an error occurs, the app will be rolled back to the default SECRET. If I can access the app startup log, I can see which port the app listens to on NODE_ENV.

Finally, I set "engines": {"node": "v0.10.x"... to the package. json file to see how each provider responds.

There is no specific order now ..

Nodejitsu

Https://www.nodejitsu.com/

An initial participant is still completely Node. js solution. After Joyent gave up their No. de service, Joyent's Nodejitsu became an official partner (sorry, that's really a good domain name ). nodejitsu is no longer a permanent free middle layer. however, some schemes require a free trial period of 3 $ every month and 30 days.

Variable Configuration

According to the document, you do not need to set the listening port, as long as it is 80 or greater than 1024.

Setting our SECRET to override the default one is quite easy. You can use the CLI or web interface list to set variables, Just Like several other vendors on this list.

Deployment

To publish your code to Nodejitsu cloud, install rpm through a custom command line interface (CLI) application. After registration, it will be automatically transferred to the github command version library. however, the overall installation process is quite painful. When you are prompted to select a second-level domain name, it will be automatically added to the package. json file. I ran several tests and the deployment was very fast. in each deployed package. the version attribute of the json file is automatically incremented, which won't bother me, but may cause other people to worry.

I have encountered three minor faults. The first is version control. When I deploy the service, I will display the following information:

Info: jitsu v0.12.10-2, node v0.10.4

However, I was told that 0.10.x is not a supported value. I can only succeed when I compare it to 0.8.x.

Second, I tried to change the property name in package. json and then told that the deployment would not work.

Third, I have eliminated the ENV variable. Every time I redeploy, there may be a way to avoid it.

Misc Notes and Dashboard

I like Nodejitsu. Any custom configuration will be processed through the standard package. json file. You can even define custom predeploy and postdeploy hooks. My impression is that it is flexible to deploy and view logs.

 

Heroku

Https://www.heroku.com/

PaaS is an extremely popular platform constructed using ubiquitous Ruby on Rails.

Variable Configuration

We also set our SECRET using CLI to overwrite the default value.

All applications run on port 5000, so you need to listen to this port.

Finally, you need to create a Procfile to describe the web application: node server. js. This is only a small side effect of the PaaS platform that supports multiple languages.

Deployment

Heroku's "toolbelt" CLI is used to manage your account and applications, but the deployment is through git. You only need to add terminals and they will provide you with remote access in your git configuration, because they do not fully support Node. js, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they already support v 0.10.6. My first deployment seemed to be successful, but I received a tracing error and guided me to find out how many resources need to be specified for the first time, I want to work on this program:

Heroku ps: scale web = 1

After that, it was smooth sailing.

Miscellaneous description and Control Panel

I have not tried Heroku for my own project until about three months ago, in part because I have a moderate standard to help me adjust my server, and partly because I think they are dealing with node. js, but if you can overcome their shortcomings about WebSocket support and some error mark and statistics, this is a pretty good experience.

They also get a very nice and functional control panel, with some convenient features that make you not feel like other places pointing to the 404 page in the S3-hosted file, in addition, the ownership of the project can be transferred to different users.

Modulus

Http://modulus.io

The. io suffix is a relatively new service. Node. js is embedded with support for MongoDB and local file storage.

Configuration variables

You can configure variables through the web interface or CLI. I am trying to create SECRET. After trying and encountering an error, I found no space in the variable! It is strange that the SECRET module does not work.

The application needs to listen to PORT 8080, "but we recommend that you use the PORT environment variable (process. env. PORT )."

Deployment

The deployment can be done through CLI, but you can also compress the entire project and upload it through their interesting network interfaces. I have no problems with deployment, but every time I want to package and upload your entire project (except node_modules, this makes it much slower to process than the tools that use git's "diff" function or rsync.

As for writing, the module runs on version 0.8.15 and ignores any content you specify in package. json.

Other precautions and dashboards

I cheered for these guys and hoped they could continue to improve. There is a built-in MongoDB option that will be good, I like the early pricing.

 

AppFog

Http://appfog.com

AppFog was previously known for PHP Fog and has now been acquired by CenturyLink. You can specify the cloud you want to use, such as AWS, HP, and Azure cloud in different regions.

Configuration variables

You can set variables through the web console or CLI (command line tool. Setting private variables is no problem.

This document requires listening to the process. env. VCAP_APP_PORT port, but I try to use the default configuration to work properly. The log shows that the listener is listening to port 57277.

Deployment

CLI tools are also used. When writing this article, AppFog uses v0.8.14 and ignores version settings in package. json.

Other precautions and dashboards

Its free plan looks generous. It provides up to 8 instances with a total of 2 gb ram and can be used separately. It also has the built-in MongoDB option.

 

Windows Azure

Http://windowsazure.com

Variable Configuration

Variables can be configured through network interfaces or CLI. The first time I configured SECRET through CLI, I encountered a strange small problem. The SECRET changed to secret. So I have to use network interfaces to correct it.

The application runs well without making any changes to the port, but a strange value is found in the log: \. \ pipe \ bea0dffc-de5b-47f4-8575-4d17c2175fd5

Deployment

I hope Microsoft can have more custom items here, because when some files are added to the Code (named azure_error and iisnode. yml). CLI is automatically installed through npm and deployed through git.

Azure runs the 0.8.2 version, but this version can be reconfigured in the package. json file.

Precautions and dashboards

The Account creation process is currently the most boring. It includes text message verification, a Windows Live account, and a Git account that is separately used for deployment. But in general, the dashboard is quite good in terms of the huge scope of the Azure platform. They also support flow log files. As for what I can tell, Heroku is the only vendor to do so.

 

DotCloud

Http://dotcloud.com

Supports multiple languages. Just like Nodejitsu, they have recently canceled their free services, so they need to bind a credit card before getting started.

Parameter configuration

You can set parameters through CLI or a dotcloud. yml file.

The listening port must be set to 8080.

Deployment

DotClouds CLI is written in Python and rsync is used to minimize the data to be uploaded during each deployment. To prepare a book, you need to configure the supervisord. conf and dotcloud. yml files.

Currently, the dotCloud version is 0.6.20. Ouch.

Precautions and Control Panel

In the early days, I was very angry when they made some major changes but were barely warned. I guess this is the world of beta, but I have never been in a rush to come back.

 

Engine Yard

Http://engineyard.com

Like Heroku, Engine Yard is hosted through Ruby on Rails. However, we have more options for installation and environment configuration. People with experience in server management will think that Engine Yard is more like directly operating a server, but this is still PaaS.

Variable Configuration

We can configure environment variables through the npm module ey_config. Engine Yard also supports accessing your machine through SSH, so that we can directly create config. json and put it in a correct place.

Deployment

This is deployed through git, but the node version in the package. json file only supports 0.8.11 at most.

Precautions and Control Panel

When we create an application, we need to select nginx (recommended) as the front-end proxy or use Node. js, which supports WebSockets.

When I fail to deploy the service for the first time, a dialog box is displayed that allows me to enter the mobile phone number.

OpenShift.com

Http://openshift.com

OpenShift is an open-source project mainly maintained by Red Hat. OpenShift.com is a hosted service platform (such as WordPress.org and WordPress.com ).

Configuration variables

OpenShift.com supports Using SSH to connect to your computer, which means you can create a config. json file and put it in a proper place. Otherwise, no special commands are available to pre-define the configuration file.

The port is process. env. OPENSHIFT_INTERNAL_PORT | 8080.

Deployment

If you are not a fan of Web-based GUI, use git to create and manage projects. add your public SSH key to your account, which is not included in node. js quick advanced sample step.

The node version number in the package. json file is ignored, and v0.6.20 is used by default. However, you can change it through additional operations.

Precautions and Control Panel

Previously, I had some problems with obtaining sample applications, so I started again and asked OpenShift to fill the git repository with their sample files. Here is a small note, including the deploy hook and some configuration files under the openshift directory. The README file shows the structure and describes the meaning of each file.

However, I am still confused about listening to a specific IP address, as shown below:

Var ipaddr = process. env. OPENSHIFT_NODEJS_IP | "127.0.0.1 ";

Add ipaddr to the app. listen of the server. js file, as shown in the following figure:

App. listen (app. get ('Port'), ipaddr, function (){...

I have already communicated with OpenShift related personnel, and they will also update the Getting Started Guide to make this part easier to understand.

CloudFoundry

Http://cloudfoundry.com

First, CloudFoundry has a clear and friendly getting started process. However, after several screens, I got the message:
* We are in a transitional period :*
You are reading the V2 documentation... Cloudfoundry.com and will be upgraded to V2.

So I will switch back to them in the next phase of this series.

Coming soon

Needless to say, the world is changing rapidly. Do not put too much attention on any specific details unless you check for updates first. For example, I wrote this article two days ago and Modulus sent me an email about the upgraded version of Node. js.

In future articles, I will continue to monitor and test the performance of these platforms, and then record the scaling of their snapshots. During this period, if I miss your favorite Node. js PaaS, please let me know.

Via http://www.oschina.net/translate/a-comparison-of-node-js-paas-hosting-providers