RunCloud is a cloud server management tool that helps you manage your web applications and servers easily. One of the features that RunCloud offers is the RunCloud Services, which are additional packages that are installed on your server and provide various functions and benefits.
Understanding Services
In this section, we will discuss what each of these services does, and how to use them with RunCloud.
NGINX
NGINX is a front-end web server that handles the incoming requests from the clients and serves the static content, such as images, CSS, JS, etc.
NGINX is fast, secure, and scalable, and can also act as a reverse proxy, a load balancer, or an SSL/TLS terminator. NGINX is the primary web server that you will use with RunCloud.
You can use NGINX either alone or together with Apache as your web server stack. If you use NGINX alone, you will have better performance for serving static content, but you may need to adjust some settings or use some plugins to make your web applications work properly. If you use NGINX + Apache, you will have more compatibility and flexibility for your web applications, as NGINX will serve the static content and Apache will handle the dynamic content.
HTTPD/APACHE
Apache is a back-end web server that processes the dynamic content, such as PHP, Python, Ruby, etc. Apache is powerful and customizable, and supports many extensions and modules that add more features and functionality. Apache also supports .htaccess files, which allow you to override some of the server settings on a per-directory basis. Apache works together with PHP-FPM to serve PHP applications.
You can use Apache together with NGINX as your web server stack. In this case, NGINX will act as a reverse proxy and forward the requests for dynamic content to Apache, which will process them and send back the response to NGINX. This way, you can take advantage of both web servers, and optimize your web applications.
MariaDB
MariaDB is an open-source relational database management system that stores and manages your data. MariaDB is compatible with MySQL and supports many features and enhancements that improve its performance, security, and usability.
MariaDB also supports virtual columns, which allow you to create computed columns based on expressions or functions. MariaDB is the default database system that you will use with RunCloud.
You can create and use databases with MariaDB by using the RunCloud dashboard or the terminal. You can also access the MariaDB shell by using the mysql command. You can also back up and restore your databases by using the RunCloud Backup feature – or any other backup tool.
Supervisord
Supervisord is a process control system that allows you to monitor and manage multiple processes on your server. It can run different types of scripts or programs, such as Node.js, Python, Ruby, etc., and keep them running in the background. Supervisord can also restart the processes if they crash or stop unexpectedly. The Supervisord service is a unique feature that you won’t find in any other server management tool.
You can use Supervisord by using either the RunCloud dashboard or the terminal. You can create and edit configuration files for each process that you want to run with Supervisord. You can also start, stop, restart, or reload the processes by using the supervisord command or the RunCloud Services switch.
Redis
Redis is an in-memory data structure store that can be used as a database, a cache, or a message broker. Redis can store different types of data structures, such as strings, lists, sets, hashes, etc., and perform various operations on them. Redis can also cache the most common queries or requests to your database or web server, reducing the load and improving the speed of your web applications. Redis can also work together with Memcached to provide more caching options.
You can use Redis by using the RunCloud dashboard or the terminal, and you can enable or disable Redis by using the RunCloud Services switch. You can also access the Redis shell by using the redis-cli command. You may need to install some plugins or extensions to make your web applications work with Redis.
Memcached
Memcached is an in-memory key-value store that can be used as a cache for your database or web server. Memcached can store simple data types, such as strings or numbers, and associate them with keys. Memcached can also cache the most frequent queries or requests to your database or web server, reducing the load and improving the speed of your web applications. Memcached can also work together with Redis to provide more caching options.
You can use Memcached by using the RunCloud dashboard or the terminal, and you can enable or disable Memcached by using the RunCloud Services switch. You can also access the Memcached shell by using the telnet command. You may need to install some plugins or extensions to make your web applications work with Memcached.
Beanstalkd
Beanstalkd is a simple and fast work queue system that allows you to run tasks in the background, such as updating the database, counting files, sending emails, etc.
Beanstalkd can help you improve the performance and responsiveness of your web applications by offloading the heavy or time-consuming tasks to the workers. It is not enabled by default on RunCloud, as you need to write your own scripts to add and get jobs from the queue.
Restarting RunCloud Services
RunCloud makes it easy for you to start and stop any of the services on your server with just a click of a button. You can do this directly from the RunCloud dashboard.
- Log in to your RunCloud dashboard and select the server that has the services installed.
- Click on Services from the main navigation menu and look for the service that you want to start or stop.
- You will see a switch that you can click and select Start, Stop, Reload, or Restart.
You should only keep the services running on your server that you actually need, as some of them may consume resources that could be used elsewhere.
By default, RunCloud only enables the services that are required for your web applications, but you can turn any of the additional services on or off as you wish, and enjoy the benefits of RunCloud.