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Build your Application on the Rackspace Cloud

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This article shares a few resources to help you get started with building your application on the Rackspace cloud.

Cloud Control Panel

The Cloud Control Panel helps you manage your cloud infrastructure.

You can also use the Cloud Control Panel to perform the following tasks:

Access your cloud servers

Connect to your Rackspace cloud server with the Secure Shell (SSH), Remote Desktop (RDP), or the console. For detailed instructions, see Connect to a cloud server.

Get a head start with Cloud Orchestration

If you are building an application from scratch, you might want to try Cloud Orchestration. Cloud Orchestration
offers stacks that can help you get your application up and running much faster than building it from scratch. Orchestration stacks range from single-server setups (like a Linux® Apache® MySQL® PHP® (LAMP) stack) to complex, multiserver configurations (like a multiserver WordPress® stack).

Get migration assistance

If your application is already live at another provider, Rackspace can potentially offer some limited help with migrating from that hosting provider. Some professional services partners can offer help. Contact your Launch Manager or Account Team for more information.

Modularize your application

Rackspace strongly recommends that you create a modular application. Modularizing your application can eliminate a single point of failure and allows for significantly faster scaling if necessary. The following are some tips to help you create a modular application:

  • Decouple your database from your web and app servers. You can do this by using a cloud database, or by using a separate cloud server to run your database.
  • Build at least two web or app servers for redundancy and uptime. Place a cloud load balancer in front of your web or app servers for horizontal scalability.
  • Use a messaging queue for asynchronous processes.

Send email from your application

If you want your application to send emails (for password resets, weekly digests, or to welcome new users), then you need to configure it to do this. Use the following tips for best results:

  • To avoid blacklists, relay your mail through Mailgun® rather than sending it directly from your cloud servers.
  • Use Rackspace Cloud Office for employee mailboxes and collaboration. Internet Message Access Protocol
    (IMAP), Microsoft® Exchange, G Suite™, and Office 365® are available.

Security

Security is a partnership. To be effective, ensure that you take the time to secure your application at every level.

Account level

Take the following security measure at the account level:

Infrastructure level

Take the following security measures at the infrastructure level:

  • Keep software and security patches up to date.

Server level

Take the following security measures at the server level:

  • Practice basic server security.
  • Lockdown your firewalls manually or by using a service like Dome9 or CloudPassage®.

Application level

Take the following security measures at the application level:

  • Secure user authentication manually or with a tool like Stormpath®.
  • Secure application communication with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).
  • Use strong passwords and rotate them often.
  • Keep up to date with security patches.
  • Filter out malicious traffic to your sites with tools like Cloudflare® and Incapsula®.

Backups and monitoring

Protecting your app with a solid backup and monitoring plan is just as important as launching or migrating it. This section provides recommendations for backups and monitoring.

Backups

Backups are important for restoring your site if a server fails. There are many ways to back up your site and content. Rackspace recommends using a combination of server images, file-level differential backups, and configuration
management to achieve a robust, comprehensive backup strategy.

Backups on Linux

If you are using Linux®, Rackspace recommends that you use Cloud Backup on the following directories.

Web and app servers

Configure backups of the following directories for your web and app servers:

  • /home
  • /root
  • /etc
  • /var/www

Database servers

Configure backups of the following directories for your databases:

  • /home
  • /root
  • /etc
  • /var/lib/mysqlbackup

The last directory is for servers that run MySQL databases. Managed Operations customers automatically dump their databases to this location. Managed Infrastructure customers can configure the same backup by using the Holland Backup Manager.

This article provides more information about setting up Rackspace Cloud Backup for your Linux system.

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Rackspace recommends that you back up databases often and retain them for a long period of time.

Backups on Windows

If you are using Windows®, Rackspace recommends that you take the following steps:

  • Verify or configure backup jobs for your web and app servers at C:\inetpub.
  • Verify or configure your database backups (the location to which you are dumping your database files). You should use frequent backups and long retention.

This article provides more information about setting up Rackspace Cloud Backup for your Windows system.

Back up with Cloud Block Storage

Using block storage is a great way to increase the amount of storage space that your application can use. You can include block storage in a cloud backup, and also save the volumes as image snapshots. If you’re using Cloud
Block Storage, it's important to verify the following things:

  • Verify and configure the backup of any Cloud Block Storage volumes.
  • Verify that your attached Cloud Block Storage volumes reconnect after reboot.

Monitoring

Monitoring can alert you if your site becomes unresponsive. Customers with Rackspace Managed Operations service level can choose to automatically alert Rackspace Support when monitoring notices conditions that might be of concern.

You might want to use the following monitoring resources:

  • URL Check: Add a Cloud Monitoring check for your site’s URL to ensure that your site is responding.
  • New Relic: Sign up for a free trial of a New Relic® account, and install New Relic’s server and application monitoring agents on your cloud servers.

Updated 12 months ago