New Node.js instance on Simple Hosting

You may have noticed that in the past few months we’ve been bringing you a lot of new improvements on Node.js instances. The idea has obviously been to better align the user experience on Simple Hosting Node.js with current practices among developers. After all, the developer ecosystem for Node.js has evolved quite a bit since 2013, the year we first introduced Node.js support on Simple Hosting, culminating with its fusion with the io.js project.

Today, we are launching a new version of our Node.js instance which is designed to be entirely at the service of developers.

• Each application can use the version of Node.js and of npm that it needs. The platform puts no restriction on the Node.js version.
• The Node.js process is completely customizable—you can use any Node.js binary flags and even alternative process managers
• Everything is managed from the package.json file—no Simple Hosting-specific file is required

These features bring together the Node.js application hosting experience on Simple Hosting, which offers benefits such as:

• Most prepackaged Node.js applications can be installed without modification
• An application can be deployed in three commands with Gandi CLI: gandi paas attach, git push and gandi deploy
• Built-in HTTP caching
• WebSocket with SSL (in beta)

The new Node.js image is recommended for the creation of new instances. By default, it uses Node.js 4 LTS and is available with one of the following three database management systems: PostgreSQL 9.4, MySQL 5.6 (Percona server) and MongoDB 2.4.

You can create a new Node.js instance either from our website or with Gandi CLI:

$ gandi paas create --name nodenode --type nodejspgsql9.4 --size M --datacenter LU-BI1

Please consult our Wiki for more information about the Node.js Simple Hosting instance, including examples for creating and deploying an application.

Of course, feel free to contact our Customer care team with any questions or concerns, or contact our developers directly on IRC at #gandi on Freenode (irc.freenode.net). You can also send any feedback or suggestions to feedback@gandi.net.