Learn advanced techniques and best practices for managing your compute instances on the SLYD platform.
About This Guide
This guide expands on the Compute Instances documentation to provide deeper insights, advanced management techniques, and real-world usage scenarios. It's designed for users who are already familiar with the basics of SLYD compute instances.
Instance Lifecycle Management
Effectively managing the lifecycle of your compute instances helps optimize costs and ensure resources are available when needed.
Scheduling
Set up automatic start and stop schedules for predictable workloads to reduce costs during idle periods.
When the TTL is reached, the instance will automatically be stopped (not terminated). You'll receive a notification, allowing you to either extend the TTL or terminate the instance.
Auto-scaling
Configure your instances to automatically scale based on metrics like CPU usage, memory utilization, or custom application metrics.
Horizontal Scaling
Automatically add or remove identical instances as demand changes
Vertical Scaling
Automatically increase or decrease the resources (CPU, RAM) assigned to an instance
Example Configuration:
Scale Out: Add instance when CPU > 75% for 5 minutes
Scale In: Remove instance when CPU < 25% for 15 minutes
Min Instances: 2
Max Instances: 10
Auto-scaling is particularly effective for web applications, API servers, and batch processing workloads with variable demand.
Data Management
Proper data management ensures your information remains persistent, secure, and optimized.
Storage Volumes
Separate your data from your compute instances for better persistence, flexibility, and performance.
SSD Volumes
High-performance solid-state storage ideal for databases, applications requiring low latency, and random I/O operations.
Performance: Up to 10,000 IOPS
Size Range: 10GB - 4TB
Use Cases: Databases, high-traffic web applications
HDD Volumes
Cost-effective storage for large datasets and sequential access patterns.
Performance: Up to 500 IOPS
Size Range: 100GB - 16TB
Use Cases: Log storage, media files, backups
1
Create a Volume
From your dashboard, go to Storage > Volumes > Create Volume
2
Specify Volume Details
Choose type, size, and whether to encrypt the volume
3
Attach to Instance
Select which instance to attach the volume to and specify a mount point
4
Format and Mount (first-time only)
If it's a new volume, format it and configure your system to mount it automatically
Format and Mount Example
# Format the volume with ext4
sudo mkfs -t ext4 /dev/xvdf
# Create a mount point
sudo mkdir /data
# Mount the volume
sudo mount /dev/xvdf /data
# Add to fstab for auto-mount on reboot
echo '/dev/xvdf /data ext4 defaults,nofail 0 2' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab
Backup Strategies
Implement a comprehensive backup strategy to protect your data from loss, corruption, or accidental deletion.
Snapshots
Point-in-time copies of your volumes that can be used to create new volumes or restore existing ones.
Incremental after first snapshot
Fast restoration
Can be scheduled
Backup Service
Full-featured backup service with compression, encryption, and long-term retention options.
Application-consistent backups
Differential and incremental options
Cross-region replication
Backup Best Practices
Use the 3-2-1 rule: 3 copies of data, 2 different media types, 1 off-site backup
Test your backup restoration process regularly
Automate backup verification to ensure backups are valid
Implement appropriate retention policies for different data types
Document your backup and recovery procedures
Instance Imaging
Create custom images of your instances to capture their configuration, installed software, and data for reuse and replication.
1
Prepare Your Instance
Clean up temporary files, remove sensitive information, and ensure the instance is in a consistent state
2
Create the Image
From the instance dashboard, select "Create Image" and provide image details
3
Wait for Completion
The imaging process can take several minutes depending on the instance size
4
Launch New Instances
Use your custom image to launch new instances with identical configurations
Common Use Cases
Environment replication for development, testing, and production
Standardized images for team onboarding
Template instances for horizontal scaling
Golden images for disaster recovery
Advanced Networking
Configure sophisticated networking capabilities to enhance security, performance, and connectivity.
Security Groups
Virtual firewalls that control inbound and outbound traffic to your instances, providing an additional layer of security.
Example Security Group: Web Server
Type
Protocol
Port Range
Source/Destination
Description
Inbound
TCP
80, 443
0.0.0.0/0
HTTP/HTTPS traffic
Inbound
TCP
22
192.168.1.0/24
SSH from internal network
Outbound
All
All
0.0.0.0/0
Allow all outbound traffic
1
Create a Security Group
Navigate to Networking > Security Groups > Create Security Group
2
Define Rules
Add inbound and outbound rules with protocols, ports, and source/destination
3
Assign to Instances
Attach the security group to existing instances or apply during instance creation
Security Best Practices
Follow the principle of least privilege when creating rules
Use specific IP ranges rather than 0.0.0.0/0 when possible
Create purpose-specific security groups (e.g., web, database) and apply them as needed
Regularly audit and update security group rules
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)
Connect your on-premises network to your SLYD environment securely over the internet.
Site-to-Site VPN
Connect your entire corporate network to your SLYD environment, allowing seamless access between resources in both networks.
Compatible VPN device or software at your location
Static public IP address
BGP routing (for dynamic routing)
Client VPN
Allow individual users to connect securely to your SLYD environment from anywhere.
OpenVPN-compatible client software
Authentication credentials
Client configuration file
Setting Up a VPN Connection
1
Navigate to Networking > VPN Connections > Create VPN Connection
2
Select VPN type and configure connection parameters
3
Download the configuration file for your local VPN device or software
4
Apply the configuration and establish the connection
Private Networking
Create isolated network environments for your instances to enhance security and control communication.
Key Components
Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)
Isolated network environment within SLYD
Subnets
Network segments within a VPC with their own IP address ranges
Route Tables
Define how network traffic is directed within and outside the VPC
Network ACLs
Stateless network-level firewall controls for subnets
Use HashiCorp Terraform to define and manage your SLYD infrastructure in a declarative format.
Terraform Example
provider "slyd" {
api_key = var.slyd_api_key
region = "us-east"
}
resource "slyd_instance" "web_server" {
name = "web-server-prod"
type = "standard-4"
region = "us-east"
os = "ubuntu-20.04"
storage = 100
security_groups = [slyd_security_group.web.id]
tags = {
environment = "production"
app = "web-server"
team = "backend"
}
}
Benefits of Infrastructure as Code
Version-controlled infrastructure changes
Consistent environment replication
Easy rollback of infrastructure changes
Automated provisioning and scaling
Self-documenting infrastructure
Compliance and audit support
Performance Tuning
Optimize your instances for specific workloads to improve performance, reduce costs, and enhance efficiency.
CPU Optimization
CPU Pinning
Assign specific workloads to dedicated CPU cores to reduce context switching
Process Priority
Use nice and ionice to prioritize critical processes
CPU Governor
Configure the CPU scaling governor based on workload needs (performance vs. powersave)
CPU Pinning Example
# Assign a process to specific CPU cores
taskset -c 0,1 your_application
# Permanently assign in systemd service
# In your_service.service:
# CPUAffinity=0 1
Memory Optimization
Swap Configuration
Adjust swappiness parameter based on workload memory access patterns
Huge Pages
Enable huge pages for database workloads to reduce TLB misses
Memory Limits
Use cgroups to limit memory usage for specific processes
