Play framework deployment to web host

Question

I'm looking for the best way to host my simple projects that I've done on the Play Framework. The developers for Play recommend just deploying it as a stand-alone, rather than using a web application container like Tomcat, though it can be done.

Are there good web hosts out there that can host my play application as a stand-alone?

I'm guessing this may mean getting a VPS, but I'm hoping for something like the cheaper hosting sites rather than the $40/month for a VPS.

I realize this question may reach a bit beyond the scope of stack overflow, but I think it is still a viable question to ask here; I'm looking for the best way to deploy the code I've written to be used by anybody across the internet.

Folkmoot

play 1.x and play 2.x are different matters in term of deployment... – Inoue

Answer 1

I haven't tested any of this myself. But there are several options to deploy your play application.

• Playapps.net is a streamlined deployment environment designed to get your Play applications up and running quickly and efficiently. It was created with the simplicity of the Play framework in mind and each slot includes all services needed to run your application without the hassle of running your own server.

• Heroku (pronounced her-OH-koo) is a cloud application platform – a new way of building and deploying web apps. It supports natively Play, out of the box, no module, no wars, no extra stuff, just your plain application.

• A Play application can very easily be deployed to the GAE. It is a matter of installing the relevant GAE module.

• Easy deployment to the Stax cloud hosting platform: again nothing could be easier. Install the Stax module and deploy within seconds. Refer to the module documentation for more information.

Also refer to the deploy documentation

Stane

Stax is now Cloudbees and it also has a module. playframework.org/modules/cloudbees – Sooksoon

Answer 2

I have deployed a few apps, both to Google App Engine (GAE) and Heroku.

GAE restricts what you can do with Play, and forces some compromises. So, it depends on how simple your project is. If you use a database, then I would not recommend GAE if your app is already built, as you will need to use a different persistence layer, as JPA is not supported.

Heroku is excellent. It is very simple to use, and works just like your localhost version. If your site is simple, with low traffic, then it is great, but can get quite expensive as it grows.

GAE/Heroku are both free for small sites that use limited resources.

If you want cheap, but not free, then PlayApps is the way to go. It was built and designed by Zenexity, who developed Play. The PlayFramework.org website is also hosted on PlayApps, using the cheapest option of €10 per month.

There are a number of other options, but personally I would only consider PlayApps.net or Heroku.

Lichi

Answer 3

I advise you to have a look at http://www.playframework-cloud.com

This PaaS platform can automatically scale up and down your application regarding your traffic. You can also finely customize if you want vertical, horizontal or both types of scalability. The consequence of this scaling is that you pay as you go : you only pay for your real consumption and not the potential one.

Deployment via git.

Non AWS, hosted in tier-4+ datacenters.

Free trial ;)

Outsole

Answer 4

Have a look at Rackspace Cloud http://www.rackspace.com/cloud/cloud_hosting_products/servers/

You can pick up their basic 256MB cloud server for around US$10 per month which will be enough to run your site if it has low usage. Of course you'll have to admin the server yourself but it is very easy to get up and running (just install java, download play and setup the play bin directory in the path).

This option will give you plenty of flexibility (eg, you might want postgreSQL instead of MySQL) although as I said you'll need to be comfortable doing some admin yourself.

Knacker