Accelerate your workflow with Drupal’s New Cloud API

Acquia, the enterprise guide to the popular open-source content management system Drupal, has recently launched its own application programming interface for cloud-system operations with the aim of simplifying the process of installation, deployment and maintenance of a webpage and database in a Drupal platform. The Acquia Cloud currently hosts a number of Drupal sites, exceeding 5 billion http requests and 1 billion page views per month. Acquia has thoroughly supported the usage of Drupal by contributing to the advancement of the technology and offering value-added products and services to simplify the deployment and management of Drupal websites. Hence, it has proved to be an efficient platform for professionals, developers, distribution builders, and web design organizations to roll out new websites and businesses in a quicker pace.

Drupal, the open source software that has been online since 2001 has more than 630,000 users across the globe.  Distributed under General Public License, this application framework is trusted and preferred by a number of individuals, organizations and businesses across the globe to build their personal websites, blogs, social networking sites, e-commerce sites, corporate sites, government sites, etc. It has proved to be a powerful, scalable, and low cost, high value solution to create and manage internet presence.

However, with the introduction of Drupal’s new Cloud API application, now using Drupal will be a more fun filled experience for the developers as well as for its users. The freely downloadable new Cloud API application will allow the developers of a web page the option to enhance and customize the capabilities of Acquia Cloud including extensions like, developer workflow, site management, and provisioning. The integration of the application into the websites will also reduce the complications of installation, deployment and maintenance by empowering the entire Drupal network including its developers and Partner community to increase the architectural consistency across environments without being forced to implement foundational features. The application will also save the valuable time of the developers by giving them access to features that perform common tasks like streamlining site building, data cleansing, automating custom operations, and accelerating time-to-deployment and other such functions ensuring a better quality of data and code .It has now made it possible for the developers to create applications and deploy solutions on Acquia Cloud API through their fingertips.

Features of Cloud API

• Streamline site building:  This feature allows the developers to integrate Acquia Cloud tools like ,continuous integration or management tools into all websites and applications, including those hosted on non-Acquia environments
• Automate custom operations:  This feature automates customization of a website through Cloud Hooks by triggering the custom scripts and commands on workflow.
• Accelerate time-to-deployment: This feature enables new site programming on Acquia cloud by automatic provisioning from any Drupal distribution or using scripting interfaces.

Power of Acquia Cloud API

Acquia Cloud API, the key enhancement of the Acquia’s cloud infrastructure has emerged as an innovative and promising way of delivering a great experience to the users. Currently available in beta version, it offers the Drupal developer and partner community with powerful tools to build and operate Drupal sites.  It enables deploying code, databases, and user-uploaded files across from Development, Staging, and Production environments. Just like the Cloud UI, the Cloud API also enables running any branch or tag from Git or SVN repo in any environment allowing easy workflow.  It also creates, restores, and deletes backup of one’s website databases. It can also retrieve the current information of a site by integrating with cloud hooks, making it possible to perform other actions along with the workflow.

What can be done using Cloud API

• Perform Drupal database updates
• “Scrub” r Production database when it is copied to Dev or Staging by removing customer emails or disabling production-only modules.
• Integration with third-party services, such as by performing a Blitz.io performance test, when you deploy new code.

Conclusion

No doubt, Acquia new Cloud API will prove to be an excellent tool for the web developers in the years to come.  It will not only help them in creating  fully functioning websites in lesser time with fewer errors, but will also save them time in testing and debugging web spaces.