CloudIgniter: Easy hosting for CodeIgniter

Ever wanted to install PyroCMS or set up a CodeIgniter playground but don’t know what the hell you are doing? The wonderful new hosting service CloudIgniter does it all for you. The service is currently in private beta but I have been using it for a while and it seems perfectly stable.

The basic idea behind the service is to provide users with a CodeIgniter powered service as easily as possible. They provide one-click installs for CodeIgniter 1.7.2 and CodeIgniter 2.0-dev which you can change between on the fly.

A killer feature of CloudIgniter is their one-click installs of CodeIgniter based applications - think Fantastico on cPanel. The current list of supported applications is small but the team promise more are on their way. Currently you can install:

• PyroCMS - The modular open-source CodeIgniter CMS
• MyClientBase - Free and Open Source Invoice Management

All of the CodeIgniter specific stuff aside, CloudIgniter is an impressive hosting service in it’s own right with the ability to easily Clone/Disable/Edit Domains, standard SSH access, FTP, daily backups and automatically set up Google Apps MX records for your domains. Each site will have a database set up and everything is configured for you.

CloudIgniter really makes the entire process as easy as possible and whether you are a new CodeIgniter user or a professional it will make deploying your sites much easier.

There are a few hidden gems too, such as the ability to deploy your site with Git thanks to Git being installed on the server. Another fantastic feature is that it comes with a pre-built .htaccess file meaning you can get CodeIgniter running without index.php in your URL’s with minimum fuss. As somebody who is pretty active on the CodeIgniter forums and StackOverflow you would be amazed (or depressed) at how many issues people have with mod_rewrite or using the wrong $config[‘uri_protocol’]. With CloudIgniter you know right from the word “go” you will have a compatible, working setup.

Sign up for the private beta and when a spot becomes available you can have a play. This is a great service that I know I’ll be using a lot in the future.