Deploying software on centralized cloud infrastructure can be time-consuming and expensive. To reduce costs and improve efficiency, developers often use templates—ready-made frameworks that serve as starting points for software deployment. These standardized bases significantly save time and money.
To support this approach, the Atlas Network is building a comprehensive template library to address a wide range of use cases. In this article, we’ll explore what templates are, review case studies that showcase their applications, discuss how to use them effectively, and examine their future potential.
What Are Templates on the Atlas Network?
Templates on the Atlas Network are YAML-based files, similar to Kubernetes manifests, that serve as blueprints for deployments. They encapsulate critical details such as:
Service specifications: Define Docker images, network ports, and environment variables.
Resource profiles: Specify CPU, memory, and storage allocations for services.
Deployment settings: Include service names and replication counts for scaling.
This approach ensures deployments are fast, reliable, and less error-prone. More importantly, it eliminates repetitive tasks, saving developers time and effort. Once created and approved, templates are listed in the Marketplace under "External Contributor Templates," ready for deployment to machine providers. This allows developers to share their work, enabling others to benefit from pre-built templates and contributing to the growth of the template library.
"External Contributor Templates" will soon be activated as part of the Incentivized Testnet.
Templates in Action
What are the different types of use cases possible with templates? Let’s take a look at a few examples that the NodeOps team has created:
- Node Deployments: Deploying blockchain nodes can be complex, but templates simplify the process by automating tasks. For instance, the NodeOps team has developed templates for setting up and maintaining various nodes, including Avail, CARV, and Elixir. These templates can be accessed under the “NodeOps Verified Templates” tab.
Movement Labs Mainnet RPC Node: For protocols requiring Remote Procedure Call (RPC) endpoints, templates simplify the deployment of nodes that power network interactions. Using the template for the Movement Mainnet RPC, a developer can easily deploy an instance of an RPC node for the Movement protocol, a popular Layer 2 protocol on Ethereum.
Development Sandboxes: Templates also support remote development environments. For example, a template for launching a remote instance of VS Code on Atlas infrastructure supports multiple runtimes (e.g., Node.js, Go, Rust, Python) via the asdf runtime manager. This eliminates the need for local installations, letting developers code, edit, and run applications remotely.
Why Use Templates on the Atlas Network?
Streamlined Deployment Process: Templates automate many manual configuration steps, reducing the risk of human error and ensuring reliability and consistency.
Reduced Development Time and Effort: By reusing existing templates, developers can significantly reduce the time required for setting up new projects.
Standardization Across Projects: Templates promote a consistent approach to development and deployment, making it easier for teams to collaborate and maintain code quality.
Contributing Made Easy: Sharing templates allows developers to contribute to a community and help others, fostering collaboration.
In short, templates streamline deployments, reduce development time, standardize processes, and foster collaboration within developer communities.
Best Practices for Template Usage
In order to get the most from templates, we suggest you follow these practices:
Tailor Templates to Your Needs: Customize templates to fit your specific requirements. Modify configurations, add parameters, or remove unnecessary elements.
Security First: Always safeguard sensitive information like passwords, API keys, and tokens. Encrypt them and follow security best practices to prevent vulnerabilities.
Fine-tune Performance: Keep an eye on how your resources are being used. Whether it’s memory, CPU, or storage, optimize your allocations to maintain smooth operations while avoiding waste.
Track Your Changes: Use version control to roll back to previous versions if needed.
Documentation: Create user-friendly documentation for your templates, explaining everything and anything that might help the next user.
Testing: Test your templates in different environments to ensure they function as expected. Early testing means less problems on the back end.
Community Engagement: Share insights, seek feedback, and collaborate to improve templates.
The Future of Templates
As Web3 adoption grows, the demand for templates will increase, making them even more valuable. They have the potential to drastically reduce the time and cost of complex software development. With templates, developers can leverage Atlas Network’s decentralized, secure, and reliable infrastructure to build smarter, faster, and more efficiently.
Templates on the Atlas Network are more than a convenience; they are a catalyst for decentralized software deployment. By simplifying processes, fostering collaboration, and driving innovation, templates are shaping the future of Web3 infrastructure.
Therefore, if you have any previous experience building templates or contributing to them, we would like to hear from you. If interested, you can start by filling out this form and we will be in touch about next steps.
Should you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out via Discord or Telegram and our support team will will ensure all your concerns are addressed.