August 2021 Summaries

PostgreSQL is a free and open-source relational database that can be deployed as a plugin on Railway. To backup a Postgres database on Railway, users need to install the psql client and use the `pg_dump` command, which writes a file locally with a copy of the database. The command requires information from the Project Variables page, such as the username, host name, port, database name, and password. Once the command is executed, the backup can be restored using the `pg_restore` command, which connects to a PostgreSQL database and restores a backup made from `pg_dump`. The restoration process also requires information from the Project Variables page. With these steps, users can create backups and restore their Postgres databases on Railway.

Redis is a popular choice for an in-memory data structure store that also persists to disk, and it can be used as a database, cache, and message broker. To perform a backup of your Redis instance, you need to start a local instance on your machine, connect to it using the CLI, set the master password, start replication from the local instance, check the replication status, save locally with `BGSAVE`, and finally shut down the instance by setting `SLAVEOF NO ONE`. You can retrieve backups from the dashboard in the future, according to Railway's plans.

Cusdis is a lightweight and privacy-first comment system that can be self-hosted without tracking users. Railway provides a free one-click deploy for Cusdis using PostgreSQL, automagically provisioning the database and running required migrations. To deploy, click the button, enter environment variables such as username, password, and JWT secret, and hit deploy. The default port is 3000, but this can be changed if needed. Once deployed, a dashboard can be accessed to create projects and add commenting functionality to websites.