---
title: "Ensuring compatibility with Cloud Platform"
date: "2024-02-14T06:18:38+00:00"
summary: "Optimize your Drupal site for Cloud Platform with our comprehensive guide. Learn how to leverage key technologies, adapt your code, and follow best practices for seamless integration and peak performance."
image:
type: "page"
url: "/acquia-cloud-platform/ensuring-compatibility-cloud-platform"
id: "6c7a7ead-7bfe-4f5b-97fb-760b4fb8421c"
---

Cloud Platform leverages a [stack of technologies](/acquia-cloud-platform/architecture) specifically tuned to the needs of high-availability enterprise Drupal. Key elements of the stack include:

*   (_Optional_) [Cloud Platform CDN](/acquia-cloud-platform/features/platformcdn) for global cached content delivery (Fastly)
*   [Varnish®](/acquia-cloud-platform/performance/varnish) and Nginx on a pair of balancers
*   Apache, [Memcached](/acquia-cloud-platform/performance/memcached), and [APCu](/acquia-cloud-platform/manage-apps/php#apcu) on one or more infrastructure
*   Distributed [file system](/acquia-cloud-platform/manage-apps/files/about)
*   MySQL on the database layer
*   [Code deployment](/acquia-cloud-platform/manage-apps/code/environments) using Git

When migrating to Cloud Platform, you must change your application’s code and configuration to leverage these components effectively. For example, to connect to your database on a Cloud Classic environment, you must [include a file](/acquia-cloud-platform/manage-apps/code/require-line) maintained by Acquia that points to the active database node, regardless of what environment the code is used in. If your primary database node becomes unavailable, this configuration redirects database queries to the secondary database node.

Your application may require additional changes to connect to [Memcached](/acquia-cloud-platform/performance/memcached) or to leverage [Varnish](/acquia-cloud-platform/performance/varnish) for improved performance.

Apart from these basic changes, some applications may require more effort to bring them in line with best practices. For example:

*   Files in nonstandard locations (outside of `sites/[site]/files`)
*   Modules that prevent Varnish from caching (for more information, see [Modules to use with caution on Cloud Platform](/acquia-cloud-platform/develop-apps/drupal-apps/module-caution) and [Modules and applications incompatible with Cloud Platform](/acquia-cloud-platform/develop-apps/drupal-apps/module-incompatibilities))
*   Complex [.htaccess](/acquia-cloud-platform/manage-apps/htaccess) files
*   Customizations of how Drupal interacts with the database

Any of these items may present challenges during onboarding.

Even if your application has been running without any issue on other hosting platforms, Acquia recommends you to ensure that all aspects of your application are fully compatible with [Acquia’s platform](/acquia-cloud-platform/architecture/tech-platform). If you’re developing a new application, use [Acquia’s tips](/acquia-cloud-platform/developing-applications-cloud-platform "Developing applications on Cloud Platform") to ensure that your build follows best practices from the beginning.