# Project & Services Structure


Zerops organizes your infrastructure into three hierarchical levels: **projects**, **services**, and **containers**. This structure provides secure networking, resource isolation, and scalable application deployment.

## Projects

A project is the top-level entity in Zerops, functioning as a private network where services can communicate internally and share environment variables. Each project provides essential infrastructure including load balancing, routing, and container orchestration.

### Key Project Features

- **Private Networking**: All services within a project share a secure network
- **Environment Variables**: Services can access shared environment variables
- **IPv6/IPv4 Addressing**: Each project receives an IPv6 address, with optional IPv4 addressing
- **Integrated Security**: Built-in firewall and SSL certificate management

:::tip Project Organization
Consider your project strategy carefully. Create separate projects for different environments (dev/staging/prod) or consolidate related applications in a single project to optimize resources and simplify networking.
:::

### Project Core Options

When you create a project, it requires a functioning **core** that includes logger and statistics services, HTTP routing with automatic SSL certificate management, and IP routing with integrated firewall.

Zerops offers two core types to match different needs and budgets:

#### Lightweight Core

Single-container solution perfect for development projects and smaller production workloads. Includes project controller, L3 balancer, firewall, logger, statistics, and HTTP handling in one efficient package.

:::tip Ideal For
Development environments, low-traffic applications, personal projects, budget-conscious teams.
:::

#### Serious Core

Enterprise-grade infrastructure with separated core services across multiple containers for true redundancy and high availability.

:::tip Ideal For
Production applications, high-traffic websites, mission-critical business applications, teams requiring maximum uptime.
:::

#### Features Comparison

<table className="w-full">
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th className="w-fit"></th>
      <th className="w-fit"><strong>Lightweight Core</strong></th>
      <th className="w-fit"><strong>Serious Core</strong></th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td className="w-fit font-semibold">Infrastructure</td>
      <td className="w-fit">Single container (limited redundancy)</td>
      <td className="w-fit">Multi-container (highly available)</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td className="w-fit font-semibold">SSL Termination</td>
      <td className="w-fit"></td>
      <td className="w-fit"></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td className="w-fit font-semibold">Automatic Certificate Generation</td>
      <td className="w-fit"></td>
      <td className="w-fit"></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td className="w-fit font-semibold">Proxy / Load Balancer</td>
      <td className="w-fit"></td>
      <td className="w-fit"></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td className="w-fit font-semibold">IPv6 Address</td>
      <td className="w-fit"></td>
      <td className="w-fit"></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td className="w-fit font-semibold">Build Time</td>
      <td className="w-fit">15 hours</td>
      <td className="w-fit">150 hours</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td className="w-fit font-semibold">Backup Space</td>
      <td className="w-fit">5 GB</td>
      <td className="w-fit">25 GB</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td className="w-fit font-semibold">Egress</td>
      <td className="w-fit">100 GB</td>
      <td className="w-fit">3 TB</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td className="w-fit font-semibold">Failover Protection</td>
      <td className="w-fit">Limited</td>
      <td className="w-fit">Comprehensive</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

For detailed pricing information on both core types, visit our [pricing page](/company/pricing#project-core-plans).

#### Project Core Upgrade

You can upgrade from Lightweight Core to Serious Core for enhanced reliability and increased resources.

:::warning Important
The core upgrade is a **partially destructive process** that will temporarily disrupt your project's operations. Plan upgrades during maintenance windows.
:::

**What happens during upgrade:**
- All project logs and statistics will be lost (forwarded logs/statistics are not affected)
- Services will be network-unavailable during the process (avg. 35 seconds but can take longer)
- $10 project core fee will be charged upon upgrade
- Free project resources will reset to Serious Core limits
- Project IP addresses remain unchanged

:::important
If you encounter issues, **contact support immediately** and try running the process again.
:::

## Services

Services encapsulate your containers and provide specific functionality within a project. A project can contain unlimited services, each with its own purpose.

**Service types include:**
- Runtimes, Linux Containers & Docker
- Databases, Search Engines & Messages Brokers
- Storages
- *System services (needed for fully functioning project core)*

**Management options:**
- **Fully managed**: Zerops handles scaling, routing, and repairs automatically (Databases and Storages)
- **Partially managed**: You maintain control over certain management aspects (Runtimes)

Services within a project communicate via internal hostnames and can share environment variables for seamless integration.

## Containers

Containers are the most granular level of the Zerops architecture. Each service consists of one or more containers that work together to deliver functionality.

**Container deployment:**
- Single containers for simple applications
- Multiple containers for High Availability (HA) mode (e.g. fully managed MariaDB service in HA mode uses 3 containers for the database cluster and 2 for proxies)

**Container capabilities:**
- Use predefined images or custom configurations
- Can be exposed publicly via Zerops subdomains, custom domains, or public ports
- Operate within service resource constraints with automatic scaling