The challenge of connecting artificial intelligence models to real-world data and systems has spurred the development of the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Now, developers have a streamlined path to deploy these MCP servers using the Sevalla cloud platform, simplifying a previously complex process.
Sevalla, a platform focused on simplifying application deployment, is gaining traction as a hosting solution for these emerging AI-focused servers. Founded on the principle of eliminating infrastructure headaches, Sevalla allows developers to deploy applications, databases and static sites with a focus on Docker deployments and automated scaling. The company claims users like Stepler have reduced cloud spending by up to 78% using their platform.
What is MCP and Why Does Hosting Matter?
The Model Context Protocol addresses a fundamental limitation of many AI models: their lack of access to external tools, APIs, and live data. Most AI operates solely on the information provided in a prompt. MCP enables a secure connection between AI models and these external resources through small, structured servers – the MCP servers. This allows AI to perform actions like fetching current weather data, accessing databases, or interacting with other APIs, significantly expanding their capabilities.
Traditionally, setting up and maintaining the infrastructure for an MCP server could be a significant undertaking. It requires managing servers, ensuring security, and handling scaling as demand increases. Sevalla aims to abstract away these complexities, allowing developers to focus on building the logic for their MCP servers rather than wrestling with infrastructure.
Sevalla’s Approach to MCP Server Hosting
Sevalla offers a range of hosting solutions, including application hosting based on Kubernetes (K8s), object storage compatible with S3, managed database hosting, and static site hosting. For MCP servers, the application hosting appears to be the primary offering. This leverages Cloudflare’s speed and security, providing effortless scaling for the server as needed.
A recent guide published on Medium details the process of hosting an AI-powered Food Recipe Assistant application on Sevalla’s Application Hosting platform. This demonstrates a practical application of the platform for AI developers. A guide on LevelUp.gitconnected.com walks developers through building, deploying, and extending their own MCP server using Python and Sevalla, showcasing the platform’s utility for this specific use case.
Beyond Basic Hosting: Features and Infrastructure
Sevalla boasts a global infrastructure with 25 data centers, allowing developers to deploy their MCP servers closer to their users, reducing latency and improving performance. The platform also leverages Cloudflare’s network of over 260 Points of Presence (PoPs) to accelerate the delivery of static content. This represents particularly relevant for MCP servers that might serve static assets or API documentation.
The platform supports a variety of use cases beyond simply hosting MCP servers. Sevalla’s object storage provides scalable and secure storage for data used by AI models, while its managed database hosting simplifies the management of databases that might be accessed by the MCP server. The ability to host static sites is also useful for creating documentation or user interfaces for interacting with the AI model.
The Growing MCP Ecosystem
The emergence of MCP is fostering a growing ecosystem of clients and servers. A curated list on GitHub, Awesome MCP Clients, highlights a variety of clients that extend AI capabilities through file access, database connections, and API integrations. This demonstrates the increasing interest in the protocol and the demand for tools that facilitate its adoption.
The availability of platforms like Sevalla to simplify MCP server deployment is a crucial step in making this technology more accessible to developers. By abstracting away the complexities of infrastructure management, Sevalla allows developers to focus on building innovative AI applications that can leverage the power of real-world data and systems. The case study of Stepler, which reportedly cut costs by 78% using Sevalla, suggests that this approach can also deliver significant economic benefits.
As Jorik Kraaikamp Mulder, Lead Backend Developer at Stepler, stated, With Sevalla, you no longer need to worry about uptime or managing infrastructure — it simply works. If I were to start a new project today, I would choose Sevalla from the very beginning.
This sentiment underscores the value proposition of platforms like Sevalla in the rapidly evolving landscape of AI development.
The combination of the open MCP protocol and user-friendly hosting solutions like Sevalla positions the technology for wider adoption, potentially unlocking new possibilities for AI applications across various industries.
