It is possible to run the Node server application as a SystemD process, which is consistent with other prcoesses the application requires, such as Apache. This allows the process to be stopped and started with ease, as well as a straightforward statis command. There is a sample service definition in /service/talentmap.service which is based of this example.
systemctl enable talentmap.servicesystemctl start talentmap.servicesystemctl stop talentmap.servicesystemctl restart talentmap.servicesystemctl status talentmap.service