Following on from the success of our first Meetup, we are scheduling our next get together for the end of November. Likely topics are advanced tools for the management of AWS and database architecture. Stay tuned for the details.

Join the group via our Meetup page to gain access to the event.

Background

In September 2012 we launched the AWS User Group in Brisbane. The purpose of the group is to create regular opportunities for local business people to participate in an interactive insight into the AWS solutions.  Our guest speakers are experts of the AWS platform and provide valuable business related advice and support.

We appreciate that the cloud concept can seem foreign to some at first, however we are dedicated to the importance of educating our members.  The user group is a great place to learn of active proof-of-concepts and how they were achieved with AWS. Discussing successful projects is a beneficial study and our speakers are happy to answer any technical questions thrown at them.

We believe in the high quality of the AWS solutions and this permeates throughout our entire network of partners.  The user group is the first of its kind in Brisbane and we are now positioned to provide support in various forms to assist members with their cloud environments. The group is proudly sponsored by ITOC, Cloudsafe365 and River City Labs.

When troubleshooting network or DNS problems related to your website, server or other online services it can be very useful to have access to online tools that can help you identify the problems. The useful free tools found at W3dt.net can help you with this. W3dt.net (short for World Wide Web Domain Tools) is an online network troubleshooting site dedicated to providing relevant real-time data regarding networks, websites and other technical resources.

Although you can perform some of the tasks w3dt provide from your computer (such as nslookup/dig, ping, traceroute etc..) it can often be useful to perform these tasks from different locations to verify the consistency of your network/domain, its behaviour and settings.

Firstly lets note that there are several other network/domain troubleshooting websites around, but w3dt.net has proven to be one of the popular sites due to the vast amount of tools and utilities that are all free of charge. Because of this we will be regularly reviewing some of the functionality of the site and its features.

The site currently has five categories of functionality (and growing) to help you trouble-shoot your network/domain:

• Network Tools / Internet Tools
• Web / HTTP Tools
• Ping Tools
• Database Lookup Tools
• General Tools

Network Tools / Internet Tools
These are generally the most frequently used tools on the website and contain the following features:

• DNS Lookup’s, Port Scanning
• Trace Route’s
• ARBL Checking (Blacklist / Whitelist Checking)
• Maximum Transmission Unit Determination
• IP Lookups
• NetBIOS Scanning
• Plus Much More..

You can run some of these tasks from your desktop computer but w3dt offers the assurance of real-time results without any interception of data.

The following tools can be used to test your Domain in real-time and return the most relevant results:

• HTTP Header Retrievals
• Plain Text Website Conversion
• URL/Base64 Encoding & Decoding

David Nedvěd from ITOC Australia also states that other tools such as HTML Validation & Checking is planned for the not too distant future.

Ping Tools
This category basically speaks for itself, w3dt.net has dedicated a whole category for pinging and ping testing. Using this category you can run your own ping tests on any IP/Domain, including http websites, and the ability to ping IP’s/Services on open TCP Ports.

Database Lookup Tools
W3dt.net hosts several large databases, such as RFC Lookups, WHOIS Lookups (on almost all domains on the internet), Abuse Contact Lookups, and most impressively (In my opinion, the biggest feature on the site) the DNL (Short for Domain Name Listing). Basically the DNL is a massive online database of every top level domain hosted on the internet. W3dt runs a query program codenamed “Project Cyberdawn” which spiders through the internet collecting information about every .tld (Top Level Domain) on the internet. Currently the DNL contains over 92 million domains, there is a good chance your domain and the connected public information will be in the database also.

General Tools
Most of the general tools listed on w3dt.net are used by I.T. gurus & technicians tools such as IP Conversion, Hash Testing, and Random Character / Password Generation can be found here. For instance these tools are great if your a programmer or web developer and you wish to see all 38 hashes for the query ‘dog’ and use them to query against your database.

Hopefully you find it is a useful tool kit to help you with your daily I.T. tasks and troubleshooting. Please contact w3dt.net if you have any suggestions for new features or improvements.

There are many benefits to cloud computing for the small business. Companies of all sizes take advantage of this technology, but for small businesses, cloud computing can prove to be the most useful.

Cloud computing allows files and applications to be accessed remotely over the Internet. There are three main types of cloud computing, and every company that’s interested in using it should know what their needs are and which type best fits them.

• The public cloud is offered to the general public or is shared by a large number of companies and is generally owned by a business selling cloud services. This type is often used for application-specific purposes.
• Private cloud computing is usually only for an individual company or organisation and is either managed by them or by a third-party. An advantage to a private cloud is the business has total say over which services are offered and who has access.
• The last type is a mix of a public and private cloud called hybrid. Hybrid cloud computing is helpful because it allows a company to pick and choose which applications are on a public or private cloud, depending on which resources are needed for a particular program.

Cloud computing allows a company’s employees to have a centralised place from which to access files and applications. This feature encourages collaboration within and between departments, and it can even give employees the option to work away from the office on a laptop, if possible. If a business employs IT staff, then cloud computing can give them a break, as well. Instead of hiring specialist IT staff or training current IT staff, cloud computing means less overall maintenance, as upgrading software in the cloud and fixing any bugs can be automated and happens in only one place instead of at each employee’s workstation.

For a small business, cloud computing can mean a huge cost-savings. There’s no need to build a data center and to hire staff to maintain it. Purchasing hard drives and additional equipment is also unnecessary because a business only uses what space it needs, and the cloud provider takes care of the rest. Need more space and a faster access speed? With the right provider, upgrading is easy. Also, depending on the cloud solution that’s chosen, many times useful business applications are included for free. This alone may save a business expensive license fees for required software. Another often overlooked benefit is that cloud computing is environmentally friendly, and according to Microsoft, can reduce a company’s carbon emissions by as much as 30%.

There can be several risks, however, associated with cloud computing. Security can be a concern, but if a reputable service provider is used then encryption will be a priority for them, and business and customer information should be secure. Internet downtime is always a possibility and needs to be considered when deciding on using cloud technology. Losing Internet connection is generally short-term and localised, but it can disrupt a company’s workflow significantly.

Cloud computing is a great opportunity for the small business to become more organised, encourage employee collaboration, and save on hardware and maintenance costs. This technology can mean a new way of doing things, but the advantages definitely make it something a small business owner should consider.

File synchronisation that just works

If you’re a System Admin or Engineer/Architect, chances are you’ve spent many hours trawling the internet looking for a reliable and stable bidirectional file synchronisation tool that just works.

Before we dig deeper there are many pros and cons of syncing files in a bidirectional manner using software such as rsync, lsync, unison etc… as opposed to setting up a SAN (which I might add is not cheap!) or DFS (Distributed File System) such as DRBD, Gluster, or on Windows the classic MSDFS.  This article is not intended for these use-cases but robust setups that require minimal maintenance and high availability/scalability (for example my medium sized wordpress blog, online community forum, or configuration of my server farm).

Csync2?

So, how does csync2 – Short for “Cluster Synchronisation tool, 2nd Generation” fit in?  Well the answer is really as simple or as complex as you choose to make it.  In simple terms, it’s highly customizable and it actually functions as it’s supposed to.  Csync2 is a tool for Asynchronous File Synchronisation in Clusters and it’s been around for a long time.  It’s based off Librsync and is stable; it isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

Asynchronous File Synchronisation is good for files which are seldom modified such as configuration files or application images, this is what csync2 does best.  Note: csync2 may not always be an adequate choice for all types of data.  For instance a Database with continuous write accesses should be synced synchronously in order to ensure the data integrity.  That does not automatically mean that synchronous synchronisation is better, it simply is different and there are many cases where asynchronous synchronisation is favoured.

Lets take a quick look at what LinBit have to say about Csync2:

Csync2 is a cluster synchronisation tool. It can be used to keep files on multiple hosts in a cluster in sync.  Csync2 can handle complex setups with much more than just 2 hosts, handle file deletions and can detect conflicts.

It is expedient for HA-clusters, HPC-clusters, COWs and server farms.  If you are looking for a tool to sync your laptop with your workstation you better have a look at Unison (http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/) too.

Diving right in

Csync2 is made up of two main components: The sync server and the sync daemon.  Basically the sync daemon runs in the background at all times waiting for the server to connect to it (just like rsync daemon).

So what’s required to get me going?  Well almost everything that’s required is noted in the thorough install document over at: http://oss.linbit.com/csync2/paper.pdf (Thanks Clifford Wolf!).  There is one setback however, unfortunately it may not be all that easy to understand for Amazon Linux/CentOS/RHEL & other RPM based users who do not have technical background.

To make things easier we’ve put together a simple build script (see bottom of page for actual script) which should do all the hard work leaving you to do one thing.  Configure & Use it…

To get started run the following on your Amazon Linux or RHEL/CentOS Box (you might want to go make a cup of coffee while csync2 compiles, it’s rather timely):

sudo -s
wget http://autobuild.itoc.com.au/csync2/csync2-build-and-install.sh
chmod +x csync2-build-and-install.sh
./csync2-build-and-install.sh

Configuring csync2

Once the script has done its work you should be left with a window that looks something like the following:

Create yourself a preshared key file by running

csync2 -k /etc/csync-production-group.key

and copy this file to all your other machines you are planning on syncronising with.

By default csync2 reads its configuration from the “/etc/csync2.cfg” file.  The default file we have bundled for you is a little bit different to the standard out-of-the-box install so here’s a copy of what should be installed and some things to note…

# Csync2 Configuration File
# Preconfigured using the csync2 config and install script from ITOC Autobuild service
# -----------------------------------
#
# Please read the doco at:
# http://oss.linbit.com/csync2/paper.pdf

nossl * *;

group production {
    host wsinl1-01;
    host wsinl2-01;
    host (wsinl1-02);
    host (wsinl2-02);

    key /etc/csync-production-group.key;

    include /etc/hosts;
    include /etc/httpd/conf/;
    # include /data/httpd/;

    # exclude *~ .*; ## dont allow sync of files starting with a dot (.)
    exclude *.log;

    action {
        pattern /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf;
        exec "/etc/init.d/httpd reload";
        logfile "/data/logs/csync2/csync2_action.log";
        do-local;
    }

    backup-directory /data/sync-conflicts/;
    backup-generations 2;
    auto younger;
}

1. nossl;
   1. This is fairly self explanatory.  We’re not running Csync2 over SSL as we are running it in our VPC.  Running it over SSL creates a bigger memory-footprint. (If you want to use SSL features you may need to re-compile with ssl; openssl-devel has been installed to compile with ssl if required).
2. group
   1. In our example we have called our group “production” in a real world, you can specify multiple groups with multiple different keys. For example this could be used to sync all config amongst servers but only certain files amongst certain groups.
3. host
   1. Some servers are listed in brackets ( ) and some are not.  Servers specified in brackets are “slaves” meaning config is only updated on these servers, not read from or compared against.  Files on servers specified without brackets are compared using whatever method you set i.e. auto younger;
4. key
   1. The preshared key which is required on each node you wish to sync with.  Multiple keys can be specified in your configuration but only one key per group (see the group guide above).
5. include/exclude
   1. This is fairly self explanatory.  We have included some examples which should help paint a better picture
6. action
   1. Action sections are used to specify shell commands to be executed when synchronisation matches a pattern you have specified.
   2. In the above example, apache will reload its configuration when the httpd.conf file has been updated (cool huh!).
   3. If no “logfile” is specified csync2 will output to /dev/null so it’s important to specify this when testing/debugging.
7. backup-directory/backup-generations
   1. This is also self explanatory.  Make sure the directory exists on your filesystem before running csync2 if you have this configured or you will run into all sorts of problems.
8. auto
   1. This is specified for conflict detection.  In our case we are overwriting older copies of the file(s) with newer copies.  Other directives that can be specified here are: none, first, older, bigger, smaller, left, right.  Note: properly consult the csync2 documentation before setting this option.  If you are unsure about exactly what your auto-resolution is doing you may find yourself cleaning up a rather large mess.

Firing it up!

Once you are happy with your configuration and you’ve set it up on each server appropriately you should be able to do a few test runs.

Our install script has setup csync2 as a xinetd daemon, so to check that it’s all working simply run the following:

netstat -vatn | grep 30865

You should get back some thing along the lines of “tcp 30865 LISTEN” — This is good.
Basically you should be able to manually run “csync2 -x -v” on any server and this will trigger a complete sync process.

There are several ways you can trigger a file sync, we’ve installed an example to: /etc/crontab
(Make sure you comment out if not syncing via cron!)

You may find that you prefer to use inotifywait to trigger a sync or using an inotify tool such as incrond (http://inotify.aiken.cz/) — This is our preferred method and it works flawlessly for us using our Amazon Linux 2012.03 AMI Release (at the time of writing).

In the real world?

Since our initial endeavours with csync2 we have deployed several installations ranging from medium blogs and forums to several large well-known brands, synchronising everything from images and user-generated-content to mass server configurations and fixes.

We’ve compiled csync2 for Windows (don’t ask why…) and successfully kept well over 100,000 files in bi-directional sync on 4 windows boxes, taking only about 30-120 seconds to cross-check all files and sync updates on all nodes.

While this may not be the ultimate solution for everyone, it sure as hell beats complicated cron jobs and rsyncs or setting up a full-blown DFS to keep some server configurations in check.  For what it’s worth (10 minutes of compile time and 10 minutes of configuration) it’s well worth checking out.

Some of us had already given thought to the concept of the cloud long before it became a commercialised product. Virtualisation and cloud type structures could already be found in ‘private cloud’ type IT environments within large companies and enterprises.

Today the cloud has evolved and can be defined as a full-featured and feasible IT product offered by an endless list of providers worldwide.  The purpose of this article is to highlight some of the the key features we believe are an important influence on our decision to do business with AWS.

1. Automated Virtualisation / Elastic Pricing 

This type of environment allows enterprises to have their applications up and running faster, with easier management and less maintenance.  It also enables IT departments to rapidly adjust IT resources to meet fluctuating and unpredictable business demand.   All while saving a wad of annual expenditure. We all wish we’d thought of commercialising this 5 years ago!

Businesses are now able to free up capital and have additional resources to focus on their core innovations to the ultimate benefit of their customers.  One of the key ingredients to having a growing and sustainable business is constant innovation.  If you would allow me to relate a business to a newborn baby then migrating your IT with the cloud is your baby taking its first steps towards new growth.

The basic usage comparison – Traditional IT vs Automated Virtualisation

2. Security & PCI Compliance (Amazon’s security team will beat up your security team)

The AWS cloud has inherited the security backbone of the Amazon retail business.  We are talking about the security backbone of one of the top 30 most visited websites online today with over 110 million visitors each month.  For this kind of volume it is critical to be scrupulously secure, maintain incredible speeds and protect the infrastructure from attacks.  We feel assured that our data is more secure with Amazon then with any traditional data centre we know about.

It is also a fact that Amazon achieved Level 1 PCI compliance.  They have been successfully validated as a Level 1 service provider under the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS).  Merchants and other service providers can now run their applications on PCI-compliant technology infrastructure for storing, processing, and transmitting credit card information in the cloud.  While other enterprises can also benefit by running their applications on other PCI-compliant technology infrastructure.

Amazon has also achieved ISO 27001 certification.  This is a widely-adopted global security standard that sets out requirements and best practices for a systematic approach to managing company and customer information, based on periodic risk assessments.  This is just another one of many areas Amazon has invested their funds and resources into for the benefit of their cloud customers.

To look into security and compliance in more detail I would recommend visiting the AWS Security and Compliance Centre to fully familiarise yourself with all the security features on offer.

3. Operational Excellence

This is an Amazon priority and they spend significant resources monitoring their systems 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Our experience thus far has been nothing short of pain-free.  We are almost itching for something major to go wrong so we can actually fully test their support when the pressure is on.  However, whenever there has been an outage we have always been notified by Amazon staff well in advance and we are yet to experience any negative effects to the services.

4. Ongoing Hardware Upgrades

Another reason we choose Amazon is for the sheer size and success of their company which gives them the leverage they need to acquire the very best hardware available for their data centres.  AWS cloud customers can reap the benefits of decreasing costs, increasing performance, and enhanced functionality over time.  The infrastructure that houses your data will continue to be upgraded for years to come at no capital cost to you or your business.  Imagine using the best modern hardware indefinitely, this is why we love the cloud!

5. Asset Utilisation

AWS cloud customers can effectively achieve close to 100% utilisation.  In traditional data centre hosting you would require the leasing of additional infrastructure to be on standby for any sudden increase in demand.  This additional hardware is costing you money that you could otherwise be saving.

The AWS cloud also offers spot market instances which are ideal if you require lots of server processing power but not always on demand.  For example: rendering video or processing large volumes of data with a grid (analysing earthquake data, analysing mining data).  The power of spot market instances are a major reason why mining companies are now beginning to explore the potential benefits of the cloud.

6. Reduction of Support Personnel

Are you tired of paying an entire team of analysists, engineers and all sorts of other tech support personnel to maintain your IT?  Perhaps you have some lazy database managers that you would simply love to get rid of?  Maybe you don’t, maybe your IT crew is the best in the business.  Whilst that may be the case you are probably paying tens of thousands of dollars a month to keep these guys from becoming those lazy database managers we’ve all heard about (and they do exist I can assure you).

By switching to the Amazon Cloud you are accessing the talents of some of the most brilliant IT minds in the world, if you look into some of the key people behind the technology at Amazon you too would agree.  Our experience with Amazon’s support  has been wonderful.  The staff are well trained and whilst we’ve only endured a couple of minor fault inquiries, they were remedied immediately.  It makes us look really good to our clients!

7. Content Delivery Network

Amazon CloudFront integrates with other services and is low latency with high data transfer speeds.  It is an easy way to deliver content to your users and Amazon has recently included support for dynamic content.  It’s a simple, self-configuration using the API or management console and is a great system for effective content delivery including dynamic, static and streaming content.  As always, requests for your content are automatically routed to the nearest edge location to ensure the best possible performance to your end users.

Open the image below to see Amazon’s diagram of how the popular CDN CloudFront works.

8. UNIX/Linux & Windows in the Cloud

The AWS cloud allows Windows-based servers to be deployed should it be a specific requirement.  This is crucial to many enterprises that definitively use Windows.  We have also encountered many IT startups that require specific Windows deployments for certain areas of their back end.

It’s also worth mentioning that our own Blackberry enterprise servers use Windows cloud instances to ensure that our support SLA requirements are met and data from support personnel remains PCI compliant, even when off-network.  Another tick!

9. Strong Business Model

Once again I refer to the fact that Amazon is a company with a history of results.  They have shown that they know what they’re doing in this market and they have the capacity to invest in a strong strategy to drive their business forward.  The broad featured functionality of their services and the value they offer is the reason why they are the number 1 cloud provider.  The consistent progression of the business leads me to believe they are going to be a major competitor in the cloud market for many years to come.

10. Excellent Support

The high level of support and intelligent communication from Amazon has really stood out to me personally for the duration of our dealings with them.  I think it comes down to the fact that their background is online retailing so excellent customer service is obviously already fundamental to their business.  This high level of service has clearly extended to their Amazon Web Services business.

We have experienced extremely fast response times and the people we speak to in the various departments are well trained.  The proficiency of clear communication with any service provider you employ is important to the health of your business and also to your own mental health as I’m sure you’d agree!

So at the end of the day…

We feel that very little analyising of the AWS cloud features is needed to come to the conclusion that they are the model cloud provider.  Their service offering has unprecedented substance and value.  One good decision after another has led them to become this IT super power that should not be overlooked by any business wanting to improve performance and lower ongoing costs.

I hope that this article has provided you with some useful information and assists you with taking that first crucial step forward towards getting the most out of your IT.  Remember, if you need advice regarding integration with AWS please contact our supporting partner ITOC as they will only be too happy to assist.

This article will be aimed at those in the start-up community who are not already using the Cloud, don’t have much of an idea about the Cloud, or have doubts about its place within their technology toolbox.

It is start-up mania in the tech world, and rightly so. One way or another we all love the internet, it’s now a big part of our lives and making a living using the internet is a dream come true for those who succeed. It provides the potential to have your own flexible lifestyle, the possibility to achieve substantial financial reward, and the opportunity to be on the cutting edge of technology.

As technology accelerates expeditiously, it creates new success stories and new opportunities for those with the audacity to take on the challenge of growing a successful start-up. Every new product and every new company opens a multitude of doors for others to walk through, should they have the courage to.

I’m here to tell you that the Cloud has not only made forming a start-up easier, it’s made it significantly cheaper (leaner). Whilst AWS has a firm position in the enterprise market, they are in my opinion largely responsible for the recent global growth in application and SaaS development.

I’d like to first briefly mention the chief technology currently being offered by AWS as part of their Cloud.

EC2 – Elastic Compute Cloud

The flagship web service and server environment that essentially performs automated virtualisation on Amazon’s edge-location infrastructure, meaning the resources that you use becomes resizable and scalable based on your demand. This structure is ideal  for a start-up because you are only ever paying for the capacity you use, extremely high asset utilisation, and ultimately saving your business loads of money. The EC2 interface makes booting new instances fast and basic configurations incredibly simple.

S3 – Simple Storage Service

Like EC2, the Simple Storage Service (S3) is a scalable storage environment that can be used to store and retrieve unlimited volumes of data at anytime, anywhere in the world. Once again you save money by only paying for what you use and leveraging the world-class infrastructure Amazon uses to run its own global network of websites.

These 2 services are really the tip of the iceberg but they are fundamental to common practices. In addition to these, Amazon has an arsenal of services applicable to start-ups, to name but a few categories:

• Compute (EC2 -Elastic Compute Cloud)
• Content Delivery (CloudFront)
• Database (Relational Database Service)
• Deployment & Management (Elastic Beanstalk)
• E-Commerce (Fulfillment Web Service)
• Messaging (Simple Email Service)
• Monitoring (CloudWatch)
• Networking (Amazon Route 53 DNS)
• Payments & Billing (Amazon Flexible Payments Service)
• Storage (Simple Storage Service S3)
• Support (AWS 24/7 Support)
• Web Traffic (Alexa Web Information Service)
• Workforce (Amazon Mechanical Turk)

I suggest you visit here for a full overview of the products and solutions offered by AWS.

By adopting AWS, you are establishing a business model that is highly economical and adaptable. You become agile, confident, time efficient, and have additional capital to invest in growth areas!

You can also take advantage of the AWS Marketplace where you can find affordable software that may be useful to your business, or you can use it to sell your own products or services. Either way you will be part of a rapidly growing network of people and technology that you really can’t afford to ignore.

Oracle also recently launched their Cloud. If you watch the keynote delivered by CEO Larry Ellison you will quickly realise just how serious this Cloud business has become. I will however say that Oracle’s Cloud is still geared towards the enterprise market and AWS remains the clear leader by way of features and design, especially for any start-up company looking to adopt the Cloud in 2012.

So which start-ups use AWS?

I was going to write a nice list for you detailing common architecture and cost savings, but by doing this I am constrained to only a few when there are so many good examples of successful AWS deployments. If you’re a start-up and still unsure about whether or not the AWS Cloud is for you, the best thing you can do is review case studies. There are hundreds of scenarios, find one that is close to your business whether it be an application, digital content delivery, or another kind of service. Find case studies that share properties of your own product or objective and look at what they achieved by harnessing the Cloud. Quite often you will find real financial data and real savings being made right now by companies all around the world.

The financial and intellectual performance of running tests is also a major advantage of using AWS as a start-up. You can deploy and bundle multiple EC2 test instances, and start them anytime from anywhere in the world within seconds. This can sometimes cost you almost nothing to run. You only pay for storing the bundles on Amazon S3 and for the time you have the EC2 servers running, which quite often can equate to no more than a couple of cents per test run.

Developers and AWS are always in perfect harmony and we think this is how it’s supposed to be!

Your live products or services on EC2 can be deployed alongside Elastic Load Balancing to distribute incoming traffic across multiple EC2 instances, ensuring stability. If you’d like to learn more about Amazon’s security and hardware performance please refer to this article where I address the basics of security, including PCI Compliance.

Despite the financial benefits of AWS, please don’t overlook the technology advantages as these should really be the primary influence on your decision making. Particularly for a start-up, using the Cloud will mean the overall architecture of your IT model is leaps and bounds ahead of any traditional IT model.

If set-up properly, your application or product/service can be highly intellectual and already designed in an environment which supports and promotes growth, even rapid growth! At the end of the day that’s what most start-ups set out to achieve. So why wouldn’t you ensure your company is already primed for the ride?

Do you need advice?

A big part of our mission in this industry is to help start-up companies fully understand the intricacies of Cloud architecture, ensuring an effective solution. It is crucial to develop your environment correctly from the bottom up to get the most out of the Cloud both financially and intellectually.

Should you be in need of advice please contact our consulting partner, who can provide a free analysis of your requirements to safeguard best practices when migrating to AWS.

Let’s talk money for a moment.  I think it’s fair to say that the advantages of most services lies with the physical attributes of the service being provided and it’s up to the customer to determine the value for themselves.  It may also be fair to say that these attributes or features/benefits if you will are the primary focus from a sales standpoint with the cost of the service being one of the less desirable aspects for the customer.  This is where the AWS solution sets itself apart from other services.  The financial strength of the Amazon product is actually one if its biggest draw cards.

In an upcoming article we are going to discuss 10 of the reasons why our network of experts are committed to the AWS cloud over any other solutions that are available.  However firstly we’d like to quantify the financial aspects, nailing down to the nuts and bolts making it easy for you to assess your own project scenarios.

Elasticity is the important key word to use when describing the Amazon cloud.  The elastic use of hardware allows for a scalable pricing structure, essentially you only ever pay for what you use.  As demand increases and more resources are required, the necessary resources are applied using automated virtualisation.  Then as demand decreases and less resources are required, the resources are shut down eliminating the need to ever pay for reserve hardware capacity.

The following figure depicts the basic usage comparison.

Important Note: There are a number of parameters to take into consideration when preparing financial projections comparing cloud based infrastructure to traditional IT.

Below is an excerpt from an ITOC document that defines the costs companies would typically face when investing in traditional infrastructure compared to that of AWS.

The truth  is that most of the traditional IT costs described here can be extremely significant and in today’s era of technology there are simply better solutions for your business.

The cloud offers operational excellence for mission-critical applications, resources are monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Amazon also publishes a service health dashboard to provide continuous, real-time visibility into operational performance.

There’s also the problem that many enterprises simply don’t have the capital budgets required to build, extend, or replace IT infrastructure in a capital-constrained environment.  As a result, many are simply foregoing important projects within the business due to a lack of accessible capital.  It is not a good reflection of the effectiveness of your IT if you are side-lining important projects within your business which you could otherwise be giving priority to.

The evidence of financial benefits are overwhelming – check out the Case Studies section of the AWS website.  Next week we’ll be making this easy for you by dissecting the financial characteristics of one of our recent projects.

ITOC has released a short promo video to advertise their AWS integration service. Get clouding!

For both individuals and companies interested in cloud storage, deciding which cloud computing service provider to choose will come up at one point. Just in the last year, many cloud providers have come onto the scene or gone out of business, have either expanded their operations or have, unfortunately, needed to shrink their operations in some way. Since cloud computing is gaining momentum at a fast rate, the names of the players involved, both big and small, are constantly changing.

Not every cloud service provider offers the same set of services, nor do they even offer the same model of cloud computing. There are three main cloud types and which one meets your needs the most will affect the provider you choose. The three types are:

• Public cloud: This type is the most common and many people who use cloud storage will have experience with it. A public cloud provider makes applications and space available to the public over the Internet and is generally pay-per-usage or sometimes even free.
• Private cloud: A private or internal cloud is usually used only by a specific company or organisation, and is either managed by them or by a third-party.
• Hybrid cloud: This model is a mix between public and private where a company provides some cloud resources in-house, while a third-party provides others.

There are some well-known names involved in cloud computing today. Some of them have been offering cloud services for several years, while others have only recently joined. Some of the services offered are geared more towards corporations, while other services are suitable for individuals. Here are just a few of the options you have. Some are real IaaS players that are leading the way, and others are more for your home user.

1. Amazon Web Services: Since 2006, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has steadily grown to be one of the most used business cloud computing solutions. AWS offers public cloud storage and many additional services, while also offering a free option.

2. Box: This provider has been a popular public cloud storage solution for several years. Founded in 2005, Box offers both personal and business services. They even offer a free option for those looking to store a small amount of files. Mobile access, apps integration, and online workspaces are just a few of the constantly evolving features they offer.

3. Dropbox: Maybe one of the most well-known names in personal cloud storage is Dropbox. They’ve been around since 2007, and have quickly grown in reputation in such a short time. They offer business services, but mostly seem to focus on personal public storage. They also offer a limited free storage option.

4. JoyentCloud: Established in 2004, JoyentCloud is one of the oldest cloud computing storage providers still around today. They offer both public and private cloud services to businesses, and support companies such as LinkedIn.

5. Google Cloud Storage: Relatively new in cloud computing, this Google cloud service was unveiled in 2010. Even though it’s mainly geared towards developers, both individuals and companies can use this public storage option. Google also offers a limited free option.

Special mention goes to Windows Azure, also worth a look for any Windows enthusiast. Cloud computing service providers may seem like a dime-a-dozen, but finding a reputable one with the services you need and that gives you room to grow your business is a priority. There are several great options from well-known names such as Amazon and Google that might be just right for you.

In an upcoming article we will look specifically at the big players and put their IaaS offerings under the microscope.

Cloud computing is catching on for both the individual who wants to share vacation photos with their family and the company owner who’s eager to save money on hardware costs. Cloud computing at its basic level is remote online storage and nearly anyone can take advantage of it.

The benefits of cloud computing cover a wide range of areas, from personal to business, and prove that this technology has something for everyone and is here to stay.

1. Easy access

Probably the biggest benefit to cloud computing is the ease of access it allows to whatever files you have stored. If you have Internet access, you can get that important photo or file from anywhere and at any time, whether it’s from your smart phone, laptop, or tablet.

2. Flexibility

One of the great things about cloud computing is that you only use and pay for what you need. If at any time you need more space, you generally only have to upgrade to the next highest level and you’re back in business.

3. Offsite storage

An added advantage to cloud computing is that it offers the ability for offsite storage, or storing your critical files and applications away from your home or business. This can be important because if something happens to the original files, maybe through a fire or break-in, you have a backup already stored somewhere else.

4. Security

Reputable cloud storage companies take the security of your information and files very seriously. Only you have access to your account and files unless you specify otherwise.

5. Sharing

Depending on the provider you’re with, it can be easy to share important photos or videos with family and friends, generally by having a link emailed to only the people you want to have access.

6. Organisation

Both individuals and businesses would be able to appreciate the organisational benefit of cloud computing. Everything that you back up to your cloud account is in one place, instead of being spread out over multiple computers and other devices, making things easier to find.

7. Encourages collaboration

If you’re part of a group project for school or work, then cloud computing can help you by allowing central access to research material or to a shared document or spreadsheet.

8. Application access

Companies that rely on a central software program that employees need access to can run that program using cloud computing and save the time and hassle of installing the software on every computer separately in the company.

9. Cost-savings

This benefit is important to individuals and businesses alike. Instead of buying costly equipment, and then upgrades when you need more space and speed, you can pay a smaller fee for cloud storage and only use what you need.

10. Increased performance

Since cloud computers are generally very fast with lots of memory, accessing files and working off of documents saved to your cloud account can often times be faster than working with them from your personal computer.

The benefits of cloud computing speak for themselves and prove that cloud computing can help both individuals and companies become more productive.