Amazon Web Services 100 Success Secrets

Copyright © 2008

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 Amazon Web Services 100 Success Secrets

There has never been a Amazon Web Services Guide like

this.

100 Success Secrets is not about the ins and outs of Ama-
zon Web Services. Instead, it answers the top 100 questions that
we are asked and those we come across in forums, our consul-
tancy and education programs.

It tells you exactly how to deal with those questions, with

tips that have never before been offered in print.

This book is also not about Amazon Web Services’ best

practice and standards details. Instead, it introduces everything
you want to know to be successful with Amazon Web Services.
 Table of Contents

Steps to Finding Other Alternatives to Amazon S3 ......................12

Sensible Storage Solutions with Amazon S3..................................14
Top Reasons Why Developers May Choose Google App Engine
over Amazon Web Services..............................................................15
Latency Issues and Cost Keeps European Users from the
Amazon EC2 Service .........................................................................17
Let AWS SQS Web Console Get the Job Done...............................19
Tips to Finding a Cloud Computing Provider ..............................20
The Superior Cost Saving Benefits of Amazon EC2: A case study
...............................................................................................................22
Best Recommendation for Enterprise Storage Services................24
Possibilities of Using Amazon EC2 to Build Commercial
Applications........................................................................................25
The Benefits of Amazon EC2 and Cloud Computing...................26
Ways to Maximize Website Performance through Amazon S3
Services ................................................................................................28
What to Expect from Amazon S3 Storage When Used in Real
Situations.............................................................................................30
Finding the Right Scalable Hosting Service Similar to Amazon
EC2 .......................................................................................................32
IBM Establishes a China Equivalent of Amazon S3 and EC2
Services ................................................................................................34
Hosting Full Sites or Media Files on Amazon S3: Finding the
Best Solution for Data Storage......................................................... 36
Why It is Useful to Know of SAAS Directory Service ................. 38
Comparing MogileFS with Amazon S3: Which is Which?.......... 39
The Benefits of Cloud Computing on Large Scale Web
Applications ....................................................................................... 40
Store Information Easily with Amazon EC2 ................................. 42
Improve Entrepreneurial Efforts with Amazon Web Services... 43
Two Ways to Get Quotes for Managed Data Center and
Virtualization Services...................................................................... 44
AWS Elastic Cloud Computing: Make a Profit out of It.............. 46
The Pros and Cons of Cloud Computing ...................................... 47
Simple Steps in Using Amazon's Simple Storage Service (S3) ... 49
Tips to Minimize the Risks Associated with Web-Hosted
Services ............................................................................................... 51
Deploying an Application on Amazon's Web Services for Storage
and DB ................................................................................................ 53
Understanding Ruby on Rails Web server: Basic Information
about Rails Application.................................................................... 54
Amazon EC2: The Best Choice for a Self-Hosted Server
Extension ............................................................................................ 56
The Use of Amazon S3 as a Content Delivery Network (CDN). 58
How Do People Find the Amazon Web Services (AWS?)........... 59
Why People Choose Cloud Computing over Dedicated Server:
Its Advantages....................................................................................60
What are latest updates about EC2 AMI TOOLS? ........................61
Combine Amazon and Google App Engines: The Best
Recommendation for a Better Indexing of Documents on the
Web ......................................................................................................62
The Top 4 Most Useful Web Services..............................................64
Learning What SaaS, Amazon AWS and Other Web Services
Mean in the IT Industry ....................................................................65
The Critical Steps to make Legal Instances in Windows that are
able to run on AMI.............................................................................66
Are There Partner Companies Working with Amazon to Build
EC2 Instances? ....................................................................................67
What Do People Perceive about the Amazon S3 Service? ...........68
Working on the Web Console of the AWS S3 ................................69
The Effects of Cloud Computing Solutions to Software
Developers ..........................................................................................71
The Working Ruby Rails of EC2 ......................................................72
The Impact of Hardware Virtualization in the IT Industry.........73
Capistrano: The Widely Utilized Ruby Applications Deployment
Tool.......................................................................................................75
SaaS: Soon to be Replaced by Amazon EC2 or Google App
Engine ..................................................................................................76
Google and Microsoft: Bound to Work on Web Services using
OS X..................................................................................................... 77
The Use of Amazon S3 to Backup Company Data Center .......... 79
Why Sales and Marketing Operations refuse the Employment of
Cloud Computing Model................................................................. 80
The Visible Impacts of Cloud and Utility Computing with the
Industry’s IT Sections ....................................................................... 82
The Different Functionalities of the Amazon Elastic Compute
Cloud................................................................................................... 84
Is it Safe to Host a Production Software Using Computing Cloud
Technology? ....................................................................................... 85
Balancing Web Development with Ruby on Rails ....................... 87
Getting Web App Integrated with Amazon S3............................. 89
EC2 Automating Applications Now Available ............................ 91
EC2 Management Made Easy.......................................................... 92
EC2 Setup Guide Provided All over the Net ................................ 94
S3 Consulting Firms Help Businesses Optimize S3 Usage ......... 95
Displaying The S3 Right Image Important.................................... 97
EC2 Automation to Ease EC2 Administration.............................. 98
EC2 Scripts Are Easy to Find......................................................... 100
Hosting Grid: Brings More Capacity at Lower Costs ................ 101
S3 Reseller: Bringing the S3 Service to Individual Users........... 103
Every New S3 Script Makes S3 Usage Efficient.......................... 105
Automate EC2 is Amazon’s Goal ................................................. 107
Learn How to Create and Modify EC2 Images ...........................109
EC2 AMI Tools: Its Importance in Cloud Computing................111
EC2 on Reseller News .....................................................................113
Amazon Features EC2 Functionality ............................................115
The Foundation behind Backup EC2 to S3...................................117
The Importance of Creating EC2 Images......................................119
EC2 Consulting is One of Amazon’s Web Services ....................121
The EC2 Scripts in GigaSpaces EC2 Framework.........................123
Create and Set-Up Right Image EC2 .............................................125
AWS Dashboard Gives Comprehensive Web Service Status ....127
Ruby on Rails Web Hosting: Is This the Web Service for You? 129
Amazon S3 Scripts: The Backbone of Web Storage Services .....131
The System of Hadoop EC2............................................................133
Amazon’s S3 Driver.........................................................................135
Create EC2 Image Using Oracle Essbase ......................................136
Things to Take Note on EC2 Plugin and Elastic Compute Cluster
that Features Python........................................................................137
Compaq’s Presario 3000 Series Features S3 Technology............139
Enumerating S3 Automation Services ..........................................141
Extensions of AWS-S3 Gem and API Copy of Amazon.............143
ADS Spawns Mantis Lessen Downtime in EC2 Deployment ...144
Giving the Gist of EC2 Worker’s Function...................................146
RightScale EC2—A Powerful Fusion of Function.......................147
Unused CAB-S3-CONSOLE ...........................................................148
Amazon Features S3 Plugin........................................................... 150
Why Use EC2 Console? .................................................................. 152
Why EC2 and S3 Consulting Can Come in Handy? .................. 153
How S3, SQS, and EC2 Work Together?...................................... 155
Installing An EC2 RubyGems........................................................ 156
What Are the Benefits of Managing AWS? ................................. 157
Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud: An Able Program as Aid.. 158
Elastic Compute Cloud and How it Reduces the Amount of Time
in Computation................................................................................ 159
Scale Right with RightScale ........................................................... 161
AWS Console: Improvements and Automation......................... 162
RightScale and The Merge with Eucalyptus ............................... 164
Tips for a High Performance Ruby on Rails................................ 165
What EC2 Is All About ................................................................... 167
Understanding the Web Servers Running on Ruby on Rails ... 168
11
 12

Steps to Finding Other Alternatives to

Amazon S3

Amazon’s S3 or Simple Storage Service allows you to store

and retrieve data through a hosted service. Essentially develop-
ers could have a virtual server for their applications develop-
ments. Some developers however are looking for other
alternatives to Amazon S3 to meet their growing data serving
needs.

There are lots of hosted web services companies that could

provide alternatives to Amazon S3. Here are some important
features that you must consider when looking for alternatives to
Amazon S3.

First, you need to look at different price ranges and de-

termine if you can get more savings from other virtual data
storage providers. Hosted storage services are getting cheaper
nowadays as more players tend to compete in the market.

In order to maximize the profitability of your applications

development ventures, it would be best to find alternatives that
are cheaper. Be very careful though with your choices because
cheap storage services could have some quality service issues.

Second, speed is another important consideration when

looking for alternatives to Amazon S3. Amazon services are fast
enough but if you want faster uploading and downloading proc-
esses, then you have to read some tech reviews of different data
storage providers.
 13
Reviews can open up different options for you. In fact,
there are reviews that publish head to head testing results of
speed capability of Amazon services and other service providers.

Lastly if you want to try other services, it would be best if

you sign up for a free trial. Most providers offer free trial fea-
tures for their simple data storage services. You can determine
then if the service would be a good alternative to Amazon S3.
 14

Sensible Storage Solutions with Amazon S3

Using Amazon’s S3 or simple storage service is a very sen-

sible way for managing the information you need for your busi-
ness or personal life. This is a type of online storage service that
is part of the offering of Amazon’s wide range of web services.
The great thing about this is that it provides you with unlimited
storage and still gives you a simple and easy to navigate web
service interface.

Amazon launched its S3 as simple storage service back in

2006, not expecting the boom to be as big as it is. Perhaps what
sealed the deal for most users and clients was the fact that the
system only charged you a mere fifteen cents each gigabyte pr
month and the very small bandwidth charges necessary to send
and retrieve data. Because of overwhelming success, Amazon has
recently introduced better pricings for its end users who have
accumulated over fifty terabytes worth of data storage.

They will be pleased to know that a discount pricing

awaits them – proof that Amazon does reward its loyal and
faithful clients and provides top service at a price that cannot be
beat. The beauty of S3 revolves around the fact that S3 or simple
storage service makes full use of the same type of scalable storage
infrastructure which Amazon uses in order to run its own net-
work of global e-commerce.

With this, you are more confident of the durability and se-
curity of your information as you get world class support for
wallet friendly prices.
 15

Top Reasons Why Developers May Choose

Google App Engine over Amazon Web Ser-
vices

Many were not surprised when Google launched the

Google App Engine for developers. Most technology experts
believed that this was the most logical direction for Google: to
provide a web platform for its bundled web applications and
services.

The Google App Engine is very similar to Amazon Web

Services, the pioneer in providing a web based platform for
hosted services. Amazon Web Services feature web storage,
virtual computing, and cloud computing databases.

All these features can also be found on the Google App

Engine that’s why some web technologist concluded that Google
wanted to edge out Amazon’s market lead in cloud computing.

There are many reasons why developers believe that the

Google App Engine could overtake the Amazon Web Services in
the coming years ahead.

First, Google App Engine comes as a bundled service for

the development of web applications. Developers could get a
single package web platform compared to the disparate services
offered by Amazon.

Second, there are many features in Google App Engine

that are not present in AWS. These include Google APIs, Python
runtime engine, and server side JavaScript.
 16
Lastly and probably the most enticing part of Google App
Engine is it’s free. Developers actually can download the engine
even if they don’t have an account with Google. The downside of
Google App Engine is its limited storage quota and bandwidth
allocation per user. For most developments however, the quota
limits would be enough.

These are the compelling reasons why developers might

migrate from the Amazon Web Service in favor of the Google
App Engine.
 17

Latency Issues and Cost Keeps European

Users from the Amazon EC2 Service

The infrastructure for Amazon’s EC2 or elastic cloud

computing is not yet available in Europe. So there are few
European users who have experience using Amazon EC2 as a
hosting platform.

There’s still no word from Amazon when it would deploy

EC2 services that have dedicated data centers in Europe. How-
ever, Amazon S3 storage data centers and services are widely
used now in most European countries.

The high cost of EC2 service in Europe keeps many users

from using the service. A cross-Atlantic transfer may have
several issues and concerns about latency. Cross-Atlantic trans-
fers have high bandwidth requirements so the cost of cloud
computing for European users will be more expensive.

Another cost related issue concerns the transfer of data

between Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3. For U.S. users, transfer-
ring data to and from EC2 to S3 would be free of charge per
gigabyte of transfer. Not so with European S3 data transfer to
EC2. Such data transfer would be charged with regular rates by
Amazon.

At the Amazon web services forum, many users from Eu-

rope are hoping for the availability of the service to European
users. Some are utilizing EC2 services just to try the system and
to perform simple virtual computing. European users however
cannot use the Amazon EC2 services for business hosting pri-
marily because of high cost of bandwidth and data transfer.
 18
If you want to be the first to know when the EC2 services
will be rolled out in Europe, it would be best to join the Amazon
web services forum and get service updates from Amazon.
 19

Let AWS SQS Web Console Get the Job

Done

When it comes to the future of software development, one

will always think about good craftsmanship. The same can be
said about the impressive range of web services that Amazon has
been able to build, along with so many libraries it had developed
over the years. Most engineers nowadays know that they can get
from Amazon’s web console most of the things they will need in
order to deliver complete systems.

While there are a lot of computing and tinkering involved,

the most important consideration is that SQS web console is
definitely involved. This is more often known as simple queue
service. It is part of the top ten concepts which software engi-
neers must commit to memory if they want to be able to succeed
in this realm. Its design patters and its refractor codes may be a
bit overwhelming for some, but it definitely makes the system
alive and kicking.

It offers a very reliable hosted queue which you can use to

store messages that travel two and from computers. When you
use Amazon SQS, many developers can have the ease of simply
moving their data from one distributed component from their
applications to another. These perform tasks without having to
lose any messages (thanks to utmost security measures) and does
not require any component to be available at the same time. It is
easy to build your own automatic workflow using Amazon SQS
because it is directly tied up with Amazon’s elastic compute cloud
and more types of Amazon web services and infrastructures.
 20

Tips to Finding a Cloud Computing Pro-

vider

There are lots of cloud computing providers today. Essen-

tially, these providers offer similar services. They provide a web
based platform so you can perform your computing tasks on
virtual machines, use web based application, and store your data
on remote servers.

However, finding the best cloud computing provider is not

easy. Because you have lots of choices, you need to carefully
assess the capabilities of each provider. Here are some impor-
tant tips which could guide you in choosing a cloud computing
provider.

First, if you’re not a power user and you don’t need too
much serving power to perform your computing jobs, then go for
free service providers.

Google is an example of cloud computing provider that

has lots of free services. You can use office applications, email
services, and communications that are all web based. You can
also store data on remote servers and retrieve them anytime you
want.

Free cloud computing services would be very ideal for per-

sonal use, for startup companies, and for small and medium
sized organizations.

On the other hand, if you need large storage and more

powerful virtual servers, then you can get the services of paid
cloud computing provider. Such web services are offered by big
companies such as Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft.
 21

There are different cloud computing packages that will be

available for you. These packages have varying plans for disk
space usage, data transfer, and bandwidth allocation.

All you have to do is choose which service package will an-

swer your computing needs and requirements. These cloud
computing companies also provide support services when you
sign up with them.
 22

The Superior Cost Saving Benefits of Ama-

zon EC2: A case study

The Elastic Cloud Computing (EC2) of Amazon can pro-

vide big savings for companies. EC2 is cloud computing. It is
the virtualization of an IT environment to eliminate the need of
buying new hardware to serve your computing requirements.

By utilizing Amazon EC2 services, you can virtually rent

hundreds of computers and servers for $0.10 per hour on stan-
dard instances. So if you have big projects that will need large
computing capabilities, renting virtual computers on EC2 ser-
vices could translate to big savings.

A clear example was provided by a major national news

paper which used Amazon EC2 facilities to convert its archived
issues into PDF. The news organization has archived issues
dating back to mid-18th century.

Digitizing the back issues produced 4 terabytes if image

files. Converting these images into PDF would be a computing
nightmare. It would require lots of hard disk space and plenty of
time to process the archived images.

By getting the services of Amazon EC2, programmers of

the news organization rented nearly a hundred computers and
run the conversion process on it. Converting 4 terabytes of
images into PDF took only 24 hours. The total cost of the project
was only $240.

Without the Amazon EC2 facilities, such projects would

cost thousands of dollars. This will not include the valuable time
allocated for creating PDF files of archived images.
 23

Companies therefore can surely get superior cost saving

benefits from EC2 cloud computing. They can also get faster
results because they would be able to run simultaneous comput-
ing instances.
 24

Best Recommendation for Enterprise Stor-

age Services

There are so many types of enterprise storage services out

there that one may have a bit of trouble choosing which one to go
for. Luckily, there are a few good ones out there and the best one
that is also value for time and money would be that of Novell’s.
Novell is a type of storage service that gives its users secure
access no matter where they may be.

Formally called Novell Open Enterprise Server 2, it is jam-

packed with services that really do make your vital date easily
accessible. This is a way to store user data in a more efficient
manner as well and comes with a host of technology which you
may find very useful indeed. It comes with dynamic storage
technology which helps in reducing the amount of storage man-
agement costs. It does it in a very significant manner and helps
to ensure the regulatory compliance of your data.

Additionally, it also improves the backup as well as the re-

covery of very critical data. This feature helps to categorize your
unstructured data into two types – active or stale. Furthermore,
Novell storage services can also be scaled in order to accommo-
date all types of needs of you growing business. It is very easy to
maintain it and the great news is that it keeps your files from
being corrupted.

Not all enterprise storage services can boast of the same

thing for their systems – but Novell Enterprise Storage Services
can confidently say that it does that and so much more. You
would definitely be better off with this type of enterprise storage
service rather than with other kinds.
 25

Possibilities of Using Amazon EC2 to Build

Commercial Applications

Amazon is a website that is considered as the biggest retail

site in the entire world. This simply means that it will take a lot
of complicated infrastructure in order to run something like it.
While it does run on EC2, it is a valuable commodity on itself –
and Amazon recognizes it by trying to monetize it with building
some commercial applications. With this, a lot has been consid-
ered with regards of the possibility of using the entire structure
of Amazon EC2 in order to build different types of commercial
applications.

This will also pave the way for the next wave of web sites
in history. The great thing about doing this is that there will be
no set up charges and any other type of up-front costs to it – and
of course, you have the stability and the confidence of building it
on the framework of Amazon. This simply means you can get to
have unlimited computing powers which you can tap in an
instant.

The smallest fee you will have to pay for in order to build
commercial applications would be the mere ten cents for every
hour you use up processing it. While this is indeed a very techni-
cal kind of service, you can be sure that other people will want to
know more about it and catch on. The ability to set up something
like this will definitely make a new market for more technical
shops and pretty soon, everyone will be on the Amazon EC2 set
up to build commercial applications.
 26

The Benefits of Amazon EC2 and Cloud

Computing

Amazon EC2 or Elastic Compute Cloud is not a unique

service although the company is one of the pioneers in this kind
of web service. Cloud computing is becoming more attractive to
developers because it is cheaper, more flexible, and reliable.

You can get many benefits from Amazon EC2 or any other
cloud computing platform available today. These benefits can be
translated to increased productivity for your applications devel-
opment ventures.

First, Amazon EC2 and cloud computing is highly elastic.

You can change your capacity needs within minutes to scale your
application needs. This speeds up your development process
because you will not wait for several hours before the server
adjust itself for your capacity needs.

Second, if you’re using EC2 service, it can directly com-

plement with other Amazon services for virtual computing and
data storage. This is also true for other cloud computing provid-
ers. So, you will have a wide range of tools and servers at your
disposal in order to make application development easier.

Third, EC2 and other virtual computing services offer fail

safe platforms to protect your applications. Normally, these
services have redundant data centers and can host your applica-
tions on several servers. So, when a web server breaks down,
others will kick in. This redundancy eliminates downtimes and
data loss.
 27
Lastly, cloud computing is more secure because of excel-
lent firewall technologies implemented by web service providers.
Big companies such as Amazon would have more secure servers
than a local server. This protects your data from possible hacks
and malicious attacks from the Internet.
 28

Ways to Maximize Website Performance

through Amazon S3 Services

Performance is a key measure if you want your photo sto-

rage and sharing site to succeed. That’s because performance
determines how fast users can upload and download photos on-
site so they can share them quickly with other Internet users.

For such purposes, you can use the Amazon S3 to store

large volume of image data. You can also benefit from Amazon
S3 service as it offers reliable data serving and easy interface for
better management of photo storage.

Here are some important steps you can do to determine

the performance factor of Amazon S3 and see how reliable and
manageable the service would be.

First, if you are hosting the images of your photo storage

site in a local server it would be best to get the Amazon S3 ser-
vices as a back-up data hosting solution. Photo storage and
photo sharing can exert pressure on servers due to their large
server space and bandwidth requirements.

If you are running out of space to host the image data,

make a back-up on Amazon S3 in order to free some space on
your local server. You will now be able to determine how your
back-up storage performs especially during spikes in user activi-
ties.

You can also follow the practices of other Web 2.0 sites
that use Amazon S3 service as primary data storage solution.
Using virtual server eases the burden on your local server in
order to improve the performance of your website. Data that
 29
have been migrated to virtual servers can significantly speed up
loading time of your website.
 30

What to Expect from Amazon S3 Storage

When Used in Real Situations

Amazon S3 storage services have been used by individual

developers and online companies. If you want a web based
solution for your data serving needs, the Amazon S3 services
could be a very viable option for you.

The most prominent online companies using Amazon S3

storage are Twitter and SmugMug. Twitter is a social and com-
munication networking site and it uses S3 to store images up-
loaded by users. SmugMug on the other hand is a photo sharing
site and it completely relies on Amazon S3 to host its terabytes of
image data.

The experiences of such companies in using Amazon S3

storage in real situation could serve as an example. You can
study their experiences with Amazon S3 and determine if its web
based data storage service would be suitable for your needs.

To give you a fair idea, here are some key features that you
could expect from Amazon S3 services.

First, Amazon’s data storage facilities are reliable. Of

course there could be downtimes and service outages but this is
fairly normal for every web based service. S3 outages however
are rare and usually last for only a few minutes.

Second, your data would be protected on S3 servers.

There are no reported cases of data loss from the Amazon service
resulting from the outages. You can also rely on its security
features that protect the integrity of your data.
 31
Lastly, Amazon S3 is cheaper and you will pay only for
spaces and bandwidth you use. If your traffic is massive though,
it would be best to determine your monthly usage before signing
up for the service. Usage spikes could make S3 hosting very
expensive.
 32

Finding the Right Scalable Hosting Service

Similar to Amazon EC2

Cloud computing is becoming very popular among appli-

cation developers and large enterprises. That’s why it would be
easy to find a service that is similar to Amazon EC2 which offers
scalable hosting services.

Big names in the information and technology sector have

been providing cloud computing services for quite some time
now. There are also lots of mid-level technology providers that
can offer enterprise-class scalable cloud computing services.

The large number of scalable hosting service providers do

not mean it would be easier for you to choose one.

When choosing a scalable hosting service similar to Ama-

zon’s EC2, it would be best to compare the cost of hosting and
the available service features for each hosting package. In this
way, you will be able get a service that could answer your virtual
computing needs at the right price.

You must also look into the quotas and limitations of data
transfers as well as bandwidth restrictions of hosted services.
Amazon’s EC2 has competitive data transfer packages that will
be suitable for any types of companies. These could serve as your
benchmark in looking for other companies that have hosting
services.

You need to determine if the offered service features will

not constrain your computing requirements. This is especially
true if you’re expecting a huge surge of data transfer the moment
you migrate from local servers to virtual ones.
 33

There are lots of options open for you when choosing a

service similar to Amazon EC2. Some may offer limited comput-
ing power. There are service providers however that can be relied
upon to give similar service features offered by Amazon.
 34

IBM Establishes a China Equivalent of

Amazon S3 and EC2 Services

Amazon’s S3 and EC2 are cloud computing technologies

for virtual data storage and virtualization of IT infrastructures.
These services are ideal for software companies and developers
that need large servers and powerful machines for their devel-
opment ventures.

These kinds of services are also available now in China

through IBM’s cloud computing facilities. IBM built the very
first cloud computing center in China which is equivalent to
Amazon’s S3 and EC2.

IBM’s cloud computing infrastructure is located in China.

IBM therefore gets a big advantage over its competitors such as
Amazon. That’s because Chinese software developers would be
able to perform virtual computing without spending big money
on data transfer and bandwidth allocation.

The facilities and data centers of Amazon’s S3 and EC2 are

located in the United States. Using Amazon facilities as hosting
platforms would make cloud computing quite expensive for
Chinese software companies.

This is also the case for European companies that need the
EC2 services of Amazon. They are forced to get a regional host-
ing service to lower the cost of virtualization and cloud comput-
ing. Although S3 is available in Europe, EC2 service and hosting
is not present as of now.

The move of IBM in providing a cloud computing facility

in China similar to S3 and EC2 implementation is designed to
 35
capture the large Chinese technology market. As of now, only
IBM is the biggest technology player that has virtual computing
facilities in China. Google on the other hand offered its web
services and virtual computing services to a big university in
China.
 36

Hosting Full Sites or Media Files on Ama-

zon S3: Finding the Best Solution for Data
Storage

It is possible to host a full website on Amazon S3 but

Amazon evangelists will encourage you to use another server to
host your full site. Amazon S3 is primarily a data storage service.

Server side computing and processing of scripts is not

covered by S3 services. These processes should be performed by
the server of your web hosting provider.

However, Amazon S3 services can be very useful and eco-

nomical if you use it to host your media files. Transfer of media
files such as images, videos, music, and large documents, can
slow down the server of your web site. This means slower down-
loads and uploads. Service interruption can also happen if these
media files are handled by your web host.

That is why you will need a data storage solution like the
Amazon S3 to host large files. Just redirect the traffic for
download or upload request to your Amazon S3 site. This effec-
tively distributes your bandwidth so you can avoid slow perform-
ance and service downtimes. Download and upload requests can
be handled efficiently by Amazon S3 services.

In fact, there are many photo sharing and social network-

ing sites that are using Amazon S3 data storage service. These
websites host their media files on Amazon to unburden their
servers.

You can also use Amazon S3 to back up your web files and
documents. These archived documents will occupy important
 37
disk space on your web hosting server. In order to distribute
your archived files, simply host it on Amazon and retrieve them
whenever you want.
 38

Why It is Useful to Know of SAAS Direc-

tory Service

A lot of people are curious about how a directory service

like SAAS can be very useful for them. For one thing, it really is
very efficient since it is a kind of directory service that is brought
to one person over the World Wide Web. SAAS or software as a
service is simply one type of web service that one can take note
of. Better than the more traditional software like Lotus 123 or
Word (software that originally comes on a floppy disk or on a
compact disc), this software is something you can download off
the Internet.

Like Google, for one – it is an example of SAAS because it

is a type of functionality you simply get from the Internet. An-
other type of web service that is a software as a service is Google
Docs. This is a type of program everyone is familiar with but not
everyone realizes it is an example of software as a service. This is
simple like Word with the same functionality but you use it on
the Internet and you do not install it on your computer.

The great thing about software as a service is the fact that

since it is not something you install on your computer, you need
not make a lot of maintenance on it. Coupled with the fact that
you do not need to update it, it is a very handy software to have
and to use. You will always have the latest version of software as
a service without needing to install anything.
 39

Comparing MogileFS with Amazon S3:

Which is Which?

When money is involved in software, you would definitely

want to get the most bang for your buck –especially when it is
concerned with choosing between the top two software such as
MogileFS and Amazon S3. After doing the extensive mathemati-
cal calculations, one would find out that Amazon S3 is not really
as expensive as it may seem, especially when you get to the point
that you factor in the opportunity costs (which is getting the head
count and also looking for some good system administrators).

In fact, Amazon S3 is looking pretty good. On a more bal-

anced level, Amazon S3 does have the same interface as that of
MogileFS. But then again, starting a competing business with
MogileFS being used as your store is not as good as doing the
same thing with Amazon S3. For one thing, there have been a lot
of users reporting that they experienced more errors in correc-
tion as well as detection when they used MogileFS. Amazon S3
pretty much has a clean slate when it comes to this problem.

It would also be a bit useless having both applications at

the same time, as what a lot of enterprising consumers out there
tend to mull over. When you treat Amazon S3 as another kind of
host along with MogileFS that is definitely unnecessary because
there are no redundancy and speed issues with Amazon S3. And
of course, integrating both simply means having bigger costs
when you access the Amazon Se3 system using your own drives.
Between the two, Amazon S3 beats MogileFS any time.
 40

The Benefits of Cloud Computing on Large

Scale Web Applications

Any commercial development of software designed for a

large user base usually falls into the category of large scale web
applications. These applications will normally generate numer-
ous hits, downloads, queries, and visits.

So, if your company is trying to develop large scale web

applications, it would be best to have a plan where to develop
them and where to host them.

For the development process, a large scale web applica-

tion will need plenty of server space as well as computer disk
space. Your computer systems should also have extremely fast
memories and powerful CPU performance.

In the past, such project would involve buying new hard-

ware and upgrade the programming software of the company.
This, naturally, will cost so much. That is why most large scale
web application projects are sometimes abandoned due to lack of
resources.

But with cloud computing, your company would be able to

initiate large scale web applications development even without
buying new hardware. You can rent hundreds or even thousands
of virtual computers for your development process.

You can also benefit from fast servers and huge data stor-
age if you migrate your applications development to cloud com-
puting. This technology allows your company to carry out
projects at minimal overhead cost.
 41
The virtual infrastructures can also be used to host your
applications on the web. You need not buy expensive servers just
to make the applications accessible on the Internet.

Cloud computing therefore could make any large scale

web applications development successful. Your company can
also save a lot through cloud computing which can promote
growth because of improving profitability.
 42

Store Information Easily with Amazon EC2

Amazon EC2 or cloud computing is the official buzzword

in the realm of computers in 2008. The first of the commercial-
ized cloud services has been provided by Amazon, which also
offers services such as elastic computation cloud and storage
cloud. To consume services such as that of EC2, Amazon works
by providing a very simple web service interface which users use
in order to save as well as retrieve data.

Where this data actually gets held and stored is only

known to Amazon. The reason why it is called EC2 or cloud
computing is because if you are the user who trusted Amazon’s
system to store and safeguard your data, you would think it has
been stored somewhere in the clouds. Such is an example of true
on-demand systems which is also capable of scaling down any-
thing to whatever need it may serve.

Furthermore, EC2 or cloud computing is very easy to use

and costs very little, thus attracting many companies especially
those that are web 2.0 compliant. If you have a lot of data to
store, you should be advised to scatter these and not put every-
thing in one location. With more accounts in cloud computing
and more organized systems of storing information, you have a
faster system running to maintain your information and less
retrieval time.

As such, it is more efficient both for you and Amazon EC2

if you dispense your information across different kinds of clouds.
It is the most strategic move any business person could ever
make.
 43

Improve Entrepreneurial Efforts with

Amazon Web Services

Knowing all about Amazon’s web services may also bring

one to consider being part of its associates program. This is also a
great way for you to take full advantage of Amazon’s web services
especially if you are the entrepreneurial kind. With this and with
Amazon’s full host of web services backing you up, you can
definitely have a great opportunity to sell anything you like.

From DVDs to games and electronic media, you can focus

one niche market or you can concentrate on as many as you like.
With Amazon’s web services, even beginners can learn quite
easily and catch on quickly. You can simply add some products
you like on your site by just copying and pasting codes that are
provided to you by Amazon. Such is a very simple thing to do and
it is quite easy with Amazon’s web services as your partner.

A lot of the more advanced users also choose to utilize the

more complicated or advanced web services by Amazon, and you
can do so yourself in a few weeks. As soon as you learn how to
work the system you will end up being able to draw more users
into your zone. Getting to integrate the product information of
Amazon into your own entrepreneurial design, easily spells out
the success for your system.

Pretty soon, you would be flooded by eager subscribers

and you can handle all their requests and demands with no
hitches at all, thanks to the efficiency of Amazon web services.
 44

Two Ways to Get Quotes for Managed Data

Center and Virtualization Services

Do you have recent experience in getting quotes for man-

aged data center and virtual computing? If you don’t have any
experience in getting web services quotes from providers, the
steps here can serve as your guide in asking for managed services
quotes.

First, most data centers and cloud computing services

post the prices of packages on their websites. You will be able to
view the fees or charges set for storage, data transfer, and data
requests.

Normally, you will pay a monthly fixed priced for such

services. However, there are web services providers and data
centers that charge clients on a per use basis. So, it would be up
to you to decide which service package would be suitable for your
needs.

If you’re a heavy user and you expect to use lots of storage

and heavy bandwidth, it would be best to directly contact the
customer sales service of the provider. You might be able to get a
favorable deal from these companies.

Second, there are also data centers and web services pro-
viders that have online quotes facilities. Use this facility to
request a specific quote for your data serving needs. This service
is usually provided free of charge, so you can confidently shop for
the best prices available.
 45
Once you received your quote, you can also contact the
sales department of the provider and see if you can get a better
deal.

Getting quotes for managed data center services is easy

nowadays. And because of stiff competition, some companies
will allow you to negotiate for a better price of the service.
 46

AWS Elastic Cloud Computing: Make a

Profit out of It

If you want to make a new web based business, you may

consider getting Amazon web services in order to do. Elastic
compute cloud or E2, for instance, is one good thing you may
choose to consider. Simply put, it is a type of web service which
allows your paying customers to rend some computers which
they can use to run their very own computer applications.

This elastic compute cloud or EC2 technology lets the

scalable deployment of your applications by being able to provide
a ton of web services through an easy to use interface. Many of
your customers would then be able to request for a wide amount
of virtual machines (like servers) which they then use in order to
launch any software they might need. When they do, the web
console of Amazon’s elastic compute cloud would let them create,
launch and even terminate the different server instances.

Each of the virtual machines in Amazon’s elastic cloud

compute has a virtual private server which comes in three sizes
of small, large or extra large (for corporate needs and massive
information storage). The great thing about these sizes is that
you can appeal to a wide range of clients ranging from the small
ones to the really big accounts.

Depending on the needs of your clients, you can provide

them with a wide host of software utilities which they will really
find to be very useful indeed. You can really make a good busi-
ness out of elastic cloud computing especially since it is backed
up with the world standard durability of Amazon.
 47

The Pros and Cons of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is fast becoming the hottest buzz word

among computer users. From individual desktop user to entire
companies, cloud computing becomes a viable and attractive
alternative.

Cloud computing is computing on the web. If you cloud

compute, you are literally using applications and storage facili-
ties that are all web based. It is possible now to have a desktop
with just an Internet browser and still perform different comput-
ing tasks.

Although cloud computing is a technology that seems

made in heaven, there are still other tech experts who frown
upon using virtual servers to store important data. Here are the
pros and cons of cloud computing that could provide you with a
good idea about this new technology trend.

For its advantages, cloud computing releases you from the

desktop. Because application and storage are hosted, you can
perform your job from anywhere. This opens lots of opportuni-
ties for establishing virtual offices.

Cloud computing also increases your computing power.

With a desktop, computing power is limited by the amount of
disk space and memory you have. With cloud computing, you
will have unlimited disk space and you need not worry about
processor and memory speed.

For its downside, cloud computing would be very uncom-

fortable if you don’t want your important data to be stored on a
third party server. This is the primary reason why some compa-
nies do not adopt cloud computing in work places.
 48

Lastly, because cloud computing is web based, if you don’t

have an Internet connection then it would be impossible to do
your job.

It is up to you then to decide if cloud computing would be

suitable for your computing needs or not.
 49

Simple Steps in Using Amazon's Simple

Storage Service (S3)

Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3) is a web based host-

ing solution for data and file storage. If you still don’t have any
experience with Amazon’s S3 service, here’s a simple guide that
could help you.

First, you have to go to Amazon’s web services website.

Carefully read the service packages that are available there.
Aside from Amazon S3, you can also benefit from EC2 or cloud
computing service of Amazon.

You need to review the prices and quota requirements of

each S3 service package. Choose one that would be suitable for
your needs. After finally deciding to host your data on Amazon,
simply click the sign up button to start the registration proce-
dures.

After registering with the Amazon web services, you can

now create your own S3 bucket. This bucket is simply the file
folder where you can store and organize your data. You will be
able to create multiple S3 buckets so you can categorize your
data into distinct clusters.

You are now ready to upload your data to your Amazon S3

bucket. You can also configure S3 so that your files can be made
available to the general public on the Internet. This is important
if you want your files to become accessible on your website.

You can also configure domain access from your web host-
ing provider to point to the URL of your Amazon S3 files. This is
a good way to redirect traffic from your site directly to your
 50
Amazon S3 files. You can now easily distribute your content
without burdening your website server.
 51

Tips to Minimize the Risks Associated with

Web-Hosted Services

Web hosted services provide companies with economical

and flexible solutions for their computing needs. However,
business users are still worried about web hosted computing as it
posed a real risk especially when the service goes down.

Indeed, web hosted services really present a real risk for

business users. Service interruption is the most common risk
associated with hosted service. But perhaps the biggest risk seen
by business users is loss of data.

Here are some important tips for business users which

could help in minimizing the risks associated with web hosted
services.

First, if you decide to migrate your computing require-

ments in the cloud, it is best to get the services of providers with
stable business foundation. This means you need to find a web
host platform service run by known tech companies.

Almost all big tech companies today will have a cloud

computing service for you. Stay with these companies if you
want to get reliable service.

Second, it would be wise to back-up your data locally.

This will protect your company if ever a terrible crash happens at
the provider’s facilities. Although service providers have redun-
dant data centers, it is practical to keep some of the most impor-
tant information in your local server.
 52
Lastly, always sync your current work on local IT envi-
ronment. You can lose data if the service provider suffers a
downtime. So it would be wise to work in the cloud but you need
to sync this with your local desktop. If ever a service outage
happens, you can continue with your work and just upload it
later when the service resumes.
 53

Deploying an Application on Amazon's

Web Services for Storage and DB

Using the Amazon S3 as a storage device as well as data-

base works pretty well for a couple of reasons. The most impor-
tant reason is that it is quite flexible in itself. You can use
Amazon’s host of web services as a remote storage device or even
a backup server. It is quite efficient and sturdy when it comes to
holding and hosting large media files, business files and even
some personal files.

And of course, one cannot ignore the value for money fac-
tor since Amazon’s Web Services are quite easy on the pocket.
The web services are easy to use and are very user friendly. The
interface is easy to navigate around and one can simply store as
well as retrieve any type of data at one’s convenience any time
and from any kind of Web location.

Most developers love using Amazon’s web service as stor-

age and database because it is very scalable and reliable. They
say that it is a very inexpensive storage infrastructure which they
can rely on. Another on point advantage is that since it runs on
Amazon, you have the confidence of the power of a global net-
work of sites. This application was developed based on the
objective of proliferating the benefits of the entire scale while at
the same time passing on such benefits to the developers.

Having this would mean being able to run it on your

computer in fifteen simple minutes. You can simply log on to the
internet, connect to the system and retrieve your data from the
site in perfect condition.
 54

Understanding Ruby on Rails Web server:

Basic Information about Rails Application

Ruby on Rails is an open source application designed for

web development. You can write your own codes in order to
create productive web applications.

Rails is also compatible with most web servers. So, you

can use this web development language on most engines. This
will increase your productivity in creating web applications.

To start using Rails, you have to download it from the

Ruby on Rails website. It’s a free application. You can also
reengineer some its behavior so you can use it based on your
programming needs.

Rails is an ideal web application development tool to cre-

ate collaboration sites, ecommerce, and content management
systems. There are lots of companies now, from start-up to
established online businesses, which are using Rails as their web
application development tool.

Rails can also be integrated into several commercial data-

base applications. It can work on MySQL, DB2, Oracle, SQLite,
and other database applications. Most importantly, Rails can be
hosted on any web hosting provider.

The Rails website recommends some web hosting provid-

ers who are knowledgeable in the Ruby on Rails language.
However, as long as the web hosting provider has excellent
customer support, you can confidently install Rails on their web
servers.
 55
For installation support on Rails, you will have to refer to
the manuals provided on the Rails website. There are different
procedures involved when installing Rails on different web
servers.

You can also refer to online technology manuals provided

by programmers and web developers. These manuals however
have advanced configuration steps. For ease of installation, it
would be best if you will stick to the basic procedures suggested
on the Rails website.
 56

Amazon EC2: The Best Choice for a Self-

Hosted Server Extension

The world of the Internet is a complex thing to imagine

but when things are clearly laid out, the whole Internet mecha-
nism is none but simple machinery that allows you to do every-
thing you desire.

One of the things that people need to understand about

the Internet is why we need to be hosted and if there is a possibil-
ity to host your own website. Hosting companies are the ones
that provide the facilities and the instruments that will permit
the hosting of our websites through and with them. Their facili-
ties allow for our websites to be seen worldwide in continuous
manner, there is high bandwidth that we can borrow from them
for our website, there is a large scale of disk space available for
the website, and a very reliable and dependable tool to support
our website.

Now, because of the high rise in the number of websites

that need to be hosted, the limited number of hosting companies
and equipment does not permit all of these sites to enjoy the
same benefits. This is the reason why a better alternative is
always needed. The Amazon EC2 is one of the web services that
can be the best alternative as a self hosting server for your web-
site. The following are the strengths of the Amazon EC2 as an
alternative host server extension:

a. Reliable. Just like any other hosting company, with

Amazon EC2 you get to enjoy, too the same reliability that other
hosting companies provide web site owners.
 57
b. Less Expensive. There are hosting companies that
offer good packages but Amazon EC2 is a lot cheaper compared
to other hosting companies.
 58

The Use of Amazon S3 as a Content Deliv-

ery Network (CDN)

Content Delivery Network or commonly termed as the

CDN is a special delivery mechanism whereby a group of con-
nected computers are working as one all over the Internet in
order to perform the delivery of content to all people that they
are servicing. This is being made in order to achieve an im-
proved performance, wider scale of delivery, and potentially
reduce the cost of delivery. All of the mentioned purposes are
geared at benefiting the end users.

The Amazon S3 is one of the few Amazon web services

that has been deployed to work together with the group of con-
nected computer systems. In its aim to provide excellent web
service to its clients, Amazon has deployed the AWS S3.

One of the few companies that used the Amazon S3 that

works as a Content Delivery Network (CDN) is the Akami Tech
Inc. – a company that provides computing avenues usually
distributed, for delivery of web applications and contents. The
market share that accounts to have used the Amazon S3 as a
Content Delivery network is roughly estimated at 20% only. The
reason for the low number of companies using the Amazon S3 as
a CDN is due to the little information that have about it. How-
ever, there was a research that was conducted that showed a
good indication that little by little Content Delivery Network
using the Amazon S3 shall pick in the coming years as more web
services are beginning to be deployed on the Internet. Apart
from that, there is an expected rise in the number of companies
which will eventually use this technology because of the rise in
the demands for effective delivery of contents.
 59

How Do People Find the Amazon Web Ser-

vices (AWS?)

The perfect avenue for people to enjoy all good forms of

technological services is the Internet. This is the reason why a lot
of people are turning into the Internet to avail all the benefits of
the modern technology. One of known and well established web
service providers is the Amazon Web Service or the AWS.

The Amazon Web Service is composed of many web ser-

vices that people can enjoy. Below are some of the more notable
services that Amazon provides:

a. The EC2 or the Elastic Compute Cloud which peo-

ple who have virtual private servers enjoy the most. A lot of
people think that this is quite a revolutionary technology that
Amazon was able to build. This allowed many people to easily
control and manage their virtual private servers.
b. The S3 or the Simple Storage Service. This is a web
service that is very timely. This is the moment when people are
experiencing inadequate storage resource. With the use of the
S3, people will have a safer and better way of storing their per-
sonal files and documents. A lot of people think that this is one
of the most inventive ideas that Amazon has ever conceived.
c. The MTurk or the Mechanical Turk. This web ser-
vice of Amazon is probably one of the most complicated services
that Amazon has ever conceived. Nonetheless, this is what most
people think to be the highly advanced yet made simple and easy
to use because of the uncomplicated and straightforward proc-
esses that needs to be undertaken to fully utilize this service.
 60

Why People Choose Cloud Computing over

Dedicated Server: Its Advantages

Every user has its own preference be it with how every

person uses the computing technology or maximize the poten-
tials of the Internet technology. The way people see the use of
technology depends on what sort of needs they have and how
each technology can help them resolve their needs. Now, de-
pending on how each person perceives the usability of that
technology, its advantage becomes a variable.

Many people who use the Internet and its features see the
cloud computing as the technology that bears many advantage
compared to its known “competitor, the dedicated server. Below
are some of the highlights that make cloud computing more
preferred than the other.

a. Cloud computing is known to be very portable.

With cloud computing what you generally need is a computer
that is connected in an Internet and you can efficiently drive
results. Unlike with a dedicated server, you will need to always
bring along with you your system because all the files that you
need are on a server.
b. Cloud computing is not limited to a single resource.
With cloud computing, you are not limited to using what your
dedicated server can provide you. With the vast resources of
Internet, you are given so many choices where to draw your
resources.
c. Cloud computing has better security over the dedi-
cated servers. The Internet on its own has a very strong and
reliable security. Although the issue about being vulnerable is
there, security has been tightly guarded with all possible poten-
tial attacks.
 61

What are latest updates about EC2 AMI

TOOLS?

The Amazon EC2 AMI tools (Amazon Machine Image) are

utilities that are brought up using the command line environ-
ment that were designed to allow the Amazon Machine Image
become bundled and able to make an AMI out of an existing
system. This whole process allows a person to upload a packaged
Amazon Machine Image into the Amazon S3.

The Amazon EC2 AMI tools are capable of being down-

loaded using the Amazon S3. These downloadable files are
frequently updated, thus new updates are constantly being
brought up. Below are some of the new things to expect from the
new Amazon EC2 AMI tools:

a. The new EC2 AMI tool is capable of supporting the

EC2 08-08-08 version of the API or the Amazon EC2 which runs
on a Windows Server and the MySQL server. This is one of the
greatest innovations that Amazon was able to yield in the last few
years.
b. The new EC2 AMI tool is capable of supporting the
EC2 02-01-08 version of the API which is not a common practice
that we do.
c. The new AMI tools are now supporting both the
RPM and ZIP file extensions as part of their strategy to capture
more potential clients.
d. The new EC2 AMI tool has a far better improve-
ment on its drive and mission to have this done.
e. The new EC2 AMI has a better support out of the
Ubuntu usage. And with Ubuntu around, there is no need to
humiliate the person because of its social status in life.
 62

Combine Amazon and Google App En-

gines: The Best Recommendation for a
Better Indexing of Documents on the Web

Google has been radically thinking about competing on a

large scale with Amazon. In fact, just recently, it has launched its
Engine Platform which is directly competing with the Simple
Service Storage of Amazon.

The launching of the Engine Platform of Google in any

way will affect the S3 of Amazon. Amazon should think about
how it can be at par to the least with Google knowing how exten-
sive Google web developers are. However, since both of the
Google and Amazon’s app engines are working towards having a
better and highly searchable and indexed documents, it is best
suggested that Google and Amazon combine their resources (web
application engines) in order to attain a highly sustainable and
powerful web app. This in effect will positively impact how every
web documents is being indexed by the search engines.

The move to combine both of the Internet mogul’s appli-

cation engines will result positively in impacting the following:

a. Control over loyal members. With the huge follow-

ers of both Amazon and Google, having combined app engine
will create a more credible and powerful web service. Not only
that this is going to be revolutionary but more importantly, this
will allow both companies to have dominant ruling in the field of
web servicing.
b. Cheaper web app engine development. By the
looks of it, when two companies are going to work on a single
app engine, the development cost shall automatically become
lower. The rising factors like manpower, resource usage, and
 63
time shall automatically be sliced into two making it a lot lighter
for both companies
 64

The Top 4 Most Useful Web Services

Every day that we use the Internet, we come across vari-

ous applications that we use. Most of us are generally not aware
that these categorically called as the web services.

Web services are the services that are made available to us

either paid or free. The services that we use to communicate
with our friends and relatives such as e-mail and Instant messag-
ing are some of the more familiar ones and mostly used. Below
are the top 5 most useful web services based on frequency in
usage:

1. Ranked 1 on the list is the communication web ser-

vice. Many people find the e-mail and IM web services as the
most useful web service because it allows them to communicate
with their friends, relatives, and practically anyone in the world.
2. Ranked 2 on the list is the entertainment web ser-
vice. A lot of people find the video and games as the second most
useful service on the web. This is quite true because a lot of
surveys would show that people go to the Internet primarily to
seek for sites that can make them entertained. Videos and games
are basically the ones that they go to.
3. Ranked 3 on the list is the information manage-
ment web service. Many people use the Internet as a “big box” of
storage. They use the Internet to safe keep and store their pic-
tures and compiled documents. There are a lot of Internet sites
that offer management of information service.
4. Ranked 4 on the list is the productivity web ser-
vice. The Internet is seen as one good avenue to keep people on
track of their daily activities. One good web service that allows
for this is the calendar service offered by many noted sites the
net.
 65

Learning What SaaS, Amazon AWS and

Other Web Services Mean in the IT Indus-
try

The IT industry is growing very fast. As such, it needs

highly advanced tools and instruments to support its whole
mechanism. As a part of the development, many modernized
technologies are starting to evolve and they are creating huge
impact on the IT industry.

One very good example is the SaaS or the Software as a

Service technology. This is the latest technology that is being
used by many software developers where the applications that
are being developed are hosted as services that are then provided
to the client via the Internet. The fundamental reason why SaaS
is gaining a lot of followers and positive raves is because of the
ability of the service to be delivered in the client without the need
to perform installation of the software right on the client’s sys-
tem before you can actually run and execute it. Moreover, SaaS
eliminates the need for the client to periodically maintain the
software because this is being taken care of by the web service
provider. This means that the operation shall continue as long as
you have the web service and healthy operation.

Another good example of an emerging technology that is

making great waves in the IT industry is the Amazon Web Ser-
vice. With the long list of web services that Amazon can provide
to people, who would ever want to have a costly maintained
dedicated server at home or in the office? Amazon Web Services
or the AWS is the answer to the rising needs of people in inex-
pensive and practical means to facilitate all their Internet activi-
ties.
 66

The Critical Steps to make Legal Instances

in Windows that are able to run on AMI

Generally, the Windows operating system is the major

platform used to develop some of the web application engines of
the Amazon and its AMI (Amazon Machine Image). However,
because of some restriction issues, it is not all the time possible
to create legal instance using the Windows OS and run it inside
the Amazon Machine Image. A few critical steps are necessary to
be followed in order to make this possible.

Fundamentally, the steps to follow are very simple to go

through. All you need to have are your basic tools such as the
command line shell command, the OS, and the AMI web applica-
tion where you want the legal instance to be run and executed.
Below are some of the steps that you can take:

a. You need to make sure that your AMI is properly

registered with the web service specifically the Amazon EC2.
This is the web service that we will use in order to run and locate
the legal instance. A few command lines to issue in order to have
this done.
b. Make sure that after a single instance has started
on your newly created AMI, take note of the AMI identifier that
will be displayed. This identifier will be your ticket in monitoring
the status of any running Windows legal instance on your AMI.
c. Start your Windows on your Amazon. You initiate
this by logging on your Windows instance using the Amazon web
service that you have. This will start up your Windows immedi-
ately.
d. And finally, after having logged on to your Win-
dows legal instance, connect to your Windows OS.
 67

Are There Partner Companies Working

with Amazon to Build EC2 Instances?

Amazon EC2 primarily built and made the 32 and 64 bits

image instances driven in the Linux made Ubuntu Server. This is
the software that has partnered with Amazon in building the
much needed instances of the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud.

Since the Amazon web services are deployed using the

cloud Computing and some were generally made using the open
source platform, it is not impossible that there are private indi-
viduals working for a company who has made an attempt to
develop and create EC2 instances on their own. The instance
types of EC2 are capable of being made and built because of the
available web apps on the Internet. Suffice to say, the specifica-
tions of these instances are also being given out on the Internet
as part of educating web developers who wish to build their own
Amazon EC2 instance.

The instances that Amazon develops are primarily catego-

rized to fit into the needs of the web applications. They are
regarded as follows:

• The small instance which is the standard and the

default size. This is usually requiring about 2 GB of memory for
every 1 unit of EC2 Compute. This is made up of 32 bits and
running on the same platform.
• The large instance which is designed for users who
require bigger AMIs. This is usually requiring about 8 GB of
memory for every 4 units of EC2 Compute. This is made up of
64 bits and running on equivalent platform bits.
• The Extra large instance usually requires 15 GB of
memory for every 8 units of EC2 compute.
 68

What Do People Perceive about the Ama-

zon S3 Service?

The Amazon S3 web service or the Amazon Simple Stor-

age Service is one of the most revolutionary technologies that
Amazon Company has developed. With this new technology,
there is now a better and innovative way for people to have their
important files and documents stored and saved.

Most people think that the Amazon S3 Service with its

unlimited capacity to store files via the web service interface
provided by Amazon, there is now a better option and method to
safely secure your stored data. As a personal user of the Amazon
S3, people will realize the following things:

a. The beauty of able to read, modify/delete, write on

objects ranging from 1 GB to 5 GB of data. Although, it is to be
noted that the density of the objects that you can save is limitless.
b. The efficiency of having the object deposited on
specified tray and that tray is able to accessed using a unique key
that was assigned by the developer.
c. The effective means to locate this tray in two conti-
nents of the world. What makes it more effective is that the tray
is deposited where the location of the tray is however; the enti-
ties that are within the tray are accessible anywhere in the world
for as long as the connection to the Internet exists.
d. The safety and security of the stored data is highly
prioritized by requiring an authentication process before any
data or object is accessed. This authentication process is an
assurance that data stored and kept using the Amazon S3 web
service is one of its priorities.
 69

Working on the Web Console of the AWS

S3

Web consoles are applications that are web based allowing

any user or developer to have remote control over their applica-
tions or files on the web. The Amazon Web Service or AWS S3
(Simple Storage Service) has in it various web consoles that
allows its users to take full control of their stored files using the
computing cloud technology. As web consoles, they allow users
to:

a. Execute and run any Windows-based or Unix-

based commands via their command line server.
b. Transfer via upload and download protocols any
file or data to and from the server.
c. Modify and enhance any text file directly from the
server.
d. Periodically maintain and re-develop your website
from any location that you want as long the Internet is present.
e. Effectively and easily make corrections on your
scripts especially when there are bugs that have been found.
f. Check and control if there are any variables present
on the web server and its environment.

These capabilities of the web console embedded on the

AWS S3 made a lot of users grab the opportunity to own their
own account with AWS S3 (Amazon Web Service – simple
Storage Service, in particular).

And as for the features of the web console for AWS S3,
they are relatively not new to a lot of users but apparently they
have been highlighted by the following strengths:
 70
a. Very simple and less complicated configuration of
settings and installation of other necessary applications.
b. Absence of too many restrictions to gain access for
any installation to take place.
c. The use of the AJAX software giving a real-like
shell end terminal for the users.
 71

The Effects of Cloud Computing Solutions

to Software Developers

Software developers in order for them to be efficient need

to have the right avenue and the effective tools and instruments.
With the way things are going on the technology, there is a bright
future that lies ahead every software developer. This is because a
newly evolved technology has been fully developed that software
developers can use to enhance their capabilities to better develop
their web applications. This new technology is referred to as the
cloud computing technology.

Apparently, with the recent developments in cloud com-

puting, more software developers are facing a more positive
software development process because of the promise that cloud
computing bears. Below are some of the positive effects of cloud
computing to generally of software developers:

a. Minimized cost in developing software. With cloud

computing where you use the Internet as the major platform to
develop your software, you have the ability to maximize the use
of the resources that it has. This gives you the chance to lessen
your potential expenses in research and development.
b. Portability. Many software developers require that
they are able to access and work on their work at anytime and at
any place. Since the “cloud” is nearly everywhere in the world,
there is a greater chance that you can actually work on the devel-
opment of your software.
c. There is the ability to share resources. With the
way things are centralized in the cloud computing technology it
is most likely that as a software developer, you can get to share
and enjoy everyone’s opinions and expertise regarding the
software that you are developing.
 72

The Working Ruby Rails of EC2

The Ruby Rails of EC2 are mostly Ubuntu’ s server image

designed to work with the Amazon EC2 and its hosting job. This
hosting service provided by Amazon EC2 is ready to run under a
standard ruby rail application at apparently no need to do cus-
tomization or if by chance at a little rate only.

With the use of the Ruby Rails of EC2, working on the

Amazon Machine Image will have a different view. And with the
Ruby Rails on the work, the following shall be achieved:

a. There is a ready and easy deployment of the Rail

applications with worrying too much about to customize the
configuration because the Ruby on Rails of EC2 requires less or
no customization.
b. You can achieve auto backing up of your database
made via the MySQL to your Amazon S3 web service. The back-
ing up of data is assured with a full backing of data at the end of
the day and backing up made at the interval of every 5 minutes.
c. There are Amazon Machine Image tools that are
readily installed for your use. This makes it easier to re-develop
and re-create any AMI that you want.
d. There is an automatic archiving on the EC2 Rails
and your Apache logged files every end of the day into your
Amazon S3.
e. With the Ruby Rails of EC2, you will have available
32 and 64 bits of images. This makes your choices wide and
variety. You can then have both of these images automatically
backed up on the Amazon S3 without having to choose which
needs to be backed up.
 73

The Impact of Hardware Virtualization in

the IT Industry

Virtualization is set to conquer and dominate the Infor-

mation Technology in the next coming years – this is what many
experts are speculating. The speculation has been further con-
firmed by the evident manifestations seen on many companies
and even individuals who are engaging into virtualization.

What used to be virtualization of software only, now al-

most all resources that we see in the PC system are capable of
being virtualized. Many experts did not anticipate that such
evolutionary development shall be reached after the great Y2K
disaster.

The moment hardware virtualization has hit the Informa-

tion technology, the way natural things are done has changed –
drastically, at that! Below are some of the known impacts that
hardware virtualization has brought the IT industry:

a. Saving more money. The mere idea of virtualiza-

tion spells a lot of resource savings, thus saving money to spend
to buy all these required resources. With hardware virtualiza-
tion, you can actually make it possible to allow your system to
run multiple operating systems without the need to have these
“physically” installed on your system, thus saving up a lot of
money in purchasing licensed operating systems.
b. Efficiency in the use of system resources. With the
limited access to system resources because of the expensive cost
of these, the need to efficiently use your current resources is a
must. Hardware virtualization allows this to happen because you
can maximize the capacity of the system and all of its resources.
 74
As the decade starts to unfold, many experts believe that
the trend now in the computing industry is geared to face virtual-
ization. Many people believe, too, that this is an unavoidable
shift in managing the IT resources and the policies governing it.
 75

Capistrano: The Widely Utilized Ruby Ap-

plications Deployment Tool

Capistrano or commonly referred to as “cap” is one of the

most widely used tools for rail ruby deployment. The Amazon
Elastic Compute Cloud or the Amazon EC2 composes of the rails
ruby gem that includes on it the Capistrano tasks that is specifi-
cally designed to configure and set-up the instance server that
you have.

The Capistrano tool is being used via the command line.

The command that is used to issue this task is known as the cap
command with other parameters such as the task name to exe-
cute a given argument. Some of the widely used tasks are in
reference to showcasing the AMI identifications of the image
matching it with the existing gem version using the ami_id task
as an argument; the configuration of an instance that is newly
launched using the setup task; and how to customize the instance
for the role being defined in your Capistrano deploy file using the
set_roles task.

The Capistrano tool is working perfectly designed by run-

ning against all hosts which are presently being defined on the
specific file known as the deploy.rb. However, even when this
becomes a major drawback to a lot of Amazon EC2 users, the
database management capability of it is so powerful that re-
deems the whole package. The Capistrano Ruby Apps tool is
concurrently working with a known powerful database applica-
tion known as the MySQL which a lot of deployment tool find
most difficult to get associated to. Building large database is
never going to be difficult with Amazon EC2’s Capistrano de-
ployment tool.
 76

SaaS: Soon to be Replaced by Amazon EC2

or Google App Engine

There are so many speculations that are playing around in

the computing industry. According to many experts, the time is
so near when Software as a Service or better known as SaaS is
going to be replaced either by the powerful Amazon EC2 or the
equally popular Google App Engine.

However, even when these speculations have been creat-

ing too much hums and sounds, many experts in IT still believe
that this is not coming so near. Although these experts are one
in saying that the time will really come when SaaS will be re-
placed but it is not yet foreseen to be this soon. Moreover, these
experts have cited the following reasons why Software as a
Service is not yet to be replaced:

a. Although Google and Amazon have made it possi-

ble for their apps engine and EC2 mechanism to adapt in an
environment where these tools are accessible via the Internet,
Amazon and Google has not yet achieved the expertise of the
SaaS makers in terms of centralized management of activities in
a single node.
b. The SaaS is the only technology that is capable of
employing the one-to-many relational database model (a process
of developing one instance of database model for many database
users and accessibility). This is currently being worked on by
both Google and Amazon but has not yet reached complete
perfection.
c. The SaaS has a centrally updated feature. This al-
lows the software to be updated via the online making it possible
to update anyone’s patches and receive updated version of driver
files using the web.
 77

Google and Microsoft: Bound to Work on

Web Services using OS X

The manipulation and control on the “cloud” meaning the

Internet has been pre-dominantly salvaged by only a few compa-
nies, the Amazon and the GoGrid. Amazon and GoGrid have
been very successful in dominating the Internet in terms of
providing web services to people using the cloud computing
technology.

GoGrid is very phenomenal with its ability to install and

set up Windows and Linux servers in just a few minutes without
the need for a complex installation process and configuration.
With the very powerful APIs that GoGrid possesses, web devel-
opers can instantly take full charge with how they interact and
communicate with the infrastructure of GoGrid’s hosting system.

Amazon EC2 on the other hand is also showing off its ca-
pabilities in terms of using the cloud computing as the funda-
mental resource in web development. Distinct features such as
the capability to generate your own Amazon Machine Image in
32 and 64 bit images are one of Amazon’s bragged about feature.

Many other web service companies are trying to replicate

what GoGrid and Amazon have achieved in as far as web servic-
ing is concerned but unfortunately, no company has able to reach
that far. Microsoft and Google are few of the dominant names
that are also engaged in web servicing and by far, these names
have been at par with the original makers of web services.
Google and Microsoft are implementing these web services using
other OS platforms specifically the OS X of Mac.
 78
Amazon and GoGrid are continuously re-inventing their
web services by integrating some of the well known web applica-
tions with their own and have been very successful in the integra-
tion.
 79

The Use of Amazon S3 to Backup Company

Data Center

Usually, companies have their own data center which

serves as the facility to store and keep their systems (telecom-
munications, networking, controls, and storage) safe from any
potential damage either caused by human or natural errors.

Many Information Technology leaders have strategic

plans about how they can effectively secure their data centers.
And part of the contingency plan that most IT leaders of any
company have is to back up their data center facility system.
However, because of the high cost in backing up all your data
center facility, the IT leaders have to think of a more cost effec-
tive way to do it. One of the seen potential backup system is the
cloud computing technology. The cloud computing technology
offers great amount of web services that can help in making sure
that all pertinent data are backed up efficiently. One of the web
services that is widely used is the Amazon S3 or the Amazon
Simple Service Storage.

A lot of big companies are using the Amazon S3 web ser-

vice as part of the backup systems that they have apart from their
own backup server system. These big companies usually use the
Amazon S3 to store all the important data and documents that
do not play high confidentiality however plays important to the
company leaders. Many company leaders think that the Amazon
S3 is saving them a lot of money to spend merely for securing
their important compared to having their whole backup system
accommodate all the company details.
 80

Why Sales and Marketing Operations re-

fuse the Employment of Cloud Computing
Model

As the IT industry is starting to fully develop, there are

now more choices that people can use to apply for their personal
and professional development. While these technological devel-
opments are geared towards providing real and solid assistance
to generally of its users, there are still some people who are in
denial to use it – or they actually refuse the usage of it.

Many company leaders still see the cloud computing tech-

nology as not a good technological option to employ in their sales
and marketing operations. These leaders have yet to see what
the cloud computing has to offer. But until they finally see it,
their refusal to use this technology stands firm. Below are some
of the reasons why cloud computing technology remains a dis-
tant option for these company leaders:

a. Sales area is one aspect of the company that re-

quires rigid security. Although many experts have laid out their
security measures about cloud computing, there are company
leaders who are still taken aback with the security measures that
cloud computing can provide.
b. Absence of highly technical people to allow for the
cloud computing exist in the company. Although, it may seem to
look that people of today are technically skilled, many company
leaders are still unsure how technically fit these people are to
engage in such a risky job.
c. The prevailing cost of the technology. Not many
company leaders are aware of the prevailing cost to have this
technology applied. It seems that not a lot of people really
understand what the cloud computing is, however, we cannot put
 81
blame on these people because in itself, it looks like the technol-
ogy is really expensive.
 82

The Visible Impacts of Cloud and Utility

Computing with the Industry’s IT Sections

The presence of the cloud computing and the utility com-

puting these days are making great waves in the Information
Technology industry. Primarily because of the major shift that a
lot of IT managers are doing from having a dedicated server to
work for their company’s IT area and employ either the Cloud
Computing or the Utility Computing.

The Information Technology section of any company is af-

ter having a technology that can best serve the company he is
serving. It is in the interest of the company leaders to have a
technology that both benefits the company in terms of effectively
saving company money and efficiently delivering its processes to
produce mass output. When all of these are answered, then
whatever technology is that, whether it is the cloud computing or
the utility computing the company shall take full advantage with
that technology.

Many experts see that in the coming years, more and more
IT managers and company leaders will see the rapid transforma-
tion of their IT sections via the use of the cloud and utility com-
puting. With these new technologies, it shall create a perfect
avenue for the company’s IT section to:

a. Generate more company savings from not having

to spend too much in buying technology to support the company
process.
b. Mass produce more and more technically equipped
personnel that are primarily focused in learning Internet based
methods to develop applications for the IT area.
 83
c. Take full control on the cloud and utility computing
technologies as part of the company’s edgy processes.
 84

The Different Functionalities of the Ama-

zon Elastic Compute Cloud

The Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) is one of the

many web services manufactured and produced by the Amazon
Company. As a web service it gives every developer an easy
avenue to do computing processes.

The Amazon EC2 is a pictorial representation of what real

virtual computing is all about and as part of the various func-
tionalities that every developer can enjoy are the following:

a. With Amazon EC2 service, every developer can cre-

ate a very unique AMI or Amazon Machine Image that contains
your own preferred applications, data and objects, libraries and
buckets, and any configured settings that you want.
b. With Amazon EC2 service, you at any time upload
or transfer the developed Amazon Machine Image to Amazon S3,
a storage facility also created by Amazon. Further, with Amazon
EC2, there is always a simple and easy way to store and deposit
your developed AMIs.
c. With Amazon EC2 service, you have the remote
ability to configure and set up your own security mechanisms
and access to the network.
d. With Amazon EC2 service, you are only required to
pay and be charged for the Amazon resources that you have used
example of which are your data transfer frequencies and the
instance of hours you have utilized.
e. With Amazon EC2 Service, you have the capability
to settle on whether you will be running in dynamic locations, or
to make the running secure, you use a static Internet Protocol
end points. You are also given the capability to decide whether
you will be putting blocks to your objects or instances.
 85

Is it Safe to Host a Production Software

Using Computing Cloud Technology?

If you own a set of production software that you use for

your company’s production process, would you go about having
these application programs hosted using the computing cloud
technology?

For most users of production software, they see no danger

or any problem of sort in having these hosted through the com-
puting cloud technology because they see this technology very
safe as a platform to host software. However, there are company
leaders who are taken aback in having their production software
hosted using computing technology because of the following
reasons:

a. Security. Even when the Internet is boasting about

having the best security measures some company leaders are still
seeing possible loopholes for potential security breach. The
Internet is very transparent and visible to all possible hacking
and viral attacks because of the open access system to all web
services and features that it implements.
b. Deficiency in tracking and monitoring. Even when
the Computing Cloud technology has guarded all the possible
means and ways that hackers can use to get through the soft-
ware, many company leaders see the inability of the computing
technology to log and track all access that has been made on the
software. Unlike in a dedicated server, there is a rigid method
that is used to track and monitor all access made to the software.
c. Maintenance. Production software just like any
other software requires that they be maintained. When produc-
tion software is hosted by the computing cloud you will need to
make sure that you strictly follow and abide by the maintenance
 86
guidelines that it imposes on your own production software.
This is never happening when the production is hosted by your
dedicated server.
 87

Balancing Web Development with Ruby on

Rails

Ruby on rails are software applications that are intended

to be used with software development process having the same
principle. This software development method basically promotes
the following:

a. A process in managing a project that permits sev-

eral inspection and audit. This is what most software engineer-
ing should adhere to.
b. A team philosophy that supports unity in the team,
dynamism in the group, and able to organize things by himself.

Many web developers are using the Ruby on rails because

they offer suitability found to be most effective on projects that
are driven by the client. The Ruby on rails being open source
allows many developers to freely work on the source based on the
preference that they want. This makes the whole software
development process an entirely personalized thing. Because of
the separation of the major components of the rail structure (the
Active Record, action pack, active support, and action mailer),
development becomes a lot less complex and easy.

The Ruby on rails puts general emphasis on very impor-

tant software development teachings lifted from the agile soft-
ware development principle. This made the whole process of
software development not redundant and capable of being
modified and altered performing easy steps.

Recent developments in the Ruby on Rails evolve basically

on the compatibility issue. Along with the numerous revisions
that are made on these applications and the major functionalities
 88
that are being added up on it, it is not likely that these revisions
are compatible to work with one another.
 89

Getting Web App Integrated with Amazon

S3

The web services that are made available on the Internet

start to grow and they grow a lot faster. Many people have varied
and dynamic demands that require most developers to experi-
ment on various integrations of tools.

Have you ever heard about web applications being inte-

grated on the Amazon S3?

Web application in software engineering refers to an ap-

plication (meaning a small code embedded within a big program)
that is made accessible on any compatible web browser using the
Internet or LAN. Technically, because web apps are codes that
are supported by browsers (codes made using HTML, Java, Perl,
and others) they are capable of being easily integrated with a lot
of other applications or web service prominent of which is the
Amazon S3.

The Amazon S3 being a web service requires that all pos-

sible easy access is rendered and given to the user. This is the
reason why web applications are potentially being seen as inte-
gral component. The reasons are explained below:

a. Web apps are capable of being updated and main-

tained without the need to distribute them on all the client
systems. The web apps are capable of being updated on the
system where it needs to be updated.
b. Web apps are capable of being installed without the
need to have them installed on all client systems. This makes it
easier and a lot cheaper to users because not all key clients may
 90
need to have the web app installed on their end saving space and
resources.
 91

EC2 Automating Applications Now Avail-

able

The Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, also known as EC2,

is an offering from Amazon Web Services. This product provides
web services and computing power at flexible capacities. What
makes the EC2 quite unique or good to use is it allows its users
more flexibility to increase or decrease usage at any time. This is
because users pay only what they use.

The EC2 is not without limitations though. Because it uses

dynamic IP addresses, users are bound to lose websites from
time to time due to a loss of a valid IP address. Fortunately,
applications have been developed to answer this problem. These
EC2 automating applications automatically scale the usage
according to the load needed by its users. It automatically per-
forms load balancing and gives support for failures by providing
a more stable IP environment.

This makes the EC2 product truly powerful as a result.

Uses get the flexibility they need. And EC2 automating applica-
tions provide the support that the EC2 lacks. Users appreciate
the use of such applications because it makes running their
system under EC2 lighter and more efficient.

With the support these EC2 automating applications pro-

vide, downtimes of websites becomes minimal and shorter.
These instances are automatically resolved by such applications
by providing a more stable IP address environment. And because
the process is automated, users have this functionality 24 hours a
day. So as soon as a website is lost because of a lack of valid IP
address, it goes up again just within minutes. Users are able to
maximize on their websites too as a result.
 92

EC2 Management Made Easy

The Amazon EC2 provides scalability. But EC2 manage-

ment requires a lot of overseeing from personnel. It can be labor
intensive in terms of making sure that high traffic levels are
served and other changes are adjusted accordingly. Problems can
occur during sudden surge of traffic, for example. Website
failures could happen so personnel are really needed to look
closely into these matters to ensure smooth operations.

For easier EC2 management, applications and extensions

are often offered. For instance, there’s the ElasticFox. EC2 users
are aided by this extension by enabling them to perform basic
EC2 management tasks. By installing ElasticFox, EC2 users are
able to assign IP address, spawn instances and open up ports
among other functions.

Alternatively, there are applications that allows for auto-

mated EC2 management too. Such applications provide support
to EC2 users by automatically scaling the usage of their system.
Cyclical requirements, sudden spikes and growth are easily
handled through the use of these applications. So the need for
personnel to man the operations is lessened. EC2 management
also becomes more efficient because problems and adjustments
are handled instantaneously.

Temporary website loss brought about by unstable IP en-

vironments are remedied right away. A more stable IP address
environment will be provided. So websites are up within seconds.
This is how efficient these applications can be. So many EC2
users benefit from using them.

Depending on the user’s requirements, some may still pre-

fer to do EC2 management manually. However, when website
 93
uptime is vital and the scale of operations becomes bigger using
EC2 management applications would be more appropriate.
 94

EC2 Setup Guide Provided All over the Net

The Amazon EC2 seems pretty easy to setup. Even none

experts are able to use the product. That is not to say that basic
knowledge would be needed for this task. But the EC2 setup
guide is provided on the Amazon Web Services site itself. This
EC2 setup set of instructions are well explained. It is very de-
tailed so one should be able to follow them with ease. The site
even has a forum where questions can be posted and more
knowledgeable users and the admin answer them.

There are also many EC2 setup guides on the Internet.

Web developers and many individuals share their expertise on
the web in order to help newbie web designers and web users
make use of services such as EC2. Where the official EC2 guide
lacks, these developers provide the answer.

Many of these web developers even provide guides on how

the basic EC2 can be augmented with other applications so much
so that the EC2 product becomes more powerful and more cost
effective to its users.

This makes Amazon EC2 a viable choice for web service

rental. With the flexibility it provides and the ease of manage-
ment applications could provide, EC2 will bring so much to its
users’ systems’ capabilities.

Since EC2 setup becomes easier through the guides avail-

able on the Internet, a newbie will be more enticed to embrace
the product wholeheartedly. Bigger systems will know that it will
be able to maximize their capabilities. Because of this EC2 even
has a bigger potential for having more reach.
 95

S3 Consulting Firms Help Businesses Op-

timize S3 Usage

The Amazon S3 online storage can be used in several

ways. But the draw it has is based on its scalability and competi-
tive pricing. It provides businesses and individuals a flexible way
to store files online. Some companies even earn from reselling
the S3 service.

Among these many companies and individuals who want

to use the S3 online storage service, many are not very knowl-
edgeable on building infrastructure for their systems. That is why
S3 consulting seems to be the trend.

Experts in web developing and web designing offer their

services to the companies who want to use S3 for storage. These
S3 consulting firms help adaptors of the Amazon S3 online
storage service use the offering in the most favorable way for
their specific needs. They give advice to these companies on their
application architecture. They also assist them in the implemen-
tation of software and website that uses S3 storage.

Many of the S3 consulting firms also have solutions ap-

propriate for every type of business. By hiring these firms, one
gets the solution and one also gets the support services from
planning to implementation and operation.

Security is something that S3 users also gain when they

hire S3 consulting firms. Depending on their needs, secure
remote access or secure wireless access can be provided. Secure
guest access is also enabled by these firms. In short, S3 consult-
ing firms do not only provide operability but they also provide
overall security for the business systems. And S3 users certainly
 96
gain when their system is running efficiently using the S3 storage
service.
 97

Displaying The S3 Right Image Important

S3 has many applications and one common use is for stor-

ing images online. Many people have opted to store their images
through S3 instead of using external hard drives. This way they
can go and save as many images as they have. They enjoy using
S3 since they only pay what they use.

For people who use S3 for storing images, getting S3 right

image displays is very important. There have been some com-
plaints on this matter though. Some found their photos saved.
But their photos cannot be displayed. Many have been successful
in using the S3 service though. So there are also some possibili-
ties that these problems were cases of incorrect S3 scripts.

Successful S3 adapters surely were able to make S3 right

image displays. S3 resellers which offered online photos storage
would not have been successful if their store images were not
displayed correctly.

This is not to say that S3 does not limitations especially

when it comes to coding. But S3 users were able to go around it
through better scripts and some add on applications. There are
some free add on applications. So, it would also pay to search for
them. If one does not what to look for, he can ask other S3 users
what to use.

The important thing is to make sure that S3 right images

are displayed when the stored images are viewed. Even for
personal usage, it will be a shame if stored images cannot be
displayed. And if one is using S3 for reselling online storage
capacity, no one will get his services if the site has a bad reputa-
tion.
 98

EC2 Automation to Ease EC2 Administra-

tion

One aspect that Amazon EC2 users want is easier EC2

administration. EC2 allows flexibility in terms of scale of usage.
Users pay what they use so they are allowed to increase or de-
crease capacity usage at any time. But such actions would require
good EC2 administration. In order to maximize capacity and
economize on costs, EC2 users need to balance load efficiently.

Since EC2 runs on dynamic IP environments, there’s also

a threat of website losses from time to time. EC2 administration
therefore requires heavy close guarding in order for the website
to have minimal and shorter downtimes.

With the popularity of EC2 and with users and developers

seeing this need, EC2 automation applications have been devel-
oped to answer this problem. Load balancing, for example, is no
longer a problem. These EC2 applications will do the job for the
users. Scaling capacity will be done automatically so EC2 manual
administration needs are diminished.

The problem on unstable IP addresses is also resolved.

Website downtime due to this problem is remedied almost
immediately so websites are up before website users even notice
the problem. That’s because such applications will provide the
website a more stable IP environment.

Small business systems could incur problems by sudden

surge and spikes in traffic level. But EC2 automation will solve
this too. Because it’s fully automated, each problem is dealt with
instantaneously. Big businesses are also aided in maximizing
their capacity.
 99

With EC2 automation, the EC2 solution becomes a more

attractive product. It becomes more powerful and more robust.
 100

EC2 Scripts Are Easy to Find

The Amazon EC2 is a powerful service but users would

need the appropriate EC2 scripts to make it work. The basic EC2
scripts are provided on the Amazon Web Services website. Most
of these scripts are, in fact, written on the EC2 getting started
guide.

Again, the EC2 scripts needed to get started are already

provided on the site. So one only has to follow the instructions on
the guide to make his system operate on EC2. But as one begins
to need or tries to add more functionality he would need more
scripts for the system. This is when would have to write his own
EC2 scripts or search for the appropriate EC2 scripts online.

Since not all EC2 users are expert web developers and web
designers. Not all can write EC2 scripts for their own use. But
this should not discourage newbie users. There are many sources
for EC2 scripts on the Internet. There are quite many blogs and
websites that tackle EC2. So, these blogs and websites would be
great resources for EC2 scripts.

There are also many forums that discuss EC2. In these on-
line EC2 communities, members would share their dilemmas
and share experiences. A newbie can easily browse around and
find the right EC2 scripts. One can also ask those people who
already experienced same circumstances and even ask what
script they used.

One can begin his search at the Amazon Web Services De-
veloper Community. It is a part of the Amazon Web Services
website. And in this forum, people get tutorials and people get to
discuss problems they encounter in the use of EC2. EC2 scripts
are also shared here.
 101

Hosting Grid: Brings More Capacity at

Lower Costs

Web hosting is taking yet another turn nowadays. And

this is made evident by the concept of grid hosting. The idea is to
use server clusters in order to service web hosting and to provide
enterprise-level infrastructure. But what makes the use of a web
hosting grid is the low cost it presents to end users.

Many web hosting companies are capitalizing on the con-

cept of hosting grid like infrastructures. They are able to provide
ample disk space, data transfer capability and number of do-
mains at cheap prices. Because of this, users are enticed to
employ these web hosts. Companies, especially startups, really
bite on the cheap prices.

With the popularity of this type of web hosting plans,

many more web hosting companies are starting to follow. The
market is steadily crowding so prices are even becoming more
competitive.

Amazon Web Services operate on relatively similar man-

ner. As what everybody can see, its services like EC2 and S3 are
priced very low that many have embraced the use of such web
services for web hosting and online storage. They are offered in
pay-as-you-go plans as well.

Well, this only spells good news for the users of such web
services. With lower web hosting costs, running and maintaining
websites would then be cheaper. Companies are able to lower
costs. At the same time, they are able to maximize usage on their
physical hardware investments as well. In the end, their services
 102
or products will be competitive too. This could spell more pro-
ductivity and growth for the company.
 103

S3 Reseller: Bringing the S3 Service to In-

dividual Users

The Amazon S3 is an online web storage service. S3 has

many uses and its applications include web hosting, backup
systems and photo storage. Although Amazon S3 does not prom-
ise against loss of data, S3 should be reliable considering that
Amazon.com runs on the same storage infrastructure for its
operations.

Since S3 is usable in many ways it also gives people ways

to sell the S3 services to individuals. For instance, online photo
storage solutions are being offered to individuals using the S3.
An S3 reseller would benefit from this especially since S3 is
scalable. It therefore allows flexibility to its subscribers.

Amazon S3 is charged $0.15 a gigabyte per month. Of

course, additional charges apply per additional bandwidth usage.
Large bandwidth S3 users are given a special rate. Users who use
50 terabytes, for example, are given discounts. This is again
another plus for S3 resellers.

What other S3 resellers do is provide consultancy and

help S3 users to maximize its capability and usability. They help
them make their systems in successfully running and in using the
S3 online storage efficiently. They even strengthen security
capabilities in the systems for their clients.

With the right application software, S3 resellers can have

automated billing. So management for S3 reseller is relatively
easy. The flexibility and the scalability truly work for them. So
with a minimal payment to Amazon and an investment of the
right application programs and websites S3 reselling will prove
 104
worth it and profitable. So in effect, it is not only small and
bigger businesses that are using the S3 service. Individuals are
also using the service whether they know it or not.
 105

Every New S3 Script Makes S3 Usage Effi-

cient

Amazon S3 scripts are found on the Amazon Web Services

site itself. So, one can get started with using S3 online storage on
his systems. In order to build the system and make its storage
files to S3, the right infrastructure must be built first. That’s
where S3 scripts will be needed.

In most cases, many S3 scripts would be needed. But

there’s nothing to worry since S3 scripts can easily be found
through on the internet. S3 scripts, for one, can be found at the
Amazon Web Services Developer Community. S3 users talk on
this forum to discuss their experiences and the problems they
encounter in adapting S3 in their systems.

For a functionality enabled by a user another S3 script is

needed. Many expert web developers and web designers write
their own scripts to add functionality. But for people who find it
hard to do so, they can find them in forums. There are many
other forums, other than the Amazon Web Services Develop
Community, which discuss S3. So S3 users can also join them to
ask for useful S3 scripts. One can even find them just by brows-
ing through these forums.

Alternatively, there are also some websites and blogs that

talk about S3 usage. Many discuss about functionality and pro-
vide S3 scripts as well. So even searching for these sites would be
helpful in finding the right S3 script for the functionality one
wants to add.

Some people opt to hire people to hire S3 scripts for them

instead. Bigger companies or people who have specialized needs
 106
do this. But it’s the best choice for them. This way specific S3
scripts are provided for their specific needs. They are able to use
S3 efficiently as well.
 107

Automate EC2 is Amazon’s Goal

Amazon is popular for selling books, CDs, and other

items. But now it has opened another avenue for another proc-
essing power called Elastic Compute Cloud a.k.a. EC2 in beta
program. Grid and utility computing are made available to the
public with one goal: to automate EC2 via server power.

The idea behind EC2 automation is the power you can get
by paying at least 10 cents for every virtual power. EC2 automa-
tion provides server power primarily to small business enter-
prises; though Amazon also provides their service to
multinational companies.

EC2 automation was build with respect to Amazon’s mid-

dleware services, Simple Storage System or S3, and Simple
Queuing Service (SQS) that have been released in 2006 respec-
tively. With Amazon’s internal infrastructure and technologies
that have been made available to developers, EC2 posed another
technological breakthrough.

EC2 Continues Amazon’s Unique Technology Tradition

Through EC2 virtual servers of Amazon from its data cen-

ters or grids, you get power server that will only costs you 10
cents per hour for each instance (each instance means 1.7Ghz
Xeon processor, a 160GB hard drive and a 250Mbit per sec, and
1.75GB of RAM) with additional 20 cents of gigabyte transferring
of data.

As you automate Amazon’s EC2 you only pay the power

server that you only used and this is known as planned maxi-
mum capacity. To fully employ and automate EC2 you have to
 108
upload Amazon Machine Image or AMI which you can use
through Amazon API.

With simple method or EC2 automation, you basically can

do anything—from powering a database, expedite downloads,
web hosting, to power searching. Because of this, it seems that
you actually own the power server, but in reality its actually
Amazon that provides power server.
 109

Learn How to Create and Modify EC2 Im-

ages

Full application of EC2 requires creation of EC2 images,

and in some instance modification of EC2 images. This way, you
can manipulate the power of your database and eventually do
everything you want to do afterwards. To make it more high-
lighted, creation of EC2 images will let make you most of what
EC2 can do.

Amazon Machine Image or AMI is primarily based on

Amazon’s specifications. The AMIs you create can develop into
an essential unit of deployment. This deployment lets you boot
recent custom instances the fastest means or right before you
need them.

The AMI Creation

Creation of AMI can be done it two ways. The first is crea-

tion from scratch using your own machines. The second is crea-
tion through modification or image extension of the
original/existing image. The modified image is the image you
booted or the image you used before you gain access to EC2.

The AMI Modification

To modify, you have to pick an image which will serve as a

basis in creating a new one. You can use the image that you
currently booted. Also, the already created image contains a
website. The website is what you are going to change to get
started with the modification process.
 110
To modify the website, it is done via modifying the main
page and configuring the static content using your name. This
way, you can also personalize it because you can replace the
existing content with your name. After you configured your name
you can check the file and confirm it afterwards.

The final process would be uploading you image to S3 sto-

rage of Amazon so that the existing account will be replaced with
the new one.
 111

EC2 AMI Tools: Its Importance in Cloud

Computing

Scalable computation of resources is what cloud comput-

ing is all about. It is a service provided by Amazon that requires
pay-per-use basis which means you only pay what power you
use.

Using Amazon’s EC2 AMI tools, you can access resources

that are available in the cloud anytime it is needed. Resources are
basically found on the Web. The so called cloud is accountable in
highly available responses needed in running your applications
which is sometimes called as grid or cloud computing.

Basically you can conduct cloud computing when there is

a common depiction in technology’s architecture diagrams on
the Web—which is technically demonstrated as a cloud. In
determining the scalability of cloud computing, once again, EC2
AMI tools are essential.

Amazon Web Services Employ EC2 Tools

Command tools are essential in managing and computing
resources on EC2. The REST interfaces on the other hand can be
used easily because any client-written programming language
readable in HTTP can also be used.

The storage system of Amazon S3 also gives web services

interfaces intended for data storage and retrieval. Also, the data
that will be stored can be of any sort which is still accessible
anywhere that has internet.

Unlimited data can be stored using Amazon S3 and it can

contain storage that ranges from 1 byte to 5 gigabyte. However,
 112
with Amazon’s EC2, S3 has been overpowered because EC2
allows more volume of data storage. With EBS, you only have to
pay for the time you use and the time you compute. More so, you
can increase the storage capacity of your cloud computation via
launching of virtual instances which you can terminate when
needed.

Therefore, with the deployment of EC2 tools by Amazon

everything about cloud computing and storing massive volumes
of data has been made easy.
 113

EC2 on Reseller News

Amazon’s persistency in launching its storage intended to

its Elastic Cloud Compute Cloud in the computing service indus-
try is always highlighted. This news of ResellerNews also shows
that Amazon Elastic Book Store or EBS has the capacity to create
volumes for storage that can be attached to EC2 instances in the
form of block storage devices and create a backup that contains
snapshot accessible in S3.

Prior to ESB, Amazon storage contained in an instance of

EC2 was tied to EC2 per se. This also means that if termination
takes place all data within the EC2 storage will be lost. But with
EBS, users can perform storage allocation volumes that can be
carried on from EC2 independently.

According to Amazon CTO Werner Vogels from a blog

post, "It basically looks like an unformatted hard disk. Once you
have the volume mounted for the first time you can format it
with any file system you want or if you have advanced applica-
tions such as high-end database engines, you could use it di-
rectly.”

More so, if Amazon’s EC2 instances are started and

stopped, there is preservation of information that has been saved
in the database. The developers, according to the post written by
Vogel, have the capabilities to create storage volumes of 1 GB to 1
TB because Amazon is in fact has a massive array of volume
storage.

Snapshots that can be stored in Amazon S3 can also be

created in EBS. Vogel wrote, “We see developers using this
feature for long term backup purposes, for use in rollback strate-
gies, for (world-wide) volume re-creation purposes. Snapshots
 114
also play an important role in building fault-tolerance scenarios
when combined with managing applications using Elastic IP
addresses and availability zones.”
 115

Amazon Features EC2 Functionality

With Amazon EC2, every user obtains a genuine comput-

ing setting virtually. This setting permits every user to use web
services interfaces in presenting instances. Instances can be
launched in different OS. It can also be loaded using custom
application setting.

Management of your network’s access permission is also

done through EC2. With Amazon EC2 you can also run images
even if you use various systems that you choose to pick.
Amazon has wider-ranging features while using EC2. To
let anybody use Amazon EC2, the following guidelines to test
EC2’s functionality should be performed.
1. Amazon Machine Image creation that can contain
applications, data along with its configuration settings, and
libraries. You can also employ pre-figured data or template
images in creating AMI.
2. AMI uploading directly to Amazon S3 because EC2
has tools that allow simple storage processing. On the other
hand, S3 also gives safe, fast, and unswerving repository storage
intended for images.
3. EC2 web services also allow security configuration
along with network access.
4. Selection of instances types can also be performed.
Also, the operating system that you like can be started, termi-
nated, and monitored using a number of instances needed for
your AMI. There are tools provided in doing the process.
5. Identification of multiple locations if you choose to
run them. You can also employ static endpoints of IP or even
affix the persistent instances through block storage.
6. Payment for the actual consumed resources such as
hours consumed in instances or data transferring.
 116
With EC2’s functionality, users are exposed to various
guidelines that are beneficial in making the most of Amazon
EC2’s features.
 117

The Foundation behind Backup EC2 to S3

To start off with, creating backup EC2 to S3 can be the ea-

siest and cost effective solution to all EC2 users. First to note, S3
gives infinite virtual storage with a low cost. Backing up data,
especially a massive amount of data is one strategic move in
storing data. Apart from the amount of data, amount lists is also
a key factor in data storage. The data stored in the file systems
can be written and be read on a repeated basis as well.

So, if you are writing a large amount of data you need to

create an S3-based file system. However, the creation may
require a more expensive amount if you are up to large data
creation. Though dumping your file can be a cost effective resort,
it is not however recommendable since it requires much work.

The ElasticDrive of Amazon and its Relationship with EC2

and S3

ElastricDrive of Amazon is needed in building file system

approach that is configured for customers’ benefits. With Elas-
ticDrive, you can continuously protect your data server applica-
tion. Instead of redesigning and developing an application to
fully enjoy the benefits of S3, ElastricDrive installation can be
done.

What needs to be done to complete the ElasticDrive in-

stallation?

The customer needs to install the system and direct their

present application to either configured hard drive that uses
RAID or use the new file mount. This is considered to be a
flexible process. Dumping of data is no longer done regularly but
periodically. This way you are assured that there is a continuous
 118
processing of data protection through backup creation of EC2
and S3 via ElectricDrive. More so, the process of data backup
automates saving a copy of a file once changes are made.
 119

The Importance of Creating EC2 Images

Amazon Machine Image or AMI is an encrypted file that is

stored in S3 of Amazon. AMI has the entire information essential
in booting the instances of your software. Instance is defined as
the running system primarily based on AMI. The instances with
identical AMI are also executed alike—which means, any infor-
mation that will be lost will be terminated. This is the reason why
you have to create your EC2 images to avoid instances of termi-
nation and failure.

EC2 involves a big cloud of images. The chances of finding

instances are very steep because there are lots of images avail-
able online. This also states the idea that EC2 image needs to
have an identity so when it will be picked up once booting is
done.

Amazon gives what is called RESTful API which provides

each instance an identity and information about itself. Therefore,
you need to know the steps in creating and modifying EC2
images so you fully benefit from what EC2 has to offer.

Finally, the steps that you need to remember are:

1. Modification of existing image based on the origi-
nal image.
2. Preparation for bundling wherein a snapshot is
created and packaged into an AMI. The image will be encrypted
to make it protected from any tamper or damage.
3. Bundling that requires uploading of certificate. You
are required to use your username so your will be accessible later
on.
4. The uploading of AMI directly to S3 or Amazon
storage. The uploaded image will be used in signing up for
Amazon’s S3.
 120
5. AMI registration is also needed so you later on
trace it and to run instances that will be based on it.
6. The running of instances which already uses the
modified image wherein you will also receive an instance identi-
fier.
 121

EC2 Consulting is One of Amazon’s Web

Services

Elastic Compute Cloud is now furthering its web services

by adding another block of storage. Through the Amazon Elastic
Book Store, application storage of data in EC2 is made simple
and direct. This is because you don’t have to send the application
to Amazon’s other service for storage or S3.

You will get more oriented with EBS if you decide to avail
EC2 consulting web service because experts are ready to give you
the ideas that you should know when it comes to such kind of
service.

More On Elastic Book Store by Amazon

EBS has a simple concept. This simplicity starts when you

create a volume of data that ranges from 1GB to 1TB. Then you
mount the data on an instance and format it afterwards. You can
also isolate the instance and then later on reattach it to other
instances you choose to.

Taking volume snapshots can be also done in S3 anytime

it is needed. Restoration of snapshot is also possible as long as
you create another new volume from the original snapshot. It
sounds simple but the process actually needs to be implemented
carefully.
The Significance of EBS

In terms of reliability, EBS has it. This is because EBS is

capable of creating redundant built-ins that prevent drives to
terminate or fail. However, EBS is far from S3 which replicates
 122
data and turns it into multiple zones because EBS volume is only
stored in single zone.

When it comes to volume performance EBS volumes are

attached with the network disk storage. This event happens as a
part of the instance is taken from the entire bandwidth. Also, the
speed performance and the rate of transfer is 120Mbytes per
second.

This is why EBS is considered as an enhanced web service

of Amazon. Its reliability and volume of performance are more
developed because of its added block storage.
 123

The EC2 Scripts in GigaSpaces EC2

Framework

Amazon’s One Click Approach is needed in deploying EC2

under the GigaSpaces EC2 framework. In this case, application
code is developed like processing units and the units can be seen
on your desktop. The framework will then be set up, run, and
monitored using scripts.

The Framework Structure List

The package for Ec2 Gigaspaces framework contains the

below folders and files found in the tools.
1. The Bin for Cloud Commands
2. The Default Settings in Deploying Configuration
File (take note, this may contain subfolders intended for either
your processing unit files or secret key files)
3. The Groovy Libraries along with Configuration File
4. The Required Libraries
5. The Sample Configurations (this comes with appli-
cation that you can run so you can test the cloud)

The framework structure list also contains:

• The EC2 Commands
• The EC2 Command Flow
• The Process in Deploying the Cloud
• The EC2 Configuration File
• The EC2 Configuration File Tags
• The EC2 or Cloud Name
• The EC2 Configuration Samples
• The Management Application on EC2
• The Management Tools
• The Initialization Scripts
 124

The initialization scripts are needed in running various

EC2 commands before and after the process of running the
framework or the cloud desktop. Relevant scripts need to be
called during performing the EC2 commands.

Finally, some of the provided scripts for the Gigaspaces

framework are: gsc-ini for starting GSC, gsm-init for starting
GSM, ui-init for starting UI, gsc-post-init for GSC, gsm-post-init
for GSM, server-init once AMI is started, and desktop-init when
the cloud on the desktop is started.
 125

Create and Set-Up Right Image EC2

There are publicly available requirement which you can

employ in creating Amazon Machine Image for EC2. Once you
selected the available images, say for example an Ubuntu image,
you can start creating your own. However, this can only be done
if you already have your Amazon Web Services known as AWS. If
you don’t have any of the services yet, you have to create one
first.

Second important thing to consider in creating your image

EC2 is to download the tools called EC2 command-line tools.
Once you download the tools, you have to organize the tools as
well.

Setting Up the Tools for Image EC2 Creation

1. Download the tools.
2. Extract the downloaded tools and then save it to a
directory.
3. Install a JDK and then set the setting variables us-
ing the command-line tools.
After you set up the tools needed in creating the image,
you go to image creation proper and then follow the steps ac-
cordingly.
1. If you haven’t generated a key pair yet, generate it
instantly through ec2-add-keypair key1 to generate an output.
2. The generated output should be copied and should
be saved in the keys directory readable to the owner of the file.
3. Launch the generated instances afterwards to come
up with another output.
4. After generating the second output, you have to
connect to the generated instance by using SSH.
5. The instance should be changed by installing a cus-
tom software within that particular instance.
 126
6. Upload your AWS, certificate files, and private key
within the same instance by using scp.
7. Create your image within the current instance.
8. Generate a bucket into the Amazon S3 and then up-
load the recently created image.
9. Using your local machine, you then register the im-
age and then test if afterwards.
10. Finally, link to your new instance by using SSH be-
cause you just created your new image.
 127

AWS Dashboard Gives Comprehensive

Web Service Status

Amazon Web Services dashboard was created to provide

users and Amazon’s clients an up-to-date status. The AWS status
publishes from time to time (sometimes even in minute inter-
vals) information that has something to do with web services
availability of Amazon.

Users and clients can access the AWS dashboard by check-

ing Amazon Web Services website as frequent as they ought to.
The current status details of web services can be viewed via RSS
feeds if your clients and users want to get notified as soon as
changes, developments, or sometimes interruptions take place.

The AWS dashboard has been operational in real-time.

Also, through AWS dashboard any reports, issues, and inquiries
about certain web services can be conveyed. For each web service
presented in the table (which can be seen in the AWS dashboard)
there is a link that will direct the user or client so that an issue or
incident report can be addressed immediately.

The AWS dashboard is wide-ranging and easy to navigate.

As the webpage opens, you will right away see a table that con-
tains the active status of web services including the details. The
detail part of the table informs the viewer whether a particular
web service is operating normally, has performance issues, or has
been disrupted. For each detail status there is an informational
message that will guide the user/client about the real status of
the issue.

The status history is also present in the AWS dashboard.

This is because AWS wants to keep a tracking record or log
 128
reports and service interruptions to better address the problem
that may occur. The table contains the status history of 35 days.
And so, if you click on to a particular web service the status
history for 35 days will be shown.
With AWS dashboard, users and clients are not alienated
with what currently happens to every web service that they
employ.
 129

Ruby on Rails Web Hosting: Is This the

Web Service for You?

To get access with key points of making online business,

you have to be in contact with open-source web framework that
is used in optimization and processing of other web applications.

Ruby on Rails has seen such kind of stipulation and now

they are into providing web development products and services
that is contained in a framework, which they offer to their clients.

What is in the Ruby on Rails package? It contains frame-

work that can deal with web applications and developments at its
fullest extent. The framework perceives everything—from view of
Ajax, comptroller’s request and response and to wrapping of
domain model in the database. Which in turn requires you to do
your part and that is: to add a database and a web server to your
application.

Why do you have to resort to Ruby on Rails? Apart from

everyone in the start-ups and non-profits enterprises chooses
Ruby; they know that Ruby on Rail can provide them with great
infrastructure needed in any sort of web application. Any when
Ruby says any sort, it can be a software designed for collabora-
tion, management of content, statistics, e-commerce or commu-
nity. Due to Ruby on Rails web hosting services, everything
about a particular business is made easy for the benefit of the
entire business.

That is why, if hosting is essential to you, then you can try

Ruby on Rails services and products. Though there is no need to
say grand things about Ruby, knowing that it has established
itself pretty well in web hosting is enough to get you started
 130
because Ruby on Rails does they service with experts on their
back.
 131

Amazon S3 Scripts: The Backbone of Web

Storage Services

Amazon Web Services provide clients with extremely scal-

able web applications in the most accessible means. S3, as one of
its services, provides procedures in file storage and file retrieval
which can be 5GB (for each procedure) using Amazon’s distrib-
uted servers.

Clients resort to Amazon S3 because it’s cost effective,

high-speed, and robust and is ideal in storing small files and
images intended for websites. S3 is also essential in creating
backups due to redundancy and inexpensiveness of the storage.
However, in order to perform storage procedures like creating
backups, retrieving storage, and other storage-related functions,
the user should be familiar with S3 script configuration.

What happens when you acquire S3 services?

You acquire an access key ID and access secret ID. These

keys are essential in gaining full access to AWS and to use API.
S3 store files aka objects are contained in buckets. Command line
utilities like scripts are needed in performing the first and last
configuration in file storage. And so, creating a bucket is syn-
onymous with storing files. This makes sense when all objects of
S3 turned into binary blobs. Though you can attach metadata to
the objects in S3, verification of objects cannot be done—though
the files still remained compressed with source codes in it.

The scripts are needed to break the codes and to eventu-

ally handle any transactions. It can destroy or recreate buckets
once proper script authentication is done. And finally to use
script, it requires you to store the secret key in the form of text
 132
file and put two environmental variables and store it in your
Amazon storage system.
 133

The System of Hadoop EC2

To enable EC2 cloud computing, a set of host allocation is

needed. The set of hosts will be run on another application and
then afterwards de-allocation follows. The billing for such service
is done in an hour basis per host. This is where Hadoop EC2
enters the picture, because to deploy EC2 on a cluster without
owning and operating a cluster Hadoop EC2 is done. And then at
the end of the month you pay the necessary power that has been
computed.

It is recommended that when you choose to run Hadoop

EC2 it should be in S3 because it allows accessing job data. For
the record data transferring of instances from S3 and EC2,
whether to or from, is completely free of charge. After such, there
will be an initial input readable in S3 now that the cluster is
started. And for the final output, before the cluster gets decom-
missioned, it will be written back to S3. This shows that tempo-
rary and transitional data go through MapReduce gates and will
be efficiently stored in DFS of Hadoops.

The Setting Up of Hadoop EC2

The processes in setting up the Hadoop EC2 are:
1. The unpacking of any latest distributed Hadoop di-
rectly on your system.
2. The editing of all the significant variables (e.g.
AWS, security variables, AMI selection, Hadoop cluster vari-
ables).
After completing the initial set up, Hadoop EC2 should
run a job on a cluster.

Afterwards, there will be Hadoop EC2 troubleshooting be-

cause running a program like Hadoop requires a lot of high level
configuration. This means, a few configurations will take place
 134
prior to getting the entire system functional on a set up that you
have chosen.
Finally, once troubleshooting is complete you can go to
the next which is building your personal Hadoop image and then
making the final step: public appearance.
 135

Amazon’s S3 Driver

Simple Storage Service or S3 is a local storage system and

ElasticDrive lets you accumulate a remote storage resource like
S3. With ElastricDrive, you can gain infinite and huge block
device ready to mount and ready to use to perform a quick and
secure isolated backup resource of storage. Block device of
ElasticDrive enables operating system caching schemes and this
reduces the network traffic amid web storage system and runs
found at close local speeds.

Using an Infinitely Scalable Remote Storage System and

S3 Driver

ElasticDrive serves as the server in performing read and

block operations to a storage resource deemed to be remote. The
remote storage resource powered by ElasticDrive enables disk
storing (with a huge sparse) as entities. The entities can be
adjusted in portion sizes (4k to 64k size) and this can be very cost
effective at all because remote storage resources can be limited as
you read and write.

It is simply the completed blocks that should be written.

Therefore, if the size of the object is only 4k it will not be written.
The system will have to wait to finish the 64k block before finally
writing the object to the remote storage system/systems.

This way, Amazon’s S3 will be used as a block device of

users that are locally located within an external setting of others
hosts. Afterwards, S3 will format the block storage devices with
your choice of file system. This can be in ext2, FAT, reiser, and
EXT3Cow formats. Then finally, the saved file system will be
mounted to the directory.
 136

Create EC2 Image Using Oracle Essbase

Many individuals are surely being amazed on the tem-

plates known as Amazon Machine Images (AMI). But since
Amazon is popular as an e-commerce site; it is not surprising if
they require a payment for the used time and space. Good thing,
Oracle, which has recently fused to the Elastic Computing Cloud
(EC2) of the Web Services of Amazon, is providing a prebuilt
AIMs for registered products without any charge. The sole thing
that needs to be learned is the right way to create EC2 image.

The succeeding discussions will illustrate the steps on how

to create EC2 Image for Essbase. Primarily of course, individuals
who are interested to set up EC2 image, particularly AMI, needs
to build first their Amazon credentials as well as certificates.
After this, users are advised to install Linux 4.0 of Oracle
Entrprise to support the Essbase 9.3.1. This will be installed on
the image of VMware with minimal configuration.

After completing the above mentioned steps, jre

(http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index_jdk5.jsp) needs
to be installed next. Then, to enable the transferring of data,
s3sync will be used. Although, there are also some services that
needs to be switched off.

Also, since AWS is founded on Xen virtualization, a few

twists to the image of VMware are needed. Once the EC2 tools
have been downloaded and installed, the Shared Services for
Essbase can already be uploaded; this includes the rpm.

Then finally, after the installation of Shred Services, indi-

viduals may perform a slight tweak with lessened tls. And then,
complete the set-up of Essbase; after this, individuals have
already completed AMI.
 137

Things to Take Note on EC2 Plugin and

Elastic Compute Cluster that Features Py-
thon

Both the S3 Organizer and the EC2 UI are Firefox plugins,

which serve as vital tools when administrating an Elastic Com-
pute Cluster along with Python. Basically, elastic computing is a
utility computing. When using this, an individual is no longer
required to own a machine; instead, he can simply pay for it
when he needs its function. Usually, when utilizing the tools of
Firefox plugins, users are always reminded to install the Elastic
Compute Cloud (EC2) plugin just before they perform anything
else.

Now, when discussing the service of EC2, the usual topic

revolves to its basic; normally, starting from the view of datacen-
ter applications. Meanwhile, if the discussion will revolve on its
application, it is always being highlighted to the user not to leave
the machines running if they are not just needed simply because
it can add up to the expenses. It has to be taken note that EC2
allots units of computation at an hourly basis. There are also the
so-called bandwidth charges. This tends to be small at first until
it livens.

Essentially, the basics of administrating an Elastic Com-

pute Cluster along with Python require the following:

• Fundamental EC2 Security: Here, a user can iden-

tify a number of security groups, which denotes open ports.

• The Boto Library: This allows the user to automate

the operations of EC2 through the use of Python. Meanwhile, the
term “Boto” comes with a good lecture.
 138

• Automated Administration along with Paramiko:

This is basically a flexible SSH library intended for Python.
 139

Compaq’s Presario 3000 Series Features

S3 Technology

S3 Incorporated, the largest supplier of graphics control-

lers all throughout the world, was the one to release the Presario
3000 Series of Compaq that features S3’s technology. Presented
here is the Aurora64V+ accelerator, which will serve as the
controller of the graphics.

Now, through the use of the plane panel support in the

Aurora64V+ of S3, Compaq was able to include for the very first
time a premium double-bright TFT flat panel feature into a good
quality desktop computer. And this gives the Presario 3000
Series the capability to depict a smooth and dense desktop
design that give customers with a kind of PC that will perfectly fit
into their home as well as lifestyle.

Reviews for the Aurora64V+ say that this is purposely de-

signed to take the level of desktop performance to the arena of
notebook. It was also said that the distinctive and flexible style of
aurora is capable of carrying extended display facilities like flat
panel support. Apparently, the flexibility of Aurora matched with
its unprecedented performance, color, depth, resolution, and
functionality provides its users with a gripping desktop as well as
notepads solution.

S3 Graphics Business Divisions Senior Vice-President

Gary Johnson said that S3 is a rising leader in the ever competi-
tive market of flat panel display, which came from in the market
of notebook. And now, this is marked to move to the desktop
space. He also added that S3 is currently working with top
industry leaders like Compaq.
 140
Essentially, S3 is a listed brand of S3 Incorporated, which
is popular for supplying top multimedia acceleration solutions
for competitive personal computer.
 141

Enumerating S3 Automation Services

S3 Automation is an organization that specializes in mar-

keting, sales, and customer service. Their top goal is to help
business owners with their complicated CRM needs. And for
almost 15 years now, S3 Automation have provided many com-
panies with technical support as well as trainings to different
individuals. And because they are veterans in the business, they
have already gained the precise understanding and experience to
provide a quality service to their clients.

Essentially, S3 Automation takes pride in handling prob-

lems and providing solutions with careful attention and sincere
concern by guaranteeing to provide economical solution. They
have pledge not to leave the expectations of their clients unmet
whenever they are drawing the final result. They also carefully
usher many companies to advance their steps and strengthen
their relationship with the company clients.

The following are the services offered by S3 automation:

• Analysis and Discoveries
S3 Automation provides evaluations on site. At the same
time, they are also providing installations, procedures, and
policies while giving out blueprints on how to optimize market-
ing and sales processes.
• The so-called S3 Clean
S3 Automation presents four-point diagnostics analysis
and continuation of plan, which is designed to keep every com-
pany’s database in great condition.
• Training
S3 Automation provides online training lectures to carry
anyone who is interested to keep themselves updated to the
latest information. They also give complete course material
regardless of the client’s location.
 142
• Data Conversion
S3 Automation is capable to convert the current data into
the system of a company. Through the provided assistance of S3
Automation, data conversion can be easily attained in the office
based on the amount of data as well as the availability of consul-
tation.
 143

Extensions of AWS-S3 Gem and API Copy

of Amazon

American reviewer and journalist Alex Chee have written

in one of his entries in the community blog of ELC-Technologies
about the project he and his team handled, in which they were
required to copy a numbers of files between various S3 buckets.
Chee said that they were able to finish the project through the aid
of the newly released beta version of Amazon for copying S3
items that time.

So, instead of downloading and uploading every file to S3,

they were able to complete the task easily by using the feature
provided by the Amazon. However, they also found out during
the process that the S3 gem does not contain any argument to
rename or copy items between various buckets.

To aid the problem, Chee together with his colleague cre-

ated a fragment to the S3 gem to utilize the latest copy of API for
them to accept another argument for the bucket‘s destination. He
confirmed that this strategy is more helpful to them, especially
the ability to make it. He said that the fragmented patch of the S3
gem only needs to run in their gem directory and alter the entire
indications into copy and rename to contain the bucket’s destina-
tion in the arguments. Chee also suggested to freeze the S3 gem
before carrying out the patch in the vendor, to gems, and then to
aws-S3 directory. This way, they would no longer need to change
their gem for their previous projects and rupture them.

Chee also added that as the aws-S3 gem was modified; it

will be more ideal to add to the static assets a Cache- Control
Header as well.
 144

ADS Spawns Mantis Lessen Downtime in

EC2 Deployment

Atlantic Dominion Solutions (ADS), a web development

innovator, is said to hit downtime in EC2 deployments. ADS have
introduced the sole consistent management and monitoring key
for Rails apps deployed in Amazon EC2—Mantis. It is making
today’s businesses capable to use EC2 to level on the demand
while still obtaining the reliability, regularity, and personal
service that is previously restricted to customary hosting solu-
tions.

Simply, ADS Mantis fuses dedicated service joined with

prevailing management as well as monitoring tools from
FiveRuns and RightScale. ADS Mantis vitally lessens the down-
time by constantly checking EC2-deployed Rails apps. Through
this, ADS team becomes capable to avoid quick response to
issues when needed.

Robert Dempsey, ADS project director, said that custom-

ers had been doing a lot of inquiry concerning to EC2 hosting
although there was really no example for it.
Also, Michael Crandell, CEO of RightScale, said that the
offering of ADS Mantis significantly assists in delivering the
promise of EC2 by placing an extra layer of managed services
over the ability of RightScale to introduce multi-server deploy-
ments.

Currently, ADS Mantis presents three levels of service for

various deployment sizes. The fundamental option watches up to
four simultaneous virtual servers. Two of these are the Plus level
and the Premium level. The former offers as much as eight
servers and contains two hours of some other top services. The
 145
latter on the other hand works with as much as 12 servers and
contains four hours of some other top services.
 146

Giving the Gist of EC2 Worker’s Function

Some people are simply unaware about the actual func-

tion of EC2 worker. This is why more and more queries are being
raised in the online forums these days. Certainly, there are
several forums online that help to find answers to someone’s
concern. However, a person who gave the query must still know
how to separate the useful information from the thrash since not
all of the posted answers that can be read here are accurate and
reliable.

To provide an idea, one of the concerns that speak about

the EC2 worker’s role is the use of Simple DB for a small task.
This is more particular if the project will require the individual
who is completing it to track numbers of items such as counters.
Normally, this individual will ask as to how is he going to solve
the problem of not having a transaction support. Such project
cannot be pursued if an individual will only have lexical support;
so, a transaction support is really vital.
Some may suggest that one of a good solution in this prob-
lem is the use of token ring, which will ping all the clients when
they did not respond in five seconds or so. The pinging will last
until the clients do not give a reply; it depends to the managing
individual. But apparently, this solution does not sound good
enough.

One ideal way to solve this solution is for an individual to

queue an SQS message. This is where the EC2 worker function
comes in, this will be responsible in reading the message that is
being delivered by the queue. More about this concern can be
obtained from a good source online.
 147

RightScale EC2—A Powerful Fusion of

Function

Right Scale EC2—a perfect combination to generate pre-

mium functions for the server. Basically, EC2 is the dealing out
in the cloud service of Amazon while RightScale is a kind of
system used to manage EC2. EC2 gives out a group of web ser-
vices that allows the user to set up and impede server instances.
But while EC2 is amazingly powerful, running the processes still
require loads of work. It is certainly less involved than attempt-
ing to manage numbers of physical servers in the user’s own
rack. Now, the function of the RightScale service is to make the
job easier.

Fundamentally, RightScale functions by offering a brows-

er interface that permits the user to set up and impede instances.
However, such function is actually not the actual strength of
RightScale. Through the use of this managing the EC2 instance is
not only being simplified but they are inventing a new form of
service as well. RightScale is then executed whenever an instance
is instigated.

Now, once the user is assured that his entire data is also in
the EC2—utilizing Amazon’s S3—then maintaining the advance-
ment of servers becomes a simple task. The only thing that needs
to be done is to initiate a new instance using the most recent
software, do up the data from the latest backups that is stored on
S3, and then position the DNS to the recent server. After the
DNS modification has been completed, the user may already stop
the old instance. Ideally, it is really good to use EC2 and S3 for
servers.
 148

Unused CAB-S3-CONSOLE

Network Hardware Resale (NHR) presents the Cisco CAB-

S3-CONSOLE. Network Hardware resale simply presents the
complete range of used Cisco products like Cisco Memory and
Cisco Routers, which provides the top levels of availability and
speed.

Purchasing products from NHR is guaranteed to be trou-

ble-free. More importantly, their entire inventory of used and
smartened up CAB-S3-CONSOLE is carefully tested by the
company’s Circo-certified technicians to assure that they are in
good condition. A lot of the pre-owned CAB-S3-CONSOLE that
they normally carry are actually unused and in the new Cisco
packaging.

Also, the entire NHR restored equipment for Cisco comes

with one-year standard and comes with warranty as well. If in
case customers raised queries about the CAB-S3-CONSOLE or
any product of the NHR, the company has promised to provide
installation and arrangement support from the company expert
technicians without asking any additional payment.

In essence, NHR carries the largest inventory of both the

present and past generation of Cisco products. Meanwhile, if in
case an individual’s CAB-S3-CONSOLE purchase is part of his
upgrade he may consider selling his outdated tools to NHR.
Certainly, an individual’s surplus equipment can be transformed
into working capital here. To find out how, the process can be
reviewed on the company’s buy back services.

However, for those individuals who want to pursue their

discontinued router solutions may take advantage of the offered
technical solutions as well as products to be incorporated with
 149
their present system. The company has professional support staff
that can offer solutions to assist “sparing.” This way, heavy
service agreement can be avoided.
 150

Amazon Features S3 Plugin

S3 plugin of Amazon is intentionally written for the web

application framework of the Groovy on Grails. This is basically
intended to create its fairly simple to host files like images,
movies, Flash and audio on the entire Web Services Simple
Storage Service of the Amazon.

Presented below are the primary objectives of S3 plugin:

• Host and supervise the Amazon’s S3 file assets for

the advantages of storage and performance
• Give out simple mechanisms to suggest the assets
of S3 host
• Create cost-effective use of S3 hosting sources

To attain all of these objectives, the plugin supplies ser-

vices that will direct static assets for the media. For the first
modification of the plugin, the center of attention is given to the
uploaded static content of managing user. Meanwhile, later
modifications will give its focus on supplying tools to shift acces-
sible content on a website into S3. Examples of this are the items
stores in the images folder.

Essentially, the preliminary plugin centers on the up-

loaded content of managing user. To serve as examples, the
following features are provided by S3 plugin:

• Makes use of the Java library of jets3t for easy and

effective upload into S3
• Small size MVC application that is contained to up-
loaded S3 assets of manager user to serve as executive as well as
reference application.
 151
On the other hand, the following features below are
planned to be released someday:
• Give out tools to bring in assets for static media in-
to plugin for s3 hosting
• Support habitual naming formats for S3 URL’s as-
set
• Reporting on the usage of S3
 152

Why Use EC2 Console?

The EC2 console as a commercial website service under

the Amazon Web Services allows clients to rent computers to
enable them to run their own computer applications. It is also
designed for developers. The EC2 console is said to be functional
because it offers virtual computing environments that allow the
launch of web services with various operating systems.

To start with EC2 console, a user can create an Amazon

Machine Image (AMI) with applications, libraries, data and
configuration settings or he can also user pre-configured, tem-
plated images to make it run as soon as possible. Then, he can
upload the AMI into Amazon S3. The EC2 would then provide
the tools to make storing of AMI simple.

Service Highlights of EC2 Console

- It is elastic because the user can increase or decrease his
capacity within minutes. He can commission as many server
instances as he wants simultaneously.
- It is completely controlled because users have control
over the instances. He can root access to each instance and can
interact with them like any machine. Instances can also be
rebooted remotely.
- The EC2 console is also flexible in a way that users have
multiple instance types, operation systems and software pack-
ages. The EC2 console allows a user to select from a configura-
tion of memory, CPU and instance storage, which he considers to
be optimal in his chose operating system and application.
- The EC2 console is also reliable because it offers de-
pendable environments where instances can be changed and
commissioned immediately.
 153

Why EC2 and S3 Consulting Can Come in

Handy?

The Amazon Cloud Computing or EC2 and Amazon Sim-

ple Storage Service or S3 is a combination of services that offers
highly scalable and quickly configurable computing power and
storage. Sometimes, the administration of these resources could
be problematic to computing managers and contemporary
network. This is the reason why EC2 and S3 can become useful.
EC2 provides developers and website providers a large datacen-
ter infrastructure whereas S3 is a scalable storage solution. S3
makes storing files on the Internet easy and the user never has to
worry about running out of disk space.
Reasons for EC2 and S3 Consulting
EC2 and S3 are not geared for traditional web application.
There is a need to make modifications. First, S3 cannot be ac-
cessed through the typical protocols like FTP. Second, EC2 does
not offer static IP addresses or permanent storage. Having a
typical web application without changes entirely with EC2 and S3
will not work.
This is the reason why there is a need for EC2 and S3 con-
sulting. They will be able to offer EC2 and S3 services such as the
following:
1. They can modify application codes to get the full bene-
fits of EC2 and S3.
2.They can provide custom dynamic redundant DNS in
terms of dealing with EC2’s problem which is lack of static IP.
3. They can give solutions to the utilization of S3 for data
storage and back-up in situations when EC2 is terminated sud-
denly.
4. They provide scripts and methods in assisting in
MySQL via EC2 and also SVN hosting for checking out location
for application code.
 154
EC2 and S3 consulting is a good idea especially for those
who doesn’t have extensive experience with them.
 155

How S3, SQS, and EC2 Work Together?

Middle-sized and small companies can benefit from Ama-

zon’s services specifically S3, SQS and EC2. This is because these
services allow companies to “rent” computing power, data stor-
age and bandwidth on its vast network platform.
How does it work?
With Amazon services, a company has complete IT infra-
structure in a reasonable payment scheme. The Amazon S3
service stores and retrieves the amount of data using application
servers and offers unlimited data storage and bandwidth. Mean-
while, Amazon EC2 is for the computing time. The company can
load them with an application environment, manage access
permissions and run an image using multiple systems. Lastly,
Amazon SQS is a web-scale messaging infrastructure, which
stores messages as they travel between computers.
To make the connection between these three clearer, a
good example will be an online photo processing service for
consumers. The photo service allows users to tell the operations
they want performed on their photos and the number of photos
they want printed. Then, they wait for certain duration of time
for the results.
So the first step is for the user to request results in a mes-
sage being queued into the Amazon SQS request queue. During
this time, the application also stores the photos in Amazon S3.
The message in the queue contains the photo operations to be
made and also points to the location of the photos in Amazon S3.
The photo is then processed in a server running an EC2
instance. It reads the message from the queue and processes the
request. When finished, it posts a status message to the response
queue.
Using S3, SQS and EC2 can be quite beneficial for those
who are starting an online business or other existing services.
 156

Installing An EC2 RubyGems

The Amazon-EC2 RubyGems refers to an interface library

that is used to interact with Amazon EC2 system and control
server resources on demand from Ruby scripts or applications in
Ruby framework,
How to install?
If a user has worked with gems before, then it is easy. EC2
RubyGems follows the regular procedures for installation on any
system with Ruby and RubyGems installed.
First, the user needs an AWS account. He needs to have
an account, which is specifically enabled for EC2 usage. After
signing up, AWS will give the user an AWS Access Key ID and a
Secret Access Key. These will authenticate any API calls that the
user make and ensure correct billing for his use of the service.
The user must remember and keep these IDs a secret.
Second, he needs to install the required EC2 RubyGems
pre-requisites. The following should be installed: XmlSimple,
Mocha, Rcov and Test-Spec. The first is required whereas the last
three are optional for testing. Those, which are used, for testing
are needed for testing build dependencies. Even if the user is not
planning to make tests, he can install them because it is easy to
do so.
Third, the user can install the EC2 Ruby Gem. He must
remember that he can install this only once.
Now that that user has installed RubyGems, he should be
ready to run applications using gems. But there is still one thing
to consider. He must let the Ruby programs know how to use the
gems repository.
 157

What Are the Benefits of Managing AWS?

Amazon Web Services or AWS gives companies, whether

big, middle-sized or small, an infrastructure web services plat-
form. It offers IT infrastructure services that any companies
would need. It is also very flexible because a company can choose
its preferred development platform or programming model.
Further, managing an AWS means that a company only pays
what it uses. There is no up-front expenses or long-term com-
mitments.
Why choose to manage AWS?
First, managing an AWS is cost-effective. There are no
contracts and commitments. All a user needs is to sign-up with a
credit card and then he can cancel his account online whenever
he wants. He pays what he uses and there is transparent pricing
or no hidden prices. It is also said that managing an AWS pro-
motes better economics because as the number of applications
running increases, then the number of operations and hardware
costs are amortized over users.
Second, managing AWS also saves a lot of time. Running
the IT infrastructure on AWS would enable a user to concentrate
his energies, time and money on other important aspects of his
company.
Third, managing an AWS means that a user is contribut-
ing to a better environment. How is this so? Datacenters and
technologies used to cool and power AWS hardware are built in a
way that they enable smaller environmental footprint. This
doesn’t sacrifice flexibility and scalability in the business de-
mands.
Fourth, managing an AWS means that a user is having a
reliable, battle-tested, web-scale infrastructure, which can han-
dle everything.
 158

Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud: An Able

Program as Aid

In any area of web service management, one of the hard-

est to accomplish is the web-scale computing. Of course, most
website developers have either found ways of coping with this
through other means or by adopting better to their tasks.

This is most likely the reason why there are now programs
being developed and launched for commercial uses that respond
to this problem. One such program is the brainchild of Amazon.
It is called the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2),
which is wholly a web service whose sole function is to provide
the developers with resizable computing capacity. This comput-
ing capacity is found in a cloud.

With this program, the expectation is that it will make

web-scale computing easier, which is a hard task to do, for
developers. The good thing about Amazon EC2 is its very simple
web service interface, which allows the developers to configure
the web-scale capacity with minimal friction involved. Because of
this simplicity in the web service interface, it could even provide
the developers with complete control of the resources present for
the computation with added backing from Amazon’s products.

This means that for every time the developer is comput-

ing, he will have an able program aiding him in the process. This
ensures that the amount of time spent on the computing would
be lesser than what it usually entails without the use Amazon
EC2. And everyone knows that less time spent, results to profits,
or at least allows the developer to pursue other tasks. Now that’s
an incentive to try!
 159

Elastic Compute Cloud and How it Reduces

the Amount of Time in Computation

There are of course too many reasons why developers

should pursue EC2 as a program to use. This is a must-have
program when computing web-scales, which developers are
known to dislike. Computing web-scales is not something done
with just a flick of the fingers. Rather, it is something that in-
volves a lot of details, and a lot could go wrong.

In using the EC2, the developers are not only taking the
easy route through the problem, but they are also relegating
tasks to a program very suited for it. This is because EC2 has
been designed and created to reduce the amount of time, which
is required in obtaining and booting up new server instances.

This reduce in time spent is often counted in minutes,

which gives the developers the time allowance to scale capacity.
And scaling the capacity is done, both up and down while the
computing requirements of the page changes.

Another factor that is really noteworthy about EC2 is its

capacity to create changes on the elements of economics that is
required in the computing process. Thus, this provides the
developers with knowledge on how much to pay for the capacity
to be used.

This is savings that may seem small on some people, but

on the whole, it is still savings.
And in today’s world of commerce, savings mean a lot of
things, and none of them are bad.
Another function of the EC2 is that it is currently the best
program around to use in giving the developers the right tools to
 160
protect the website from failure. This also means that for every
common failure already known, there will always be applications
to be suggested by EC2, along with other applications for future
failures.
 161

Scale Right with RightScale

In the wanting to have a good program to rely on times

when there’s a need to compute clouds of web-scale, there’s
always RightScale to try. The company is considered as the
foremost leader in terms of bringing EC2 to any person’s need
for aid in clouds.

This, of course, does not mean to say that they compute

‘clouds’ per se, but clouds in today’s web computing tasks. With
the use of EC2, computing them is even easier and as an added
incentive, RightScale has been making moves towards making
EC2 even more capable of computation.

Now RightScale has a website available for clients and it is

best to check them out.
And don’t be fooled by the language, RightScale or scale
right, the main thing to remember is RightScale for clouds. As
web developers know, computing is not an easy task, not with the
changing of requirements and capacities every now and then.
EC2 can help the developers in setting this correctly and
efficiently. In efficiency, EC2 through RightScale can help the
developers to know how much capacity is required and this limits
that cost of buying capacity that might not be used at all.

In terms of protecting profit, this is a welcome addition to

a program that is already the best at what it does. RightScale also
aids in increasing the available security of the web itself, in terms
of securing the network access to others. So whether RightScale
or ‘Scale Right’ is used, it’s easy to distinguish between the two.
RightScale works and Scale Right are just words.
 162

AWS Console: Improvements and Automa-

tion

In the early 2006, Amazon.com was able to release to the

public its program called Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS was
intended to be used as a tool for the computation of power,
storage as well as other services. And the companies that ulti-
mately used this were those that required an up-to-date infra-
structure web services platform.

Of course, the use of AWS has increased since then, and

today it is still treated as a revolutionary platform worth having.
Now the use of AWS console is that the data to be gained from
the AWS is presented in a manner that is easy to see and exam-
ine, as well as improved.

In terms of improvements, which in no way affected the

program badly as to perform slow in its tasks, the AWS console is
fitted with the best program codes available.
This makes the act of flexible changes in the IT infrastruc-
ture services easier than before and accordingly as when it is
demanded by the business.

One of the best known goals of AWS Console is to provide

the developers with as much management over the disposable
servers. And it is so easy to use because it is simply a point and
click matter, owing to many automation improvements like the
saving automatically.

It is also easier to manage, unlike past programs, and

could provide a standardized scalable framework to work on.
Apart from these, AWS consoles are also able to work on many
 163
accounts being worked at by a single user, which allows the
developer to use it for multiple clouds.
 164

RightScale and The Merge with Eucalyptus

The need for better services in computing web-scales is

pushing more and more companies towards better EC2. For one,
the forerunner and known as the leading company involved in
EC2, RightScale has now combined efforts with another team of
experts from the University of California.

This team, known as the Eucalyptus, would forge two

leaders in cloud computing management together. This makes
EC2 something forth having in the near future, as now, there will
be more focus towards research and experimentation. This is
vital as the task of cloud computing is an ever-evolving matter.

As the functions of the web increases, so do the varieties

and extent of cloud computing.
This merge would mean that the EC2 maintained by
RightScale would now focus on the clouds developed by the
Eucalyptus team for the purpose of experimentation.
Furthermore, this merge is seen to affect the distribution
base of EC2, which has so far been limited to only a few.

With this merge, it is expected that even universities and

students alike would be able to benefit further from the results of
the partnership. Aside from these, another likely result of this
merge is that there will be improvements on the currently re-
leased program by RightScale that features cloud management
on multiple cloud environments.

All in all, it is not foolish to think that there will be other

improvements on the EC2.
Besides, an improvement to be added to a system that is
rearing to go full-scale into the market is a welcome change.
 165

Tips for a High Performance Ruby on Rails

Web application needs to be updated or at least improved

in terms of performance. An object-oriented programming
language framework, which was designed to provide high per-
formance development of web applications, is called the Ruby on
Rails.

Ruby on Rails does provide several caching methods to

help developers improve the performance of their web applica-
tions. To improve performance may require modification of
queries Active Record create or create manual ones. It is impor-
tant to determine if improvements on performance is required by
analyzing the application’s performance.

Ruby on Rails has been known to ease the development,

maintenance and deployment of web applications. To increase
your web application performance is to observe some of the
following tips:

1. Use of the embedded Ruby interpreter of the Apache

web server “mod_ruby”. This allows the Ruby code to execute
faster than other CGI methods.
2. Use of the “fcgi”. Fcgi means FastCGI, a language inde-
pendent, scalable, open extension to CGI, which gives high
performance without the limitations of server specific APIs. The
entire framework is cached when the fcgi is enabled. Fcgi has
10x performance.
3. Use of Cache static pages as transparent buffer of disk-
backed pages kept in the Random Access Memory (RAM) for
quicker access.
4. Use of C binding for the database rather than the native
ruby based “Active Records’. It is not hard to install c bindings.
 166
The Ruby on Rails automatically distinguishes if c bindings are
installed.

So stop writing typical web applications and use the Ruby

on Rails default settings. Ruby on Rails eliminates most of your
configuration code and provides you a rich set of utility func-
tions, which makes web applications performance simpler. High
performance Ruby on Rails means higher conversion.
 167

What EC2 Is All About

The cost of acquiring a server to run your applications re-

quires a big investment. System developers, particularly the
newer ones, may find it too expensive to own. But as developers,
you need to start things going and Amazon has introduced a new
web service known as EC2.

EC2 is the acronym for Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud.

It is a commercial web service where customers pay and rent
Amazon’s computer in order to run their own computer applica-
tions. This means customers can do massive scale loads of
applications through web service interface based on their request
for arbitrary number of Virtual Machines. EC2 is referred as
elastic since users are able to create, launch and terminate server
instances on demand. EC2 is one the web services under the
Amazon Web Services (AWS).

EC2 allows customers to launch instances, which are simi-

lar to the traditional remote servers. It takes a matter of seconds
to get the resources, compared to the traditional providers that
will take days or weeks for the resources to be delivered. With
EC2, web applications requirements are provided any time
whether the request is for 10, 100, 1000+ servers. You are able
to host and run your applications on Amazon servers in increas-
ing or decreasing capacity depending on your needs.

Users of EC2 have no server capacity limit. Amazon’s EC2

services do not require customers for long-term service contracts
or pay a minimum amount to use the web service. EC2 services
are on a pay as you go usage basis. This means you only pay
Amazon based on the capacity that you used.
 168

Understanding the Web Servers Running

on Ruby on Rails

The application of Ruby on Rails require developers to

have a run time environment where they could execute the code
services of all incoming and outgoing requests and responses.
The use of application servers are needed for Ruby on Rails.

Three Ruby on Rails Application Servers

1. Mongrel – This has a fast HTTP library and server for

Ruby. It provides high performance Ruby on Rails application
server required to execute Ruby code quickly and efficient use of
resources. Mongrel is licensed under the ruby License. To install
Mongrel is to install it using RubyGems and run the Ruby on
Rails application.
2. Thin – Thin is a Ruby web server that brings together
the 3 best Ruby libraries, which includes Mongrel parser, event
machine and rack. Mongrel parser is the root of Mongrel speed
and security. Event Machine is the network’s input/output
library having high scalability, performance and stability. Rack
provides a minimal interface between the web servers and Ruby
frameworks. Thin is considered to the most secure, most stable,
fastest and most extensible Ruby web server.
3. Passenger – The Passenger is also known as Phusion
Passenger. It follows the Ruby on Rails convention of the “Don’t
Repeat Yourself”. It is built on the industry standard of apache
web server. It uses about 33% less memory if the Ruby Enter-
prise Edition is likewise used. There is no maintenance re-
quired, no port management, no server process monitoring or
stale file cleaning required. All errors are recovered automati-
cally if possible.
 169
Select among those three as to where you would like to
run your Ruby on Rails for your web application.
 170
INDEX*

A
ADS (Atlantic Dominion Solutions) 144
ADS Mantis 144
ADS Spawns Mantis Lessen Downtime in EC2 Deployment 8, 144
aid 9, 143, 158, 161
alternatives 12
Alternatives to Amazon S3 4, 12
Amazon 14-15, 17-20, 25, 32-4, 42-3, 46, 49, 53, 58-9, 61-2, 65-8, 76-
8, 107-13, 121-3, 135-6, 167 [18]
automate 107
rent 167
trusted 42
Amazon and Google App Engines 6, 62
Amazon API 108
Amazon AWS 6, 65
Amazon Cloud Computing 153
Amazon Company 68, 84
Amazon credentials 136
Amazon CTO Werner Vogels 113
Amazon EC2 4-6, 17, 22, 25-6, 32-3, 42, 56-7, 61, 66-7, 72, 75-7, 84,
92, 94, 115-16, 158 [3]
Amazon EC2 AMI tools 61
Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3 17
Amazon EC2 composes 75
Amazon EC2 facilities 22
Amazon EC2 instance 67
Amazon-EC2 RubyGems 156
Amazon EC2 Service 4, 17, 84
Amazon EC2 services 17, 22, 34, 84
Amazon EC2 set 25
Amazon EC2 system 156
Amazon EC2 users 75, 98
Amazon Elastic Book Store 113, 121
Amazon Elastic Compute 7
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud 67, 75, 84, 91, 158
Amazon evangelists 36
Amazon Features 8, 115
Amazon Features S3 Plugin 9, 150
Amazon Machine Image 61, 66, 72, 77, 84, 109, 119, 125, 136, 152
packaged 61
Amazon Machine Image creation 115
Amazon Machine Image to Amazon S3 84
Amazon Machine Images, see AMI
Amazon resources 84
Amazon S3 4-5, 12-14, 28, 30-1, 36, 39, 49-50, 58, 61-2, 68, 72, 79, 89,
95, 103, 155 [11]
Amazon S3 data storage service 36
 171
Amazon S3 Scripts 8, 131
Amazon S3 Service 6, 28, 68
Amazon S3 site 36
Amazon S3 storage 30
Amazon S3 Storage 4, 30
Amazon S3 to Backup Company Data Center 7, 79
Amazon Se3 system 39
Amazon servers 167
Amazon services 12-13, 26, 30, 155
Amazon Simple Service Storage 62, 79
Amazon Simple Sto-rage Service 68
Amazon SQS 19, 155
Amazon SQS request queue 155
Amazon sto-rage 110, 119
Amazon storage 113
Amazon storage system 132
Amazon to Build EC2 Instances 67
Amazon Web Ser-vices 15, 59, 65
Amazon web services 19, 43, 46, 49, 58-9, 66-7
Amazon Web Services, see AWS
Amazon Web Services Develop Community 105
Amazon Web Services Developer Community 100, 105
Amazon Web Services Employ 111
Amazon web services forum 17-18
Amazon Web Services Guide 3
Amazon Web Services site 94, 105
Amazon.com 103, 162
Amazon's Goal 7
Amazon's S3 Driver 8
Amazon's Web Services 5, 8, 53
AMI (Amazon Machine Images) 6, 61, 66, 72, 84, 108-9, 115, 119, 124,
136, 152
AMI Creation 109
AMI web application 66
Amount of Time in Computation 9, 159
API 61, 131, 156, 165
API Copy of Amazon 8
application architecture 95
application codes 123, 153
application developers 32
application development 26
application engines 62
application environment 155
Application on Amazon's Web Services for Storage 5
Application on Amazon's Web Services for Storage and DB 53
application programs 85
right 103
application servers 155, 168
application setting, custom 115
application storage 121
 172
applications 4-5, 19, 26, 39-41, 46-7, 53, 64-5, 69-70, 89, 91-2, 97-8,
117, 152, 155-7, 160, 167-8 [13]
advanced 113
automating 91
based 20
commercial 25
computer 46, 152, 167
datacenter 137
free 54
managing 114
office 20
preferred 84
rails 5, 54, 168
reference 150
applications development ventures 12, 26
applications developments 12, 40
large scale web 40-1
archived images 22
argument 75, 143
assets 150-1
Atlantic Dominion Solutions (ADS) 144
aurora 139
Aurora64V 139
authentication process 68
Automation 9, 141-2, 162
AWS (Amazon Web Services) 2-5, 15-16, 43, 59, 65, 69, 91, 100-1, 125-
7, 131, 133, 136, 152, 156-7, 162, 167
AWS Console 9, 162
AWS consoles 162
AWS dashboard 127-8
AWS S3 6, 58, 69

B
Backbone of Web Storage Services 8, 131
backup systems 79, 103
backups 24, 113, 131, 147
bandwidth 17, 31, 36, 122, 155
bandwidth allocation 16, 21, 34
Benefits of Amazon EC2 and Cloud Computing 4, 26
Benefits of Cloud Computing on Large Scale Web Applications 40
Best Recommendation for Enterprise Sto-rage Services 24
Best Recommendation for Enterprise Storage Services 4
Bigger companies 105
block device 135
blogs 100, 105
book 2-3
booting 119, 159
buckets 49, 84, 126, 131, 143
bundled service 15
bundled web applications 15
 173
bundling 119
business systems 95, 98
businesses 14, 46, 95, 98, 129, 141, 144, 162

C
CAB-S3-CONSOLE 148
capabilities 20, 69, 71, 77, 84, 94, 103, 113, 139
capacity 7, 26, 73, 98, 101, 113, 152, 159, 161, 167
Capistrano 6, 75
Capistrano tool 75
CDN (Content Delivery Network) 5, 58
Chee 143
China 34-5
China Equivalent of Amazon S3 and EC2 4
China Equivalent of Amazon S3 and EC2 Services 34
Chinese software companies 34
Chinese software developers 34
Cisco products 148
client systems 89
clients 14, 46, 58, 65, 87, 103, 127-9, 131, 141, 146, 152, 161
cloud 7, 9, 19, 42, 46-7, 51-2, 82-3, 111, 119, 123-4, 158-9, 161, 164
cloud computing 4-5, 8, 15, 17, 22, 26-7, 32, 34, 40-2, 47-8, 60, 71, 80,
82, 111-12, 164 [2]
elastic 17, 22, 46
cloud computing companies 21
cloud computing facilities 34
cloud computing providers 4, 20, 26
cloud computing services 32, 49, 51
scalable 32
cloud computing services post 44
cloud computing technology 34, 71, 77, 79-80
cloud service 147
cluster 133
codes 54, 89, 131
command 75, 131
commercial website service 152
commercialized cloud services 42
companies 22-3, 32, 40-2, 44-5, 47, 51, 58, 62-3, 79-80, 82-3, 95, 101-
2, 141-2, 148-9, 155, 157 [10]
big 20, 27, 79
hosting 56-7
multinational 107
tech 51
company leaders 79-80, 82, 85
Compaq 139
Comprehensive Web Service Status 8, 127
computation 9, 137, 158-9, 161-2
computers 19, 22, 38, 42, 46, 53, 60, 155, 167
computing cloud technology 69, 85
computing industry 74, 76
 174
computing power 47, 91, 155
computing web-scales 158-9, 164
concept 19, 101, 121
configuration 72, 75, 77, 131, 133, 152
cons 5, 47
consulting 9, 95, 153-4
consulting firms 7, 95
contact 44-5, 129
Content Delivery Network, see CDN
contracts, long-term service 167
control 59, 62, 69, 77, 83, 152
copy 118, 143
cost 4, 17, 22, 32, 34, 39-40, 42, 58, 79-80, 94, 98, 107, 117, 131, 135,
161 [1]
high 17, 79
lower 7, 101
creation 109, 117
customer sales service 44
customers 46, 117, 139, 144, 148, 167
customization 72

D
data conversion 142
data server application 117
data storage 5, 14, 26, 36, 111-12, 117, 153
data storage services 13, 36
data transfer 17, 21, 32, 34, 44
database 53, 72, 108-9, 113, 129, 141, 165
database applications 54, 75
commercial 54
database users 76
dedicated server 6, 60, 82, 85-6
costly maintained 65
delivery 58
deployment 72, 109, 112, 165
designations 2
desktop 47, 123-4, 139
developers 6, 12, 15-16, 19, 26, 30, 34, 53, 68-9, 84, 87, 113, 152-3,
158-9, 161-3, 167-8 [4]
Developers May Choose Google App Engine 4, 15
developments 15-16, 65, 71, 87, 127, 129, 165
disparate services 15
distribute 36-7, 50, 89
download 16, 36, 38, 40, 54, 125, 136
downtimes 26, 30, 52, 91, 98, 144
Driver 135
dumping 117

E
e-mail 64
 175
EBS 112-13, 121-2
EC2 34, 42, 72, 91, 94, 98, 100, 107, 111-13, 115-16, 136-7, 147, 152-
3, 159-61, 164, 167 [20]
automate 107
units of 67
EC2 administration 98
EC2 AMI tools 61, 111
EC2 and Amazon Simple Storage Service 153
EC2 and S3 9, 101, 117-18, 147, 153-4
EC2 applications 98
EC2 Automating Applications 7, 91
EC2 automation 98-9, 107-8
EC2 automation applications 98
EC2 commands 124
EC2 console 152
EC2 Image Using Oracle Essbase 8, 136
EC2 images 109, 119, 136
EC2 Images 8, 119
EC2 images, creation of 109
EC2 instances 67, 113, 147, 155
EC2 management 92
EC2 management applications 93
EC2 Rails 72
EC2 RubyGems 9, 156
EC2 scripts 100
EC2 Scripts in GigaSpaces EC2 Framework 8, 123
EC2 services 17-18, 22, 26, 34, 137, 167
deploy 17
EC2 setup guides 94
EC2 users 92, 98, 100, 117, 167
EC2 users benefit 92
EC2 web services 115
EC2 worker 146
EC2 worker function 146
Effects of Cloud Computing Solutions to Software 6
Effects of Cloud Computing Solutions to Software Developers 71
Elastic Compute Cluster 137
ElasticDrive 117, 135
ElasticDrive of Amazon 117
ElastricDrive of Amazon 117
enterprise storage services 4, 24
entities 2, 135
Enumerating S3 Automation Services 8, 141
environment, stable IP address 91-2
Essbase 136
Eucalyptus 9, 164
Europe 17-18, 34
European companies 34
European users 17
European Users 4, 17
 176
execute 65, 69, 75, 165, 168
experimentation 164
experts 73-4, 76, 80, 82, 94-5, 121, 130, 164
extensions 5, 92
Extensions of AWS-S3 Gem and API Copy of Amazon 143

F
facilities 34, 44, 51, 56, 79
failures 91, 119, 160
fcgi 165
file storage 49, 131
file system 113, 117, 135
files 24, 49, 60, 68-9, 75, 110, 117-18, 123, 125, 131-2, 143
Firefox plugins 137
firms 95
flexibility 91, 94, 98, 103, 139
followers 62, 65
forums 3, 94, 100, 105
framework 25, 123-4, 129, 165
Free cloud computing services 20
function 8, 92, 137, 146-7, 158-9, 164
functionality 7-8, 38, 84, 87, 91, 100, 105, 115-16, 139

G
games 43, 64
GB 68, 113
GB of memory 67
gems 143, 156
rails ruby 75
GoGrid 77-8
Google 7, 15-16, 20, 35, 38, 62, 76-7
Google App Engine 15-16, 76
Google web developers 62
grids 107, 111
group 58, 87, 147
GSC 124
GSM 124
guides 20, 44, 49, 94, 100, 127

H
Hadoop EC2 8, 133
hardware virtualization 6, 73
High Performance Ruby 9, 165
host 7, 24, 26, 28, 30, 36-7, 39-41, 46, 49, 56, 85, 133, 150, 167
host software 85
hosted services 12, 15, 32, 51
Hosted storage services 12
hosted web services companies 12
hosting 5, 28, 31-2, 34, 36, 53, 56, 129, 151
hosting grid 7, 101
 177
hosting services 32, 72
rails web 129
regional 34
scalable 32
hours 22, 25-6, 84, 91, 107, 115, 144-5

I
IBM 4, 20, 34-5
IM web services 64
image data 28, 30
image files 22
images 22, 28, 30, 36, 72, 77, 97, 109-10, 115, 119, 125-6, 131, 150,
155
created 109, 126
modified 109, 120
right 7, 97
stored 97
implementation 95
improvements 9, 61, 162, 164-5
incentive 158, 161
individuals 73, 95, 103-4, 136, 141, 148
industry 6-7, 65, 73, 80, 82, 168
computing service 113
information 2, 14, 32, 42, 58, 113, 119, 127, 141, 146
information service 64
Information Technology 73, 79, 82
infrastructure web services plat-form 157
infrastructures 17, 19, 34, 77, 101, 107, 129, 157
initialization scripts 123-4
install 38, 77, 117, 125, 137, 156, 165, 168
installation 55, 65, 70, 136, 141, 148, 156
instances, generated 125
interact 77, 152, 156
internet 53, 105, 111
Internet 27, 38, 41, 49, 56, 58-60, 64-5, 67-9, 71, 76-7, 85, 89, 94, 100,
153
IP, static 153
IP address, valid 91

J
job 4, 19, 47-8, 80, 98, 133, 147

L
large scale web applications 40
leaders 79-80, 139, 161, 164
Legal Instances 66
level 139, 144
liability 2
link 126-7
list 64
 178
framework structure 123
load 91, 98, 147, 155
location 42, 68-9, 141, 153, 155

M
machines 34, 109, 137, 152
event 168
virtual 20, 46, 167
maintenance 38, 85, 165, 168
managed data center 5, 44
managed data center services 45
managed services quotes 44
Management Application 94
Management Application on EC2 123
managers 82
managing 14, 74, 87, 111, 147, 157
market 12, 15, 25, 101, 139, 164
marketing 141
marketing operations 7, 80
maximize 12, 60, 71, 73, 91, 94, 103
Maximize Website Performance 4, 28
media files 36
Media Files on Amazon S3 5, 36
memory 19, 47, 67, 152, 168
merge 9, 164
Microsoft 7, 20, 77
modifications 109, 119, 150, 153, 165
MogileFS 5, 39
MogileFS and Amazon S3 39
money 24, 34, 39, 73, 79, 157
Mongrel 168
Mongrel parser 168
MySQL 54, 72, 75, 153

N
navigate web service interface 14
Network Hardware Resale, see NHR
news organization 22
NHR (Network Hardware Resale) 148
notebook 139
Novell 24
Novell Enterprise Storage Services 24
Novell storage services 24

O
objects 68, 84, 131, 135
online companies 30
online photo processing service 155
online storage 101, 103
online storage service 14, 95
 179
open source application 54
operations 65, 92-3, 95, 103, 137, 155, 157
OS 7, 66, 77, 115
outages 30
output 125

P
Partner Companies 6, 67
Passenger 168
PDF 22
people 25, 38, 56, 58-60, 64-5, 68, 74, 77, 80-1, 89, 97, 100, 105, 146,
159
People Choose Cloud Computing 6, 60
People Find 5, 59
People Perceive 6, 68
performance 28, 122, 150, 165, 168
person 2, 38, 60-1, 146, 161
personnel 82, 92
photos 28, 30, 36, 97, 155
platform 66-7, 71, 85
infra-structure web services 162
plugin 137, 150-1
plugin supplies services 150
power 20, 53, 107, 109, 111, 133, 162
power server 107-8
Presario 139
prices 12, 14, 44-5, 49, 101
cheap 101
problems 39, 85, 91-2, 97-8, 100, 105, 128, 143, 146, 153, 158-9
Production Software Using Computing Cloud 7
Production Software Using Computing Cloud Technology 85
productive web applications 54
products 2, 43, 91, 94, 99, 102, 129, 148, 158
program 38, 89, 133, 158-9, 161-2
projects 22, 40, 87, 143, 146
large scale web application 40
pros 5, 47
providers 20, 44-5, 51
publisher 2
Python 137-8

Q
quality service issues 12
queries 40, 146
queue 146, 155
queue service 19
Quotes for Managed Data Center and Virtualization Services 5, 44

R
rack 147, 168
 180
Rail applications 72
rails 87
Ruby 6, 72
Rails Application Servers 168
Rails Web 5, 54
Rails Web Hosting 8, 129
RAM (Random Access Memory) 107, 165
Random Access Memory (RAM) 107, 165
Ranked 64
Real Situations 30
relatives 64
reliability 56, 121-2, 144
remote servers 20
rename 143
request 44, 46, 129, 155, 167
resellers 7, 97, 103
resources 40, 60, 62, 71, 73-4, 90, 100, 111, 153, 158, 167-8
remote storage 135
revisions 87-8
Right Scalable Hosting Service Similar to Amazon 4
Right Scalable Hosting Service Similar to Amazon EC2 32
RightScale 9, 144, 147, 161, 164
RightScale service 147
risks 51
real 51
Ruby 7-9, 54, 72, 87, 129-30, 156, 165-6, 168-9
Ruby framework 156
ruby rail application, standard 72
Ruby scripts 156
Ruby web server 168
RubyGems 156, 168

S
S3 7, 97, 103, 105, 135, 137, 140-2, 151
SaaS 6, 65, 76
SAAS 38
SAAS Directory Service 5, 38
savings 12, 22, 73, 79, 159, 162
scalability 92, 95, 103, 111, 157
scalable web applications 131
scale 9, 26, 53, 58, 91, 93, 98, 161
scripts 36, 69, 97, 100, 105-6, 123-4, 131, 153
security 14, 60, 68, 80, 85, 95, 161, 168
security measures 19, 80
Series Features S3 Technology 8, 139
server image 72
server instances 46, 147, 152, 159
server power 107
servers 22, 26-8, 30, 36, 46, 60, 69, 135, 144-5, 147, 155, 165, 167-8
local 27-8, 32, 51
 181
virtual private 46, 59
service agreement, heavy 149
service downtimes 36
service features 32-3
Service Highlights of EC2 Console 152
Service interruption 36, 51, 128
service outages 30, 52
service package 21, 44, 49
service providers 13, 33, 51-2
free 20
scalable hosting 32
service resumes 52
service technology 65
Service to Individual Users 7, 103
service updates 18
service web hosting 101
services 4-5, 13, 17, 20, 24-6, 30-4, 38, 42, 44-5, 51, 64-5, 94-5, 100-1,
103-4, 129-31, 155-6 [22]
based 30
calendar 64
code 168
complicated 59
customer 141
dedicated 144
directory 38
free 20
infrastructure 157, 162
managed 144
middleware 107
personal 144
photo 155
quality 141
rails 129
reliable 51
technological 59
top 14, 144-5
unique 26
useful 64
set 25, 73, 75, 77, 84-5, 123, 125, 133-4, 136, 147, 166
Set-Up Right Image 8, 125
Shared Services for Essbase 136
Shred Services 136
Simple Queuing Service, see SQS
Simple Storage Service 5, 12, 49, 59, 69
sites, sharing 28, 30
size MVC application 150
SmugMug 30
snapshot 113, 119, 121
Snapshots 113
software 6, 38-40, 46, 65, 67, 71, 73, 76, 85, 87, 89, 95, 119, 129, 147
 182
production 85-6
right application 103
software applications 87
software companies 34
software developers 65, 71
software development 19, 87
software development process 87
solutions 95, 141, 146, 149, 153
space 28, 31, 136
speculations 73, 76
SQS (Simple Queuing Service) 9, 107, 155
startup companies 20
status history 127-8
steps 4-6, 12, 28, 44, 49, 66, 87, 119, 125, 136, 141, 155
storage 5, 44, 47, 53, 64, 79, 95, 111, 113, 121, 131, 135, 150, 153, 162
block 115, 122
photo 28, 103
storage service 14, 24, 69, 96, 135
based data 30
online web 103
storage services, cheap 12
stored data 68
stores 155
Success Secrets 2-3
Superior Cost Saving Benefits of Amazon EC2 4, 22
support 56, 61, 65, 82, 91-2, 136
transaction 146
support services 21, 95
sync 52
system resources 73

T
table 127-8
tasks 19, 75, 94, 143, 146-7, 158, 161-2, 164
team 87, 143, 164
technology 7, 24, 40, 47, 58, 60, 65, 68, 71, 76, 80-2, 85, 107, 111, 139,
157
computing 60, 85
internet 60
revolutionary 59, 68
terabytes 22, 30, 103
terms 76-7, 82, 92, 98, 121, 137, 153, 161-2, 165
Thin 168
time 9, 19, 22, 24, 32, 39, 53, 63, 66, 76, 91, 98, 112-13, 127, 155,
157-9 [6]
amount of 158-9
tips 3-5, 9, 20, 51, 165
tools 6, 26, 56, 75-6, 89, 111, 115, 123, 125, 137, 151-2, 162
Tools for Image EC2 Creation 125
top 3-4, 6, 15, 19, 39, 64
 183
track 64, 85
trademarks 2
traffic 31, 36, 92
transfer 17, 69, 84, 122
tray 68
Twitter 30

U
Understanding Ruby 5, 54
updates 6, 38, 61, 76
upload 28, 36, 49, 52, 61, 69, 126, 152
upload Amazon Machine Image 108
usage 7, 64, 80, 91-2, 95, 98, 105, 151
users 14, 16-17, 42-3, 69-70, 89, 91-2, 94-5, 97-8, 100-1, 105, 115-16,
127-8, 135-7, 147, 152-3, 155-7 [15]
advanced 43
business 51
computer 47
fast 28
heavy 44
help S3 103
internet 28
knowledgeable 94
manager 150
managing 150
newbie 100
personal 68
power 20
single 163
web 94
website 98
users grab 69
Using Amazon 4-5, 14, 25, 34, 49, 111
Using Amazon EC2 to Build Commercial 4
Using Amazon EC2 to Build Commercial Applications 25
Using virtual server 28, 47
utility computing 7, 82, 107, 137

V
videos 36, 64
virtual computing 15, 17, 26, 32, 34, 44
virtual computing services 26, 35
virtual servers 12, 20, 29, 107
virtualization 22, 34, 73-4
VMware, image of 136
Vogel 113
volume 112-13, 121-2

W
Ways to Maximize Website Performance 4, 28
 184
web 6, 15, 20, 28, 30, 41-2, 46-9, 51, 62, 64, 69, 76, 94-5, 111, 161,
164
web application, traditional 153
web application development tool 54
ideal 54
web application engines 62, 66
web application framework 150
web application performance 165
web applications 15, 54, 58, 67, 71, 78, 89, 129, 153, 165-6, 169
web applications performance 166
web applications requirements 167
web apps 62, 67, 89-90
web consoles 6, 19, 46, 69
web developers 55, 77, 87, 94, 161
expert 100, 105
web host platform service 51
Web-Hosted Services 51
web hosting 101, 103, 108, 129
web hosting companies 101
web hosting provider 36, 49, 54
web servers 54-5, 69, 129, 168
apache 165, 168
extensible Ruby 168
Web Servers Running 9, 168
web service companies 77
web service interface 42, 68, 158, 167
web service management 158
web service providers 27, 59, 65
web service rental 94
web services 6-8, 14, 19-20, 38, 43, 46, 53, 58-9, 64-6, 77-9, 84-5, 89,
101, 121, 127-9, 167 [8]
advanced 43
commercial 167
communication 64
enhanced 122
excellent 58
host of 43, 53
information management 64
most useful 6, 64
productivity 64
web services availability 127
web services interfaces 111, 115
Web Services Mean 65
web services providers 44
web services quotes 44
Web Services Simple Storage Service 150
web services website 49
web servicing 62, 77
website developers 158
website downtime 98
 185
website server 50
websites 25, 28-9, 36, 44, 49, 56, 69, 91-2, 95, 98, 100, 105, 109-10,
131, 150, 160-1
rails 54-5
websites host 36
Widely Utilized Ruby Applications Deployment 6
Widely Utilized Ruby Applications Deployment Tool 75
Windows 66
Windows OS 66
work 43, 52, 54, 58, 62, 71-2, 82, 87-8, 100, 103, 117, 147, 153, 155,
162
Work on Web Services 7, 77