Server Virtualization
Check out this YOUTUBE clip for a quickie intro into server virtualization. Under 3 minutes...
Some of you know that FlexNet servers (all of them) went 100% virtual less than a year ago. Our main server is at Amazon Web Services (AWS). We also have DNS servers at GoDaddy. We backup our data at RSYNC.NET (global backup option) and MediaTemple. We use MediaTemple as our Mail Server too (long story.)
If you are running a bunch of servers at say, DRFortress (old Pilihana/Equinix) then you may like having the local control of your machine(s) and if that's working for you, then fine.
But there are better options around if you dislike speeding like a demon to get into your datacenter to press that reset button (or paying per hour for "smart hands"). Or say you have a remote power panel that connected to the internet, well, what if that thing goes bonkers?
I remember how a big deal was made when Flex first went into Equinix, of how there were huge power generators and UPSes up the gazoo so that our rack would NEVER EVER be without power.
Well bubs, guess what? Equinix gives me a call and says they have to reroute our underlying power layout to provide better service but this would entail a ONE MINUTE power outage while they fool around with the wires.
I had to go down to Equinix and properly shutdown each of our five running servers in our rack, then watch Adam plug in some wires, and then i brought up each Flexnet server gracefully and then checked for any errors.
So this Equinix "can't ever lose POWER" assurance was just total BS. And the potential for a similar occurance at renamed DRFortress exist --after all, a name change does not mean a brain change. After all, the former salesman who sold me on this power supply dream is now the new president of the joint, pun intended.
A year ago, I started to experiment on the side with various mainland hosting companies. Some were just okay, others were really really bad!
Companies will tell you you are on a "dedicated server" but in reality, you are not. The hosting companies can't afford to do it. You are on a virtualized machine no matter what you are told.
The underlying key here is, what type of control do you have over your virtualizations? Another question to is, how much smarts do you have?
For ultimate control, stay away from any control panel like PLESK or cPanel. Poison.
The movement is already well into server images. At AWS, we have snapshots of our main server that not only includes the OS (CentOS Linux) but all the various custom programs I've installed/modified, all the data for it and stuffs like that.
Within 7 minutes, I can re-provision my own identical Flex server using this 10 Gigabyte Server image file. IDENTICAL Server provision within 7 minutes. I can have 20 servers all provisioned and running within 7 minutes, if i wanted.
So ask your prospective hosting company how long it will take to add another server to your account. If they say a day or two then you will know the level of control over the virtual environment that exists already at the hosting company they are willing for you to have, NILL in other words.
There is a new-ish company that aims to compete with AWS. They also allow you to bring up multiple servers within MINUTES. Realize I have NOT tried this company out and they are in beta.
What they do offer over AWS is 24 hour tech support and the ability to not only run Linux but also WINDOWS Server OSes. There also seems to be a well thought out provisioning/load balancing panel that AWS in the raw is missing, and that companies like RightScale is charging HUNDEREDS of dollars MONTHLY to use. So another plus for...
Check out http://www.gogrid.com and again, I HAVE NOT TRIED THEM. I HAVE NO AFFILIATIONS with them either.
Check out GoGrid Versus AMAZON(EC2) showdown.
