I could do that.

By the time c4lCon rolls around, we will be completing the process of
migrating most of our infrastructure to AWS. So far we have migrated
several of our dev servers and some client production servers.

Scale at will is a complex topic and very much depends on the nature
of the application. Most of our clients aren't anticipating a run on
their services, although we did use Elastic Cache and CloudFront to
mitigate an anticipated run on files attached to a big announcement by
an NGO.

Thanks,

Cary

On Thu, Jul 19, 2012 at 11:04 AM, Doran, Michael D <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi Cary,
>
>> Amazon has gone from a metric-less, expensive and difficult to manage
>> system to a solid infrastructure with better performance per dollar
>> than we can get in our datacenter. The bonus is that we can scale at
>> will.
>
> I, for one, would be interested in attending a half-day code4lib preconference workshop covering all the ins and outs of moving from locally hosted servers to Amazon.  Particularly if the presenter has moved multiple *production* servers to Amazon and can cover things like how to "scale at will" based on experience.
>
> -- Michael
>
> # Michael Doran, Systems Librarian
> # University of Texas at Arlington
> # 817-272-5326 office
> # 817-688-1926 mobile
> # [log in to unmask]
> # http://rocky.uta.edu/doran/
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>> Cary Gordon
>> Sent: Monday, July 16, 2012 11:37 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] new server
>>
>> When you look at everything that goes into the TCO, it is hard to make
>> a case for a physical server.
>>
>> We have about 17 years experience running systems starting with the
>> California State Library's DEC Alpha. We won't miss running the
>> datacenter on the weekend to deal with a drive failure.
>>
>> Amazon has gone from a metric-less, expensive and difficult to manage
>> system to a solid infrastructure with better performance per dollar
>> than we can get in our datacenter. The bonus is thatt we can scale at
>> will.
>>
>> Cary
>>
>> On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 6:18 PM, Nate Hill <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>> > I should have anticipated a lot of folks would be pushing AWS or
>> Rackspace
>> > or something off-site.
>> >
>> > At my last job in San Jose I would have *loved* to have outsourced all
>> of
>> > this because of the complications working with both city and University
>> IT
>> > and network.
>> > I would have loved to have kissed those Windows servers goodbye and
>> brushed
>> > up on my Linux and had the 24 hour support and zero downtime guarantee
>> that
>> > came with such a solution.
>> >
>> > In Chattanooga, the situation is different.
>> >
>> > We've got the 1 gig connection, and it is a big piece of this wonderful
>> > city's identity.  I definitely don't know enough about network
>> architecture
>> > to speak meaningfully about it, but we are moving from an antiquated
>> setup
>> > to the fastest public internet in the country.  It's pretty cool.  I
>> don't
>> > think outsourcing is really part of that plan, you know?  I'm really
>> > looking forward to engaging the local geek community in creating local
>> > solutions.
>> >
>> > I do imagine that in the future as we do one-off apps we'll experiment
>> with
>> > AWS.  For now, I'm awfully excited to set up some hardware, have
>> control of
>> > that hardware (that cannot be taken for granted in public libraries)
>> and do
>> > some tinkering.
>> >
>> > Yes... I do need more than just a production server, but I've got some
>> > reconditioned boxes coming from the city that I can play with for
>> testing
>> > and staging (for now).
>> >
>> > For now, this server is going to run/host a Drupal website for the
>> library.
>> >
>> > Please, anybody, do speak up if you think my approach is flawed...
>> >
>> > N
>> >
>> > On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 8:43 PM, Ross Singer <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> >> This answer segues well into my question: why, exactly, do you want a
>> >> physical server?
>> >>
>> >> I realize that there are plenty arguments for running your own
>> hardware
>> >> (and bandwidth is cheap and plentiful in Chattanooga -- which deals
>> with
>> >> the main carrying cost), but, presumably you'll need more than one
>> (for
>> >> replication and whatnot), right?
>> >>
>> >> What exactly do you plan to run/host on this server?
>> >>
>> >> -Ross.
>> >>
>> >> On Monday, July 16, 2012, Cary Gordon wrote:
>> >>
>> >> > We currently use Dell in our datacenter, but we are moving almost
>> all
>> >> > of our servers to AWS over the next 10 months.
>> >> >
>> >> > Thanks,
>> >> >
>> >> > Cary
>> >> >
>> >> > On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 11:52 AM, Nate Hill <[log in to unmask]
>> >> <javascript:;>>
>> >> > wrote:
>> >> > > I'm shopping for a new dedicated server for our public library
>> website.
>> >> > > I'd like to run Ubuntu.
>> >> > > Does anyone have any hardware suggestions/guidance they'd like to
>> >> offer?
>> >> > > I'd like to not spend a zillion dollars.
>> >> > > Thanks-
>> >> > >
>> >> > > --
>> >> > > Nate Hill
>> >> > > [log in to unmask] <javascript:;>
>> >> > > http://www.natehill.net
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > --
>> >> > Cary Gordon
>> >> > The Cherry Hill Company
>> >> > http://chillco.com
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Nate Hill
>> > [log in to unmask]
>> > http://www.natehill.net
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Cary Gordon
>> The Cherry Hill Company
>> http://chillco.com



-- 
Cary Gordon
The Cherry Hill Company
http://chillco.com