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Category: Cloud Sites

  • Cloud Sites Combined With Cloud Database

    I just saw this tweet:

    I’m not sure what it means. Cloud Sites themselves come with their own database, so what’s different about a Cloud Site with a Cloud Database?  And if you combine those two, what’s the difference between that combination and just having a Cloud Server? What you are seeing now is served by a regular old Cloud Site, obviously a WordPress installation, aided by a free edition of CloudFlare. Most times, it’s pretty good on Pingdom, coming in at below 4 seconds load time. Every once in a while it screams at below a second, and I about have my own nerd orgasm. But what would happen if the Database were a “Cloud” Database?

  • How Much RAM do Rackspace Cloud Sites Have?

    selfp31213As I’ll no longer be able to run RackspaceReseller.com, (that was a dumb name anyway! I had just merely thought of it on a whim a couple years ago) because it uses the Rackspace trademarked name, I’ll be consolidating all my blogging on the subject here, which, you know, for my personality, may be a better thing. I get to feeling fragmented when I have my different interests sort of “sprayed” around on different domains. Then those domains get neglected, etc. etc.

    So today, I had a question come in from India about Cloud Sites. I get these questions often as I’m reselling what are now called “Sub-Accounts” within Cloud Sites (They used to be referred to as “Clients”)

    Anyway, as is typical, there is a great confusion in the marketplace between Cloud Sites and “Cloud Servers.”

    The question I had today was concerning RAM, random access memory, and this particular potential client was talking about 1.5-2GB of RAM. Well, immediately I knew that he should or probably would need “Cloud Servers” because I knew that the approximate or equivalent amount of RAM in Cloud Sites defaults to only 128MB (Although it can be raised to up to 512MB using the .htaccess file)

    Now, on Cloud Sites, this really refers to the amount of memory that PHP can access. But from my understanding with the live chat I just had with Rackspace, it’s a pretty close approximation to the amount of overall RAM that one might say a Cloud Site has access to.

    Cloud Servers are actually assigned a RAM number as you can see in this product description and offering page: http://www.rackspace.com/cloud/servers/techdetails/

    Whereas “Cloud Sites” are really not assigned a specific number for RAM, but they will tell you that the default on the PHP Memory value is 128MB.

    Well, I hope that clarifies this question. If there’s something I’ve gotten wrong and that I should be corrected about, please leave a comment below.

    If you are interested in purchasing a Sub-Account of Rackspace Cloud Sites, you can see my available plans and subscribe here: http://stephenpickering.com/rackspace-cloud-sites/

    Of course, before you decide on anything, I would suggest reading about Cloud Sites on their official page here: http://www.rackspace.com/cloud/sites/

    As always, if you have any questions call me: +1(501)291-1375 or email me: [email protected]

  • The Difference Between Rackspace Cloud Sites and Cloud Servers

    This has been on my mind for some time, as I am a customer and reseller of Cloud Sites. I think the simple explanation is like how Steve Jobs explained the difference between Desktops and tablets: “Trucks vs. Cars.”

    Cloud Sites, while being very powerful and very scalable, are more for serving content. This blog post you are reading is being served by Cloud Sites, running WordPress. WordPress and other “CMSs” (Content Management Systems) are perfect for Cloud Sites, being astonishingly easy to use, while being powerful enough to handle all the traffic you can send to it, without crashing.

    Cloud Servers is more for websites that are designed as services. While being perfectly capable of running WordPress and content, for that type of application, Cloud Servers may be overkill, as well as being more technically difficult to set up and maintain (One of the many benefits of Cloud Sites is that all of the technical stuff is actively maintained and managed 100% for you). A services type website (Think Twitter, Facebook, an Online Photo Editor) is a destination people go to do some type of application in the “Cloud” as it were as opposed to running it on their own computer. Yes, I know, Twitter and Facebook are places where you consume content, but they are also services where you create content (in these cases to share). So simply put, “Services” websites are like computers in the Cloud, where a lot of computation power is needed to provide a computational “service” and then output into and from the Cloud.

    So if you have a website designed to inform or display content, go Cloud Sites. If you are planning a computational intensive website, that’s designed to be more of a service to your visitors, Cloud Servers is probably your best bet.

    ————————————————————–

    Since this blog post was originally written and published on RackspaceReseller.com/blog which was a domain I originally ran, but had to take down, I made a photo copy of the one comment that was originally on it before I moved the post over here. Here the photo of the comment:

    dberoffcomment122912

  • Rackspace Cloud Sites Advantages: Pages that Load in under 2 Seconds

    pingdom load testAnd as you can see from the photo to the right, you sometimes even get Millisecond loads! And keep in mind that is all the way from Amsterdam to Dallas/Ft. Worth.

    I would be remiss if I didn’t mention CloudFlare here too. I use CloudFlare connected to my Cloud Sites account. And they are at least partially if not the majority reason one gets such fast load times. They do a lot of things to optimize every aspect of your site as well as protecting it from botnets, scrapers, hackers, and email harvesters.

    Oh, and did I mention CloudFlare is free? I mean they do have a paid version, but the free version, which I’m using, gives you all these advantages I’m talking about. Never has a company built up such good will in my brain. I’ll probably end up paying for the “Pro” version just because of the amount of “Goodwill” they’ve built up in my brain.

    This company should be one of Seth Godin’s “Case Studies.”

    Anyway, the advantage of Cloud Sites is simply that you get the best in managed hosting, best equipment, facilities, data center, Cloud Technologies, 24×7 fanatical maintenance. The “best in class” nature of the facilities combined with Cloud Technology, allows for two additional things: Superior Uptime and the ability to handle all the traffic that can be thrown at it.

    Now you can step up to a dedicated server, or even a Cloud Server, but the performance you get with Cloud Sites + CloudFlare for the price and the level of management, I believe, is unmatched.

    To me, Cloud Sites is like the Apple of hosting. You know you’re getting the ‘best’ but it’s also easy to use. You feel safe, and you don’t feel like you have to be a geek to use it. Although if you are a geek, and there’s nothing wrong with that (I’m at least part geek), it’s still a lot of fun to work with.

  • Received a New Cloud Site Sub Account Customer

    I received a new Cloud Site Customer yesterday. A fellow named Josh Barker. He did a WordPress install for his wife’s site: http://www.dahliasfloral.com/

    It’s a really great looking site. I’m envious! But I really appreciate the business and the kind words he wrote me at the end of yesterday:

    “You are so quick- I really appreciate the responsiveness.  It was your responsiveness that enabled me to get my wife’s site up in a day!  You’re just as good, if not better than Rackspace’s support!

    http://www.dahliasfloral.com/

    Regards,
    Josh”

    Also, I learned something from Josh that I didn’t know about Cloud Sites. As he is an ASP.NET developer he was able to inform me that Rackspace Cloud Sites could be enabled to run ASP.NET or as the Tech from Rackspace put it, whom I chatted with, I guess it’s also known simply as .NET 4.0.

    I always knew that Cloud Sites could be enabled to run either Linux/PHP or Windows/.NET or actually have both technologies enabled on the same site, but I didn’t know that there was a special ‘flavor’ of .NET called ASP and that it could be enabled, upon special request, as a technology for your Rackspace Cloud Site.
    Cool too know. And great to learn something new. Thanks again, Josh.
    If you are interesting in purchasing a Cloud Site Sub-Account from me, here are my plans and pricing: http://stephenpickering.com/rackspace-cloud-sites/
  • Rackspace Cloud Site Questions

    Just takes a few minutes to set up your account and your website inside the Cloud Sites Control Panel.

    Incoming email from 6-25-11 interested in my Reselling Rackspace Cloud Sites service:

    “Hi Stephen, I’m interested in your rackspace cloud site, I am still thinking which plan should I choose. I will contact you again when I made final decison, but I hope you can tell me how long will it need to set up for my account from your side? Thank you,xxxxxxxxxxx”

    Answer: Thanks so much for your interest and your question!
    If I am at the computer with your information, then it just takes a few minutes to set up your account and your website. For your website the system will immediately generate a “testing” URL for you to FTP your files to and be able to see them on the web. Once your DNS propagates over (usually takes 48hrs) then everything you’ve uploaded to the testing URL will be visible at your own domain name.
    So the answer basically is just a few minutes. But, I’ll need to be notified. And as I may only check my email once per day, you may need to call me or text me if you want more immediate service: (501)291-1375 (Google Voice) or (501)350-9115 Direct AT&T line to iPhone. Either will work for voice or text.
    Or if that is not practical because you live out of the US, if you have a Facebook or a Twitter and you message me on there, it usually shows up as a “Push Notification” which pops up on my iPhone screen like a text.
    My Twitter is http://twitter.com/pickering (If you send an @ Reply to @Pickering, it should work like a text.)
    *Note: You can check out my available plans HERE or HERE
    *You can enter your info to open an account HERE.
    *More FAQ is available HERE.
    My phone number is (501)291-1375 call or text anytime
    Snail Mail:
    Stephen Pickering
    20 Avignon Court
    Little Rock, AR. 72223
    U.S.A.