The following press release came out today about GoGrid’s parent company, ServePath, and discusses how Gartner has included ServePath as a “Cool Vendor” for development done under the GoGrid brand as related to Cloud Computing.

ServePath Named “Cool Vendor” by Leading Analyst Firm

Vendors selected for the “Cool Vendor report” are innovative, impactful and intriguing

San Francisco, CA April 27, 2009 — ServePath, LLC has been included in the list of “Cool Vendors” in the April 2009 “Cool Vendors in Cloud Computing Systems and Application Infrastructure, 2009” report by Gartner, Inc.

The “Cool Vendor” report by Gartner, Inc. showcases key findings and recommendations to consider when evaluating Cloud server infrastructure services and companies. As defined by Gartner, Cloud services are divided into two general categories: infrastructure and applications. ServePath’s Cloud Computing division, GoGrid, represents excellence within both cloud categories as is evidenced through the Gartner “Cool Vendor” selection of ServePath. The report is available on the Gartner website for a limited time.

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If you are a GoGrid customer, you recently received the April GoGrid newsletter that talks about one of the exciting new features coming from GoGrid, specifically “Personal Server Images” which we call “MyGSIs.”

Definitions

First, it probably would be helpful to understand some of the new & current terms we are using:

• Base GoGrid Server Image is a standard GoGrid server images (e.g., Windows or Linux) that is created by GoGrid and currently available within the GoGrid system for deploying servers
  
• Image Sandbox is a development environment where you can create a “MyGSI.” Server Images created within the Sandbox are unique in that they have a predefined RAM allocation and hard drive sizes and are only used temporarily to create a Server Image. Images created within the Sandbox contain any and all custom code or applications that you choose to put on them.
  
• MyGSIs are based on either a Base GoGrid Server Image or other MyGSIs but where you have the ability to personally configure, customize and save it to your liking from the Image Sandbox environment. They are used to spawn or instantiate new custom servers within GoGrid, with all your customizations, code and applications present.
  

Think of MyGSIs as originals that can be used to make copies, much the way you would have a Golden Master CD and you would make copies or clones based off of that Golden Master.

Usage

From a high level, creating a Sandbox Image can be done in 3 easy steps:

1. Add an Image Sandbox;
2. Install, Configure & Prepare (bundling scripts) your Image Sandbox for imaging;
3. Save your Server Image from your Image Sandbox to your personal Images repository on Cloud Storage.

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Web Applications like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, SugarCRM and others are all the rage and have been for quite a while. The huge availability of Open Source applications, typically based on Linux, Apache, mySQL and PHP (LAMP stacks) that you can find in SourceForge or other repositories, makes the implementation of powerful web-based solutions a snap. Once you find the web application of your dreams, the next step is finding a hosting provider. There are many VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting providers that offer shared hosting at pennies on the dollar. But with those VPS solutions, you are left with exactly that, a “shared” environment. So, if someone else on your shared server is running bad scripts or code that sucks up resources on your server, you are affected with little or no recourse to resolve other than to complain, moan or move to a different provider.

So, as you grow (or as your service deteriorates due to the resource-sucking of others on your shared box), you are left with a decision of what to do next. Many people choose the most obvious upgrade path of leasing a dedicated server (e.g., at ServePath, we offer dedicated, managed hosting) or colocating (where you bring your own hardware and a hosting provider like Coloserve leases space, power, cooling, security and bandwidth). But now, you have another option that truly fits the model of delivering scalable web hosting…put in in the Cloud, with GoGrid, for example.

Recently I helped map out the implementation of a secure, redundant, load-balanced web application in the Cloud using GoGrid.

Original Setup

A client originally set up the following implementation of a WordPress blog on GoGrid:

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GoGrid was an exhibitor at the 2009 Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco last week. It’s a show devoted to Web 2.0 companies and technologies. We host many Web 2.0-ers on GoGrid, mainly because it’s an ideal environment to set up a dynamically scalable infrastructure, billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. Perfect for that boot-strapped company or business that are really watching their IT bottom line and don’t want huge capital expenditures hitting their already tight budgets.

Here are some photos taken by GoGrid’s Tim Wayne.

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Many GoGrid users may have noticed a new tab that has appeared within the GoGrid Web Interface. The new "Jobs" tab is a great new addition for those who want details on any action or activity that has taken place on an object (e.g., Server, Load Balancer, Cloud Storage) within their GoGrid account.

Think of this new section as your GoGrid log file. It keeps track of actions that you have made on objects in your account, broken down chronologically. In fact, since we have been keeping an internal log for some time, many of your older activities prior to the release of this feature will show up in your log. Also, if you use the GoGrid API, any requests made through the API show up in the Job section as well.

GoGrid actions that are currently tracked are:

• Add Server
• Delete Server
• Restart Server
• Add Load Balancer
• Delete Load Balancer
• Add Cloud Storage

All actions are also logged with the following information:

• Date & Time (UTC timestamp – a good time converter can be found here)
• Action Details
• Action Status
• User that requested the action

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C|net and Webware have announced their list of user-submitted nominations for the 2009 Webware 100. Of the numerous nominations, GoGrid was then later selected by the Webware editors as one of the final 100 in the list. This is a “People’s Choice” type of award around the best Web 2.0 applications and services. More information about the Webware 100 can be found here.

To jump right to the voting for GoGrid, under the Infrastructure & Storage category, please click here or click the logo below.

There are 10 categories that users can vote on, as well as an 11th category where the Webware editors select an additional winner. The categories are:

• Audio and music: Music streaming and download, podcasting, audio book services, recommendation systems.
• Browsing: Tools to access online content, including browsers, start pages, RSS readers, widgets, and runtime engines
• Commerce: Retail, auctions, marketplaces, travel, event tickets, and real estate
• Communications: E-mail, chat, voice
• Infrastructure and storage: Web app platforms and tools; online storage and synchronization products
• Location-based services: Mapping, friend finders, business locators, geographic services (new category for 2009)
• Photo and video: Photo storage, sharing, and editing; video storage, playback, streaming, editing, and animation
• Productivity: Tools for work and organization
• Search and reference: Data and ways to find it; search tools and knowledge repositories like wikis
• Social and publishing: Social networking, shared online environments, content management, blogging, and micro-blogging
• Editors’ awards: To be announced, but these will include awards for up-and-coming products, design, innovative use of technology, and so on.

GoGrid was nominated under the “Infrastructure and storage” category and we couldn’t be happier. We have been providing Infrastructure “in the Cloud” since our launch at the beginning of 2008. Others have already “seen the light” as evidenced by our Linux World 2008 Product Excellence Award of “BEST OF SHOW.”

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It’s been quite a few weeks since we all got together to share intelligent tech conversation, drinks and food. Now you don’t have an excuse with SFBeta happening tomorrow night. GoGrid is a sponsor of this event and if you come and see us, we will definitely make it worth your while.

For those interested, we will be handing out some high-value GoGrid discount cards good for $125 off new GoGrid accounts. Just to make it exciting, we will even be handing out a few higher value cards worth $200!

Here are the details on SFBeta:

DATE: Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
TIME: 5:00PM to 9:00PM (PT)
LOCATION: 111 Minna Gallery @ 111 Minna St in San Francisco

Tickets are $15 online and $25 at the door.

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