GoGrid Blog

Many of you have been waiting in anticipation for this moment…well now it is here! This week we have launched Windows Server 2008 in GoGrid. GoGrid continues to trail blaze the way in the Cloud Computing marketplace and leapfrog others in the space. Windows Server 2008 in the Cloud is something that others don’t provide to this extent, at least, not that I have found. We already have a huge unique list of Cloud Hosting features (e.g., free load balancing, free static IPs, public and private VLANs, free support - offering true “Control in the Cloud”) and the addition of Windows Server 2008 as an Operating System is just another check in the box.

Now, starting at just $0.19 per GB RAM hour and with NO up-front commitment nor capital expenditure, you can try and deploy Windows Server 2008 in the GoGrid Cloud. For just cents on the dollar, you can do a variety of things including:

• Deploy a full .NET environment
• Educate yourself on the latest and greatest technology from Microsoft
• Set up a development or QA environment using the Microsoft framework
• Just play around with Windows Server 2008

So, why is Windows Server 2008 such an important OS? Here are just a few highlights:

• IIS 7.0 - it comes with the latest and greatest version of Internet Information Services (IIS 7.0) which has improved administration via the IIS Manager graphical tool, modular design and installation, and full set of diagnostic and troubleshooting tools.
• New Server Manager -  this is a new single MMC console that allows admins to view and manage the tools that affect server productivity. Roles and Features can be easily added or removed via the Manager and include several streamlined wizards to help with some common server management tasks. There is also an easy way to remotely manage the server over firewall-friendly ports.
• Read Only Domain Controllers (RODC) - provides a replica of the database in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) and is designed to be installed in locations where physical security for the Domain Controller (DC) cannot be guaranteed. It also allows for local authentication for users in remote location and provide local and Active Directory Integrated DNS and Global Catalog (GC) services.
• Network Access Protection (NAP) - this new feature prevents non-compliant computers from accessing and compromising an organization’s network and allows for admins to create “health policies” for clients (e.g., firewall-enabled virus software).

More details can be found on the “Windows Server 2008: Why Upgrade to Windows Server 2008?” page on the Windows Server 2008 website.

GoGrid offers the following Windows Server 2008 32-bit configurations currently (64-bit will be added shortly):

• Windows Server 2008 Standard with Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS 7)
• Windows Server 2008 Standard with IIS 7 and SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
• Windows Server 2008 Standard with IIS 7, SQL Server 2005 Express Edition and ASP.NET

These images include Terminal Services Gateway, Remote Desktop Client for Terminal Services, Application Server, Active Directory Domain Services, DHCP Server, DNS Server and SMTP (remember, you must officially request to have port 25 unblocked on GoGrid in order to send/receive email).

We continue to offer 32 and 64 bit cloud servers for Windows Server 2008, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and CentOS with a variety of pre-configured templates (mySQL, PostgreSQL, LAMP stack, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 editions, and Ruby On Rails). More exciting features are coming soon so stay tuned!

Peter Wayner, contributing editor of the InfoWorld Test Center, today posted a side-by-side comparison of 4 Cloud Computing providers: Amazon EC2, Google App Engine, GoGrid and AppNexus, titled “Cloud versus cloud: A guided tour of Amazon, Google, AppNexus, and GoGrid.” What was fairly obvious was that there isn’t a clear “winner” simply because Cloud Computing is so new and standards are still being written. What was clear, is that Wayner believes that GoGrid is “easy to use” and differentiates itself through the offering of both Windows and Linux cloud server images.

Wayner writes:

“GoGrid also has a wider variety of OS images ready to go. There is the usual collection of CentOS/Fedora and common LAMP stacks. If you need Windows, you can have Windows Server 2003 with IIS 6.0, and Microsoft SQL Server is available at extra cost. There are also images with Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, and the Facebook application server. These make it a bit easier to start up. “

Wayner also recorded a video of his analysis of GoGrid. Below he shows how a GoGrid cloud server can be easily and quickly deployed as well as some of the management features within the GoGrid control panel:

Wayner writes: “while GoGrid offers many of the same services as Amazon’s EC2, the Web-based control panel is much easier to use than the EC2 command line.” However, to round out the offering, it is important to mention that the GoGrid API is now available for use by all GoGrid users. GoGrid now truly offers full “Control in the Cloud.” The extensibility that the API gives moves GoGrid quickly to the top of the Cloud Computing provider list.

Yesterday we officially launched the new GoGrid API and I wanted to pass on a few notable mentions that recently appeared in the blogosphere. This release was a fairly significant event for us as well as for users of Cloud Computing because for the first time, users now have a choice of using either a slick and intuitive web-based interface or an Application Programming Interface (API), depending on their needs.

NetworkWorld

Technology writer, Mark Gibbs, who has been closely following GoGrid’s progress over the past few months writes:

“The GoGrid API is remarkable because of its depth – through a REST-style interface it provides access to everything that the GoGrid platform can do including configuring components, starting and stopping services, and retrieving status information as well as real time usage and billing data. “

He continues by discussing some possible options for hooking the GoGrid API into a Microsoft Visio COM object or C# to use Visio to diagram and control the service architecture. He extends this idea to incorporate the use of Business Objects’ Xcelsius to potentially create comprehensive GoGrid dashboards.

Additionally, he calls out to other services providers with a global wake-up call:

“GoGrid’s API is the kind of positioning that all service providers should adopt – complete openness on the front end so that customers can use the default user interface or where they have specific service goals they can interface to the service with alternative and extended user interfaces.”

C|Net News

Dan Rosenberg, who discusses the dynamics of growing a startup company on c|net’s Negative Approach blog, comments on how GoGrid has moved from what was “previously called Utility Computing to more of a full-on Cloud approach.”

He, like Gibbs, see the importance of pushing the envelop with Cloud Computing, stating:

“It’s pretty interesting to see the smaller, bleeding edge vendors figure this stuff out before the BigCo’s. This should put some pressure on those who still seem to be missing the Cloud blimp.”

TechCrunchIT

TechCrunchIT, who exclusively covered GoGrid reaching the 1000 paying customer mark, also reported on the release outlining the more technical aspects of the API. Cameron Christoffers writes:

“The API allows user’s to programmatically control their GoGrid environment. This allows users to, for example, auto-scale the GoGrid instance in a timely and efficient manner…GoGrid delivers similar on-demand, pay-by-the-hour server hosting as Amazon’s EC2, but uniquely offers a web-based GUI, Windows Cloud servers, free load balancing, and free support deals.”

Calling All Press and Bloggers

If there are any press or bloggers who are interested in reviewing GoGrid and/or the new GoGrid API, please fill out the Contact form and I will guide you through the process.

TechCrunchIT, the latest property of TechCrunch, released a story about GoGrid reaching its 1000th paying customer since the service entered public beta in  mid-March. TechCrunchIT “obsessively” profiles products and companies in the Enterprise Technology space, aiming to “promote an understanding of emerging and existing Enterprise technologies.”

TechCrunchIT was able to set up a quick infrastructure on GoGrid, complete with 2 Web Servers, 1 Database Server and Load Balance the entire thing in under 30 minutes from server and load balancer creation to serving web pages from a blog. The server instances only “took a few minutes” to create and were fully configured within another 10-15 minutes.

TechCrunchIT makes a particular point around the ease-of-use of GoGrid’s web interface compared to other Cloud offerings that do not offer anything similar:

“The control panel and feedback interface has a definite advantage.”

There is some discussion around the RAM GB hour, comparisons to EC2 and CPU horsepower. Users with questions around any of these topics should review the following:

• General GoGrid Pricing
• Volume Discount Pricing Plans
• GoGrid versus Amazon’s EC2
• General FAQs (regarding CPU)

Best thing that you can do is to just experience GoGrid first hand through the free $50 trial offer currently available which allows you to fully test GoGrid for a few days for free!

The dust is still settling from Structure08 put on by GigaOM but the general vibe is that it was a solid event. With well over 600 people in attendance, Structure08 lived up to its promise of delivering timely information to businesses on how they could plan their future computing infrastructure needs.

Here’s a quick round up of GoGrid at Structure08.

GoGrid in Webware

Rafe Needleman, editor for Webware.com,  spoke at length with GoGrid CEO, John Keagy, and within hours posted the results of his interview this article titled “Tiny (comparatively) GoGrid takes on Amazon Web Services“. Rafe actually summarized GoGrid as compared to Amazon’s EC2 into something that could even be written multiple time in a single Twitter message (within the 140 character limit): “The GoGrid pitch: We’re cheaper. And easier.”

Rafe writes:

“I can’t do a hands-on with these two cloud services, but there are a few other points that I found interesting. First, GoGrid offers virtual Windows services, as well as Linux, and about 50 percent of its installations are for Windows processes. Some popular Web 2.0 services, like CommunityServer, are still Windows-only.

Also, GoGrid has never had a system-wide outage, as Amazon has. Keagy is realistic, though: “We’re in beta. It will happen to us too.” But, he says, with well-designed systems, recovery can be swift.”

Be sure to give Rafe’s article a read.

John Keagy Structure08 Interview

Our CEO John spent a few minute in front of the camera discussing what was important about Structure08 and how GoGrid fit perfectly into the mix.

This video and others from Structure08 are also available at the Mogulus Structure08 channel.

Photos from Structure08

More photos from this event can be found on the ServePath Flickr account.

Following Structure08 on Twitter (via Hashtags)

For those interested in reading the “real-time” stream coming from people who use Twitter and flag their Tweets with Hashtags, you can see the Structure08 Hashtag stream here. (Follow me on Twitter here.)

Today, InfoWorld’s Tech Writer, Bill Snyder, brought GoGrid solidly into the race with Amazon’s EC2 with his article titled “Red Hat the latest proof that cloud computing is serious business.” Snyder, who has been following technology and the business of technology for 25 years, discusses GoGrid’s “point-and-click infrastructure” and its ease of use in this article.

While Bill mentions that cloud computing may not be ready for large-scale business or the enterprise, he does point out that it is a force to be reckoned with and that the services of GoGrid and Amazon’s EC now “will give a lot of users a chance to take cloud computing for a low-risk, real-world test drive.” I personally predict that the adoption of cloud computing and cloud infrastructure by the enterprise will be a slow uptake at first, most likely rolling out into skunkwork divisions, short-term projects or IT evaluation scenarios, but that within a few years, business not seriously considering “the cloud” will be behind in their technical and competitive advantages.

Snyder highlights a real-world GoGrid success (that I covered here) about how ScribbleLive was able to handle multiple million page view requests in a short amount of time during the Apple World Wide Developer’s Conference. He emphasized the importance of easy and quick scalability coupled with cost-effectiveness provided by GoGrid:

“ScribbleLive, a two-person operation, quickly scaled up using GoGrid, and was able to keep running with little or no loss of throughput. The price: $15 for a day of server time, plus bandwidth charges. Hmm. Maybe the folks at Mozilla, who tried to set a world’s record for downloads of the new Firefox browser but wound up crashing their site, could have done something similar.”

Simplicity is another key factor that Snyder outlines in his review, stating:

“In theory, at least, setting up servers on GoGrid seems almost too easy. Once a client signs up for the service, an IT staffer can point a browser to GoGrid’s site and choose a configuration from a variety of pull down menus. GoGrid supports Windows Server 2003, CentOS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.”

His article also comments on pricing, the GoGrid infrastructure and plans for the future. Definitely give Snyder’s article a read as it successfully boils GoGrid down to a few nicely-crafted paragraphs of analysis.

NetworkWorld today ran a review of GoGrid in their Web Applications Alert newsletter. Mark Gibbs, consultant, author, journalist, columnist and blogger, provides a candid analysis of GoGrid’s current offering in the review titled “Cloud Computing for the Middle Market.” However, it’s his sub-title provides the best summary: “With GoGrid you can provision a server in less than five minutes,” a fact that he experienced first hand.

For several months now, I have been touting the strengths of GoGrid through articles, blog responses, social networks and other media channels. Gibbs echoes many of GoGrid’s strengths (and a few weaknesses even) in his careful analysis. Some highlights:

“A new entrant in this market is GoGrid, currently in its Public Beta phase. I’ve tested the service and what GoGrid claims is true – you can provision a server in less than five minutes. A few minutes more and you can have more servers as well as load balancers and databases.”

Later Gibbs continues:

“GoGrid is very easy to expand and contract as needed and there’s a choice of operating systems to use (Windows as well as several Linux distros with different services configurations). Add to that 24/7 support and GoGrid is a very interesting platform for a variety of markets.”

It is Gibbs’ conclusion that contains the most resounding comment:

“GoGrid is somewhat ahead of the market with this service – maybe six months at present – and if it can get all its enhancements and improvements in place on the schedule it has discussed then GoGrid could become a market leader.”

I had several conversations with Mark during the review process and we heartily agreed about several things. Most importantly, there is potentially a huge market initiative for SMBs (Small and Medium Businesses) and small enterprises to really take advantage of these emerging technologies like GoGrid. As cloud computing becomes much more mainstream, the solutions available within that arena become financial and technologically more viable to all sizes of companies.

IT budgets are tighter (or even barely existent) now. Gone are the requirements to have month-long contracts for servers or even have huge capital expenditures to simply “trial” your product within the marketplace. I have said this before and continue to restate it: business should spend their time working on their business applications and not worrying as much about the infrastructure driving it. Assuming these business applications are built well, let the technology experts worry about the infrastructure. GoGrid is leading the way with providing “control in the cloud” in a way that is simple from a usability standpoint yet extremely powerful from a technological perspective.