Recently, Microsoft announced WebMatrix, a free Web development suite of software and tools that bring together a Web Server, a database and programming frameworks all within a single, integrated solution. WebMatrix allows you to code, test and deploy ASP.NET and PHP applications, all within the same environment. What does this have to do with GoGrid you might ask? Well it’s pretty simple actually, once you have developed your application locally on your PC’s desktop, you will need an easy way to copy it over and show to the world. GoGrid has worked with Microsoft to create a seamless publishing and hosting experience practically effortless.

To make it easy for new GoGrid users, we are offering a $150 GoGrid service credit for you to get started with Microsoft WebMatrix and GoGrid. To get going, simply sign-up here.

About WebMatrix (and a bit of GoGrid)

Microsoft does a clear job outlining the features of WebMatrix, specifically:

• Small, but complete package – simply download and install WebMatrix for free on your desktop. From there, you can immediately start to use the built-in webserver, database and programming framework to jump-start your web-development. And, you can quickly get started on the hosting side of things as well by deploying a GoGrid server that is ready to automatically connect to WebMatrix.
• Grows with you – you start simple and then grow as your application and development grows, much like that of Cloud Computing. As your coding expands, you can easily integrate Visual Studio into your work environment. Similarly, you can update the built-in database from SQL Server Compact to a full-blown Microsoft SQL Server.
• Start > Open Source – if you aren’t ready to start from scratch, WebMatrix includes a variety of popular and free open source applications like WordPress, Joomla!, Umbraco and DotNetNuke. Just choose your software package from the library and WebMatrix will download and install the software. And you can tweak each environment using the built-in code editor.
• Database made simple – don’t let data-driven websites scare you either. If your web application needs to serve data like a online catalog or CMS, WebMatrix has you covered by providing a small, embedded database (SQL Server Compact). But the really nice thing is, once you are done doing all of the development on your Desktop, you can publish your database quickly and easily to your GoGrid production environment.
• Elegant interface, simple experience – WebMatrix has editors galore! It includes a rich code editor and database editor, but also has easy management consoles for SEO, web server management and FTP publishing as well. Couple this management with the ease of use of the GoGrid portal and you can’t go wrong.
• Simple to code – at GoGrid, we have always believed in adhering to industry standards when it comes to hosting and managing infrastructure. WebMatrix follows a similar suit by sticking to HTML, CSS & JavaScript standards. Your code is easy to read and by using the software suite, you can do some learning in the process as you create your next web application.
• More than “Hello, World” – WebMatrix has a variety of built-in code helpers that make development even easier by simply tagging your HTML.
• Desktop or server, it’s all the same – moving from a desktop development environment to a full-fledged production environment is practically effortless since the Desktop version is built with the same frameworks, web server and database engine as production servers.
• Tightly knit, fully integrated – WebMatrix also acts as the “traffic cop” because of its integration with IIS Developer Express and other Web server components that run your site. You can monitor things in real-time and if an issue pops up, it helps you to track down and resolve that issue.
• Optimized for search – you no longer need to pay a 3rd party to ensure that your website or application is SEO optimized. Built in guides assist you in optimizing your site to the fullest.
• Site publication – once you are ready to move your web site or application to a robust production environment, WebMatrix can help in that selection process. But you may not even need that since GoGrid has partnered with Microsoft to provide a full production-ready environment within the GoGrid cloud. And, we are giving new GoGrid users a $150 service credit to make that on-ramp even faster!

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GoGrid Partner, Librato, who provides a service called Silverline which enables customers to control and maximize the utilization of resources within their cloud servers and datacenter servers, today announced the availability of the Silverline service within the GoGrid cloud.

With a GoGrid server running Silverline, customers can control the amount of resources each workload can consume meaning that you can process your workloads on a smaller number of servers but still ensuring that SLAs with your customers are met. More information about Librato Silverline can be found within the GoGrid Exchange.

There are currently 10 GoGrid Partner Server Images (PGSIs) available with Librato’s Silverline installed:

• CentOS 5.2 (32-bit)
• CentOS 5.2 (64-bit)
• CentOS 5.3 (32-bit)
• CentOS 5.3 (64-bit)
• RHEL 5.4 (32-bit)
• RHEL 5.4 (64-bit)
• Windows Server 2003 (32-bit)
• Windows Server 2003 (64-bit)
• Windows Server 2008 (32-bit)
• Windows Server 2008 (64-bit)

The following Press Release was delivered today about this new offering:

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Yesterday, Cranium Solutions, a GoGrid Partner announced the launch of an automated cloud-based security assessment tool within the GoGrid Exchange.

About Cranium Solutions

Cranium Solutions’ flagship product, ASAP™ (Automated Security Assessment Program), is the first fully automated end-to-end network security testing solution that runs as a Cloud Based Service.  Businesses can perform simple and automated Vulnerability Assessments and Penetration Tests of any systems they have deployed on the GoGrid Cloud. Furthermore, the Cranium Solutions ASAP Service is a GSI based service that can be setup in minutes and requires no configuration by the customer unless they are performing assessments of servers that do not have external IP addresses.

Cranium Solutions on the GoGrid Exchange

There is currently 1 image live on the GoGrid Exchange for Cranium Solutions. It is on a CentOS 5.3 (64 bit) image:

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At GoGrid, we firmly believe that having a rich and developing Partner ecosystem is critical to not only our success but also our customers. GoGrid Partners bring an incredible amount of value-added tools and services in the form of what we call PGSIs (Partner GoGrid Server Images) and we work with them closely to ensure that our joint offerings provide as much value as possible. If you haven’t explored the GoGrid Exchange, I encourage you to do so as we have a variety of tailored solutions to meet a wide variety of needs.

Categories for PGSIs currently include: Software & Applications, Development & Testing, Disaster Recovery & Backup, Cloud Management, Security, Monitoring & Reporting and more. Also, we are actively looking for new technology-enablers in the form of Partners so if you have a SaaS or PaaS offering that you would like to potentially be included in the GoGrid Exchange, simply fill out this form and we will start you on your way. All of our current partners are listed here.

Have you used a Partner GSI? If so, every Partner Server Image has a rating and comments section so that you can Review any of the images that you use. We hope that you will provide feedback as it helps us and our partners better evaluate the usefulness of their images on GoGrid.

NEW Partner Images

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Today, MuleSoft, who specializes in enterprise-class software, and GoGrid announced the availability of the industry’s first commercially-supported cloud-based Apache Tomcat offering known as Cloudcat as a GoGrid Partner Server Image (GSI). The Partner GSI by MuleSoft contains their product Cloudcat which allows developers and QA personnel to build and test web applications easily in the cloud using a pre-installed & configured Apache Tomcat application server. Having Cloudcat contained within a Partner GSI is important to GoGrid users because it eliminates the need of having to do a manual Tomcat download, installation or configuration. Apache Tomcat is the world’s most widely used application server, with over 1 million downloads per month and over 70% penetration in the enterprise datacenter.

More information about MuleSoft and Cloudcat can be found within the GoGrid Exchange on the MuleSoft Partner Page. There are currently two MuleSoft/Cloudcat images available on GoGrid:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 (32-bit)
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 (64-bit)

These images have a monthly (recurring) cost of $29/server (in addition to standard GoGrid RAM and Bandwidth charges).

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Today we sent out the January 2010 GoGrid Customer Update to all GoGrid customers. We wanted to ensure that all people who are interested in GoGrid have access to the latest and greatest information coming from our headquarters so the full newsletter is posted below. If you want to get regular updates similar to this newsletter, I recommend that you subscribe to the GoGrid blog RSS feed, subscribe to blog post via email, follow us on Twitter (@GoGrid) as well as become a GoGrid Facebook Fanpage.

Below is the entire GoGrid Newsletter (January 2010):

Hello Michael,

On behalf of everyone here at GoGrid, I want to wish you a very successful 2010!  We are starting the year off with a bang that includes some exciting new developments that I want to share with you in this edition of the GoGrid Newsletter.  Here are the specific topics:

1. New Features and System Enhancements
2. GoGrid CDN: New Singapore and Paris Points of Presence (POPs)
3. New Partner GSIs
4. Preventative Power Maintenance
5. End-of-Life: CentOS 5.1 w/Apache &  RHEL 5.1 w/Apache operating systems
6. New CentOS 5.3 & RHEL 5.4 base operating systems
7. Two New 3rd Party Services to Monitor your GoGrid Servers
8. Hosting for Haiti

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In an effort to be as proactive as possible, GoGrid has officially notified select customers of the removal (End of Life – EoL) of two specific GoGrid images. The users that were notified are ones that are actively using the images. On 2/9/10, GoGrid will be removing the following images from the GoGrid image repository:

• CentOS – CentOS 5.1 (64-bit) w/ Apache 2.2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux – RHEL 5.1 (64-bit) w/ Apache 2.2

I’m sure that some of you will have questions about this. In anticipation of this, I have compiled some quick Q&A’s:

Question: What does the removal of these images mean?

Answer: Simply that after the removal date, they will no longer appear within the GoGrid Image Selection widget.

Question: I have server(s) deployed that use these images? Will they continue to function?

Answer: Yes, there is no change to how your server(s) will function if they are using one of these EoL-ed images. Just be sure that you keep everything current within those servers.

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Today GoGrid officially launched a new micro-site called the GoGrid Exchange where users can view information about various Partner GSIs (GoGrid Server Images) available in the GoGrid cloud. Partner GSIs were developed to provide our partners with a means to share with or sell their custom MyGSIs (GoGrid Server Images) to interested users. These Partner GSIs come complete with pre-installed and pre-configured software or application stacks, specialized in a variety of expertise including:

• Internet Security
• Backup
• Monitoring
• Web Applications
• Compliance
• Application Scaling
• and MORE!

As more partners come on board at GoGrid, more specialized images will be added to the Partner GSI repository. Many are live now!

The GoGrid Exchange

The GoGrid Exchange was created to provide a community center where users could read about and rate the various Partner GSIs available on GoGrid. By using a PartnerGSI, you can dramatically reduce your time to market launching new software or service offerings or ensuring that your offering is robust and resilient.

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A few months ago, we introduced MyGSIs (personal server images) which allow users to create custom personal GSI (GoGrid Server Images) with all of their code, applications and data. These personal server images are then compressed and stored in GoGrid’s Cloud Storage for use later instantiating copies of those MyGSIs within a user’s GoGrid cloud. Building upon that framework, backend structure and concept, we have released Partner GSIs and the GoGrid Exchange.

A Partner GSI appears in the same list of servers or sandboxes available for deployment. GoGrid has a growing number of partners, each of which specialize in a variety of capabilities including internet security, backup, monitoring, web applications, compliance and application scaling. New partners are being added regularly so be sure to check the GoGrid Partner page for additions. Also, a new “microsite”, called the GoGrid Exchange, will be launching shortly where you can get detailed information about Partners and the images they are providing.

To use a Partner GSI, simply select it from the server list as you are creating a new GoGrid cloud server. Do note that some partners charge an additional amount for using their pre-packaged GSI. If you use a Partner GSI that has some sort of “token based billing” attached to it, you will receive a charge for the use of that server in your next billing statement. Also, even if you use a Partner GSI that has a billing token assigned to it for an hour (or more), you are charged the full amount associated with that image. There is no partial or fractional billing for Partner GSIs. Partner images will show a different “owner” (see the screenshot below).

BitNami Open Source Web Applications

GoGrid and BitNami have partnered to make open source web applications easy to deploy on GoGrid. The BitNami GSIs make it fast and easy to run web applications for evaluation, development or production purposes. They are fully configured, so you can start using the application immediately after loading the GSI to your GoGrid account.

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A few days ago, the GoGrid newsletter was delivered to our customers. As with the past newsletters, we want to be sure that all interested parties, whether you are a customer or not, are informed of our important updates. We have a wide variety of items that are covered in this November 2009 newsletter so be sure to read on. If you want to get these updates and others regularly, I encourage you to subscribe to the GoGrid RSS feed, follow us on Twitter (@GoGrid) and become a fan of us on the GoGrid Facebook Fanpage.

Below is the entire GoGrid Newsletter (November 2009):

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