Geek Daily

So it’s been a month since I have been running Unbuntu (Hardy) on one of my PCs at home. I just wanted to give a short overview of my experiences so far and some of the things that bug me.

Getting Started

Getting Ubunutu up and running is a snap. The nice installer pretty much takes care of everything. I only had to enter my routers DNS details and I was up and on the Internet, Firefox no less, in probably 20 minutes. Beats the pants off Windows in that respect.

System Updates

Another thing I like about Ubuntu is the updates. They download regularly and install fine in the background. I’ve lost count of the number of reformats I had to due because of bad updates for Windows.

A Bit Of Trouble

Beyond that I am still learning. I’ve installed a few games like FreeCiv and played with my video card settings but nothing too advanced and certainly not without a step-by-step guide telling me what to do.

The one major roadblock that I’ve encountered was trying to install a Jave/JSP development environment. I thought since I was free of Windows and didn’t have Call of Duty or Visual Studio to distract me that it would be a great opportunity to dive back into some Java development.

I installed Java, Tomcat, and Eclipse with no troubles and played around a bit. My problems started when I tried to install Web Tools for Eclipse. I used the update tool built into Eclipse since it seem like the most fool-proof way of getting it installed. The install went fine and evrything finished but when ever I create a web project, class, anything…I get SWT error messages and Eclipse shutsdown. Short story, Eclipse won’t create a web project and I am a little upset.

Not Done Yet

Despite this set back I am pushing forward and determined to become a comfortable everyday Linux user. With Vista a flop and no promise of things getting better I’ll have my XP box for a while still since I couldn’t give up Call of Duty or some of my other favorite games but that is about all it will get used for.

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It amazes me that not more businesses are adopting Cloud Computing. With things like GMail and Google Apps available for free and rivaling the expensive desktop suites like MS Office why not use them? There are many reasons why some businesses choose not to use online applications.

Privacy

This is a huge hurtle for advocates of computing in the cloud. Business just don’t trust a 3rd party to host their sensitive email and business documents. This is for good reason too. There is no way to know 100% for sure that someone is not looking thorugh private communications.

That being said for non business uses cloud computing is perfect for the average internet user. You get access to your email and documents from anywhere in the world at anytime as long as you have an Internet connection.

Reliability

A debate broke out on Slashdot yesterday, as often does, in response to an article posted about recent outages of Google Apps and GMail. The article speculated these outages hurting the adoption of online computing. Some commentors strongly disagreed.

As the debate hit upon different arguments and angles the main discussion centered around GMail versus MS Exchange and which was better and more reliable from a business point of view. There were strong opinions on both sides which got me thinking…there is no right answer. No matter which you choose there will be trade offs. It just depends on your specific needs.

Here is a nice list of pros and cons for each choose. You decide which fits your needs and budget best.

GMail Pros

• FREE or just $50/user/year for premium accounts
• 24/7 access from anywhere with an Internet connection
• Solid reliability from Google’s enterprise data center
• Platform independant
• No overhead costs

GMail Cons

• Must trust Google to respect and protect your privacy
• No access if Internet is down, many fault points along the pipe

MS Exchange Pros

• No 3rd party privacy concerns
• More in control (or at least that is the illusion)
• 24/7 web access (some minor limitations)
• Access to stored emails and can send within network if Internet is down

MS Exchange Cons

• Expensive Windows and Exchange license fees
• Large overhead costs
  • Network administrator(s)
  • Servers and backup technology (data and power)
• Dependant on Windows (some may not care)

I am sure I have missed some points on all those list but those are the basics. You decide what you need and what you can afford to compromise on (financially and personally).

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As someone who has been on both sides of the hosting fence there are few times that I would recommend a client trying to run and manage their own server. Generally, it sounds like a good idea, especially when you look at the cost of managed hosting. It is important to remember that although it may appear cheap to host your own server, using Linux and other open source technologies, the costs can be deceptive and not always be directly tied to money. Most often if careful and honest assessment is done the managed services turn out to be the cheaper option in the end. What am I talking about? Lets see.

Let me clarify that when I talk about running your own server I am not referring to some guy running a Linux web server on an old PC in his basement. I will be comparing both options for the same level and quality of service.

Up front costs

Let’s compare the up front costs for managed hosting and running your own server.

A typical dedicated server will probably start around $175 per month and gives you a modest server with lots of bandwidth and unless you are running heavily used sites or applications then it will most likely be more than enough. So at $175 per month that will cost you $2100 for the year. That may sound like a lot but really it is not because you get a fully functionally server out of the box with operating system and software per installed based on the package you chose. You also get power redundancy because your server is part of a data center. Also the hosting company still owns the hardware and is responsible for replacement if any hardware fails.

If you were to host your own server and you had the same $2100 budget for the first year. Well it would be impossible to build your server, install power redundancy (modest UPS at a minimum), buy the operating system (if you wanted Windows), and buy any backup and protection software. Also on top of that you are going to need a static IP address (you get that as part of the managed services) which can easily run you $100 per month from your ISP which alone eats up over half your budget.

Server administration

Another important thing to consider is server administration. Who is going to run and maintain your server? Who is going to troubleshoot your server when it goes down at 2 in the morning and you start getting panicked calls from your clients.

Most hosting companies will also administer your server for you as part of your managed hosting package, well, for a bit more money of course. This means that if something goes wrong you just call up technical support and they take care of it. This also means they are on the hook for the protection of your data and making sure the backup routine is in place and functioning.

Let’s consider that compared to you having to maintain your own server. If you are a person that is knowledgeable about computers than chances are you could manage to run your server fairly smoothly. On the other hand consider that if you are busy keeping the server running optimally then who is running your business and generating revenue? You can’t do everything and out sourcing your server administration is one of those things you should let go.

Now even if you paid your hosting company double to include server administration into your package ($350 per month or $4200 per year) this is considerably less then a salary for a fulltime IT person which will run you a minimum of $40,000 per year for someone decent and if you decided to use Linux to save money on your OS costs that salary just took a big jump.

Conclusion

The long and short of this post is to say if you need dedicated hosting then go with a professional company because when you stop to consider all the costs involved whether it be money or just peace of mind running your own server will cost you way more.

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Friday Roundup for May 9, 2008

Here is what I found interesting this week.

IE and Windows XP Service Pack 3
Sadly Microsoft has decided to keep shipping IE6 with SP3 for Windows XP. They missed a great opportunity to boost IE7 adoption.

3 Golden Rules For Working From Home
One of the great things about working from your own home is freedom.
Freedom to start work when you want, wear what you want and work the
hours that you want. Right? Well actually, probably not.

In reality working from home doesn’t work like that –- well not in
my experience anyway. You usually end up working normal business hours
plus a few more to boot (though you may still be in your PJs).

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Ever get the feeling that the universe is against you, or at least your computer hates you? Do you know where I am coming from? We have all had those days. I know I sure have but today I want to focus on the misfortune of a fellow blogger, not to kick him while he is down, but to offer some advice and encouragment for the future.

I enjoy reading the posts by Jim over at Blogging Startup. He posts about the ups and downs of blogging and new startups.

Today I saw his post and immediately felt his pain. He has had a rough week finished off with a hard drive crash with only a two week old backup. Talk about a final kick to the teeth. What’s worse his latest work project, that was due today, was completely wiped out in the crash.

Now I hear some of muttering to yourself, “why didn’t he have a more current backup?” Well that is easier said than done and Jim even vows now to do daily backups. I left a comment for Jim pointing out the flaw in his noble intentions. That flaw being himself. We, as human beings, eventually get lazy or we just forget and the universe sees these slip ups and sees fit to punish us at that exact moment.

I too have been in this same boat. I used to run my own web server that hosted my blog, an old one, not this one, as well as my current projects on the go. I enjoyed running my server and learn a lot from setting it up but failed in one area, backups.

I tried to tell myself I would make daily backups but the truth of the matter is I didn’t and wouldn’t you know my hard drive crashed and took my backup drive along with it. So unlike Jim I had nothing, not even a two week old backup, nothing!

I scrambled for the next couple weeks re-doing a project for a client that was nearly done and ended up a week late which didn’t impress them much. Oddly, they have never called me to do another project <sarcasm/>. You see, they identified the flaw in the situation, me! I had failed to take proper care in handling my data, and theirs. I should have had more fail safes in place.

Today I do not do my own hosting altough I am perfectly capable. I just don’t have any interest in spending the money and time in implementing proper backup that hosting requires.

Now back to Jim. I suggested he buy himself an extra hard drive and get some mirroring software to protect himself from repeating this same mistake in the future. Upon writing this post I pin pointed a flaw in my advice. What if the backup drive fails like it did for me?

I want to add to that advice and say go one more step further. Buy a third drive and an external enclosure (USB external hard drive) and have the backup routine included semi regular backups to the external drive as well. The chances of three drives frying on you at the same time are slim.

So Jim, you have my sympathy, but now you are on the hook to protect yourself for next time. Really there is no excuse from us not to learn from the mistake the first time around. Unless you enjoy these type of things ;).

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Here are some stories I found interesting this week. Enjoy!

Graham Langdon, Have You Been Naughty?
There is some bad blood boiling as someone is out to smear John Cow. I also blogged about it here.

Killer Writing Strategies
Alex Shalman shares his secrets on how to write killer articles, and make money doing it.

Microsoft Submits Windows 7 for Antitrust Review
Is the Windows 7 beta just around the corner and can Microsoft recover from their embarrassing Vista debocal?

Tough Times for GoDaddy
Are hard times a head for GoDaddy after these disturbing accusations?

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Vista ‘Kill Switch’ removed as of SP1
Microsoft is to withdraw an anti-piracy tool from Windows Vista, which disables the operating system when invoked, following customer complaints.

The so-called “kill switch” is designed to prevent users with illegal copies of Vista from using certain features.

But the tool has suffered from glitches since it was introduced with many Windows users claiming that legal copies of Vista had been disabled.

Microsoft says its efforts have seen a drop in piracy of its software.

In a statement released by the company, Microsoft corporate vice president Mike Sievert, said: “Users whose systems are identified as counterfeit will be presented with clear and recurring notices about the status of their system and how to get genuine copies.”

Microsoft Names IE8, Bill Gates to ‘Look Into’ Transparency
Microsoft has officially announced the name of then next version of IE: Internet Explorer 8. Okay, okay, it won’t win any awards for originality, but at least the announcement provides definitive and public confirmation that the browser is being worked on.

The announcement comes just a day after my own chiding on this blog of the company’s inability to announce even a name for the new browser. Though I’ll admit this is entirely coincidental, what is not coincidence is Molly Holzschlag’s conversation with Bill Gates on the matter at a private preview of plans for next year’s MIX08 conference.

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A little bit of Friday humor.

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Nice spoof of Mac vs PC

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Ubuntu Feisty: 0$. Cardboard box: 0$. Duct tape: 1$. Having the bitchin’est case mod this side of the trailer park: priceless.

read more | digg story

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