Ionican
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Overkill? Win2008 as webserver on cloud platform?
I've set up a cloud application server running WinServer2008 R2. The server will only have two roles: to host an ASP.NET/MySQL application (currently on IIS7.5) and to provide a file storage capability.
Win2008 is therefore purely providing Windows Authentication for the WebApp through SSL (ultimately I'd like to get client certification working but that's another question).
Is this overkill? - it feels an expensive way just to get client authentication on a web server and some file storage capability.
Thanks
Rick.
Win2008 is therefore purely providing Windows Authentication for the WebApp through SSL (ultimately I'd like to get client certification working but that's another question).
Is this overkill? - it feels an expensive way just to get client authentication on a web server and some file storage capability.
Thanks
Rick.
The cloud is much more than just a server in a datacenter. If you compare the prices of cloud hosting facilities like http://aws.amazon.com/ with regular hosting providers the prices might look quite expensive, so let me explain you the situation a bit more in detail.
- First the cloud is designed to be scalable, with the pay as you go model you only purchase the time your server is actually running. Obviously with you only having one server that does not make much sense.
- The cloud offers the ability to upgrade your server as you need without downtime. As the cloud is based on virtualization the hardware can be replace without reasonable downtime.
- The same is true for hardware failures, just imagine a hard disk would fail in a regular server, it would cause at least 15 minutes downtime with the cloud there is no, as the hardware is only virtual. Meaning while the hardware is replaced your virtual instance is executed from a different server.
Therefore the cloud offers you the stability no other hosting provider could offer and on the other hand you have the scalability to resize your it infrastructure as you need, for example Amazon originally developed this system to keep their website up and running during christmas shopping.
Now it is up to you if you need these two features or if you prefer a different solution.
- First the cloud is designed to be scalable, with the pay as you go model you only purchase the time your server is actually running. Obviously with you only having one server that does not make much sense.
- The cloud offers the ability to upgrade your server as you need without downtime. As the cloud is based on virtualization the hardware can be replace without reasonable downtime.
- The same is true for hardware failures, just imagine a hard disk would fail in a regular server, it would cause at least 15 minutes downtime with the cloud there is no, as the hardware is only virtual. Meaning while the hardware is replaced your virtual instance is executed from a different server.
Therefore the cloud offers you the stability no other hosting provider could offer and on the other hand you have the scalability to resize your it infrastructure as you need, for example Amazon originally developed this system to keep their website up and running during christmas shopping.
Now it is up to you if you need these two features or if you prefer a different solution.
ASKER
Rovastar - thank you - that gets me most of the way there. Win2008 is quite a heavy duty product and i'd not be using the vast majority of it, most notably Active Directory and Domains but also DNS, Backup, Sharepoint etc etc.
For me it's purely a cost thing. I guess I could use Win7 but obviously I'm conscious that's not a product designed to do this job (security concerns being the key ones).
I wish I could use Linux/Apache but that's just too much of an ask on the learning front (and I deeply fear porting my ASP/NET/Telerik app across).
I'll sleep on this but unless anyone else has a response I think Win2008 it is.
For me it's purely a cost thing. I guess I could use Win7 but obviously I'm conscious that's not a product designed to do this job (security concerns being the key ones).
I wish I could use Linux/Apache but that's just too much of an ask on the learning front (and I deeply fear porting my ASP/NET/Telerik app across).
I'll sleep on this but unless anyone else has a response I think Win2008 it is.
ASKER
jan-janseen - many thanks for your response. I'm pretty happy about my cloud hosting solution - it provides all the benefits you say and also means I don't need to hire an IT guy to keep the caboodle working 24/7.
My question was really about the OS, but thanks again for re-affirming my decision
My question was really about the OS, but thanks again for re-affirming my decision
Windows 7 and Windows 2008 have a similar code base, and asp.net applications are portable between different Windows versions.
You will need remote desktop access, so probably the home edition is not for you.
You will need remote desktop access, so probably the home edition is not for you.
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What do you think is overkill? Windows 2008 rather than another version of windows server?
Currently it doesn't seem overkill just what is needed....maybe I don't understand your problem correctly.