Web

I Heart Google Apps

Lately, I’ve been messing around with Google Apps. You can see a sample Intranet I created at http://demo.shainemata.com to see what I’ve been doing. Last time I used Google Sites, I didn’t quite get the idea. Now that I have some time messing with the service, the first thing that comes to mind is, Microsoft Sharepoint.

This is effectively the same idea as Sharepoint, except that it has fewer features, and therefore, is easier to manage. But Google Apps is more than just the ability to create websites. It’s a business infrastructure on the web. What I have done is point my other domain, Shainemata.com to Google to run the website, which is still under construction, AND my email. I’ve also done the same with another domain, which has a bit more going on.

The biggest advantage of Google Apps is that you can create email accounts within your domain easily. You can quickly create an account for a new user and have him or her collaborating almost immediately. Each user gets 7 GB of email storage on the Standard Version. The Premier Version includes 25 GB mailboxes.

Your Google Site, from what I can gather, has 10 GB of site storage, standard. Each user then adds another 500 MB to that. Assuming you go premium and have many users, this is a huge hosting package.

There are other features that come with a Google Apps account. For example, when you create a document on Google Docs, you can easily share it with other people in the organization as if it were on a shared drive. Earlier tonight, Luis Sandoval of Tech in Twenty and I were testing the live collaboration features. This is a great service because it makes it possible to work on a spreadsheet or test document together. You see changes to a document appear before your eyes. This opens up a great many possibilities for collaboration.

This discovery of the usefulness of the service came at a great time. I have had a request to set up email for a company. After working with Google Apps, it makes me think that I ought to get my client on the Google Apps system. The ease of use and collaboration features are well worth it. I haven’t even mentioned the Calendar and other features like mobile access. I am really in heart with Google Apps right now. It gives you a lot for very little.

Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud Now Has Windows

Amazon Web Services has a new product in their Elastic Compute Cloud, they now offer Microsoft Windows virtual servers. Until now, the only virtual machines you could use from EC2 were Linux/Unix based virtual machines. These virtual machines provide quick and “easy” scalability for web applications. Virtual machines have also gained popularity in the IT industry as organizations learn about the cost savings possible from running multiple servers on one machine.

Having Windows virtual machines is a great addition to the EC2 line because it opens up possibilities for creating test environments prior to rolling out a network. Even better, they are a great learning tool for those of us who learn through hands-on experience. While studying for your Microsoft certification, you can deploy virtual Windows Server instances to help you practice what is in the books. This opens up learning to anybody rather than only those who have access to servers at work, or the money to purchase a test server. Starting at 12.5 cents per hour, you can easily afford to put in some hours of practice.

Virtual Windows machines are good for more than just practice environments. You can consider them production machines. You can run them, reboot them, update them, upgrade them, and do almost everything you do with a physical server machine. This includes putting them to work serving up websites, handling your email, or running applications for your company.