Originally Posted by tetsuo001100

@supz,

we're interested in testing clouds for our platform, do you have any good recommendations for providers? right now i'm looking at rackspace because its 4 cents cheaper for the same package at amazon. but would love any input.

i think the main thing i see from a virtualization vs dedicated server standpoint, is in the purpose of what you're using the product for. Also in the way you're application/site is coded. if you're running a straight php/cgi database driven site where you get massive traffic, then IMO you're in for a hurting no matter what you use if you're site isn't running some form of caching. Aside from our tube sites at the moment we use no PHP in our sites mainly because i refuse to lend assistance to a technology that too many people improperly use (complete database driven site). Sites should be coded either in an event driven fashion (ie CMS updates a page, or comment made, etc) or on a schedule, ie, once a day, or hour, etc. This is how i've coded our cms/sites because there's no need for immediate database connectivity data pulling.

Poor programming/and forethought leads to heavy applications, which leads to needing more equipment and more cost. imagine running your same site having less cost? I will say though that there are exceptions to the rule that you just cant get away from like ad serving. but so far i haven't seen anything that has dissuaded me from testing with virtualization, except maybe bandwidth costs. unless i can find someone that will give me a dedicated amount of bandwidth up front and anything over that is extra, like i have now with our dedicated servers.