Some Benefits of Virtualization and Cloud Computing

A side effect of “the switch” is that I am now reaping more and more benefits from virtualization. One of the first things I had to do when I switched was get virtualization software. This is so I can run Windows programs (mostly browsers) inside OS X as opposed to rebooting into a Windows install through Boot Camp.

I went for VMWare Fusion because of their Virtual Appliances. I was thinking that if I wanted to play with Linux in the future, I’d do away having to install and configure a whole operating system that I’m not very familiar with. However, after reading some very informative articles at Slicehost on how to install and configure things like Apache, PHP, MySQL, Nginx and Django on a naked Linux install, I forewent the Virtual Appliance route. I decided that If I am to learn more about Linux I have to go through the whole install and configure process and just create my own virtual appliances.

I think the advent of virtualization and cloud computing is a good thing for the industry I’m currently in (which has many names, mostly with the following keywords jumbled up – digital, interactive, marketing, advertising). This is specially beneficial for smaller shops who have less resources to invest in hosting infrastructure.A very good use of such is microsites, which tend to have short lifespans. A conservative rundown of how I’d go about it is below:

1. We setup a virtual instance (via VMWare Server, Parallels Workstation or VirtualBox) of our microsite in house. We develop and test on that instance.
2. When it’s time for client to see and test themselves, on CloudServers we create an instance with the exact same configuration as our in house instance.
3. When everything’s all covered and we get client approval, we push that instance to live.
4. When the microsite reaches its EOL, we archive the microsite into an image file for later use if need be and then delete the CloudServer, which stops the hosting bill.

The process above gives us the following benefits:

• We don’t have to keep a hosting account just for staging sites for our clients, which can be costly at times. We only pay when it’s being used.
• We cover any bugs and other issues related to the microsite architecture before putting anything on a live server.
• The client gets to see and experience the exact thing as it is the actual instance that will go live.
• Since we get an archive of the whole microsite, it’s easier to pull data from it or run it if need be.
• Plus, some other benefits that evade me as I write this.

Of course, the above will only work if the client allows having the microsite outside their own infrastructure. But if the client wants it on their own infrastructure then that’s a different post altogether.