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Engine Yard - The Cloud, Application Support, and You - Ask Me Anything
Dr. Nic Williams
@drnic
#cloud-computing
#deployment
#ruby-on-rails
#devops
Summarized using AI

Engine Yard - The Cloud, Application Support, and You - Ask Me Anything

by Dr. Nic Williams

The video titled "Engine Yard - The Cloud, Application Support, and You" features a panel from Rails Conf 2012, wherein support engineers and developers from Engine Yard engage with participants to answer their questions related to cloud deployment and application support. The discussion revolves around the concept of Platform as a Service (PaaS), the functionalities of the EY Stack, and how customers can leverage these tools for their own applications.

Key Points Discussed:
- Introduction to the Panel: The session begins with an introduction from a moderator explaining the purpose of the panel, which is to facilitate a Q&A session tailored towards Engineering and Support rather than marketing.
- Deployment and Support Questions: Key questions are fielded from current customers about the limitations and capabilities of their platform, such as handling multiple certificates per hour and the implications of Amazon’s restrictions.
- Add-ons Features: Developers like Jacob introduce the add-ons feature and describe customer experiences with enhancements that make it easier to manage resources in cloud environments.
- Scaling and Resource Management: The panel discusses how customers can estimate the required resources for their apps, the importance of high availability, and the shared understanding of how many instances and configurations may be required as a business scales.
- Best Practices for Cloud Management: Insights are shared on best practices for maintaining application configurations using tools like Chef, which automate system setups and deploy applications.
- Documentation and Customer Support: The importance of comprehensive documentation and the ability to access customer support for personalized guidance is emphasized, highlighting the resources available for users transitioning to the cloud.
- Customization and Integration: The discussion also touches on how Engine Yard allows application customization while integrating with existing customer deployments.
- Conclusions: The panel concludes by reiterating the value of community engagement, ongoing support, and the need for businesses to make informed decisions when transitioning to cloud-based services.

Takeaways:
- A strong support system is vital for businesses adopting cloud solutions.
- Proactive customer engagement and clear documentation can ease the transition into cloud computing.
- Understanding and managing resources effectively can significantly enhance application performance in a cloud environment.

00:00:05.839 Thank you very much, everyone, for coming to meet the team.
00:00:25.039 One of the reasons I joined Engine Yard was because when I started, I was looking for a place that offers real support.
00:00:36.880 My job is to ensure that we get relevant, interesting questions from you for this panel.
00:00:49.440 If you're asking marketing questions, I might not be the best person to answer because we’re focusing on engineering support.
00:01:06.960 We are a group of engineering support engineers who are here to assist customers.
00:01:12.960 Instead of asking one-on-one questions that we don’t have enough time to address, feel free to lean on the group.
00:01:19.360 Now, I’d like to introduce Jacob, a developer engineer on our platform, who just released a new feature called add-ons.
00:02:06.799 I have prepared some questions; you can also ask questions if you have them.
00:02:12.560 What can you actually get from support, and how awesome must it have been working with us? I’m pretty sure it has been great.
00:03:09.120 Let me know if anyone here is currently a customer. Great to see you! Who is here from the Rails talk and just decided to hang out?
00:03:37.120 Awesome! And who here is thinking of becoming a customer or used to be a customer?
00:04:03.760 Alright, let's open the floor to current customers for questions.
00:04:24.560 If everyone starts falling asleep, I might say something that might not be interesting.
00:04:41.280 For example, one question is regarding support activation limits per hour.
00:05:07.600 The issue is that due to Amazon's limitations, we can only assign one ID to one instance.
00:05:17.720 This might prevent you from doing what you intend, but using a dashboard for automation can help.
00:06:00.479 We currently have wildcard support, but some customers are requesting custom domains for their instances.
00:06:06.280 We are exploring additional solutions like using an Elastic Load Balancer.
00:08:33.760 To address the question about multiple laptops on the cloud, the answer is yes.
00:09:02.959 We can add multiple laptops to manage the load.
00:10:28.959 Autoscaling is another cool feature we have, and there are interesting conversations around its triggering.
00:11:56.000 It's not trivial due to the variety of applications we support.
00:12:44.000 From a customer perspective, I previously managed everything myself. Now, with automation, I don't have to worry too much.
00:15:06.079 It's helpful to communicate about what our customers are trying to learn and achieve.
00:15:52.400 When new customers come onboard, they often start with our lowest-tier options, which can limit scalability.
00:16:20.560 We recommend estimating the use of resources based on your current operations.
00:16:32.320 If you're currently on Amazon and unsure about resource allocation, we usually suggest starting with a basic production cluster.
00:18:05.039 The cloud is somewhat unpredictable, so ensuring multiple access points allows for better reliability.
00:19:10.640 Breakdown of the numbers matters due to the uncertainty in cloud environments.
00:19:23.679 .I recommend testing changes in a staging environment before going live to avoid issues.
00:20:24.000 If you're considering a deployment, you can utilize our free hours to experiment.
00:21:51.600 It’s essential to consider how changes affect your system's performance before launching.
00:22:27.000 When there’s an observable performance degradation, addressing it becomes a priority.
00:24:17.039 Our documentation is substantial and covers what the platform can do.
00:24:42.720 One aspect of our service is personalized support, where you can call in and inquire about best practices.
00:25:34.000 Continuing with the conversation around integrations, what have you found to be the biggest barriers?
00:25:57.520 We’ve been working hard to build a good foundation for understanding and integrating with cloud services.
00:29:52.000 Regarding Chef for configurations, there’s a clear distinction between system setup and application deployment.
00:30:50.000 Using custom recipes allows for better fine-tuning based on specific needs.
00:31:01.000 If there are significant changes, you should continuously monitor and modify your environment.
00:32:06.720 There are also methods for accessing environments via SSH, giving more control to our customers.
00:39:12.880 We can establish support contracts regardless of Amazon's updates, ensuring reliability.
00:39:51.760 Long-term commitments to your environment can aid in providing better service.
00:40:48.640 At Engine Yard, we strive to provide a diverse platform that can accommodate various languages.
00:41:10.480 We intend to continue evolving our support to meet customer needs efficiently.
00:42:14.880 As businesses grow, we must remain aligned with their development and future challenges.
00:46:25.960 Understanding your environment plays a crucial role in customized support and deployment effectiveness.
00:48:09.680 If you have further questions, we're here to help you navigate through your cloud journey!
00:50:22.800 Thank you very much!
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