Doug Murphy
dw-murphy at cox.net
Sun Mar 30 16:51:18 CDT 2014
It is amazing the amount of computing power you can rent for a small amount of money. You were a few IBM generations after the first computer I learned on, IBM 1620, at my college. It took up a whole room, and had a heard of real geeks for it's care and feeding. They got really POed whey a card deck would put it into a loop;-) Now I think you can get about the same amount of computing power in a cheap watch. -----Original Message----- From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Brad Marks Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2014 12:25 PM To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving Subject: Re: [AccessD] To the Cloud or Not to the Cloud. that is the Question Doug, Thanks for the tip on Amazon AWS. I have read a little about this offering but have not yet played with it. I have had quite a bit of fun with Microsoft Azure SQL. I have studied the restrictions of Azure SQL. I don't believe that these will be a problem for the little project that I am thinking about. Sure feels like some major IT shifts with the realm of tablets and the world of cloud options. We have certainly come a long way from the IBM 360 Model 40 that I cut my teeth on. Brad > On Mar 30, 2014, at 12:51 PM, "Doug Murphy" <dw-murphy at cox.net> wrote: > > Brad, > > If your experimenting you might be interested in Amazon AWS. You get a > year's free trial to play, including a small, but full installation of > SQL Server, not the crippled AZURE version as I understand. I have > built a file storage system for customer that allows his customers to > download documents that my customer creates for them. Built this in > .NET. I have been experimenting with Amazon Work Spaces which is a > streamed Windows 7 desktop hosted by Amazon. We were interested as > folks keep asking if they can run our software, based on Access, on a > Mac, Tablet, whatever. With this approach they can. I installed our > runtime on the Amazon VM and we can run from anything that Amazon has > a interface for. As of now Window, Mac, Android. I'd like to see > something that would stream just the application as the whole desktop thing is a little expensive, $35/mo. > > Happy experimenting. There are lots of toys in the playground. > > Doug > > -----Original Message----- > From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com > [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Brad Marks > Sent: Friday, March 28, 2014 12:18 PM > To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving > Subject: Re: [AccessD] To the Cloud or Not to the Cloud. that is the > Question > > Bill, > > About half the people who know me call me Mark instead of Brad. > Doesn't bother me a bit. > > Thanks for your ideas and insights. > > I started working with computers way back in 1975 and I am currently > semi-retired, working only 20 hours per week. The experimenting that > I am doing with Azure has been mostly at home, on my time and just a > little bit on company time so far. I feel like I need to better > understand Azure and experiment with it before making a recommendation at work. > > Microsoft offers a free 30 day trial, so the only investment that I > have made so far, is a little time. > > I plan to post any significant findings here on AccessD, as I would > guess that others might also be interested in the Microsoft Cloud. > > Brad Marks > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > -----Original Message----- > From: Bill Benson [mailto:bensonforums at gmail.com] > Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 5:21 PM > To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving > Subject: Re: [AccessD] To the Cloud or Not to the Cloud. that is the > Question > > Errr "Brad"... sorry. > > Half my acquaintances call me Ben at one time or other, so I have felt > your frustration I am sure. >> On Mar 27, 2014 6:17 PM, "Bill Benson" <bensonforums at gmail.com> wrote: >> >> I have no experience with the cloud and perhaps in less open minded >> circles this negates the value of my opinion. But never this group, >> for which I am grateful. I would weigh the possibility of a web >> service outage which you are unlikely to have any control over, >> against the very much more expensive redundant hardware bases you >> will have to cover to even touch the reliability of the web. >> >> The option to have the data available and accessible where and when >> you need it seems to be a no - brainer in favor of a web platform >> from a reliable cloud operation. And unless you are running heaps of >> insertions with huge datasets, I have little doubt you will be that >> unhappy with the performance. This is, if you are satisfied with MS >> as a development platform. >> >> I do have to ask, have you looked into portability / migration if the >> tool proves unsatisfactory in the long term? Can you ask MS for a >> data pump version of your database or would you just have to turn it >> off and walk away, subject to a few exports of tables, but leave all >> your development behind? (Not that things would be all that different >> necessarily with an Oracle or SQL Server application either but I do >> think with those you can export the schema, no?) >> >> I am sure if you don't get your feet wet trying a web service >> database it will be a mark against you career wise so why not use the >> current need to be able to say been there done that on someone else's >> dime. It comes well supported and at least fairly well recommended, >> do you have that much to lose? >> >> I wish the future was nit web development because I am so uninitiated >> in it, wish I had an employer asking me to test out the platform >> Mark, I would say go for it. >>> On Mar 27, 2014 5:54 PM, "Gustav Brock" <gustav at cactus.dk> wrote: >>> >>> Hi Brad >>> >>> Your observation is correct. The Azure setup and the speed at which >>> it evolves is impressive and proves to me the old saying "don't ever >>> underestimate Microsoft". >>> Because Microsoft didn't invent this, the "cloud". Amazon did that. >>> But having seen the light, there's no doubt that massive resources >>> have been allocated this infrastructure and the support it needs >>> beyond establishing the large and reliable data centers: Easy >>> administration targeted admins at enterprises, scalability not >>> possible with in-house hardware, programming interfaces, and - >>> perhaps > the most important part - the integration to ... >>> well, everything you can think of. >>> >>> One of our clients has asked for a customized document store and >>> flow control. Problem is that this is a TV production company were >>> all except accounting use Macs, and the network setup is handled by >>> various Mac "techies" (you guessed it, it's a mess) so setting up a >>> server in this environment is perhaps not then at least the last option. >>> >>> So, seriously, I consider storing all data at Azure. JC is right, >>> that internet connection reliabilty and speed is a valid concern, >>> but clients like these have fiber connections at 100+ Mb/s. It will work. >>> Deciding to do so will, first, take very little to create the >>> development environment and, second, deployment will be close to >>> just "flip a switch". Add to this the establishing cost of zero >>> money and ongoing costs that without in-house techies are impossible to match. >>> >>> Still, I believe, we will arrange for an off-line backup of all data >>> - just in case. >>> >>> /gustav >>> >>> ________________________________________ >>> Fra: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com < >>> accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com> på vegne af Brad Marks < >>> BradM at blackforestltd.com> >>> Sendt: 27. marts 2014 21:37 >>> Til: Access Developers discussion and problem solving >>> Emne: [AccessD] To the Cloud or Not to the Cloud. that is the >>> Question >>> >>> All, >>> >>> A few days ago, I posted a question regarding a new database that >>> will be needed for a new small application (perhaps using Access >>> 2007, MySQL, or Microsoft SQL Server). I received a number of >>> replies to my question and I appreciate the insights that were shared. >>> >>> In the mean time, I have also been doing some R&D work with >>> Microsoft Azure SQL Database. >>> So far, I have been impressed. >>> >>> Yesterday in less than one hour, I was able accomplish the following >>> - Set up a new Microsoft Azure Account Set up a new SQL Database >>> Then with a small Access 2007 application using ODBC and >>> Pass-through Queries I was able to Add a new table to the new test >>> database Insert rows into the new table Retrieve this data. >>> >>> >>> My background is in mainframe databases (Primarily IBM's DB2 and >>> Cincom's Supra). I can remember how much work it was to accomplish >>> these same simple steps with these databases. Sometimes we would >>> spend days, just wrestling with DB2's security. >>> >>> It is my understanding that other Access users are using Azure with >>> some success. It also sounds like the costs for our use of Azure >>> will be very small ($5.00 - $10.00 per month). >>> >>> >>> At this point in time, it seems like this is a good option for our >>> little project. (We don't have Microsoft SQL Server installed >>> "in-house"). >>> >>> I am curious if others have looked closely at Azure and decided to >>> not go down this path. Perhaps there are downsides that I have not >>> yet read about. Perhaps I am missing some important considerations. >>> >>> Thanks, >>> Brad >>> >>> -- >>> AccessD mailing list >>> AccessD at databaseadvisors.com >>> http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd >>> Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com >>> >> > -- > AccessD mailing list > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > > -- > AccessD mailing list > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > > > -- > AccessD mailing list > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com -- AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com