I really liked using reliablesite.net as a host provider. Alas, their lack of ability to reign in MySql was killing my ability to do anything with a wordpress blog.

First it started with the site timing out. Then I couldn’t even log into the backend to make a post. Even with caching, I was increasing my collection of grey hair prematurely.

Amptools.Net now resides in the cloud.

At first, I must say that I was a little skeptical of the notion of moving to the cloud. Though, months of issues, lost productivity, and really no lead way in resolving the issues; does have a way of influencing your decision making process.

Being the Granted Master Developer that I am (don’t feed the ego folks, it bites), I wanted options. I wanted access to a server with the ability to run .Net, Mono, Ruby, or PHP as needed.

I need to be able to install software that has been shown to work well without difficulty. Of course like any consumer, I need to do this on a fair budget.

My hosting options were to find another shared host, get a dedicated server, or jump into the cloud.  After searching, the cost of shared hosting with limited options excluded themselves.

It came down to finding a decent by inexpensive dedicated server or start digging into researching the options for hosting a site in the cloud.

What surprised me the most was the lack of explanation about the differences in the major cloud companies and what they actually offer.  I consider Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Rackspace (formerly Mosso) as the biggest providers in the market.

Google’s App Engine

Probably the most self explanatory plan is Google’s App Engine. You are hosting single apps and charged per application.  You are limited to 10 applications. You are also limited to using either Java or Python at the moment.

Hmm, I like python. But right now I spend more time in other languages. Java. Well, it has no fight left in it. Its like it has given up in becoming a better language, so thats a fat no.  Plus I really want to be able to install a variety of opensource applications as needed that tend to be in other languages.

Microsoft’s Azure Platform

Microsoft’s Azure platform was the most tempting at first. Microsoft offers .Net, Java, PHP and Ruby on their platform. They generally have great developer tools and they even have an Azure plugin for eclipse.

Microsoft’s model is also one application per instance. Paying $60 or more a month per sandboxed application just wasn’t appealing to me. I need to be able to install more than one application per site.

Rackspace Cloud

Next I evaluated Rackspace. They seemed very promising. They offer an application instance model like Google and Microsoft, but they also offer cloud servers at a very compelling rate.

Yes! Wait!!! Their cloud servers only offered linux operating systems at the time.  Well I can use Mono, PHP, and Ruby, but I really want to be able to install .Net 4 when it comes out and I didn’t want move hosts a 3rd time.

Time to check out Amazon.

Amazon Web Services EC2

Amazon’s model does not offer an application instance model, but it does offer cloud servers (EC2). They’ve have been running windows for a while, but they even have Server 2008 and Server 2008 R2 with a preloaded stack of .net 3.5 and Sql Express.  I would need to install PHP and Ruby myself, but thats no big deal.

Even though the price seems steep compared to shared hosting, its cheaper than dedicated hosting and lets you run more than one application on the server per instance and to install what you need within reason.

Amazon EC2 was the one for me.

The cost is a bit more per month. Its totally worth the ability to blog once again and the freedom to set up the server to meet my needs. The cloud also comes with scalability and maintainability perks to build on. Now I just need to figure out how to make this site cover hosting costs, hiring a professional editor, and owning a cat. Then I’m golden.