I just got back from the AWS summit in NYC!! It was FANTASTIC! Paul Duffy and Werner Vogels are now my absolute favorite public figures after delivering the action packed keynote address of my decade!!
In addition to getting in-depth details on a number of super powerful tools that augment the AWS platform (direct from the partner's mouths), I now have a deep understanding of the AWS offerings, and how they play into a variety of essential solutions across a number of companies/problems I'm familiar with. (The 3h of dedicated 1-1 time with AWS reps and team members was an absolutely priceless experience. I'm am eternally grateful!!)
ROC IT
Your application is already 100% cloud ready! You won't need public IPs for the handheld devices, and you won't have to worry about the security concerns associated with the public net, as there will be no need to expose the app to the net. :-)
Migration Roadmap (< 1w)
Don't be afraid to try! You can spin up the solution, try it out for less than the cost of lunch, then shut the whole thing down if it doesn't immediately blow you away.
- Get in touch with the AWS team. They'll assign you a rep and help you get rolling right away!
- Provision an Amazon VPC (it's a virtual extension of your server closet, and will have direct/secure access to your local network and vice/versa via vpn) http://aws.amazon.com/vpc/
- Setup a t2.small instance for dev. http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/
- Add RDS (AWS will run and manage a MySQL instance that you can execute your existing scripts against) http://aws.amazon.com/rds/
- Optional: Run though the scaling for the first 10 million users webinar and take the first step (adding failover via multiple availability zones) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXHSM0lMZAs
Bonus tip: Check out the CloudBees team. They professionally support ALL jenkins plugins, and can really take your builds to the next level with all sorts of integration into the tools you already use:
http://www.cloudbees.com/jenkins Can't imagine how your builds could be better? (Give them 10 minutes.) :-D
Windstream
What about a secure, high-performing ec2 cluster hosting EQA, PAO, the HRDI and more (for roughly 1/14th the current cost)? What about auto-scaling for when the WinQuote load goes bananas after the release of your next stellar product offering? What if you could do all that without moving Conquest? What if you could do that without moving Conquest, without degrading DB performance, while IMPROVING security? With AWS, you can carve out a VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) with Direct Connect (your fiber to the handoff, their fiber to the AWS datacenter, no public internet involved, single ms round trips, and a virtual extension of whatever datacenter currently houses your apps with accessibility, auditability, and security that would make Jim/Daryl smile!!)
Still daunting? The folks over at Datapipe can not only get it done, they can get it done WELL!! (Not only that, they've done it before, check out the McGraw Hill Education conversion they performed for a crazy high performance hybrid cloud solution just like this!!)
http://www.datapipe.com/cloud/amazon_web_services/managed_aws/
Eagle Dream
Regardless of tech stack, AWS has the infrastructure to realize your dream for pennies on the dime with security that WILL make Jim one happy camper!! Imagine secure production infrastructure at scale without the incredible initial investment that would normally be required to make that happen. Imagine being able to spin up a new customer in 1-2 days instead of months with realtime network mapping, auditing, traceability, and access control...
Virtuo 360
Whether looking for a stable platform to run the app, or looking to take the next step to start building a customer driven reporting portal, AWS provides has infrastructure hosting solutions that start at free, and work their way up to incredible. The new t2 instances offer burstable cpu credits, so you only pay for what you use, but the app will be exceedingly responsive when you do go to use it.
http://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2014/07/01/introducing-t2-the-new-low-cost-general-purpose-instance-type-for-amazon-ec2/
All my Startup Pals
The single best thing you can do today, is check out the webinar for scaling to the first 10 million users. It provides a roadmap for taking an awesome app, and iteratively turning it into an awesome, insane enterprise app as your load increases!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXHSM0lMZAs
The next best thing would be to check out Amazon Activate!! If you've ever worked for a large company, you know the benefit of having a kick-ass senior developer that can act as a mentor and answer all those crazy hard questions, as well as all the little ones you may have about red vs blue, and what about x... Amazon Activate provides you with low cost access to their infrastructure, as well as a pool of hours you can use to get answers on all those tough dev questions, and infrastructure know-how that only the brightest of the large company engineers can offer! Don't be shy, get in touch today!!
http://aws.amazon.com/activate/
Finally, check out the Amazon Elastic Beanstalk. Imagine a developer split that was 90% dedicated to designing and implementing features that will differentiate your app and provide those services you've always dreamed of while spending a mere 10% of your time on app maintenance and all that stuff that's really been done before.
http://aws.amazon.com/elasticbeanstalk/
Game on!!
