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Amazon / Oracle Cloud Workshops: Mission Completed

July 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I am just back from a successful, long and intensive trip to Australia. If you are waiting for a reply to an email there is a good chance you will get it soon now.

I delivered an  Amazon and Oracle public cloud workshop series on behalf of AUSOUG, based on my cloud computing book: 6 cities, 6 workshops of 4 h each, almost 200 attendees, hands-on, live development in the cloud (WebLogic with 61 GB heap deployed live on 3 continents, cloud storage, auto scaling, transformation of a classical Java EE app in the cloud), 16 flights (including a 1 week trip to the outback, flying 2,5 h north of Perth and driving 2200 km for shooting the cover image for my upcoming WebLogic 12c: Advanced Recipes book).

Check out the flattering reviews for the event.

 

 

thanks to everybody who attended!

 

Filed Under: amazon, CloudComputing, oracle Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Amazon Web Services (AWS) EC2 Autoscaling

June 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment

 

How many blog posts have you read that were written on a ferry? Well this is post makes it one more. Live from famous Manly ferry since I am currently offering a number of Amazon and Oracle Cloud Computing Workshops in Australia.

Elasticity is a key criteria for cloud computing. Autoscaling is automated elasticity. Interesting enough is widely unknown how this will be implemented on the Oracle Public Cloud for the Java Service.

Autoscaling on AWS can only be configured with lengthy commands from the command line but not from the web cased AWS console. Getting all the parameters right can be tricky, so here is one of the easiest examples and a hands-on screen cast using it:

 

 


as-create-launch-config surfLaunch --region ap-southeast-1 --key access --image-id ami-b83374ea --instance-type t1.micro
as-create-auto-scaling-group surfScale --launch-configuration surfLaunch --region ap-southeast-1 -availability-zones ap-southeast-1a,ap-southeast-1b --min-size 2 --max-size 4
as-describe-auto-scaling-groups --headers --region ap-southeast-1

as-describe-auto-scaling-instances --headers --region ap-southeast-1
as-put-scaling-policy ScaleDown -auto-scaling-group surfScale --adjustment=-1 --type ChangeInCapacity --region ap-southeast-1
as-put-scaling-policy ScaleUp -auto-scaling-group surfScale --adjustment=+1 --type ChangeInCapacity --region ap-southeast-1

 

as-execute-policy ScaleUp --auto-scaling-group surfScale --region ap-southeast-1

as-describe-scaling-activities -g surfScale --region ap-southeast-1 --show-long

 

as-execute-policy ScaleUp --auto-scaling-group surfScale --region ap-southeast-1

 

mon-put-metric-alarm HighCPUAlarm --comparison-operator GreaterThanThreshold --evaluation-periods 1 --metric-name CPUUtilization --namespace "AWS/EC2" --period 600 --statistic Average --threshold 80 --alarm-actions "XXX" --dimensions "AutoScalingGroupName=surfScale" --region ap-southeast-1

 

mon-put-metric-alarm LowCPUAlarm --comparison-operator LessThanThreshold --evaluation-periods 1 --metric-name CPUUtilization --namespace "AWS/EC2" --period 600 --statistic Average --threshold 20 --alarm-actions "XXX" --dimensions "AutoScalingGroupName=surfScale" --region ap-southeast-1

 

REMOVE ALL:

as-update-auto-scaling-group surfScale --min-size 0 --max-size 0 --region ap-southeast-1
as-delete-auto-scaling-group surfScale --region ap-southeast-1

as-delete-launch-config surfLaunch --region ap-southeast-1

 

The comments section is open now for your suggestions how this will be done with the Oracle Public Cloud.

Filed Under: amazon Tagged With: , , ,

AWS Cloud: Use Same Access Key in Different Regions (or in All Regions)

May 25, 2012 by 1 Comment

In the Amazon cloud you require an access key to connect to your instances. This key is can be generated when you create your first instance. It’s then downloaded to your client and you specify it when connecting to the instance. Typically you need one key per AWS region.

However, you can use the same key also for different or all regions. You have to connect to a running instance and then copy it from the instance’s authorized_key file under .ssh/and import it as a key pair in the new region as shown in the following video.

Filed Under: amazon Tagged With: , , ,

Artikel: Oracle WebLogic Server und Fusion Middleware in der Cloud

October 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment

German only. Heute exklusiv auf deutsch ein Artikel den ich für das DOAG Magazin im Früjahr 2011 geschrieben habe:
Download: Oracle Fusion Middleware und WebLogic Server in der Cloud (PDF)

  • Cloud Dienste oder Fusion Middleware Features?
  • Was zeichnet eine echte Cloud aus?
  • Architektur Blueprint für die AWS Cloud und Java EE Anwendungen.

Teile des Artikels sowie zahlreiche Grafiken sind aus meinem “Middleware and Cloud Computing” entommen. Viel Spaß beim Lesen!

Filed Under: oracle, publishing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Oracle announcing Oracle Public Cloud – First comments.

October 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I am at S.F. at the Oracle Open World conference right now where Larry Ellison announced the Oracle Public Cloud in an entertaining and rather fun presentation just an hour ago. To see some more photos of the event and my paparazzi shot of Sting who already showed up for some 30 seconds: check out the Facebook site of my Oracle Cloud Computing book.

Larry picked up many ideas that I published earlier this year in my cloud computing book:

He was talking a lot about migrating from one cloud to another (mostly using AWS as an example, so they seem to be on the friend list). Also he emphasized that simple multi-tenant SaaS offers such as Salesforce.com with a shared DB are not real clouds and risky (because of the shared DB :) ).

When Oracle’s position about clouds was rather fluffy (should I say cloudy?) even one year ago, I now hear them talking more about elasticity, self-service, chargeback etc.

What I didn’t like: So far this does not include pay-per use yet (one of my 4 criteria of cloud computing). Larry mentioned a monthly subscription during his keynote which was confirmed in the Thu morning keynote. Yet Oracle Enterprise Manger 12c is announced to provide metering at various levels.

I will post an update here as soon as there will be more details out tomorrow.

Apart from announcing the Oracle Public Cloud also Oracle Social Media (a part of Fusion Applications) was announced. See fotos on Facebook.

Filed Under: Announcement, CloudComputing, oracle Tagged With: , , ,

AWS outage destroys EBS-based AMIs in Europe region

August 14, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I always recommend to create your own EBS-based AMIs (e.g. for running complex software such as Oracle Fusion Middleware). This hold true for the classic AMIs as well as for the converted Oracle VM templates. Never rely on the existence of AMIs provided by Oracle because:

- Oracle can change or update (or remove) them any time.

- They often don’t exist for certain AWS regions, they are S3-based or only exist based on 32-bit OEL instead of 64-bit.

- Also, the AMIs provided often don’t exist for a specific version of Oracle products.

So always create your own copy! Yet here is something to consider:

AWS broke an EBS-based AMI of mine by deleting arbitrary block in the image. This is particularly annoying since there is no easy way to create an offline copy an EBS-based AMI. You could rsync the running image to local computer but there is absolutely no support to get this done in a user-friendly way from the AWS console.

The good: They informed me in time (being in Sydney if something happens in the EU regions gives you an advantage) and sent an apology. They also replaced the deleted blocks with empty blocks.

The bad: It cost me several days to create this AMI which was an OEL EBS-based, full-blown installation of Oracle SOA Suite 11.1.1.5 (I still have to check if it will be usable after a file system check).

For a more detailed explanation of what happened take a look at Amazon’s summary of the events. It summarizes to an error in the EBS software that was overlayed with a power outage in Dublin.

Hello Amazon: Why don’t you provide an easy way to have an offline backup of EBS-based AMIs for disaster recovery?
Filed Under: CloudComputing Tagged With: , , ,

RDS: Real Cloud Computing with Oracle Databases

May 24, 2011 by 20 Comments

When designing your cloud architecture sooner or later the question about the database will arise. Today Amazon Web Services announced the availability of Oracle database instances provisioned with the AWS Relational Database Service (RDS). However, there are many other options available, and in order to make an informed decision as to which will best suit your architecture, you should know the pros and cons of at least four:

  • You can start installing your database on an AMI with the operating system of your choice, or even select an AMI provided by Oracle and set up the included Standard or Enterprise Edition.
  • SimpleDB is an option if you prefer the scalability and availability of a non-relational database.
  • The relational database service from AWS offers a convenient and easy way to create and manage an Oracle MySQL database as a cloud service.
  • Starting today you can use RDS to create an Oracle database. So for the first time in the short history of cloud computing a licensed Oracle database can be used in the cloud with a pay per use model! You pay the database instance per hour used (or bring your own license)- and only this is real cloud computing.

I summarized my view in a detailed 12 page whitepaper (the weather here is too nice and I can’t bother myself putting all the screen shots into this blog posting).

The PDF describes all the details of RDS and compares them to the other options available. Also learn how to use WebLogic with RDS:

Cloud Databases and Oracle Whitepaper.

UPDATE: As of Aug/2012 there is support for APEX, Oracle XML DB and VPC now!

If you like to know more after reading the whitepaper have a look at my Oracle Cloud Computing book at Amazon and join the book’s Facebook site!

Filed Under: CloudComputing Tagged With: , , , ,

Ebook Released: Middleware and Cloud Computing

May 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a couple of fun days playing with (mostly disastrous) tools, converters and the Kindle itself I published the first Kindle edition of “Middleware and Cloud Computing”. It contains more than 100 coloured graphics (well, of course they are not coloured on your b/w Kindle, but on the Kindle reader for your Mac, PC, Android, iPad etc) and more than 100 clickable links to additional resources, publications and tools.

Please spread the word, twitter it to the networked part of the known universe and don’t forget to LIKE its Amazon and Facebook site. Do you you really, really want to support it? Sincerely? The best you could do is writing a review once you have read it.

 

thanks and best wishes,

Frank

Filed Under: oracle Tagged With: , , , ,

Amazon’s AWS outage – did the Cloud Fail?

April 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

 

There was a major outage in one of Amazon’s regions affecting several availability zones last Thursday.

- For a summary of the events and their impact see this blog entry of RightScale (I guess but I am not sure if it was written by Thorsten). The RightScale blog is updated now with some more details of the event.

 

- George Reese, the grand homme of Cloud Computing, calls this event a shining moment for clouds. Don’t get me wrong. I am big fan of George, not only because he is following me on twitter :) . He gave a podcast interview repeating that you need to design for the cloud by designing for failure instead of sticking with your traditional architecture.

- Amazon did an poor job communicating what happened. Failures are a part of business but they have to be dealt with accordingly. Add this to your lessons learned list about Clouds. At least I did. Here is their summary.

- In my Cloud Computing book there is a whole chapter about RightScale (who provided the best analysis so far) as well as a section about disaster recovery and another one on designing for clouds (“why it is not enough to simply run WebLogic on AWS”) . There is also a free chapter for download available at Oracle’s Archbeat site.

IMHO this event teaches us that it is not enough to know how to simply run WebLogic on AWS or any other IaaS cloud provider such as Rackspace. By the way, this is one of the reasons why my book has more than the initially planned 120 pages …

Filed Under: CloudComputing Tagged With: , , , , ,

2-day Amazon AWS Cloud Computing Workshop / Training Course

March 30, 2011 by Leave a Comment

For an updated version of this workshop see here or contact me directly.

I’ll be offering a 2-day cloud computing workshop 2+3. May 2011 in city center of Munich. A second event is planned for Sydney later this year and will be announced by the Australian Oracle User Group.

After a basic introduction and the discussion of common misconceptions we will cover advanced topics such as how to achieve true elasticity, load balancing in clouds, queueing, notifications and databases in clouds. This workshop is centered around Amazon Web Services (AWS) technologies such as EC2 EBS images, RDS, SQS, SNS, ELB etc.

The workshop includes a free copy of my Middleware and Cloud Computing book, printed course material, a pre-configured lab environment to take home as a virtual image on DVD.

Please contact me via email for registration and further details.

Filed Under: CloudComputing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Reduce Costs Amazon AWS, Rackspace Cloud and other IaaS Providers

March 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Anybody working regularly with IaaS providers such as Amazon or Rackspace can recount a personal story of a forgotten instance.

The most dramatic stories are not about a cheap micro instance – my personal story with AWS cost me some US$200 when I missed to turn off an EC2 instance and went for a diving trip to Egypt. I’ve got a number of suggestions that might save you some money.

 

  • Above all, you want to avoid paying for unused resources. Using auto scaling is a great mechanism for running only the required instances, and for example, to scale down at night when fewer EC2 instances are required.
  • Often the monthly bill tells you that there something is still running somewhere. Make sure you stop unused resources as quickly as possible. If you know in advance that you want them to be stopped at the end of the day, then use the Unix at command to schedule the termination of the instances.
  • Although AWS management console provides dashboards, there is no super-dashboard. Instead, you have to flip through all tabs yourself (starting from from the “S3” tab to “EC2” and all the tabs up until “RDS”). Only after checking all tabs can you be sure you have an accurate overview of the current resources for the selected region.
  • Remind yourself that the AWS management console is always displaying resources per region. Once you switch to another region, e.g. from Asia/Pacific to Europe, you will no longer be able to see instances running in Asia/ Pacific.
  • The console is sometimes out of sync. When this happens, remember to click on the refresh button so as to avoid only seeing outdated information.
  • The command-line tools I introduce later will work with resources for the default region in the US (unless you specify otherwise). Remain vigilant at all times e.g. when working in Europe do not start and then forget an instance in the US.
  • Always double check for running instances before engaging in another project, leaving for a sabbatical or a trip around the world.

Be careful and make sure you don’t wast money that is better spend for a fabulous diving trip.

These tips are taken out of my Middleware and Cloud Computing book.

 

Update as of May 2012:

You can setup billing alerts now for AWS and use SNS to recalculate your auto scaling. See Jeff’s posting on AWS typepad here.

Filed Under: CloudComputing Tagged With: , , ,

Resize AWS EC2 Cloud Instances

March 15, 2011 by 2 Comments

Scaling for AWS and most other clouds is quite interesting. As I mentioned in my podcast on OTN and also in my “Middelware and Cloud Computing” book you cannot dynamically resize a running cloud instance. E.g. there is no API call to ask for 2.2 GHz CPU speed instead of 1.8 GHz or to dynamically add another 3.5 GB of RAM.

All you can do is switch to another EC2 instance type while the instance is not running. This is why I like to say scaling nowadays involves some granularity (since you can only select the next bigger/smaller instance).

It was alway possible to resize a stopped EC2 instance using

frank@ubuntu:~$ ec2-modify-instance-attribute i-d8bc3eaf –t m1.xlarge

Now this functionality was finally  included into the AWS Management Console. Jeff has a nice blog posting with many screenshots explaining how it works.

 

Filed Under: CloudComputing Tagged With: , ,

Announcement: Winners of the Cloud Book Raffle

December 22, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Yes, it took me a while for this announcement. Books are surprisingly time consuming even after they are written. Yet the two copies of my book

“Middleware and Cloud Computing”

are already on their way to the happy winners:
- T. K. from Xensio (DE)
- E. F. from Sunrise (CH)

Congratulations :)

And a Merry Christmas to all of you!

P.S. An official announcement of the book will follow. It’s available in the US and can be ordered in DE and UK.

PP.S. We are almost living in 2011. Marketing is changing. Show the world that you LIKE the book’s web site. Spread the word, invite your friends, tell your colleagues. There will be more stuff to be won… Cheers!

Filed Under: Announcement, CloudComputing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Come to my Cloud Computing Talk at DOAG 2010

November 17, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Come to my Weblogic and Cloud Computing talk from 15:00h – 15:45h
in room Kopenhagen.

- Win a copy of my Oracle Cloud Computing Book!
- Learn how to use a computer in the cloud for one year for free!
- Understand WebLogic showstoppers in public clouds and design tradeoffs for clustering, JMS, load balancing, CDNs and databases.

Filed Under: Announcement, CloudComputing, oracle, publishing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Win a Copy of Middleware and Cloud Computing Book

November 17, 2010 by

If you are interested in Middleware and Cloud Computing subscribe to my my newsletter and win one of the first two copies of my brand new cloud computing book. The drawing will be Dec. 15th 2010.

There are only 4 mailings per year and you can unsubscribe any time from the newsletter.

Oracle Middleware and Cloud Computing Book

Filed Under: CloudComputing, oracle, publishing Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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