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From Slicehost to Amazon Web Services

December 8, 2010 By 2 Comments

Recently at Schipul we began conversion of Django/Python Hosting from Slicehost to Amazon Web Services. Why? A few reasons:

  • More Features: load balancing, database replication, queuing services, and S3 Services.
  • Better Pricing: For a small 1.7GB AMI it costs around $70/month vs $100/month for a 1.5GB slice. You can also use reserved instances if your absolutely sure of your configuration.
  • Flexibility: Elastic IPs, Elastic Storage, Elastic Load Balancing, more OS choices, and community AMIs.
  • Security: Security groups allow for a locked down firewall and it’s easy to open/close ports. Also, by default, all instances require private ssh keys to connect.
  • Mobility: the iAWSManager iPhone app is great. If you have TouchTerm you can even ssh right from your iPhone!

I’m not dogging on Slicehost. They definitely have a fantastic product with a better User Interface and  good support system. If your looking for a bare bones, ready to custom configure system without all the extra meat then Slicehost is your goto service. Not to mention they are not stingy on the dedicated IP addresses. Once your product starts requiring load balancing, replication, memcached, queuing, and daily backups (Individual databases/webs and not just a snapshot of the volume) then it’s much easier to configure/run on Amazon.

Some other upcoming python/django hosting services that are worth checkout out are:

If you have an recommendations/input on Hosting Services I would love to hear from you!

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Iphone on T-mobile vs. Iphone on AT&T

July 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I have been using an iPhone 2G (first generation) on T-Mobile for quite a while now. In the beginning it made sense. Cheaper plan, better service, and I could still enjoy the iPhone. Now that Apple is no longer updating the iPhone 2G i’m going to have to make a choice: Get a 3G or 3GS and jailbreak it or make the move to AT&T for the iPhone 4. 

Here is a small side by side comparison of the pros and cons of using the iPhone on the somewhat sister companies:

  T-Mobile AT&T
price •  
call reception •  
better 3G Service   •
hassle (Jailbraking, etc) •  
perks (Cydia, Icy) •  
visual voicemail   •
picture messaging   •

As you can see by the table, AT&T gets the little perks like better 3G*, visual voicemail, and picture messaging. T-Mobile gets the service and price. Remember that call reception depends on your city/county. 

Either way, I went with AT&T for a few reasons:

  1. I didn’t have to jailbreak my phone anymore (sometimes this got ugly)
  2. With rollover minutes and the A-list I could get a comparable price/plan
  3. Visual voicemail, picture messaging
  4. My whole family is on AT&T
  5. All of T-Mobile android based phones sucked.
  6. I had no idea when/if T-mobile was actually going to get the iPhone (still rumors)
  7. I love the iPhone and can’t live without it ;)

The plan I went with on AT&T is:

  • 900 Minutes with rollover and A-list
  • 1500 text messages
  • 2GB data plan (which by the way is plenty if you use WiFi)

I have had 2 weeks time to test the phone and I am experiencing just as many dropped calls on AT&T as I was on T-Mobile. The only thing that changed are the dead zones.

T-mobile was a great company to me for the last 5 years and I wish I could have stayed with them, I just wanted the high tech phone without the hassle (KISS). 

Hope this helps in the decision making process. 

* I am basing the better 3G on people whom I personally know that owned T-Mobile android phones with 3G and experienced many outages inside of buildings. 

 

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