Best of…

• The Myth of 5 nines

Five nines is the industry standard for uptime, or so the marketing goes. But is it a realistic one, and what are the costs of reaching it?

• 5 Things Toxic to Scalability

We use a broad brush to highlight the biggest no-nos in web application scalability.

• 30 questions to ask a serverless fanboy

Amazon’s new Lambda service, offers great promise in reducing operational & deployment headaches.  But beyond all the hype, what are the real challenges today?

Cloud Computing

• Is AWS too complex for small dev teams?
• What is cloud computing and why is it important?
• A history lesson for cloud detractors
• Are we fast approaching cloud-mageddon?
• Is Amazon too big to fail?
• Does AWS have a dirty little secret?

 

Databases

• Are SQL Databases dead?
• What is a relational database and why is it important?
• Did MySQL & Mongo have a beautiful baby called Aurora?
• How to build an operational datastore with S3 & Redshift
• Will SQL just die already?

Hiring & Interviews

• How to hire a developer that doesn’t suck
• 8 questions to ask an AWS expert
• Are generalists better at scaling the web?
• Top job interview questions to ask at a devops interview
• 5 conversational ways to evaluate great consultants

Hiring is the ongoing challenge in the tech industry.  There is a very competitive landscape of startups seeking a limited supply of talent.

What’s more as tech stacks continue to fragment, even a jack of all trades may not match the job description!

Industry Pundit

• Why the Android Ecosystem is Broken

Androids platform has not labored under an iron fist. Now it’s ecosystem is paying the price.

• Finding the Mythical MySQL DBA

A decade ago startups large and small were running on Oracle, but no longer. As the shift intensifies, it becomes harder and harder to find the right talent. Here’s why.

• Why Generalists are Better at Scaling the Web

We argue that technologists with broad experience are needed to achieve scalability for today’s high traffic high transaction websites.

Startups and consulting

• 3 Things Every CEO Should Know About the Cloud

You’ve heard all the hype. Now for some medicine.

• Consulting 101 – Finding Business
• Consulting 101 – Completing Engagements
• Consulting 101 – Growing Business

Our three part guide takes you through ten steps to building a successful consulting business. This is as much a guide for freelancers or wanna be consultants, as it is for startups, and those wishing to hire good temporary resources.

How daily notes help build trust with between consultants & customers

Book Reviews

• Scalability Rules for Managers & Startups

Learn about scalability from the guys at AKF.

• The Lean Startup – Eric Ries

Building a startup doesn’t have to mean big money. Stay efficient and build those margins.

Hidden Gems

• Cloud Computing Use Cases

Cut through the hype. Which types of applications really do lend themselves to deploying in the cloud?

• Why (or Why Not) to Migrate to the Cloud

Ask some tough questions before you deploy everything in the cloud.

• Introduction to EC2 Cloud Deployments

Soup to nuts guide to deploying applications on Amazon Web Services EC2.