Best for Windows Server cloud host?

DominionZA

DominionZA

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Hey peeps,

We have been on an Afrihost cloud VPC for a few month's now and are just fed up with the performance of the server and very dismal support.

Who are you guys hosting with and how is performance / stability? We really need to make the move to a solution that is reliable and performs well.

We need Windows Server and will be installing SQL Server, IIS and a custom windows service.

Don't mind local or international. As long as a solid performing server with good support 24/7.
 
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We use Azure
The only downtime we have had has been our own doing.
It is a bit pricey but it is rock solid.
 
pilks said:
We use Azure
The only downtime we have had has been our own doing.
It is a bit pricey but it is rock solid.
Click to expand...

What region did you configure your VPC for?
Had a look at the pricing, and not too bad. Bit more than what we are paying now, but in the greater scheme of things - it's negligible.

Do you have to sign up for the VPC and SQL Server separately? They got so many options.
 
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We configured ours in West Europe but the closest for SA is North Europe.

If you have a SQL Server Licence already then your licence will work on the VM, else you can get a VM with a SQL Server Licence on but that is very pricey.

Look into SQL Azure, its cheaper and will serve most of your needs and is miles cheaper.

Is your App built yet or not?
 
pilks said:
We configured ours in West Europe but the closest for SA is North Europe.

If you have a SQL Server Licence already then your licence will work on the VM, else you can get a VM with a SQL Server Licence on but that is very pricey.

Look into SQL Azure, its cheaper and will serve most of your needs and is miles cheaper.

Is your App built yet or not?
Click to expand...

I figured West Europe myself.

Yes. Our software is built, deployed and making us money. But the unreliable hosting we have for our current VPC is forcing us to look for alternative hosting.
.NET 4.5 Windows Service, IIS with a .NET 4.5 MVC 5 Web App, and MS SQL Server 2014.

We are currently managing with SQL Express, but fast approaching the 10GB DB size limitation. Looking at getting the full license shortly so SQL Azure is a strong consideration. I had not paid much attention to Azure though so need to figure out what bits and pieces I need.

I like the idea of their D-Series VPC's that run off SSD's with 60% faster CPU's. I think I can justify the costs. R3.1k for a 2 core VPC should suffice for the immediate future.
 
Oh, we currently receive on average around 4000 files per hour on the server @ approximately 200 bytes per file. This for only 12 devices deployed in the wild.

Our next client is estimating 50 devices to start with and scaling to 120 devices by early next year. We are optimising this process though to reduce the amount of data received, but the bottom line is there will still be a pretty continuous stream of traffic to the server. Is Azure suited to this?
 
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Azure is very much suited to this.
Start off on a small instance , you will be surprised what a small instance can actually do.

I would advise you have a proper look into Azure's ecosystem and the other offerings.
Azure Table\blob Storage by the sounds of it would be well suited to your needs.

I would stay far way from SQL Server and rather go SQL Azure as it is cheaper and scales.
 
If you're after local hosting, I'll throw CloudAfrica's service in the ring here. They're top notch when it comes to support and performance.

I'm not just saying that because one of my buddies handles a lot of their support, and has had to pull out his laptop a few times in the middle of a Friday night gaming session to help a customer with an issue that has just come up.
 
I think I am pretty sold on Azure guys. Working on a pitch to the MD for tomorrow to get auth for this.
If he does not buy it, then I will dig into CloudAfrica and see what is what there.

Our server at Afrihost is currently for all intents and purposes - down. It is totally borked. I have sent 10 million support emails already (since early this AM) and not one has been responded to. These guys are pathetic in their service offering.
Based on what is happening at Afrihost, I don't think it will be hard to auth for Azure hosting.
 
You guys using Azure, where did you sign up?
I am trying to use https://account.windowsazure.com/signup?offer=ms-azr-0044p and I can't hit the Sign Up button. I assume it is because it wants CC details, but the form provides no space to enter the details. Wacked.

So where did you guys do the sign up? I want to start playing tomorrow.

EDIT: Never mind. The page has started working now. I am in!
 
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Mike Smit said:
Do we get the same Azure services from BCX that we would get from the international guys?
https://azurepack.bcx.co.za/

Would be great to have the service hosted locally if the offerings are the same. Mainly require a windows based VPC and SQL Azure.
Click to expand...

Nope this is what's called Azure pack which is a system centre deployment with a GUI called azure pack smacked on. So far I know of 3 guys who have made their own azure. The experience is similar but the hardware is owned and managed locally which is less exciting then a cloud managed by Microsft.

If latency isn't a problem rather go with Azure as it is unbelievably stable compared to the local guys.
 
Ipwn 4 said:
Nope this is what's called Azure pack which is a system centre deployment with a GUI called azure pack smacked on. So far I know of 3 guys who have made their own azure. The experience is similar but the hardware is owned and managed locally which is less exciting then a cloud managed by Microsft.

If latency isn't a problem rather go with Azure as it is unbelievably stable compared to the local guys.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that man. I figured one of you would say something like this, so started the process of configuring my account at the North Europe data centre.
My stage database is in the process of being exported from the Afrihost VPC to SQL Azure. Unbelievable how easy they have made this.

Big thumbs up to you guys for your recommendations and tips!
 
Hit a snag with the move to Azure. SSRS!

I also don't want to have to purchase a full SQL Server license to get SSRS when we are making use of SQL Azure. Seems like such a waste.

Any ideas guys?

EDIT: Seems best option is to go for the SQL VM D2 for R3,398 PM. But again, not able to make use of SQL Azure then. Well I can, but I waste most of the license cost on a SQL Server install I am not using except for the SSRS component. Man this sucks.
 
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shauntir said:
How do your clients currently access SSRS? Is it embedded in a web/desktop app or do they get a link to the SSRS report?

If you don't mind migrating to a more fully fledged BI solution, have a look at https://powerbi.microsoft.com/ and http://www.datazen.com/
Click to expand...

They currently render reports directly out of the web app. No direct access to SSRS for the clients. I do want to provide a more fully fledged BI solution later though as this is a massive value add to the clients.

Was thinking that the D2 Web edition should suffice for now. Seems a bit cheap though compared to Standard (R274 vs R3,398) so wondering what I will end up missing out on. Creating a D2 Web VM now anyway to check it out.

Power BI looks awesome. Heard about it, but not had the time to investigate it. Could I import my SSRS RDL files or is a redesign required? Time is not on my side nowadays so will def look further into it if I can import my SSRS report.
Not really sure if I like the Power BI pricing model. We can't determine how many users are going to access our reports, and the per user pricing model is turning me off a bit. I can see a maintenance headache for my tech guys having to activate/deactivate licenses all the time. I am just skimming over info though so probably missing something here.

The biggest problem is Afrihost has dropped the ball severely and I need to make the move pronto. With so many options available it is cluttering the brain a bit.

EDIT: Tried the SQL Web edition VM and it also had problems hooking up an SSRS datasource to SQL Azure. The standard edition is fine though. Pity, could have saved a fair amount of dosh each month. Oh well - it is in the budget.

EDIT2: Disappointment time. Cross DB queries are not supported in SQL Azure. Looks like I will be hosting my DB's in my VM. Major pity this.
 
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Mike Smit said:
They currently render reports directly out of the web app. No direct access to SSRS for the clients. I do want to provide a more fully fledged BI solution later though as this is a massive value add to the clients.

Was thinking that the D2 Web edition should suffice for now. Seems a bit cheap though compared to Standard (R274 vs R3,398) so wondering what I will end up missing out on. Creating a D2 Web VM now anyway to check it out.

Power BI looks awesome. Heard about it, but not had the time to investigate it. Could I import my SSRS RDL files or is a redesign required? Time is not on my side nowadays so will def look further into it if I can import my SSRS report.
Not really sure if I like the Power BI pricing model. We can't determine how many users are going to access our reports, and the per user pricing model is turning me off a bit. I can see a maintenance headache for my tech guys having to activate/deactivate licenses all the time. I am just skimming over info though so probably missing something here.

The biggest problem is Afrihost has dropped the ball severely and I need to make the move pronto. With so many options available it is cluttering the brain a bit.

EDIT: Tried the SQL Web edition VM and it also had problems hooking up an SSRS datasource to SQL Azure. The standard edition is fine though. Pity, could have saved a fair amount of dosh each month. Oh well - it is in the budget.

EDIT2: Disappointment time. Cross DB queries are not supported in SQL Azure. Looks like I will be hosting my DB's in my VM. Major pity this.
Click to expand...

Amazon Web Services?
 
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