Cloud Servers
 

I used to think i knew a lot about computers and stuff, i set up my own networks at home and run virtual servers, i have even run a few websites using hosting companies.

But i have lost touch and others on here know more about what i need than i do, i understand how cloud systems work, rather than setting up a single shared server they use the resources of many servers to create the server you need.

What i don't understand so much is what can you run from these servers, for example could you run a windows server so you can install programs you need to run a bot?

Could i install Gruss, Excel and Betstream to place bets with the TAB or am i limited on what i can install.

The answer is yes. But typically cloud servers are used for things which scale. For example an email server would benefit from cloud servers.

The cloud is just a server (or group of servers) you connect to which is hosted over the network. So email is great as you can put your email server out in the cloud. Its terrible when you lose internet connection though as you no longer have access to the cloud ... lol

I am in no rush but this is what I am planning to do Shaun & what I assume Angry Pixie is currently doing in one way or another. The providers I have looked at have a number of operating systems you can choose from, Windows 2008 Server for example.

My concerns are mainly as to the speed of these servers as Betting Assistant processes my bets around the 5 to 15 sec mark prior to jump, so can I rely on these things process my bets without problems, probably only one way to find out.

Angry Pixie, if you read this, if you could relate your experience with cloud servers it would be much appreciated.

A cloud server is simply another large virtual server.
The cloud enables you to do anything as you would previously on a virtual or hard server. The advantage for a business is that email, files, folders, in fact all data can be held on the cloud rather than an in house server.
Cost is cheaper for a business as they don't need to run or maintain their own server and software.

For simple applications, it is a step forward.
I have warned several of my clients not to progress to the cloud for a number of reasons.
1. Data is held and controlled by the provider.
2. If the internet goes down, they cannot access anything at all.
3. The biggie - Data loss. If the data gets lost, it's lost, beyond their control.
While the providers do have backups, there have been a number of recent cases of massive data loss that couldn't be reclaimed. It's estimated, but not publicised that data loss has cost companies into the billions.

I won't bore people, but those interested here is a story regarding Amazon.


Amazon was a while ago, but it's still happening today.
One of my customers is a government department who "migrated" to the cloud against my advice. Last week I received a call asking for help as they lost all their tenders and payroll information!

Interesting post, Mind boggling stuff.

Big brother gone wrong?

Could you open the pod bay doors and give me my precious data back please, HAL !!

LG

I recall a conference I attended about 10 years ago where the promoters floated the idea of hosting our client data in a 'cloud' - we all looked at each other & rolled eyes just at the privacy/security issues alone & as Chrome Prince has described above it can be fraught with danger.

However for the purpose of running a bot which is monitored daily I think there could be some benefits.

So as discussed elsewhere I run a bot on each of two "micro spot instance" Win2008R2 virtual servers with Amazon in Dublin. Both machines have been running continuously (other than doing the occasional Windows Update) for about a year. Each is costing around $12/month.

I've had no issues with speed as Betfair also maintain a data centre near Dublin. I actually think the price updates are a little faster than if run locally here from Australia. Certainly for the UK races they are.

You need to understand what you're wanting to achieve first as there'll be some applications ( i.e. realtime trading) where the latency introduced via your RDP session to the server could cause you to miss trades. For data collection or set-and-forget bot transactions something like this is perfect. For my application I wanted to be able to have the bot running 24/7 and be able to access it from whereever I was in the world via an internet connection.

Shaun yes you can run pretty much anything on the Amazon virtual servers. In fact you have to maintain them completely including OS patches and security access etc. Amazon aren't interested in doing any of this for you.

I also use Amazon servers professionally and run many instances with them, some taking advantage of the scalability UB refers to. For example we run a multi-user application that upon reaching a certain server load will automatically start additional servers to meet that load, and then shut them down when the peak eases. All depends on how much you want to spend.

Like physical machines, virtual machines have the same issues with viruses, bad updates and file corruption etc. so can suffer the same downtime issues.

Happy to help out where I can.

It can but if you don't understand what your getting into you shouldn't be doing it any way.

how boring would that be!;)

Sounds interesting, i might look into it as i don't need to store data and would backup daily any info i needed i just want to free up my home pc with out the expense of buying a new pc.

I know some providers are bit iffy with the programs you run on there systems but sounds like these guys may be ok as you have to maintain the system yourself.