Ed,

> > - To setup the customer, RackSpace configures 'x' number of virtual

Windows

> > machines for the customer, one for each authorized login

> > (machine/device/person) that will be logging in (each having his/her own

> > desktop and applications available and running). Some or all of these

> > machines are always running (swapped out) on the server, waiting for

> > customer/users/other connections to login (so new logins don't have to

boot

> > the machine).

>

> Here's where your assumptions are off. Rackspace

> wouldn't do any of that; instead, you or your customer would.

> Creating a new server is a simple matter of a couple of

> clicks, and takes only a couple of minutes to be up and running.

Let me say first that I totally support this approach for where it fits, and

I can see it being a useful offer to certain customers. I see cloud

offerings as the pendelum swinging back to centralized computing, and that

makes perfect sense. However:

1. If RackSpace's entry level offer is a physical server machine (perhaps

supplied or the customer's own), how does a small businesses (who only

needs, say, one virtual Windows 7 machine) to test with and get started?

Stated diffently, what's the cheapest way for a small business to get

started with RackSpace's cloud offer?

2. In the interview, Lanham states that RackSpace will support the customer

"with anything that goes wrong" on the server-side, but I don't see how

that's possible if RackSpace's involvement is limited to building a server

and turning it over to the customer or his/her tekkie to load with software

and configure. How can RackSpace possibly provide support for what amounts

to "black boxes" RackSpace would have no knowledge of? Take, for example,

the customer installing my VFP app on his server. How would RackSpace handle

problems with it?

> Once it's ready, it's just like any other server you

> would have on your network. You connect to it via Remote

> Desktop, and add as many logins as you like. You can also

> install whatever software you like - it's your server. You

> get a fixed public IP address as well as a local net IP, so

> you could configure it as an IIS server for your public

> website, or you could install SQL Server and make it only

> accessible via the localnet IP to your other servers. IOW,

> it's just as if you purchased the servers and installed them

> in a room in your office (except you don't have to buy,

> install, maintain, connect or recycle them!).

Thanks for the explanation. I understand what you're saying and it makes

sense. What I'm struggling to understand is how a VFP app that uses a LAN

file server would work. I can imagine (as I did) the server running a bunch

of virtual Windows machines, one for each connected user, all sharing the

same file system, to mimic a LAN implementation.

I can understand the interest and movement to backend DBMS's, and I've been

moving in that direction (MySQL), a piece at a time, but I'm not in any rush

to replace a bunch of LAN server shared tables that work just fine.

Bill

>

>

> -- Ed Leafe

_______________________________________________

Post Messages to: ProFox@leafe.com

Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox

OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech

Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox

This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/BB52B22088404211A995A5CD3944B331@bills

** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.