Selecting a Cloud Service: 5 Questions to Ask Prospective Providers As part of an effort to make it much simpler for IT organizations of all sizes to take advantage of hosted computing resources, GoDaddy today unfurled an enhanced GoDaddy Cloud Server service that makes use of a much simpler application programming interface (API) to provision […]
Selecting a Cloud Service: 5 Questions to Ask Prospective Providers
As part of an effort to make it much simpler for IT organizations of all sizes to take advantage of hosted computing resources, GoDaddy today unfurled an enhanced GoDaddy Cloud Server service that makes use of a much simpler application programming interface (API) to provision a server in under a minute.
While the concept of using an API to invoke IT infrastructure is not new, Jeff King, senior vice president and general manager for hosting and security at GoDaddy, says the hosting service provider has significantly simplified its APIs to the point where even a small business can easily invoke them.
The GoDaddy platform, which previously relied on software originally developed by VMware and Parallels, has been reengineered to run on top of OpenStack. But King says all that underlying OpenStack complexity is now masked from the end user. In contrast, King notes that the APIs exposed by cloud services such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) are still too complex for many organizations to effectively use.
The GoDaddy Cloud Server also makes use of an open source library of installation software developed by Bitnami to make it possible to install a wide variety of applications via a single click.
In essence, King says, GoDaddy is trying to provide all the benefit of traditional hosting services with a model that borrows cloud computing concepts while still preserving all the benefits of having a single operating system instance for each customer.
The degree to which any IT organization will appreciate that nuance will vary widely. But the one thing that is clear going forward in the age of the cloud is that not all APIs are created equal.
Michael Vizard is a seasoned IT journalist, with nearly 30 years of experience writing and editing about enterprise IT issues. He is a contributor to publications including Programmableweb, IT Business Edge, CIOinsight and UBM Tech. He formerly was editorial director for Ziff-Davis Enterprise, where he launched the company’s custom content division, and has also served as editor in chief for CRN and InfoWorld. He also has held editorial positions at PC Week, Computerworld and Digital Review.
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