Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Cloud Hosting : Downsides of AppLogic?

[CGotzmann]

So... I'd like to hear everyones input on the downsides and/or comparisons to other 'cloud' solutions for AppLogic...

Thanks!

[FHDave]

No built-in control panel for customers. Not necessarily downside as you can purchase third party solution for this (just additional money)
No Infiniband support (yet)
No tiered storage--e.g., SAS pool, SSD pool, etc (yet)

But the upside, including their pricing structure, outweighs the downsides, IMO.

[Steven F]

Originally Posted by FHDave

But the upside, including their pricing structure, outweighs the downsides, IMO.

Last time I checked, it was $75 per processor used (as many cores per processor). It's not so great for anyone deploying E3 servers.

[FHDave]

$75 per proc per month?

They also have perpetual license, which, IMO, is what make it a sweet deal.

[Steven F]

Originally Posted by FHDave

$75 per proc per month?

They also have perpetual license, which, IMO, is what make it a sweet deal.

I spoke to BirdHosting and got a quote through them. I did not receive any perpetual licensing options. Could you share their perpetual pricing?

[FHDave]

For perpetual, I think you will have to go direct with CA. I am not sure if I can give the pricing in public. I will ask my CA rep.

[Steven F]

Originally Posted by FHDave

For perpetual, I think you will have to go direct with CA. I am not sure if I can give the pricing in public. I will ask my CA rep.

Can you give a range? Also is perpetual per core, processor, or server?

[FHDave]

Applogic charge by socket, regardless of cores. This is another thing that makes them more attractive, compared to OnApp. In fact, I think OnApp is the only virtualization platform out there that charges by core.

There is also mandatory 20% yearly support fee for all perpetual license and they may want you to sign a one year, two years, or three years contract (support contract is mandatory over this period).

[aky007]

I think support isn't as good as onapp.

[AdmoNet]

Hello,

Applogic is really a completely unstable collection of loosely-connected perl scripts.

Here's a quick run down of the issues I have noted in large public cloud installations from partners of CA (more than 50-100 nodes total running this software [not all in the same grid])

* Block redundancy is totally worthless. They use MD over network block device (NBD) and have no write guarantee's. If a node goes down, its hard to tell which node is consistent. NBD is old, and I have no idea why they use it.
* Failover counts on a central system for tracking the "grid" (ALDO system)
* When we asked what kind of switches they tested with and recommended, we were told to use a flat, dumb switch for the "backbone" which made no sense
* Multiple instabilities and total grid failures were noted over the use of the product ~1yr experience
* Upgrades required full "grid" downtime which defeats the whole purpose of an HA platform
* Support was non existent and generally did not provide root cause for failures when requested

Steer clear of this product. It's a joke... its a nice front end, pretty way to draw out environments but when it comes to the stability many enterprises demand, it simply did not deliver. If price is all you are after, give it a shot but be prepared for data corruption and sub par performance. You would be better off taking your time and heartache and investing in a real platform. Even OnApp was more stable when we tested it, and it still had its issues with its software network bridge driver

Good luck!

[eming]

Originally Posted by AdmoNet

Even OnApp was more stable when we tested it, and it still had its issues with its software network bridge driver

Hey - could you help me out and just quickly ping me an email (d@onapp.com) with just a few lines on the software network bridge driver issues you saw when testing OnApp?

Really appreciate it.

Thanks


D

[AdmoNet]

Ditlev-

Messaging you now.

Thanks,
Adam

[JTY]

AdmoNet, when did you test it and what version? AppLogic no longer uses ALDO, it uses the BFC. And, failover isn't dependent on the BFC, it's handled by the Grid Controller, which is hosted on the grid.

As for hardware, they do have a complete list of certified hardware including switches now.

[AdmoNet]

Originally Posted by JTY

AdmoNet, when did you test it and what version? AppLogic no longer uses ALDO, it uses the BFC. And, failover isn't dependent on the BFC, it's handled by the Grid Controller, which is hosted on the grid.

As for hardware, they do have a complete list of certified hardware including switches now.

Hello,

This was 6mo ago or so.

Still did they fix the issues with how storage was handled?
The certified switching we were using was a common Cisco 2960G (6-8mo ago) and we were told to try a "dumb flat switch" by their techs.....

I don't believe they have solved the storage issue or some of the stability issues we experienced. We had multiple higher level CA guys out who did nothing to fix the issues.

Thanks,
Adam

[CGotzmann]

I dont understand how what layer2 switch you use would have any effect on the software... layer2 is layer2...