Cloud cover from Yorkshire to the EU

The growth of cloud computing in recent years has brought about huge change in the way IT resources are delivered. Virtual and cloud systems are the logical option for todays dynamic platforms and there are an increasing array of cloud specialists to choose from.

Cirronix are a UK cloud consultancy operating out of Leeds, West Yorkshire. Services cover cloud support, design, deployment and integration with focus for Amazon Web Services and related Linux virtual technologies.

Out with the old - Why 10mb is no longer an issue for Sparrow

I've been a fan of Sparrow since it first came out, I find it suits my 'personal' mail to a tee. I could run both business and personal accounts in PostBox (my main client) but I like to keep a distinction between work and play and find the 'Twitter-esque' GUI pleasantly suited to my .Mac account.
The latest version (1.5) is the slickest yet and offers really cool options for large file transfer, something so simple you'd wonder why nobody has joined up the dots before. Let's take a look.

Filling the slot - Mini 9 SDHC storage options

Yet another post about my Dell Mini 9, I think I'm obsessed. This time, storage.

The internal 16GB SSD has about 8.5GB free with a sparse OSX install plus a few apps, which is OK but it's always good to have some room in the bag and although I've only about 4GB of DropBox data I didn't want to dump it all on the SSD, or pay for an upgrade. So, as the Mini 9 has an integral card slot I thought I'd use that instead, as it's only for data storage there was no real need for high performance R/W, it's not like the operating system is going to boot from it.

Quick and easy SQL on RDS from AWS

AWS this week released RDS for Microsoft SQL, completing the suite by adding to existing offerings for MySQL and Oracle. With a concurrent .NET/IIS upgrade for Elastic Beanstalk™ you now have options for resilient application scaling across all platforms without the added overhead of instance management, and, as an introductory offer they're offering a free 1 year tier for Micro DB instances with up to 20GB of storage. Let's take a look at the simple launch process, select some backup and maintenance options and set authorisations for connectivity.

Spaces - The Final Frontier

Netbooks are perceived by many as unrealistic for real work but with a bit of application can be a most useful bit of kit. I'm particularly fond of the Dell Inspiron Mini 9, predominantly for its seamless capacity to run OSX but also for its amazing portability, price and robust build quality. My latest (No.4) is spec'd out with a 16GB SSD, 2GB DDR & integral 3G/HDSPA card (which I'm hoping will come in handy for Berlin this summer). This weekend I road tested it for AWS admin, with surprising results thanks to a realisation from an under used OSX utility.