TechCrunch is the technology industry’s most influential media organization and when they make moves the implications can be deep. Recently TechCrunch moved to the Rackspace Cloud and TechCrunch’s CTO, Nik Cubrilovic, talked with building43’s host Robert Scoble about what the move’s implications were to traffic, uptime, peace of mind, and also costs. Across the board Nik praised Rackspace Cloud. In the interview Cubrilovic revealed that they moved from a company that was providing free hosting and are now paying to use Rackspace’s services.

Robert Scoble interviews Nik Cubrilovic from Rackspace Hosting on Vimeo.

Today, Rackspace partner AvePoint, announced that they had enabled their award winning DocAve suite of products to be able to use Rackspace Cloud Files as a repository for SharePoint data.  This is exciting as it enables the use of a highly available, redundant storage location for SharePoint data outside of SQL server.  Once you download their software and setup a Cloud Files account – all you have to do is configure Cloud Files as a data repository in the DocAve Manager.  After that, data is seamlessly transferred to the Rackspace cloud but still managed and accessed from SharePoint.

Below you will find two videos that show a farm being restored from the Rackspace cloud and also files being stored in the Rackspace cloud but being access from within SharePoint.

Restore From Cloud

Extension Archiver

If you have any further question, feel free to contact me via email: jeff.deverter@rackspace.com

We are sure happy to welcome GitHub to Rackspace. I have gotten to know the founders of GitHub over the last year, and there is no question this is a team and concept that the world should not ignore. We are excited to support them as they continue to deliver great services to the developer community.

It goes without saying that in reaching out to them one of my intentions was to get them on our cloud.

I was surprised to hear a few months later that they were eager to move to us, but they didn’t want cloud, they wanted primarily dedicated servers. Here is true leader of the new era of computing, a team born in the cloud era, and they wanted dedicated gear? What gives?

Well, here is how they describe it in their blog:

“We’ve grown to a size where it no longer makes sense to have every server virtualized. The benefits of running bare metal are obvious and have been empirically proven. We need to have the option to run bare metal when it is appropriate to the task at hand. We also need to be able to configure boxes with custom setups.”

There are really two cloud debates going on right now. One, is simply about the era of buying computing over the web vs. building it in house. This is what we call the cloud movement and it is real and has serious implications. We truly believe 99% of companies in the world can move faster, save money, and perform their IT better by using a computing partner. The next debate is about the specific tool now being called “Cloud.” These are pooled services, powered by software allowing for real time provisioning and very granular pay for use. We think of these as cloud technologies. All this jargon and cross talk has caused much confusion.

We think the Github decision is a great example to use to try to share our views on it. So:

One, we do think most companies going forward will buy computing not run it themselves. No capex, no inventory, no lock in. Github is not interested in having a DC and all the headaches that go with it. In fact, they have never really even considered that option (what startup today would?). We are discussing this movement daily on our site nomoreservers.com.

Two, while this strategy could be called using “the cloud” there is no doubt in our mind that companies will choose from a variety of services based on the workload they are dealing with. They will not just use Cloud technologies like our Cloud Servers or Amazon’s EC2. They will use traditional technologies as well as even higher level services, like SaaS. Why?

Well, here is how we think about it:

If you see these tools as a continuum of prescribed technology deliver on demand, they set up a series of trades. The trades are pretty simple:

The Github team faced this exact trade. As they grew, they needed the ability to customize every aspect of the stack by using physical machines. This is not to say they don’t believe in the Cloud technologies. Later in their post they say:

“On-demand access to a cloud infrastructure will be important to us as we increase the number and variety of low-frequency but long-running jobs that we process.”

The “Cloud” is a part of the computing strategy for Github. As it should be for any company. There are workloads where it is a perfect fit. Other workloads will need other tools. So, as the cloud era picks up steam, the discussion about all or nothing decisions of using one tool or another should be ignored. The key for any IT department is to figure out where the tools match their needs based on the workload they are deploying. Follow the lead of Github.

Do you want to know what we’ve been up to lately? Then check out NoMoreServers.com. This new site is dedicated to the emergence of Computing-as-a-Service models (like hosting, cloud computing and SaaS) to power corporate computing. To support this mission, we’ve put one of our newest Rackers, former founder of Tier1 Research, Andy Schroepfer, in the captain’s seat to cover the trend as companies move from in-house computing to “cloud” providers.

NoMoreServers.com will feature daily and unique commentary explaining the next era in computing. In addition to filtering and reviewing interesting developments and third-party content about the NoMoreServers computing era, the site will feature daily commentary and a live community portal for visitors to engage on the topic and offers a white paper on the subject for community members.

Rackspace held a System Administration breakfix contest at the 2009 Red Hat Summit in Chicago pitting the top Red Hat Certified professionals against each other for the chance to win prizes and win bragging rights. During the two day contest, forty-seven participants worked to solve the four identified “breaks” within the fifteen minutes allotted. The problems, listed below, were chosen as representative of issues Sys Admins in a hosting environment must be able to resolve on a daily basis. The contestants who resolved the most problems in the shortest times respectively won first, second and third place.

With encouragement from @devrandy, Randy Russell, the Director of Certification for Red Hat, there was quite a heated competition among the contestants for the top three spots. The winners respectively won one of three prizes: 1st Place, an Acer Aspire 5155; 2nd Place, $100 ThinkGeek gift certificate; 3rd Place, 8GB USB drive. Our winners were:

1st Place – Alex Davies (also a Red Hat 2009 RHCE of the Year!) – 4 correct solutions in 12 minutes

2nd Place – Hai Wu – 3 correct solutions in 15 minutes

3rd Place – Dave Johnson – 3 correct solutions in 15 minutes

Of the forty-seven contestants, only Alex successfully solved all four problems in the allotted time. Thirty-two correctly solved Problem One. Eleven solved Problem Two. Three solved Problem Three and four contestants solved Problem Four. Congratulations to our winners!

Rackspace Trainer Mike Roberts (@soopurman on Twitter) provides a multi-part screen cast of the four challenge questions and provides insight in troubleshooting and solving each. Below, Mike’s screen cast is broken into segments for each problem in the challenge. These are interspersed with the actual questions from the breakfix challenge for reference. Mike begins with a brief introduction to the breakfix:

Rackspace Breakfix Challenge Instructions

This exercise is meant to approximate the types of problems that Rackers solve for our customers with Fanatical Support every day.  As such, the idea is that you should attempt to detect and correct any possible misconfigurations, but not drastically alter the basic setup, nor replace the actual services being used.

We will give you up to 15 minutes to complete the following problems. When you are finished, ask a Racker to record your name, the problems you fixed, and your completion time.  On Friday we will award prizes for the fastest successful completion of all challenge problems.  Good Luck!

1. The IP address 192.168.0.253 is accessible by others on the network, but this machine cannot succesfully ‘ping’ it.  Figure out why and fix it.

2. This machine is supposed to offer both anonymous vsftpd and anonymous rsync services, but clients are complaining they cannot connect to either one.  For example, the command “rsync rsync://localhost” should display a share called “challenge” but it does not.  Figure out why and fix it.

3. The default page of the web site running on this machine is supposed to simply display the word “success” but it does not. Figure out why and fix it.

4. The password for the user named “rack” is correctly set to “rackspace” but this user still cannot login.  Figure out why and fix it.

Mike concludes the presentation of the solution to the breakfix challenge with a special invitation to System Administrators who may want to pursue this kind of activity on a regular basis:

For more information about Rackspace and available careers  please visit our Career portal: http://RackspaceCareers.com.

Rackspace is tickled to welcome GitHub to the Rackspace fold! In a few weeks, GitHub, an innovative web-based service for software projects using the Git revision control system, will be fully migrated over to their new home at Rackspace. Looks like GitHub is as excited as we are, check out their blog post on the move and the top highlights as to why they are coming over.

SXSW Interactive launched its Panel Picker.  That means it’s time to let them know what you want to learn from Rackers.   Here’s the list of the 11 potential Rackspace panel topics.

• My Workplace is Better Than Yours – Creating Workplace Pride
• Managing a Crisis in a Hyper-Communicative World
• Can you run a “Serverless” Business?
• Building and Creating New Business Models in the Cloud
• How To Pick the Right Cloud Infrastructure For Your Business
• Stop Whining and Put IT In the Cloud
• OMG My Customer Has a Megaphone
• Customer Support for Cloud Computing? Yes? No? Maybe So?
• Using Hadoop to Manage a Ton of Data
• Startup 2.0: Let Your Company Fund It!
• Navigating Cloud Application Development Challenges

Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with the panels, go here to vote for the ones you want to see at SXSW Interactive. You’ll need to create an account to vote, but it’s not a big painful deal. You can vote more than once but not on one particular panel.  You can also vote for other Interactive Panels, Music and Film Events:  Interactive, Film, Music

For more information about SXSW, visit http://sxsw.com/interactive/

Voting closes Sept. 4.

Over the past two years, Rackspace Hosting® has witnessed some exciting times. We went public at a time when no one thought any company could do it. We launched The Rackspace Cloud, and our Cloud Strategy. We also acquired three companies, including Mailtrust , Slicehost and Jungle Disk all focused on providing solutions complimentary to the Rackspace vision.

All amazing activities in a very short amount time, no matter how you look at it. Many of you may be asking why? Or wonder what Rackspace is up to and where the company is headed?

Well, I can’t answer all of those questions today, but I hope to provide you a glimpse into where we are headed. There are some changes you may have seen on Rackspace.com and additional changes regarding our product branding.

I am excited to announce as of today, all of our Managed, Cloud and Email hosted offerings will now live under the Rackspace brand. So moving forward Rackspace’s core brands will include Rackspace Managed Hosting, The Rackspace Cloud (Mosso) and Rackspace Email (formerly known as Mailtrust), all of which are of course backed by Fanatical Support.  

We have also integrated the navigation of our Web properties to make it easier for our customers to find the specific information relevant to their business needs. As you look over our web site, we hope you will find it easier to navigate and that information is presented in a more cohesive look and feel. We would love to hear your feedback.

While the brands are moving under one umbrella, we continue to believe in the power of small entrepreneurial teams focused on building world class offers, while also leveraging the resources and brain trust of the larger Rackspace community.  While total integration is not complete, we will be working to enhance that over time.

You will be hearing more from Rackspace in the coming weeks as we provide more details about our future. Keep an eye out for more on Rackspace.

Please feel free to provide us with your feedback and ask any questions you may have. We will take your feedback seriously and answer your questions promptly.

We’re proud to announce the unveiling of our “Shared Community Compact” – a first of its kind partnership between Rackspace and North East Independent School District (NEISD). On Friday, April 3rd we announced our commitment to the revitalization of our surrounding community at an event at Roosevelt High School. To exemplify our commitment, Lanham Napier, president and CEO, Graham Weston, Chairman, NEISD Superintendent of Schools, NEISD leadership, student representatives and school principals signed the Compact which provides this initiative’s framework and intentions.

The Community Compact includes a joint effort to provide technology funding for all of the “Magnificent Seven” (the seven schools that surround Rackspace), literacy initiatives,  parent and teacher academies, more access to community resources, engaged parents, engaged students, a vibrant community, and socially responsible corporations.

“At Rackspace, we see an opportunity to build a world-class community right where we work and live,” said Graham. “Working closely with our neighbors at Roosevelt High School, and creating a fully involved community, from students and teachers, to citizens and companies, is our end goal and our support of the Compact will help bring that vision to fruition.”

“NEISD is privileged to have a community-focused company like Rackspace in our own backyard,” said Dr. Richard A. Middleton, Superintendent of Schools. “This is a tremendously valuable commitment for NEISD, and it will help launch our students and community toward success. Even in these economic times, Rackspace is stepping up as a role model and their support will certainly set the bar high for other businesses.”

See below for pictures of the event!

So, the big news is out: Robert Scoble and Rocky Barbanica are Rackers. And now, the big question is why?

Its pretty simple.  The world, the internet and Rackspace are all facing massive change.  The changes create huge opportunity, and we plan to embrace it.  When we realized Scoble and Rocky were open to collaborating, we could not resist getting them on board.  Who better to engage with the leaders of the new world, push us on our own evolution and help the whole internet think differently?

The change we all face is enormous. 

The internet is going in new directions.  Mobility is sparking a step function in demand.  The open web creates winners from frictionless partnerships they did not even see coming.  New approaches to getting and dealing with information are popping up daily. (read more…)