Like any industry, the managed hosting and cloud hosting industries have their insiders who take the time to teach the casual consumer and observer about the inner workings of the industry. In this post we are going to take a look at some of the best cloud hosting blogs currently in operation.
1. Amazon Web Services Blog
Without question, one of the most important blogs in the cloud hosting world. The Amazon Web Services Blog written by Jeff Bar and various members of the AWS team post weekly updates revolving around everything AWS. With the Amazon EC2 platform bring cloud hosting solutions to millions of consumers and businesses around the world, whatever the blog prints is a key insight to the current/future state of cloud hosting.
Important Weekly Posts: Every week the blog is updated with “AWS Week in Review”. The updates serve as a weekly look into the world of AWS looked at on a day-to-day calendar view. The week in review allows consumers to understand how the AWS platform is changing, how those changes impact consumers’ services and how those changes impact the overall state of cloud hosting technology.
Who the AWS Blog is For: Started in 2006, the AWS Cloud blog is a vital asset for developers utilizing AWS for hosting, every VP of IT whose company utilizes the Amazon EC2 platform for their companies cloud hosting services and it is a must read for anyone in/out of the cloud industry who wants to get an insight on where the industry is going. With such a large footprint and with so many customers, what happens inside the walls of AWS will directly impact the rest of the industry in terms of new technology, pricing structure and technical hardware improvements.
30,000 Foot View: If you want to know what is happening in cloud hosting, in managed infrastructure and consumer cloud hosting/applications, the AWS Blog is a must read.
Click here to visit the AWS Blog.
2. Gigaom James Urquhart Cloud Blog
James Urquhart, who also writes for CNet, is the Director of Product and Cloud Management at Dell. To label James Urquhart as an ultimate cloud industry insider would be obvious. What makes James and his team and Dell important in the blogging world is that they have access to insider information covering industry wide cloud, data center, hardware and networking updates. Moreover, all of his posts on Gigaom have the added benefit of being directly influenced and tied into the rest of the tech world. With Gigaom covering a large portion of tech, Urquhart’s posts allow readers to link cloud issues to larger tech concerns.
Important Weekly Posts: None. James doesn’t keep to a normal blogging calendar. Unlike the AWS blog wherein you can almost predict when their next post will be, James posts when he has something worthy to say. For this reason, make sure you subscribe to his Gigaom feed to make sure you stay in the loop.
Who the Gigaom James Urquhart Blog is For: Cloud consumers and techies. For the cloud consumer, the blog provides insights into the technical ecosystem of the cloud and the underlying layers (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) and companies which drive it forward. For techies, the blog is a great look into a constantly changing technology and how that technology is impacting the rest of the IT/business world.
30,000 Foot View: If you are interested in knowing how the cloud computing world is evolving and impacting the rest of the IT/business world, following James is a smart move. Additionally, if you are interested in the technical bits which power the cloud and the cloud powers – OpenStack, virtualization tech and DevOps – check out the space.
Click here to visit the Gigaom James Urquhart Cloud Blog.
3. QuoteColo Blog
The QuoteColo blog. Yes, we know. It’s a plug but stick with us. The reason the QuoteColo blog is an important read in you are a cloud hosting consumer or a managed provider consumer is because it enables you to research the cloud and data center industry in one space. From articles touching on the best cheap cloud hosting provider to guides showing you how to host within the Google Cloud (Google App Engine), the QuoteColo blog functions as an educational tool.
In addition, the blog serves as your portal to insider information on data centers around the country allowing you to match the best colocation and cloud providers to meet your cloud needs.
Important Weekly Posts: Look out for the “Top Five….” posts. The listed blogs cover a wide variety of top providers in the cloud industry from various points of view. If you are looking for a solid list speaking to the best cheap cloud hosting provider, the most secure data center provider or the top five aspects of the cloud providers don’t want you to know, the QuoteColo blog is your space.
Who the QuoteColo Blog is For: Consumers. As QuoteColo serves the market by connecting consumers to providers, the QuoteColo blog aims to educate consumers about providers in the industry.
30,000 Foot View: If you are a consumer researching the cloud hosting, colocation or data center industry who is looking to invest in aforementioned services, the QuoteColo blog is your place to be.
Click here to visit the QuoteColo Blog.
4. The InfoWorld Cloud Blog
InfoWorld has long been a trusted source of technology news. Covering the IT industry from the perspective of app development, data center technology/business, mobile hardware/software releases, security, everything open source and everything between, the InfoWorld is one of the smartest deep dives into the IT world. While the Cloud blog of InfoWorld is only one part of a larger information network, this is the major reason for following it. With its size, scope and ability to cover the entire IT industry, reading the InfoWorld cloud blog is at once a deep dive into the cloud industry and a deep dive into the industries impacting it.
Much like the Gigaom cloud blog, the InfoWorld cloud blog is a must read to understand how seemingly unrelated technologies are pushing one another to growing heights.
Important Weekly Posts: Every post is worth the read. Read from the point of view of the more business news savvy reader as opposed to the technical eye, every post InfoWorld covers on cloud tech dives into how various major providers are changing the landscape with internally developed external facing technologies. In a day you can find articles speaking to updates with Microsoft Azure, updates with AWS, updated with HP and Dell Cloud division and everything between.
Who the InfoWorld Cloud Blog is For: Business minded readers with an IT background. While the blog is applicable for true IT professionals, it is more geared toward business minded IT worker who understands how outages in the Microsoft Azure platform can impact the bottom dollar sales numbers of Xbox One and Titanfall.
30,000 Foot View: If you are looking for cloud and managed hosting industry updates from the business point of view mixed with a highly researched white paper from time-to-time, the InfoWorld Cloud blog is a must follow.
Click here to access the InfoWorld cloud blog.
5. The DigitalOcean Blog
The last blog we are going to cover is DigitalOcean. The major reason for following the DigitalOcean blog is because the company is currently the trend setter of the industry. Everything they do, everything they say and everything the produce will be dissected, analyzed, figured out and reproduced. The main reason to follow the DO blog is not to get updates on company sales and technologies. The main reason to follow the DO blog is to understand, before the rest of the market does, where the market is going.
Important Weekly Posts: Anything and everything. Sure, if you aren’t a customer you can bypass the community fluff pieces about hackathons yet outside of that fluff, whenever the company writes about a new technology they are working on, it is worth the read.
Who the InfoWorld Cloud Blog is For: DigitalOcean consumers, cloud hosting professionals, cloud hosting consumers and anyone who wants to know where the industry is moving towards. The blog might not seem like much but when it announces a new droplet package, a new Docker droplet or that the company recently became the fourth largest infrastructure provider in the world, the rest of the industry listens and mimics.
30,000 Foot View: Follow the DO blog if you want to know what is up in the cloud hosting industry. For now, they are the big boys and the industry darlings of the IT world.
Click here for the DigitalOcean Blog.
Honorable Mentions:
- Why – Amazing IT industry research and statistics
– The 451 Research Blog
- Why – Like Gartner, incredible IT industry research and data
- Why – Like Gartner and 451, great source for in depth IT/cloud white papers
– All Things Platform
- Why – Krishnan Subramanian, the Director of OpenShift Strategy at Red Hat, is the blogs author. Enough said.
– The New York Times Bits Blog
- Why – Great overall look at the business and tech of the IT industry.
- Why – OpenStack, next to DevOps, is one of the hottest cloud based technology currently in operation. You would be silly not to follow the OpenStack blog.