RightScale is a cloud computing management platform that allows users to deploy and manage applications across multiple cloud infrastructures. It provides automation, scalability, and portability. Users can increase productivity by using predefined server templates and deployments. RightScale offers monitoring, load balancing, and autoscaling to help optimize costs. The platform is administered via a web-based dashboard where users can manage deployments, servers, and other resources.

1. Introduction to RightScale
Cloud computing management platform

2. Outline
1. RightScale as cloud management platform
2. Benefits of using RightScale
3. Getting started with RightScale
4. Recommended use of RightScale
5. Deployment your website on RightScale
6. Basics of RightScale administration
7. About Akelios
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3. 1. RightScale as cloud
management platform
RightScale platform
RightScale is the leader in cloud computing management. Founded in 2006, the
company offers a fully automated cloud management platform that enables
organizations to easily deploy and manage business critical applications across
multiple clouds with complete control and portability.
1. Delivered as SaaS (software as a service) and is available in a range of editions,
from free Developer Edition to Enterprise Edition.
2. Multiple cloud infrastructure providers support (Amazon’s Web Services, GoGrid,
FlexiScale, RackSpace, Eucalyptus).
3. Different types of clouds – public, private and hybrid. Windows-based (as GoGrid)
and Linux-based (as Amazon).
4. API to implement administration tasks, monitoring, alerting, load balancing across
multiple clouds.
5. Web-based administration, configuration and deployment.
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4. 2. Benefits of using RightScale
Increased IT staff productivity and time saving
1. Time saved to initially deploy an application
2. Time saved to manage application throughout in less time through automation
3. Time saved by reusing RightScale Deployments and ServerTemplates as
predefined configurations for additional cloud systems
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5. 2. Benefits of using RightScale
Scalable websites
1. Dynamically scalable website in case of unpredictable traffic peaks such as big
news event or viral word of mouth
2. Quick and easy scaling in either direction via RightScale autoscaling
3. No user intervention (custom configuration, manual server adding, etc) is needed
Grid processing
1. Serves compute-intensive applications in industries such as pharmaceuticals,
financial services, media, microchip or aerospace design, animation, oil and gas
exploration, etc.
2. Allows to utilize on-demand, virtually unlimited cloud resources with no need to
maintain private data center.
3. Makes grid processing possible for users who cannot afford to have their own
grid.
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6. 2. Benefits of using RightScale
Autoscaling cost saving example
1. Acquire hardware:
Item Ann. cost
30 dedicated HP ProLiant DL360 G6 dual-core servers at $1,395 each for total cost of $41,850 $13,950
(amortized over 3 years)
Hosting 30 servers X $1,000/month for 12 months $360,000
System administration 0.6 at $100.373/year $60,223
Annual total: $434,173
2. Autoscaling on the cloud using RightScale:
Item Ann. Cost
2 large cloud servers for 24 hours/day, 28 large cloud servers for 90 minutes (charged for 2 hours) $12,906
per day at $.34 or $1,076 per month
RightScale fee $1,000/month plus $2,500 annual fee $14,500
System administration 2 hours/day 0.25 X $100,373/year $25,093
Annual total: $52,499
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7. 3. Getting started with
RightScale
Sign-up for RightScale
1. Free RightScale account – Developer Edition.
2. Website Edition - to run a full customer-facing website on cloud infrastructures.
3. Grid Edition – to run and manage any background or batch processing tasks in a
scalable environment.
4. Premium Edition – combines both the Website Edition and Grid Edition to give a
total solution for web businesses.
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8. 3. Getting started with
RightScale
RightScale Dashboard
Web-based configuration, management and deployment tool.
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9. 3. Getting started with
RightScale
ServerTemplates
1. Define the composition and configuration of your instances.
2. Use a base OS image and a series of scripts (RightScripts) to install and
configure the server as it boots.
3. Created interactively in RightScale Dashboard.
4. Based on AMI (Amazon Machine Images) or RightImages (designed to build and
run stable Amazon EC2 server on RightScale).
RightScripts
1. May be a shell script, a Perl, Ruby or Python script, etc.
2. Defined interactively in RightScale Dashboard.
3. Boot Scripts - Scripts that run at boot time.
4. Operational Scripts - Scripts that can be run once a server is running.
5. Decommission Scripts - Scripts that run right before a server is terminated.
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10. 4. Recommended use of
RightScale
Scalable website deployment
Many websites experience fluctuations in demand – some can predict that demand,
some cannot. Either way, the cloud’s virtually infinite resources paired with
RightScale’s autoscaling make a perfect solution.
Key Features:
1. Dynamic server configuration
2. Predesigned ServerTemplates to deploy quickly
3. Load-balanced front-ends
4. Redundant database with failover and recovery
5. Advanced graphical monitoring and alerting
6. Log file consolidation
8. Fully customizable and extensible infrastructure
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11. 4. Recommended use of
RightScale
Grid Computing
1. For applications require batches of multiple “jobs” to process (such as media
transcoding, fraud detection, statistical research, etc)
2. On-demand access to virtually infinite computing resources without the upfront
investment.
3. Easily and affordably reduce the amount of time required to process tasks by
scaling up the number of cloud resources in your server array.
Test & Development
1. Complete production-scale infrastructure, configured exactly as it will run live.
2. Test multiple architectures, variables, components, and configurations easily and
independently.
3. Push the debugged test environment live quickly and easily.
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12. 5. Deployment your website on
RightScale
RightScale Deployment prerequisites
1. SecurityGroup (defines which ports are opened in Amazon's firewall to allow incoming
connections to your instance).
2. S3 Bucket (a folder at Amazon S3 where you can store files).
3. SSH Key (allows root login access to the instance via SSH).
4. Elastic IP (allows to allocate an IP address and assign it to an instance of your
choice).
5. All items above are created in RightScale Dashboard.
RightScale Deployments
1. In RightScale Deployment is a group of servers that work together for a common goal
or project.
2. Created interactively in Dashboard based on predefined or custom ServerTemplates.
3. Unlimited number of deployments (you pay only for instances that you are actually
running).
4. Cloning of a deployment allows to quickly create QA or Development environments.
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13. 5. Deployment your website on
RightScale
Example steps to build and deploy LAMP server at Amazon via RightScale
(all actions are performed in RightScale Dashboard)
1. Clone predefined ServerTemplate (LAMP ServerTemplate from RightScale library)
2. Check default boot scripts
3. Create a RightScript for getting a MySQL DB from a URL.
4. Create a RightScript for getting a PHP App from a URL.
5. Activate newly created scripts and place them in correct order.
6. Add credentials to access database.
7. Add configured server to a deployment (or default deployment).
8. Launch the server at EC2.
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14. 6. Basics of RightScale
administration
Deployments management
1. Dashboard view: Manage > Deployments.
2. Basic actions:
• Add a Server to a Deployment
• Add or Remove Tags to Servers in a Deployment
• Archive or Unarchive a Deployment
• Change a Server's Public IP
• Clone a Deployment
• Create a New Deployment
• Delete a Deployment
• Delete a Server from a Deployment
• Edit a Deployment
• Launch a Server
• Lock or Unlock a Deployment
• Terminate a Server
• Run a script on a Server
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15. 6. Basics of RightScale
administration
Edit/Clone/Archive/Delete
deployment
Start/stop server(s)
Edit server
Add server to the deployment
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16. 6. Basics of RightScale
administration
Servers management
1. Dashboard view: Manage > Servers.
2. Basic actions:
• Add a Server to a Deployment
• Edit the Current Server
• Lock or Unlock a Server
• Run a script on a Server(s)
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17. 6. Basics of RightScale
administration
Basic actions: Clone/Move/SSH/etc
Timeline
Services (apache is selected)
Apache stats
Apache CPU load chart
Apache packets chart
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18. 6. Basics of RightScale
administration
Audit entries
1. Dashboard view: Report > Audit entries.
2. Created for virtually all actions, such as launching and terminating instances, or
commands that are executed on instances.
3. Basic fields:
• Timestamp – date and time of when the action was performed.
• Subject – the name of the server instance (for example, an EC2 instance ID).
• User – who performed the action.
• Summary - detailed audit entry of the task (гseful for troubleshooting).
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19. 6. Basics of RightScale
administration
Edit/Clone/Archive/Delete
deployment
Fields: Timestamp/Subject/User/Summary
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20. 6. Basics of RightScale
administration
RightScale API
1. API provides administrative and information gathering capabilities based on the
client's view of the RightScale Dashboard.
2. Follows REST conventions and uses standard HTTP methods for interacting with
a resource: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE.
3. 2 user-based methods of authentication: basic HTTP authentication and cookie-
based authentication.
4. 2 output types – XML or JSON.
5. Basic functions:
• Create/delete/update deployment
• Create/delete/launch server
• Create/monitor server array
• Run a RightScript on a server or server array
• etc (most of Dashboard functions are available via API)
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21. 7. About Akelios
Akelios is a team of Cloud Computing experts that provides a wide range of
Cloud Computing services, including Cloud training, Cloud development, Cloud
migration, and Cloud support. We assist companies across the various stages of
the Cloud adoption cycle, providing:
 Cloud Vendor, Platform, and Product Selection
 Cloud Application Migration
 Cost-Benefit Analysis
 Cloud Disaster Recovery
 Security Planning
 Cloud Performance Tuning
 Cloud Architecture Design
To learn how Akelios can help your company benefit from the cutting-edge
technologies and cost savings the Cloud provides, please visit
http://akelios.com.
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22. Thank You!
More Questions?
Send me an e-mail: info@akelios.com
Visit my blog: blog.akelios.com
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/theakelios
Author: Matthew Brown, VP of Marketing
linkedin.com/companies/akelios
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