It’s an interesting time (still) when it comes to updates and upgrades, new features and new capabilities with hosting providers. Today I’m specifically talking about Amazon’s RDS services, but the fact is that the entire field moves so fast that it’s difficult to stay on top of what’s available.
One example from Amazon in particular is the ability to do an update in place for your RDS (remote database services) instances to move to SQL Server 2012. That’s pretty sweet, and it takes a lot of the work out of the mix when it comes to completing upgrades (you don’t have to set up new instances, move things over, etc.).
But how do you keep up? SSWUG.org and our other properties here are hosted with Amazon and use many, many different services that they offer. From DNS to SQL Server, from Flash instances to mailing services… it’s a lot to stay on top of. Further, missing updates or changes can impact your systems negatively, not just passively with not having a given feature implemented.
There are new features, for example, for the SQL Server instances that support clustering and fail-over of SQL Server instances. When did that happen?? How do you stay informed?
My top picks for keeping in touch –
– Log in to your provider. Many times on the login they’ll show you updated features or services.
– Find the blogs from their main teams for products you utilize. Follow the blogs – you don’t have to read daily necessarily, but make a point to visit them weekly or on another very scheduled, very regular basis.
– Set up Google alerts for your product/service offerings that you use. This helps keep track of announcements posted to unexpected places.
With things moving so quickly – above all else, don’t take it for granted – make sure you’re informed, make sure you know what’s up. It’s hard to over-emphasize this suggestion.
What do you think? Let me know…