Zoho (and Sun Microsystems) saves the day for Zooomr

I did some research on my lunch break about Sun try & buy.

http://www.sun.com/tryandbuy/faq.jsp#During_and_Ending_the_Trial_20

“Q:
May I change the configuration in order to buy my trial product?
A:
No. The system that you try is the system that you would then buy. If you need to change the system or desire a different base configuration, you can return the product and buy an alternate product. If you simply need to add additional components to the system, you can buy the trial system and then, separately, you can purchase additional upgrade components.”

This is the real kicker on why this program is a little messed up for somebody doing a custom infrastructure like a web cluster or SAN.

The actual try & buy agreement is pretty straight forward:
https://www.sun.com/secure/tnb/application/agreements/ClickGTandBtBUS02-06-06.pdf

But the inability to install custom software or change the “appliance”, yes a computer is an appliance to Sun, not a computer, is not an option.

If you customize a Sun machine, it’s as if you broke it. And “you break it, you buy it”. I had the same problem, not with the Netra T4(20) I owned, but back in 1999 when I was renting Sun gear. I couldn’t make the simplest optimizations or customizations because of this policy.

Using Sun gear, especially under a restrictive contract is going to be a pain. I wish the developer really good luck. Esp if he doesn’t have exp with solaris.

Chris, Sun contacted them to help, it did not appear to be the “standard” Sun deal. That does not mean that Sun is acting purely out of altruism. Even if they won’t see a single cent, it’s good PR – and I don’t see anything wrong with that.

By the way, yesterday evening the Sun machice was still on the way, while Kris was getting busy on the server Zoho donated.

“Chris, Sun contacted them to help, it did not appear to be the “standard” Sun deal.”

I’d have a lawyer look over the lease contract, because I am beyond positive that they have the “can not change the configuration” or you’re liable language in it.
They’ve had the same lease language since 1999, and it hasn’t changed.

If that language is in the contract, they better be super, duper careful if they don’t want to owe hundreds of thousands to Sun.

40+ TB is a huge 100k+ Fire server(to hold the bays), and to get stuck with that bill would be beyond horrible. Special deal or not they will have to sign a similar contract, most likely a standard one that includes the Sun hardware use clauses.

It may have been safer to get used or refurb instead.

Well, for all I know they are now recovering Zooomr on the Zoho-provided server (as well as 4 servers of their own moved to the Zoho data center), and what they do with the Sun machine will be figured out later.

I assume Thomas will follow this thread and consider all your warnings.

Thomas and Kristopher,

Use MSFT Visio to extract the database schema and put the database table design on document. It seems like the majority of scalability issues are on the database side. No good database admin or architect can give any sounding advise without a fully mapped database schema.

I’ll check on you guys later. It is rather sad to see Kristopher putting a live video streaming him working. I never heard of startup doing this even back in Web 1.0. I am heading to the same place where Scoble is.

“I assume Thomas will follow this thread and consider all your warnings.”

He should at least read through the lease contract and double check it. If Sun sent them 42 TB, then they sent them a SAN or storage network server. Data parity on these types of machines can be a HUGE problem, and if you go into optimize and they have a contractual ban on that, they could end up nailing you bad.

If they want to build a big business they will need capital and lots of it. Two guys and a concept already dominated by others is a tough road to raise money. They should do it alone and make a profitable small business or join another company.

@Mike Scott

Thanks. It means a lot. I have been hiding out and hiding my face after the attack on Kathy Sierra. Don’t be “MEAN” to girls!

One thing public should learn is it is always a good idea to have girls around, especially guys are in trouble. Please be kind, nice and friendly to girls even you don’t think you need them at the time.

Geeks can be gentlemen with proper manner. They don’t teach manner in college, not in computer labs.

I’m back. Business plan including Marketing Requirement Document (MRD) & Technical Requirement Document (TRD) can be a very simple document. This is basically a communication piece.

I always ask my client to show me documents regardless of their Net Worth, company size, social status, popularity, and Job Title. From this document, it will tell me if the company is doing things right or off.

This will tell me if the front-end and back-end design (including UI design, App design, Database design, Server design) is aligning with business objectives.

I never shy about asking for the documents. I sometimes make executives to write them down or even I type out the document from verbal statement.

Go back to your server log and database log to see the last few things happened before it crashes.

Pay attention to the type, size and no of database queries. Check your database performance. See which database view or query or table is causing the stress. Look at the database record and activities. See if you need to redesign the database for better performance.

Learn “Less is More”. Would you rather have a product with many features that die very often or have a stable product with a few strong features that work very well with users?

This is great news! Sun are always good.

A Lange & Sohne Watches