We have a custom software project that’s database driven (MySQL) and is built with php and some public and custom libraries.
It’s currently being hosted on a VPS, and being the intern, I’ve been assigned the task of researching how we can transition it so it can be hosted in a cloud.
My research so far has led me to providers such as Amazon EC2, but they don’t say much about the software side of things. Some of the literature suggests that it’s not a simple matter of just moving the software to the cloud. It looks like modifications to the software need to be made. I’m not sure like what (do I need wrappers around it, or something like that)? I need some clues to get started in the right direction.
I’m planning to pick up a book on this topic, but I’m interested in hearing from others what standard changes we’re likely to need to make for this use case.
Unless your software is very poorly written, there should be no concern about whether it runs on a VPS or in the cloud. In fact, your software likely wouldn’t know the difference.
You’ve jumped straight into questions about transitioning of software, which won’t be an issue. Your boss may actually be more interested in finding out if a move to EC2 will impact: security (maybe), processes (maybe) and admin access to the box (maybe). It’s hard to answer these questions, because they’re usually dependent on your corporate policies.