On 27 October 2010 21:40, gh0st <[email protected]> wrote: > Sorry if these questions seem newbie/basic, but I'm really strugging > to understand some concepts and I'm hoping someone on this forum can > help. > > 1. Who is Google App Engine aimed at? Or in other words, When you > sell a Google App Engine to a non-technical client, what do you tell > them?
Developers wanting to host a web-based application/site. And they dont want to worry about 'sysadmin' tasks. > > 2. Is GAE meant to be a replacement for traditional web hosting > companies? Yes and no. It certainly compliments, and replaces some sub-set of web-app hosting. But it certainly isnt a general purpose computing platform. > a. Is it a managed web hosting service? Yes. > b. Is it wrong to even think GAE as a web hosting service? No. > > 3. What is the usual deployment process for a GAE powered app? Does > it differ from say a normal web development process? It will differe from many/most > a. Do you get FTP/shell access? No. You upload via the SDK (which also powers the development version of the site you run locally) > b. What happens if you need to do a cron job? There is a cron service to launch processes at specific intervals > c. Is it possible to backup any GAE hosted app and any associated SQL/ > NOSQL data? Yes. It's not always trivial, mainly depending on your dataset size. But its certainly possible. There are scripts (in the SDK) to help. > > 4. I understand that GAE is designed to help apps that need to handle > large scale; but how does this make it different to say the Amazon web > servers? AWS gives you very specific building blocks, say a virtual machine. You can do just about anything on that server. AppEngine pretty much just gives you a webserver (which access to Service APIs - for database etc) AWS you still have to manage the actual servers, buy extra servers when needed for scale, and intergrate them into the application. In other words you still need to do sysadmin tasks, just that you doing it against computers running in a Amazon datacenter. AppEngine is more similar to traditional 'shared hosting' (just supercharged!). You upload your scripts, and appengine takes care of making them work. > > 5. Can you deliver large MMOs, facebook apps, things of that nature; > or is it only accessible via the GAE platform/URL? You can access a appengine app via a custom domain, via Google Apps. Certainly it can power all of those things > > 6. http://code.google.com/appengine/whyappengine.html does not have > any case studies, links or testimonials -- where can I find examples > of say Facebook apps/MMOs that use GAE? http://www.google.com/search?q=powered+by+app+engine > > 7. Is GAE only designed for web applications? Can you use it for > mobile applications? Mobile applications that work accorss the web - certainly. AppEngine is jsut a webserver serving webpages (and required resources) - the fact that page displays on a mobile device makes no different to AppEngine. > > 8. Recently a Google Chrome App Store was announced. What is the > relationship between GAE and the app store? Can GAE apps be sold on > this app store marketplace? No. Totally different technologies. AppEngine Apps can be sold in the Google Apps MarketPlace http://www.google.com/enterprise/marketplace/ (I think) > > 9. The FAQ does not have any examples of monetization -- is > monetization with GAE possible, in short -- can I make money from my > apps on GAE, or is this against the TOS? many apps put ads on their site. Certainly can run commerical services on appengine. If the app is big enough you going to be paying Google anyway. > > 10. Is there a procedure for a GAE, for example is your app in a > sandbox mode until it is approved by Google? Do GAE apps need to be > digitally signed by a third party (ie: Thawte)? There is no approval process. You upload an app, and its imidiatly available to view by the word (well sometimes seconds delay) A Appengine App runs on Googles server. Users dont download it. So there is no signing. > > 11. Lets say you have an app that requires SSL, or payment, or > requires some other kind of certificate between the user and the app; > are such certificates handled by GAE? appid.appspot.com can use HTTPS/SSL. If want it secure on a custom Google Apps domain - not possible yet, but probably comming. So to have HTTPS on custom domain, need to use your own server (as a proxy) > > 12. Data protection issues. Different countries have different Data > protection laws, in addition with all the issues of privacy concerning > Facebook applications one may in the future point to Google's own data > protection structures. Therefore; how does GAE address with data > protection issues, is it something I should be concerned about? No idea. But the data is stored in north american data-centers. > > 12. IP rights. Who owns the IP rights to an app you write and then > use GAE for deployment? You. > > Sorry about the length of these questions, I realize they cover a lot > of topics; I also apologize if these questions are in the manual > somewhere. > > Regardless, I'm hopeful you can help. > > Thanks. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Google App Engine" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/google-appengine?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Google App Engine" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/google-appengine?hl=en.
