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Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

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Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#81

Post by no_circuit »

strzibny wrote: post #66
no_circuit wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on the table of contents and the preview pages it looks like it has some pretty good content. Made me think of "the missing manual" book series. I just don't think small startups or side-projects should spend so much time getting all the configuration and moving parts right compared to just Docker+Terraform+(IaaS of choice). Then if one is on a tight budget, then just run Docker Compose on a single host, or run…

I really believe that what I put into the book should be a knowledge a person deploying production application should have. > I just don't think small startups or side-projects should spend so much time getting all the configuration and moving parts right compared to just Docker+Terraform+(IaaS of choice). It's the opposite actually! I show you how to avoid a lot of indirection and have a deploy script in 200 lines o…

Fair enough. :-) Like I said, my impression is that the content seems good! What I can't tell, without reading it, is what the end state of the dev/ops architecture would be along with its maintenance requirements, to understand if it would be a good complete resource to refer to beginners in tech I can't assist myself.

Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#82

Post by errcorrectcode »

jaw wrote: post #50
nawgz wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Show HN has a major problem with that these days. The comments that are just like "perfect timing! I have never seen a resource for this and I'm just learning it now" are really facile, no one actually interacts with people selling you things like this, and it's contrasted starkly with the one comment giving feedback on the page which is that it has no content at all unless you buy it. I find it very hard to believe…

> no one actually interacts with people selling you things like this There's a whole successful social network (Goodreads) built on people's desire to talk about books, frequently in the form of effusive praise. I think being able to trace the product to a single individual (e.g. a book's author) helps make it particularly appealing to leave that sort of feedback: we know it feels great to hear that someone values a…

I had the impression Goodreads was a link-farming book/warez site. Is it something real or apparent competing-with-the-Jones', Chef de Claque toxic positivity, whether human or bot?

Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#83

Post by errcorrectcode »

turtlebits wrote: post #48

For a book on deployment, I feel there is too much content on setting up a server. Would have like to see pros and cons of differing ways to deploy. Also, for taking apps to production, there should definitely be a part on high availability.

Without addressing deployment canaries, exponential deployments, exponential rollbacks, traffic steering, API load duplication to staging, IaaS/PaaS, 12factor apps, HA, scaling, fault injection, hot backups, cold (and tested) backups, DR/BCP, configuration management, CI/CD, monitoring, troubleshooting the entire stack, and SLAs, it doesn't seem to me like a professional-enough treatment to celebrate.

Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#84

Post by errcorrectcode »

strzibny wrote: post #72
turtlebits wrote: post #48

For a book on deployment, I feel there is too much content on setting up a server. Would have like to see pros and cons of differing ways to deploy. Also, for taking apps to production, there should definitely be a part on high availability.

I talk about some of it (like push vs pull approach to server configuration, containers or not, single server or not), but most likely not to the extend you are probably thinking of. As for high availability I discuss whether it's worth it or not in the Scaling chapter. I also show how to use NGINX as a load balancer. I currently don't have HA content written for PG and Redis, but there are planned (as a free update)…

Nginx, in 2021, really?

Envoy stomps it.

https://www.loggly.com/blog/benchmarking-5-popular-load-bala...

Also, what about caching, a-la at the top varnish, redis/memcache in the middle, and database tuning in the BE?

Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#85

Post by d4mi3n »

__blockcipher__ wrote: post #75
d4mi3n wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aside: Is HN so fragile that it requires end-users to police anomalous activity? Given the age and influence of the platform I'd assume dang and co. who moderate and maintain the board are old hands at staying on top of manipulation of the platform. Could any mods comment on this? _Should_ we be keeping an eye out and calling out odd activity? It'd be nice to avoid posts like __blockcipher__'s; while well intentioned…

Not sure if you saw it but another user pointed out that there's already a section in the guidelines about it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29542871 > Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, brigading, foreign agents and the like. It degrades discussion and is usually mistaken. If you're worried about abuse, email hn@ycombinator.com and we'll look at the data. That guideline makes sense t…

I was unaware of it as well, thanks for calling it out. I don't think you were wrong to call out your suspicions, I was just unaware of what controls or processes were in place (if any) to prevent the need for users to police stuff.

Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#86

Post by errcorrectcode »

burnished wrote: post #51
notyourday wrote: post #44

Really? Rails, Python, and co deployment needs a book?! This is a perfect illustration of the sad state of basic skills of developers. * Super old school. rsync over ssh. ssh to restart the process. * Old school. "cap production deploy" * New school. Build a container. Run it.

Sorry, the knowledge-pods of those under 40 were defective, we just weren't born knowing everything we needed to know (unlike previous generations).

Responding low with ageism isn't good. ):

However, I will take all of your knowledge-pods. Resistance is futile. :)

Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#87

Post by jaw »

errcorrectcode wrote: post #82
jaw wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> no one actually interacts with people selling you things like this There's a whole successful social network (Goodreads) built on people's desire to talk about books, frequently in the form of effusive praise. I think being able to trace the product to a single individual (e.g. a book's author) helps make it particularly appealing to leave that sort of feedback: we know it feels great to hear that someone values a…

I had the impression Goodreads was a link-farming book/warez site. Is it something real or apparent competing-with-the-Jones', Chef de Claque toxic positivity, whether human or bot?

I and many people I’ve met irl through book clubs etc use it; I find reading my friends’ reviews interesting and I’ve gotten good recommendations through it.

If you’re just looking at the top reviews for a book it’s more questionable; they tend toward the extremes: enraptured encomiums about how beautiful and important and bold the book is, or insult-laden rants where the book is a whipping post for the reviewer to show off what a biting sense of humor they have.

Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#88

Post by andkon »

errcorrectcode wrote: post #83
turtlebits wrote: post #48

For a book on deployment, I feel there is too much content on setting up a server. Would have like to see pros and cons of differing ways to deploy. Also, for taking apps to production, there should definitely be a part on high availability.

Without addressing deployment canaries, exponential deployments, exponential rollbacks, traffic steering, API load duplication to staging, IaaS/PaaS, 12factor apps, HA, scaling, fault injection, hot backups, cold (and tested) backups, DR/BCP, configuration management, CI/CD, monitoring, troubleshooting the entire stack, and SLAs, it doesn't seem to me like a professional-enough treatment to celebrate.

Also it would be nice if this book could do all the deploying for me.

Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#89

Post by juanse »

sireat wrote: post #47

From the testimonial on the page: 4 CPU cores, 16 GB of RAM, and automated backups for barely €15 a month. Where can you get a VPS for so cheap, I do not think even Hetzner goes that low?

I wrote that, and I did it without being paid or having any affiliation. Just a happy customer.

This is the service I use: https://www.netcup.eu, and by the way I recommended it too.

Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#90

Post by e12e »

errcorrectcode wrote: post #84
strzibny wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I talk about some of it (like push vs pull approach to server configuration, containers or not, single server or not), but most likely not to the extend you are probably thinking of. As for high availability I discuss whether it's worth it or not in the Scaling chapter. I also show how to use NGINX as a load balancer. I currently don't have HA content written for PG and Redis, but there are planned (as a free update)…

Nginx, in 2021, really? Envoy stomps it. https://www.loggly.com/blog/benchmarking-5-popular-load-bala... Also, what about caching, a-la at the top varnish, redis/memcache in the middle, and database tuning in the BE?

Interesting about the total requests, but the article does not test.. balancing load? In a perfect world, 1 lb in front of 4 app servers should be able to serve 4x the requests as 1 lb in front of 1 app server.

So I'd imagine 4x nginx back-end servers, and a baseline hitting 1 nginx directly?

That, and the fact that the nginx config is shorter, and the performance not terrible (though terrible next to envoy in this test admittedly) - does mean nginx shouldn't be ruled out.

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