Google app engine vs mochahost or similar

google-app-enginehosting

I have developed a site with google app engine using python and django, now I have another similar project to develop.

Well I have got some well-known problems using the datastore:

  • query: there's no "LIKE CLAUSULE" and GQL is not Sql
  • documentation is not so clear and easy to find
  • backup database is not so trivial
  • django support is not so great (I use google app engine patch)
  • I'm just a little scared about when my traffic go "into pay mode"

Now, I hope that this site will have a great number of visitors in my optimistic prevision 🙂 so the question is, can an alternative hosting service offer me a professional service like google app engine?

Is it possible to make a professional web site that works starting from a 'conventional' hosting service?

An other stupid question, but I site like this where is hosted??

I'm a little bit confusing about which kind of hosting chosing…

Thanks for help 🙂

Best Answer

My individual opinion is that App Engine is ideal for prototyping for these reasons:

  • Free. Nowhere else can you run a web app for $0
  • Deployment and upgrading is extremely simple
  • You don't have to worry about backups or networking or anything besides programming
  • GQL is no problem. There are workarounds. It's a reasonable price to pay for free hosting and scaling.

However, once you think your site is popular, and especially if it becomes profitable, App Engine is not ideal.

  • Yes it scales. But as your site grows, you always wanting new reports on your data to gain knowledge. This is extremely tough in App Engine. You need case-by-case programming and possibly database changes. That takes time and resources. This is my #1 problem for App Engine for startups or small companies.
  • You want to control your backup and restore process
  • It is bad business to be locked in to a sole hosting provider
  • There is nobody to contact if something goes wrong. Forums schmorums. That's for hobbyists and discussion, not for time-critical problem-solving.
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