Forem: Hana Khelifa

Web3 is multi-cloud

Hana Khelifa — Fri, 22 Jul 2022 08:41:00 +0000

Originally published on Scaleway's blog

Web3 is on everyone’s lips, for better or for worse. Some say it is a useless innovation, while others regard it as the solution to all our problems with technology. One thing is sure: a decentralized internet has passed the test and is currently being heavily built. The debate is still in its early stages on how it will evolve, and one thing has made the debate over Web3’s usefulness very intense: understanding Web3's definition.

But what if it was all about infrastructure in the end?

Wait, so what is "Web3"?

Web3 is an extreme decentralization of our digital world. It’s all about the Internet’s infrastructure, its protocols, and the decentralization of usage.

The word Web3 was first coined in 2014 by Gavin Wood in a famous blog post. He considered the protocols and technology of the web as we know it as a first experiment that needed to be iterated upon.

Over the past years, our intense usage of the Internet has led to a deeper comprehension of how we interact through Internet-connected devices and given us a hint of what lies in the future. The core technology of the Internet will most likely have to be re-engineered based on our new understandings of how we interact online as a society.

When Gavin wrote about the “post-Snowden” web and the need for decentralization and a consensus engine online eight years ago, he reimagined all the different models of interaction that currently exist on the web. So while we may use the Web for the same or similar purposes, the way we go about those activities will change profoundly.

Thus the concept of Web3 was born: an internet that leverages peer-to-peer applications for networks - such as Blockchain technologies or IPFS. And yes, Web3 aims to revolutionize many things, including how we share information.

But its main feature is decentralization.

From the protocols to the infrastructure, everything will be decentralized at every scale and layer possible.

Web3 is not just about the web, it profoundly changes the way we use the Internet in general - well beyond web stuff

Decentralization matters

On a high level, Web3 is a broad category of technologies defined by protocols built on top of open source. It is decentralized and on distributed systems.

When we talk about decentralization in Web3, we hear about how Web3 is created by and for people, without any authority present. But is it the case? If decentralized apps ( also known as DApps) and all the layers needed to run Web3 are exclusively hosted on AWS… Web3 is still just a dream.

If decentralization is the goal, a multi-cloud infrastructure is a requirement.

Decentralization means that the workload is replicated in multiple places and on various providers. And it can be accessed wherever and whenever desired. On-premise, off-premise, your cloud, my cloud. Nobody can stop or corrupt the workload.

Web3 projects and companies that deliver decentralized applications are forced to think about infrastructure differently and adopt multi-cloud from day one - instead of having to retrofit to avoid the vendor lock-in.

Web3 applications will need a distributed and decentralized database. Hosting this database on either a single cloud or relying on individuals’ devices are both unrealistic solutions. Web3 applications should not be on one data center or one single cloud provider. With data distributed across multiple clouds or devices, the network is truly decentralized and can therefore begin to reach Web3’s full potential.

Everybody should leverage a multi-cloud strategy for resiliency and cost-saving. But Web3 applications like IPFS* and the Ethereum blockchain turn multi-cloud infrastructure from a nice-to-have into a must-have. If decentralization is the goal, running on multiple providers - including self-hosting - is a requirement.

Once the industry matures, multi-cloud on Web3 will be the de-facto standard.

*What is IPFS?
The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a protocol and peer-to-peer network for storing and sharing data in a distributed file system. IPFS uses content-addressing to uniquely identify each file in a global namespace connecting all computing devices.

IPFS enables the storage of information in a way that it can be retrieved based on its content, not its name or location. It is used for high-speed storage and information retrieval of fixed content

Web3 and Scaleway

It’s still super early days for Web3, and it’s not clear what role infrastructures will play in enabling it, but one thing is clear: Scaleway will continue to support startups through our Startup Program, and we’ll keep building ambitious support and infrastructure for them.

10 great open source for CMS & web

Hana Khelifa — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 08:30:51 +0000

Some of my favorite open source tools for web. I wrote a guide on open-source tools here also :)

Strapi
Node.js Headless CMS to build customizable APIs
Builder
Drag and drop page builder and CMS
Plasmic
The headless page builder for singe-page frameworks
Directus
Open Data Platform for instantly turning any SQL database into an API and beautiful no-code app
Webiny
Enterprise serverless CMS
Hoppscotch
API development ecosystem to help create requests faster, saving precious time on development
Keycloak
User authentication and session management framework
Appwrite
Backend server with REST APIs to manage core backend needs
Supabase
The alternative to Firebase to create a backend in two minutes
Nextcloud
Self-hosted collaboration solution

Moving your infra to the cloud - best practices

Hana Khelifa — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 14:03:22 +0000

Moving to the cloud has its well known advantages... But it is easier said than done. So here are a few best practices to design your migration plan.

Redesigning the legacy

The first thing to do is separating your existing infrastructure in three: the front, the back, and your database. Understanding where you come from and what kind of legacy you are dealing with is crucial. There are basically two types of legacies:

The made from scratch infrastructure

You didn’t automate the deployment of your OS and your applications back then. So today your priority will be to understand it back. Tools exists to c/p the content of your server from your server from another, but you can also retro engineering it.

The automated infrastructure

When you already automated your infrastructures (with scripts to install web servers, databases, etc.), a server is a server. So you would be able to just reinstall what they had because they had the script.
This migration will not require too much energy or money but you won’t be able to enjoy what the cloud has to offer if you simply rehost.

Now that you understand where to start, let’s see what your options are.

Main migration strategies

Rehosting

Rehosting is cost-effective, needs no code change and no architecture change. It has little to no impact: you move the application into the cloud as is. It won't allow you to take full advantage of what the cloud has to offer though.

In some cases, it could be a good alternative if you need to migrate quickly, but don't stop your migration at this point.

Replatforming

Replatforming is pretty similar to rehosting applications on the cloud but you will need to make a few modifications on the app to enjoy cloud functionalities.
The modifications will mostly impact the configuration or the way the application scales, by partly automating your process.

Refactoring

This is when you update your applications’ architectures and alter them in depth. Refactoring is the most complex cloud migration strategy. You may have to make deep changes to your code and architecture, rebuild your deployment pipeline, and carefully test your applications to avoid regressions.

But you will be able to take full advantage of the cloud services (Serverless, Managed Kubernetes), microservices, infrastructure-as-code, containerization and cost optimization.

Replatform best practices

Stop wasting your time scaling your application by yourself, let the infrastructure do it for you.

Infrastructure-as-code (IaC)

Using IaC tools like Terraform enables you to develop faster, deploy in a more reliable way, while ensuring quality.

Version control is an important part of IaC. Since they are files, they can and should be managed by a source control system like any other software source code.

For instance, Terraform is an open-source tool which deploys your infra with an added layer of abstraction.

Deploy or redeploy your code

Instead of deploying your code yourself, and handling all the constraints - such as finding the right time to do it, warning teams and clients, etc. - you can automate the chain of deployment of your application.
By automating the packaging, the tests, and the deployment, you’ll be able to deploy in a quick & reproducible way on different environments (test, dev, prod, etc.).

CI/CD practices will help define processes for a quicker iteration, reducing the margin for human error. You will be able to allocate your spare time to your critical tasks.

What benefits can I get from the cloud now?

Moving your app to the cloud is a great step to start optimizing your infrastructure with cloud products. With a whole new world ahead, and spare time now that you don’t have to maintain your VM yourself, here are a few ideas on what you could do.

Managed services

Focus on your product and let your cloud provider handle the rest.

If you sell chairs online, why bother with self-managed databases when you could let your cloud provider manage your databases, do the hard work, and let you focus on your mission.

Application scaling

The main advantage of the cloud is that it makes your application more flexible and scalable. You can directly use products to do so - such as Kubernetes, which allows auto-scale, or Serverless, which can scale from zero to many. Or you can design your application in a way that will make it easy to use the right amount of resources placed where you need it.

Cost

Cloud products allow you to only consume and pay for the resources you need so your billing is as optimized as possible.

Happy engineer team

You’ll be able to help your engineering team focus more on your product and optimize your application. Enjoy better security, availability, and free your time to focus on tasks that bring more value to your users.

Is a migration worth it?

While moving to the cloud will require time, money, and training, it will pay off in the future - it is an investment for the future.
Now you have all the tools to find a strategy that is right for you. Also know that it can be done one step at a time. And if you have questions about your migration, you can reach out to us at Scaleway.

The content of this article has first been published on Scaleway's blog.