There are two main types of scalability: vertical and horizontal. Vertical scalability consists of potentiating the hardware specs of a given server. This is typically done by increasing the number (and to a minor extent, speed) of the processors, adding more RAM, and so on. Commodity hardware tends to impose a strong limit on the resources that can be augmented. There is only so much that can be stuffed into your typical x64_86 Dell server, even replacing the entire machine with the top of the line model (having the same architecture).

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RAILSCONF 2009

Sebastopol, CA, May 26, 2009 — RailsConf 2009, the annual event for the Ruby on Rails community held May 4-7 in Las Vegas, gave new and experienced Rails users practical tools for staying agile and competitive in an industry being transformed by fast-paced innovation. For four intense days, developers engaged directly with more than 100 expert speakers, learning how to exploit the popular framework’s newest features to solve problems and build businesses.

Engine Yard is a proud sponsor of RailsConf 2009 in Las Vegas. We’re having a great time speaking with our customers and the wider Rails community. This year, we wanted to share something extra special with everyone—a peek at the next offering in our suite of cloud management solutions: Engine Yard Flex.

RailsConf program chair Chad Fowler is conducting a series of speaker interviews in the run-up to the event, which is happening very soon, May 4-7 in Las Vegas. Mosey on over to ChadFowler.com to read more about Neal Ford and Paul Gross of ThoughtWorks, Michael Bleigh, who is Creative Director and Open-Source Activist at Intridea, JRuby and Rubinius leaders Charlie Nutter and Evan Phoenix, as well as Chad’s musing on Rails, Ruby, and open source.