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AWS vs. Azure vs. Google

The CLOUD is the latest buzz world! There are tons of choices, let’s compare the top 3: Amazon, Microsoft and Google!

With so many choices, you can’t go wrong with any of these top three. However, each have their own pros and cons, or strengths and weaknesses. Thus, based on your needs, it make sense to pick one platform over another.

Investing in a cloud platform is a big decision; but if you know what you need the decision is not a difficult one. This article will explain and help you choose the best platform for your needs. It is not unusual for a company to use multiple cloud offerings because they may have different projects that have different needs.

What is the Cloud?

Arman Hezarkhani from Google, provided this one sentence definition of the Cloud: “Cloud is a set of tools that helps you (the developer) spend less time hanging and spend more time creating”. He does a great job with examples in this 42 minute long video: https://youtu.be/JtUIQz_EkUw (which I will recap in a few paragraphs below).

To understand the cloud; let’s take a step back in time and discuss how things used to be with an On-Premise solution. Say you want to launch a website like Walmart.com, you would write your code and deploy it on a server in your home; and it will works fine on day 1 where you have just a handful of visitors. However, a week later you decide to have a promotion; and traffic ramps up to over 500 visitors in a day! That one server isn’t going to have enough computing power to handle the traffic efficient (it may be dreadfully slow or just crash all together). So with an On-Premise architecture, the workaround is to buy several new servers modify your code for load-balancing to leverage the power of these new servers for the current level of traffic.

This concept of adding servers and resources to an On-Premise solution is called scaling. And, as you can imagine, it takes a lot of work and time to scale with an On-Premise solution. Here is where the early cloud service (called Time-Sharing) comes in. Times-Sharing is basically contract with an company which has the ability to “rent” out computing resources for you to scale your business. So if you need 10 new servers, for a minimal cost, you can rent their 10 new servers and access this hardware (aka Infrastructure) over the Internet. This Time-Sharing concept is also known as Infrastructure as a Service, or IaaS. This was the primitive cloud offerings.

The current state of cloud computing incorporates more than Time-Sharing some server (aka Infrastructure as a Service, or IaaS). They provide Platform as a Service (PaaS), which are tools included with the Infrastructure they are renting out. Tools that can help you (for example) automatically scale up by adding more server resources when the your web traffic requires it (such as for Black Friday Sales), and then scale down by automatically removing server resources when your traffic slows down after the holidays. All this is handled automatically without you having to code anything, this is the magic of the provided Platform As a Service (PaaS).

And finally, one more step beyond PaaS is Software as a Service (SaaS). These cloud resources now can provide software you can access right over the internet without having to install a single thing on your local computer. Common Example of these are Google Docs, Google Sheets, Microsoft Word, and other software that you can access directly and use over the internet!

And there you have it! IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS are all standard components of what the Cloud is Today. Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform can provide all these resources for your business needs. They all do pretty much the same things, but there are Strengths and Weaknesses between the services, and based on your ideal needs; it is best to consider the differences so you can find the best solution for your needs. Let’s start looking into the details!

High Level Overview:

AWSAzureGoogle
Launched Date
March 2006
February 2010
November 2011
Market Share
33%
20%
12%
Strengths
  • Dominant Market Position
  • Support for Large Organization
  • Largest (HUGE) Collection of Tools and Service
  • Largest Data Centers (World Wide)
  • Strong Global Reach
  • Extensive Trainning
  • Second Largest provider (only to AWS)
  • Compatibility w/ Microsoft Products
  • Easy Integration with Microsoft Tools and Software
  • Existing .NET code works on Azure
  • SQL Server Environments connect easily
  • Easy to Migrate on-premises apps
  • Hybrid Cloud
  • Broad Feature Set
  • Support for open source (Although not as much as Google)
  • Lowest prices: Deep discounts and flexible contracts
  • Quickly Growing
  • Partnered with Cisco
  • Strong Offering in Containers (developed the Kubernetes standard, used by AWS and Azure)
  • Specializes in High compute offerings
    • Machine Learning
    • Big Data
    • Analytics
  • Strong Scaling Response Times
  • Strong Load Balancing Response Times
  • Great for open-source-centric customers
  • Great for DevOps-centric customers
Weakness
  • Overwhelming options
  • Difficult to use
  • Harder to get a more personal relationship; but there are resellers and consultants who can provide such attention.
  • Difficult to understand cost structure
  • Complicated Cost Management
  • Reports have shown that service experience feels less enterprise-ready than expected. (ref: Gartner) 
  • Reports cited issues with technical support, documentation, training, and breadth of ISV partner ecosystem. (ref: Gartner)
  • Weak Management Tools
  • Weak Documentation
  • Less friendly for open-source-centric customers
  • Less friendly for DevOps-centric customers
  • Not as Enterprise focused (although the Cisco Partnership helps)
  • Limited Services and Features
  • Least Global Data Centers (although quickly expanding)

Looking for a camera camera for basic everyday use, for photos and videos. Cheap and compact.

Kevin: What’s a good camera to have around for basic photos and for some videos.  Under $1000

David:  Hi Kevin, in a nutshell, you have two choices:

  • The Canon G7x Mark II (around $500).  Which is a nice compact point-and-shoot that does fairly good photos and solid videos.  It can fit in your jacket/jeans pocket.  You don’t need to buy any extra lens or any additional accessories (other than memory card and batteries).  All-in-one package that works great, and is compact!  I almost always bring this with me everywhere I go.
  • The other choice is the Canon M50, which does everything that the above camera does, but BETTER.  With the trade-off of being a little BIGGER and more expensive.  If you want the M50, I would recommend you get the kit which comes with the Canon EF-M 15mm-45mm lens (Kit price around $700).
    • Then I’d suggest adding a Canon EF-M 22mm f/2.0 lens (Around $230)which will give you a shallow depth of field on all your photos and videos, plus it will be great for low light indoor situations.
      • AND/OR adding the Canon EF-M 11-22mm Lens (Around $350), if you want to have wider type of shots.  (great for vlogging).
So those are your two choices that I would recommend.  If you want a more detailed discussion and comparison, please see this blog post https://www.utechpia.com/best-vlogging-cameras/
Let me know if you have any questions!

DRONE vs DSLR, which to use for a 300+ group photo.

Last updated April 12, 2018

The question was, do I use my DSLR (Canon 1Dx w/ 16-35mm f/2.8 II lens) or a DRONE (Mavic Pro) to shoot a group photo of 300 people?

I explain the setup and the results here:

Photo BELOW: Canon 1Dx, 16-35mm f/2.8 II @ 21mm, f/8, 1/200th, ISO 2000 

Photo BELOW: Canon 1Dx, 16-35mm f/2.8 II @ 19mm, f/8, 1/200th, ISO 2000

DJI Mavic Pro 12.35MP @ 4.73mm, f/2.2, 1/220th, IS 100

Conclusion:

The DSLR Photos was composed better because:

  1. People were paying attention and looking at the camera

  2. I was holding the camera straight and was at a good elevation

  3. DSLR quality of the photo was sharper and more detailed.

Canon T6 vs Nikon D3400 – Entry Level DSLR

Last updated April 12, 2018

So you are getting into photography and want to buy your first DSLR?  There are two popular choices: The Canon T6 and the Nikon D3400.  Which should you get?

Nikon D3400 with 18-55mm lens on Amazon: $496.00

Canon T6 with 18-55mm lens on Amazon: $449.00

 

Spoiler Alert: For roughly the same price.  I would recommend the Nikon D3400 camera.

 

…..And I’m a HUGE Canon shooter.  I do professional wedding photography and own over $75,000 worth of Camera gear!

Here are 6 Top reasons why the Nikon is better:

 

  1. Way Better Battery life:  Nikon D3400 will take about 1200 photos on one charge, vs The Canon T6 which will take about 500 photos.

  2. Fast shooting Burst rate: Nikon D3400 can do 5 Frames Per Second, while the Canon T6 can only do 3 Frames Per Second.  This is important if you’re shooting things that are moving (sports, action, wildlife, etc); it allows you to take one photo after another, much faster, so you have a better chance of getting that perfect image!

  3. Price Difference:  For $50 price difference, I wouldn’t think twice.  Spend a little more for the Nikon, you’ll be happier.

  4. Image Sensor: D3400 has a 24.2MP sensor vs the 18MP on the Canon T6.  This means with the Nikon you can print larger images and/or Crop the images later on and generally still have better quality than the images from the Canon T6.

  5. Video Recording Capabilities: Both can Record at 1080P Videos.  But the Nikon D3400 can do it at 60 FPS while Canon can only record at 30FPS.  This is important if you want to record buttery smooth videos and/or be able to do slow motions effects when editing.

  6. Low Light Capabilities: The Nikon D3400 can capture better in low light situations because it’s ISO can go up to 25600 vs 12800 on the Canon T6.

The race between Nikon and Canon never ends, and this is a GREAT thing!  As consumers, both companies are constantly trying to out compete each other and provide better value.  This time around in 2017, the entry level DSLR crown goes to Nikon.

 

I HIGHLY recommend the Nikon D3400 over the Canon T6, this is a no brainer.

 

Side note: If you plan to be a Professional photographer, and looking to spend much more on a camera, then Canon has some huge advantages, which is why I use Canon Equipment for my wedding photography business over at www.dKweddings.net.

$60 (YN-216) vs $650 (Aputure 120t) Video Light Compare, Worth it?

Last updated April 12, 2018

Are you making YouTube Videos and realize you need better lighting?  You should definitely invest in some lights, but do you spend $60 or $650 or possibly even more?  Today I compare a $60 light with a $650 light so you can compare for yourself.

I just bought two video lights, and they arrived on the same exact day!  Woohoo, Feels like Christmas again!

Yongnuo YN216 YN-216: http://amzn.to/2guz1Pp

Aputure Light Storm COB 120t: http://amzn.to/2zBW4g5

I’ll do an in-depth review on each light soon, but here’s a quick video of me testing them out in a simple YouTube Video.

I really like both of these lights.  The Aputure 120t is obviously the better light, but its it worth 11x the cost?  For someone who’s uses these lights just for YouTube, I would say no in general.  No, the Aputure 120t doesn’t justify the extra cost, focus that money on better camera or audio equipment.  I purchased both, and keeping both because they both serve their different purpose.

Here are some ways you can use the lights:

  1. Obviously point use it to light up YOU, as you are the main subject of the video
  2. You want to light up the room you are in.
  3. Or you want to light up a product you are getting detail photos or videos of; for this you want a light that is light weight and easily to move around.

The YN-216 has an annoying fan noise that I don’t like, because it affects my video; but it’s super cheap, very flexible and provides great light.  I totally recommend buying it first, and if it realize you want more, but an additional light.