Attention DC Rubyists!

Do you live in or around the Washington DC area? Free next weekend, or looking to take a trip?

If you're not already registered to attend Ruby DCamp, perhaps we can be of assistance...

Ruby DCamp is an experimental Ruby BarCamp-style event, organized by local DC Rubyists. We can get you in, but only if you can answer the following super challenging question ;)

The legendary Matz: what's his full name? Spelled correctly, that is. The first two folks to email giveaways@engineyard.com, Subject: RubyDCamp Passes, get in.

Good luck!

• Posted by leah
• 1 comments

Merb Master Process

Apologies for the delay in posting about this. I was enjoying the fantastic Ajax Experience and jQuery Camp out in Boston, where I got a chance to hang with my jQuery compatriots as the huge Microsoft and Nokia announcement broke.

Now that I’m back, I want to talk about the cool new features we’ve been adding to Merb’s server. Let’s take a look at them one at a time:

• When a Merb server boots up and tries to bind to existing ports, it doesn’t crash. Instead, it waits for each port to become available and binds when they do. As a result, you can start up a new merb, and then gracefully kill the old one. This should make restarting clusters of merbs significantly less painful, and with almost no downtime.
• Merb’s clusters have been rewritten to take advantage of Ruby Enterprise Edition, which makes it much easier to share memory between workers in a Merb cluster. Using Ruby Enterprise with Merb 1.0 should yield around the same 30% memory improvement that Phusion Passenger yields.
• Merb clusters are now controlled by a master process, which can be told to gracefully kill all of its children, or reload the application code (but not init.rb or gems).
• Sending an INT to the master process (directly or via merb -K all) tells each of the worker processes to gracefully die.
• Sending a HUP to the master process tells each of the worker processes to gracefully die, but to start up a new cluster with reloaded code. This bypasses reloading Merb, gems, and init.rb, so the restart is much quicker than doing a full reload. This is also the same internal code used by development mode code-reloading, which has now been made 100% foolproof.
• Killing a worker process (either via INT, which is graceful, or KILL, which isn’t) will cause a new process to be respawned instantly. We’re talking basically no time at all, since no code needs to be reloaded (the spawner process forks right before binding to a port)

All of these improvements are just harbingers of even more improvements, making Merb’s master process even more powerful and smart.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that Merb has been significantly tuned for Ruby Enterprise, and with regular Ruby, there is a bit of overhead for the master processes. All of the features above will work correctly with standard Ruby, but you’ll get them for free (memory-wise), as well as quite a bit of improved memory overall in a cluster by using Ruby Enterprise.

Please, please, please check it out.

• Posted by wycats
• 0 comments

Integrity: Continuous Integration

What’s it all about?

I’m a big fan of Continuous Integration writing software. However I’ve always found myself disappointed by the CI solutions that are floating around, namely Cruisecontrolrb.  Managing the processes can become a nightmare once you have a few projects running under it. At work I was recently tasked with revamping our on-again/off-again cruisecontrol setup and I thought to myself “there has got to be something better.”  It turns out there is, it’s called Integrity. Here’s why I love this little piece of software.

• works fine with github repos, public and private
• emails me reliably so I don’t have to check a web ui to know what’s up
• automatically works with the Post-Receive hooks github offers, including branch support
• excellent test coverage, it’s was at 100% last time I hacked on it
• works off an sqlite3 database
• keeps history of test runs
• written in datamapper and sinatra
• they’ve got lighthouse setup (here)

Random Tidbits

The README on the integrity site is a great start, but here’s a few extra things that we’re using that you might be interested in.

Process Management

We’re just running bin/integrity like the README says under GNU Screen. It hasn’t crashed and doesn’t seem to be leaking.

Private Repo Access

We’re using keychain and github deploy keys to access our source code from crons and the ci process.

The Github Hooks are AWESOME

A lot of the time a simple CI setup will just ’svn up’ or ‘git pull’ and run the latest version that it pulls down. The github hooks actually send SHA1 hashes for each commit that a person makes. If one of your co-workers bundles half a dozen commits and he broke the build in the middle, you’ll be able to identify which commit caused the problem instead of reviewing each commit and possibly running them all yourself.  It’s this easy:

• Click Edit on your github project(example)
• Enter your Post-Receive url(example)

Can it get any better?

I’d really like to see some async build process for Integrity, or perhaps some devver integration. It’s a pretty solid product and it keeps improving.

• Posted by atmos
• 0 comments

Merb Milestones and Events!

We’ve all been following the impressive progress of Merb this year, and true to the team’s word, they’ve recently made some big announcements.

MerbCamp 2008, the first ever gathering of the Merb community, is scheduled for October 11 – 12 in sunny San Diego, California. The schedule features talks by leading community members, like Yehuda “wycats” Katz and Daniel “hassox” Neighman, as well as Merb’s creator, Ezra “ezmobius” Zygmuntowicz.

Members of the team will be gathering in San Diego starting October 8 for a March to 1.0 Sprint, with a focus on finishing touches and documentation. Merb 1.0 is scheduled for release at MerbCamp.

MerbCamp is shaping up to be a great show, with excellent talks, tech-comfy facilities and relaxed and enjoyable after-hours beachfront entertainment. If you’re still on the fence about going, perhaps a free pass will help push you over the edge…

If you were Merb, what would your favorite color be? Email giveaways@engineyard.com, Subject: MerbCamp Pass, and the first correct answer gets in. And I’ll work on the question a bit more next time ;)

I’ll be there, along with several members of the Engine Yard team – be sure and stop by our table to say hello!

Update

The MerbCamp pass has been awarded! Congratulations to Nick Hammond of Off Madison Ave; the answer, of course, was Green.

Stay tuned for future news and giveaways!

• Posted by leah
• 0 comments

Any Chicago Dwellers Out There?

Were you interested in attending ChicagoRuby.org's WindyCityRails? Did you miss your chance to register?

WindyCityRails takes place Saturday, September 20th and features Ruby and Rails greats, like David Heinemeier Hansson, David Chelimsky and Engine Yard's Yehuda Katz. The show tags itself as having "something for every Ruby on Rails enthusiast," and the Agenda looks primed to deliver.

Email events@engineyard.com, subject line WindyCityRails Giveaway, for your chance at a free pass to the show; it'll go to the first response.

Good luck, and see you all there!

• Posted by leah
• 0 comments

Waterfalls & Workflow: the Rubinius Sprint in Portland

Engine Yard’s latest Rubinius sprint in Portland, Oregon was a highly successful endeavor for the team. Evan Phoenix, Eric Hodel, Brian Ford, Ryan Davis, and Wilson Bilkovich, moved forward in getting the new C++ VM loading the kernel, and getting the compiler working with ruby_parser. Hacking away for nearly a week, the team worked hard and produced some amazing results.  

Another major focus of the sprint was team workflow and communication. The sprint was a great opportunity for the team to get together and work face-to-face, bounce a few ideas off of each other, eat too much junk food, tell a few jokes… oh, and get a lot of work done too.

To celebrate their success, the group went on a hike up to the beautiful and legendary Multnomah Falls, followed by a stroll through the Japanese gardens. Great work, guys!

• Posted by amanda
• 0 comments

Next Up: eRubyCon!

We all know and love Ruby, but there are a world of folks out there who just don't know it well enough; eRubyCon is a show designed to help the Enterprise learn more about why Ruby's the right technology for them.

Engine Yard's Tom Mornini will be there, with the scoop on Vertebra, Scalability and Accountability - be sure to say hello!

Our friends over at EdgeCase did a great job organizing the show last year, and we're looking forward to joining them this year for Version 2.0. In fact, we're so excited, we'd love for you to join us...

Email giveaways@engineyard.com, subject line eRubyCon Passes, and the first three responses will get free admission to the show. See you all there!

• Posted by leah
• 0 comments

Free Passes, Anyone?

Are you going to RubyNation? ... would you like to?

Engine Yard's Yehuda Katz will be there, talking about new technologies still on the Edge of the Ruby frontier, and he'd love to meet you! Other notable speakers include Giles Bowkett, Stuart Halloway, Rich Kilmer, and many other community leaders. It's shaping up to be a really great show!

Email events@engineyard.com, subject line RubyNation Giveaway, for your chance at a free pass to RubyNation; they'll go to the first two responses.

See you all there!

UPDATE:

The passes have been distributed. Thanks everyone for your interest!

• Posted by leah
• 0 comments

Live from RubyFringe!

The Engine Yard team is in Toronto this weekend for the one and only RubyFringe! The photographs might just give this away, but RubyFringe isn't quite like any of the other shows out there...



Thanks to Pete, Meghann, Hampton and the whole gang over at Unspace on a job well done!

RubyFringe featured a slew of great new talks, from both old and new faces. While lots of the sessions were highly technical, the single track also mixed in different sorts of talks, running the gamut from how to run an RoR related businesses, to the joys of Jazz -- they even threw in some live music!

It was great to meet those of you who joined us in Toronto! Next up: RubyNation!



(Photos by Libin Pan)

• Posted by leah
• 0 comments

Engine Yard Closes $15 Million in Series B Financing

Investment from New Enterprise Associates, Amazon.com, and Benchmark Capital to help Company cement position as leading Ruby and Rails in the cloud provider

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (July 14, 2008) – Engine Yard, provider of the leading Ruby and Rails deployment platform, today announced it has closed a Series B financing round of $15 million led by New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA), with participation from Amazon.com and current investor Benchmark Capital. Peter Sonsini, Partner at NEA, joins Engine Yard’s board of directors.

“Engine Yard's exceptional track record and substantial mindshare within the open-source community position the company to be at the forefront of two key emerging markets in the computing space: Ruby and Rails and cloud computing,” said Mr. Sonsini. “I look forward to working with the Engine Yard team to build the business and take the company to the next growth stage.”

The new funding will help Engine Yard accelerate its business, bolster R&D; of their forthcoming cloud computing cluster platform, and continue to drive innovation with its Ruby open-source projects, Rubinius and Merb.

“Ruby and Rails are gaining traction in the enterprise, as companies look for alternatives to Java and .NET that would free up resources, speed up development, and get them to market faster,” said Lance Walley, Engine Yard co-founder and CEO. “Engine Yard is committed to delivering the deployment infrastructure, services, and in-house expertise to take Ruby and Rails applications to the cloud. We’re pleased that NEA and Amazon.com share our vision and, through their investment, have committed to helping Engine Yard execute on this vision.”

Engine Yard offers a unique combination of technology, services, and technical leadership that is helping fuel the growing Ruby and Rails market. The Company’s deployment platform combines high-end clustering resources to run Ruby and Rails applications securely in the cloud, while Engine Yard’s team of Ruby and Rails technical experts delivers 24x7 maintenance and support. These same technical experts lead and participate in the open-source projects helping drive the future of Ruby and Rails.

"Amazon Web Services has provided infrastructure services in the cloud for over two years and we believe that cloud computing will be a large industry with companies providing a range of different services," said Jeff Blackburn, Amazon.com Senior Vice President for Business Development. "Engine Yard is passionate about providing their customers with scalable and reliable cloud-based infrastructure for their Ruby on Rails applications.”

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About NEA

New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a leading venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs create and build major new enterprises that use technology to improve the way we live, work and play. Since its founding in 1978, the firm has followed the same core principles: supporting its entrepreneurs, providing an excellent return to its limited partners, and practicing its profession with the highest standards and respect. Through its affiliated funds, NEA focuses on investments at all stages of a company’s development, from seed stage through IPO. With approximately $8.5 billion in committed capital, NEA’s experienced management team has invested in over 550 companies, of which more than 160 have gone public and more than 240 have been acquired. NEA has U.S. offices in Chevy Chase, Maryland; Menlo Park, California; and Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, New Enterprise Associates (India) Pvt. Ltd. has an office in Bangalore, India and New Enterprise Associates (Beijing) Ltd. has offices in Beijing and Shanghai, China.

About Benchmark Capital

Benchmark Capital, a leading venture capital firm, was founded in 1995 to help talented entrepreneurs with original ideas build successful technology companies. Benchmark’s general partners take a team-oriented, labor-intensive approach to venture investing to deliver a superior level of service to the firm’s portfolio companies. Benchmark’s portfolio includes high-profile start-ups like Infinera, MySQL, OpenTable, Second Life, Tellme, Yelp, and Zillow, and franchise companies such as eBay, Juniper Networks and Red Hat. The firm manages nearly $2.8 billion in committed venture capital.

Amazon Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, significant amount of indebtedness, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, and subsequent filings.

• Posted by leah
• 1 comments