One of the big challenges in running a small software startup is service availability and support. This was, perhaps, a little easier in the bad old days when software shipped in boxes and "support" meant picking up a phone between 9-5 on business days, then mailing out a CD or floppy disc (remember those?) with updated bits.

Nowadays, much of the software people are building "ships" as a service running 24×7 on the web, or at least has a online service component to it. What’s more, customers increasingly reside around the world, and expect near-realtime responses, especially if their business depends on your software service.

You can imagine, then, that for a 1- or 2-person dev shop, making a web service highly available to customers is a particularly daunting challenge.

[You can read the rest of this piece over on my personal (and geekier) blog, MyOwnPirateRadio.]