Cloud Experts Unleashed

Cloud Experts Unleashed

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Cloud Experts Unleashed episodes

  • Ben & Ryan Show - Adobe ColdFusion 2025 with Mark Takata

    Ben and Ryan Show Episode 4

    In this episode, your hosts Ben Nadel and Ryan Brown are joined by Senior Adobe ColdFusion Evangelist, Mark Takata, to talk about the upcoming Adobe ColdFusion 2025 release. This episode is packed with surprise announcements.


    Adobe ColdFusion 2025

    • A lot of performance improvements
    • Big upgrade to charting – amazing themes are coming out of the box
    • Spreadsheet improvements


    Adobe ColdFusion 2025 Beta

    • Beta coming soon
    • Beta will have deep dive webinars about all features given by engineers who built them
    • Surprise bug bounty announced
    • Beta will be supported on xByte servers and we are already experienced supporting it
    • It will be in 2 parts – first part early December – second part early January
    ColdFusion Subscriptions
    • Coming in 2025
    • Last Adobe product to move to subscription
    • ETLA is already a “subscription” and most popular way to get ColdFusion
    • Allows Adobe to launch more features more frequently
    Favorite new 2025 Feature from Mark and Ben
    • CSV Read/Write Processing
    • Streaming of CSV processing
    When to upgrade code
    • Your old code is not as good as your more recent code
    • Risk of updating code
    • Takes longer to code outside of CF
    • Regrets of code changes away from CF
    • Opportunity cost of rewriting code
    Extras from Adobe ColdFusion
    • $250,000 in licensed libraries
    • Support
    • VIP experience – customer-specific hotfixes
    Ways to test ColfFusion
    • TryCF
    • CF Fiddle
    Surprise Announcement
    • Hackathon coming to Adobe CF
    • Possible hackathon at Summit?
    • Grassroots evangelism – do hackathons and show off ColdFusion
    Links mentioned in the video
    • Previous Mark Podcast - https://youtu.be/_C-EVrwEcY8

    • Carahsoft 2025 Preview Link - https://www.carahsoft.com/learn/event/62630-adobe-coldfusion-unveiling-2025-features-and-future-roadmap-insights

    • TryCF - https://trycf.com/

    • CF Fiddle - https://cffiddle.org/

    1 hr 30 min
  • Ben & Ryan Show - Freeforming IT

    Ben and Ryan Show Episode 3

    In this episode, your hosts Ben Nadel and Ryan Brown just riff about whatever comes to their minds. Topics and tangents include disaster recovery beyond IT, scaling cloud servers, and strategies around email and video marketing.


    Disaster Recovery - just for IT teams

    • Staff in different locations
    • Keeping local staff online
    • Contingency plan for who to take over functions
    • iPhone satellite calling works


    Options for Disaster Recovery in the cloud

    • 2 systems always on - expensive
    • Backups located offsite with acceptable RPO and RTO
    • Make sure you test your plan so it is not just hoping it works

    Managed Hosting

    • How do we upgrade our infrastructure for customers
    • xByte Cloud started with very high-end infrastructure - NVMe SSDs
    • Can upgrade as you go and have a hybrid cluster - downside is sometimes you are faster based on where your app resides
    • Can have a second more performant cluster - downside is people have to migrate to use it

    Deploying dev code in the cloud

    • How do we handle it
    • What did Ben do in the past

    Scaling in the cloud

    • Autoscaling - best for AWS/Azure
    • Adding new cloud servers - anyone can do because each is just a VM


    Marketing

    • Emails - in B2B more about staying in front of people than content
    • Give away something memorable - lesson from Nolan Erk
    • Can you reuse content
    • What is our content strategy - long form, shorter form, and shorts/reels
    • How do we generate shorts

    1 hr 10 min
  • VSR Systems Customer Spotlight

    In this episode, Ryan gets to interview Eric Kratz and Witt Schenck from VSR Systems. They talk about their boutique Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Warehouse Management System (WMS).


    Guests

    Ryan Brown - xByte Cloud CMO

    Eric Kratz - President VSR Systems

    Witt Schenck - Product Manager VSR Systems


    Overview for VSR ERP

    As a premier ERP solutions provider, VSR Systems requires a dependable and scalable hosting partner to support its diverse client needs. When it comes to choosing a cloud provider that can handle both individual client instances and SaaS model solutions, xByte Cloud has proven to be an invaluable partner for VSR Systems.


    The Challenge for VSR ERP

    Eric Kratz, President from VSR Systems, shared that their clients have varying requirements: larger organizations need dedicated instances, while smaller clients operate within VSR's shared SaaS model. The key challenge was finding a hosting provider that could offer customizable infrastructure for both client needs while delivering fast deployment and continuous reliability.


    Overview for VSR WMS

    VSR Systems, a premier warehouse management provider, relies on xByte Cloud to support their fully cloud-based operations. With their warehouse management system running entirely on servers in the xByte Cloud, VSR depends on the team from xByte Cloud to maintain seamless functionality and uptime—a critical factor for their success.


    About VSR Systems ERP

    VSR Systems is a specialized ERP provider dedicated to delivering tailored solutions for businesses requiring highly adaptable, SKU-based ERP and WMS integrations. Initially serving the ready-to-wear industry, VSR has since expanded to a variety of sectors, including accessories, kitchen hardware, and beyond, leveraging the simplicity of single-dimension product requirements for fast and efficient ERP adaptation.

    VSR Systems sets itself apart with its fully proprietary ERP solution, designed and maintained in-house to ensure cohesive performance across all modules. Unlike other ERPs that patch together third-party components, VSR’s integrated design allows for seamless updates and modifications, reducing the risk of unexpected complications in other parts of the system.


    Challenge for VSR WMS

    Running a cloud-based warehouse management system, VSR requires a dependable infrastructure and access to specialized expertise to resolve any issues swiftly. “We live and die by uptime," said Witt Schenck, Product Manager at VSR Systems. "If our system goes down, even for a few minutes, my phone instantly starts ringing. We need a team we can trust to keep everything online.”

    In addition to uptime, VSR needed expert support for technical troubleshooting. As a company of developers, they wanted to focus on building their software without getting bogged down in system administration or server management. Additionally, they needed reliable VPN connections to support printing from xByte servers directly into various warehouse networks, a setup that can be tricky when warehouses lack dedicated tech teams.

    About VSR Systems WMS

    VSR Systems’ Warehouse Management System (WMS) was created out of a clear need for a better warehouse software solution, particularly for any SKU based product. The client base of the WMS encompasses everything from socks to shower doors. Built by Witt Schenck and a team of seasoned developers, the WMS emerged as a fully integrated, flexible, and task-driven system designed specifically to handle the complexities of warehouse management.


    To learn more about VSR Systems ERP or WMS, visit https://www.vsrsystems.com/
    To learn more about having the infrastructure for your application fully managed, visit https://www.xbytecloud.com

    36 min
  • Ben & Ryan Show - Cryptography with Justin Scott

    Ben and Ryan Show Episode 2 - Cryptography with Justin Scott

    In this episode, your hosts Ben Nadel and Ryan Brown are joined by long time Adobe ColdFusion developer and security expert, Justin Scott, to discuss his recent presentation at the Adobe ColdFusion Summit.

    Justin’s Summit Presentation - https://www.darktech.org/advanced-cryptography.pdfNotes from Podcast

    • Password4J Library – Ability to get access to Argon2id in ColdFusion - https://password4j.com/


    Topics Covered

    • Iterations for hashing
    • SCrypt / BCrypt
    • Session Management
    • Should you roll your own auth?
    • Should you roll your own credit card processing
    • Changes to Adobe ColdFusion around encryption
    • Passkeys
    • How do you migrate to new password hashing algorithm
    • Do companies hire people to test breaking out of a prison

      • Links to Justin

      • https://www.darktech.org
      • https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinscott

      1 hr 20 min
    • Ben and Ryan Show Episode 1

      This is episode 1 of the Ben and Ryan Show! Watch and listen along while Ben and Ryan talk tech, Adobe ColdFusion, and life in general.
      In this episode, the guys reminisce about their time at the Adobe CF Summit 2024 that just concluded. See the conference through eyes of an introvert and extrovert. Ben gives secrets to how he (the introvert) overcomes his nerves and starts conversations. Ryan (the extrovert) admits that he too gets nervous starting conversations.
      Sessions about being a CF evangelist and cryptography are discussed. They tie in lessons learned at the Summit to current releases. While discussing Mark Takata's CF evangelist session, Ben talks about his story of trying to "burn the house down" and completely move off CF (it didn't go well). Tips are given to help others thinking about switching any technology stack.
      Final thoughts around Ben's wish list for a cloud provider to train him to manage his own server. Ryan mentions the https://learn.xbytecloud.com site having a lot of that content, but is candid and explains that no one really wants to manage it themselves. They do managed hosting so someone else can do that.

      1 hr 1 min
    • When to Host in the Public Clouds

      Cloud Experts Unleashed – Episode 20

      In this episode, Dakota and Ryan talk about what services they offer for public cloud customers and then discuss the specific needs of 4 companies hosting in the public cloud (Azure/AWS) and currently being managed by xByte Cloud.


      Guests

      Dakota Clum – xByte Cloud CTO

      Ryan Brown – xByte Cloud CMO


      Topics Discussed

      • What types of services does xByte Cloud offer for AWS/Azure
        • Convert to microservices
        • Update cloud servers
        • Cost controls
        • Fintech Company – Azure
          • Technical guidance
          • Platform available 24/7, Kubernetes, scale on demand
          • Core competence not infrastructure
          • Microservices, PowerBI, Azure AD, Azure specific tooling
          • SaaS Company – ColdFusion in AWS
            • Redundancy/uptime
            • RDS – MySQL, SQL Server
            • SQL scaling groups – replicate on demand
            • SaaS CRM – ColdFusion in AWS
              • RDS – special SQL (100x)
              • Large Retail – ColdFusion in AWS
                • Moving from OnPrem to AWS
                • Scalability – Geo-Redundancy

                  • To learn more about having your public cloud fully managed visit https://www.xbytecloud.com

                  15 min
                • Moving from OnPrem to the Cloud

                  Cloud Experts Unleashed – Episode 19

                  In this episode, we are joined by Charlie and Adam from WRIS web services to talk about how to successfully move to the cloud and who shouldn’t even try.


                  Guests

                  • Dakota Clum – xByte Cloud CTO
                  • Ryan Brown – xByte Cloud CMO
                  • Charlie Meyers – WRIS Web Services CEO
                  • Adam Euans – WRIS Web Services CTO


                    • Topics Discussed:

                    • Why make the switch
                      • Who should stay OnPrem (or require more planning)
                      • When does it make sense to move to the cloud
                      • How do you move to the cloud
                        • Move everything or start small
                        • Differences with cloud to cloud
                        • Similarities with cloud to cloud
                        • Real experiences
                          • What goes wrong
                          • What have you broken?
                          • Wallet Shock
                          • Good and Bad surprises


                            • Useful Links

                            • Meet us all at the Adobe ColdFusion Summit
                            • WRIS Web Services


                              • To learn more about moving from OnPrem to the Cloud, visit https://www.xbytecloud.com

                              25 min
                            • Recent Adobe ColdFusion 2021-2023 Updates - Real World Experiences

                              Cloud Experts Unleashed - Episode 18

                              In this episode, we are joined by Charlie Arehart to discuss our real world experiences helping customers apply the recent updates that required code changes around unscoped variables and encryption algorithms.


                              Guests

                              Charlie Arehart - Independent Consultant

                              Dakota Clum - xByte Cloud CTO

                              Ryan Brown - xByte Cloud CMO


                              Topics Discussed:

                              • How to correctly pronounce Charlie's last name
                              • What is 2021 update 13 / 2023 update 7 - "March Update"
                              • What scopes don't have to be updated
                              • How to temporarily delay making scoping changes and should you do it
                              • Where to set variables application.CFC
                              • Tools to find scoping issues and fix them
                              • Logging issues and possible performance hits at scale
                              • Scanning your code
                              • Cleaning up your technical debt
                              • What is 2021 update 14 / 2023 update 8 - "June Update"
                              • What makes algorithms better
                              • Misconception about what is required - Adobe picks new default
                              • Code and database changes required
                              • Possible exposure to not updating
                              • Can you have ColdFusion use the old algorithm in your code
                              • Are people upgrading yet


                                • Useful Links ColdFusion 2023 Update 7-8

                                https://helpx.adobe.com/coldfusion/kb/coldfusion-2023-update-7.html

                                https://helpx.adobe.com/coldfusion/kb/coldfusion-2023-update-8.html


                                ColdFusion 2021 Update 13-14

                                https://helpx.adobe.com/coldfusion/kb/coldfusion-2021-update-13.html

                                https://helpx.adobe.com/coldfusion/kb/coldfusion-2021-update-14.html


                                Charlie's Relevant Blogs

                                https://carehart.org/blog/2024/3/12/cf_updates_march_2024_possible_breaking_change

                                https://carehart.org/blog/2024/6/11/cf_updates_june_2024_possible_breaking_change

                                https://carehart.org/blog/2024/7/18/dont_miss_helpful_feature_identify_implicit_scopes

                                https://carehart.org/blog/2024/7/22/on_handling_jun_2024_cf_update_change_of_default_encryption_algorithm



                                Tools to find issues and fix them

                                https://www.petefreitag.com/blog/fixinator-unscoped-variable/

                                https://helpx.adobe.com/coldfusion/developing-applications/developing-cfml-applications/debugging-and-troubleshooting-applications/using-the-code-analyzer.html


                                To learn more about ColdFusion at xByte Cloud, visit https://www.xbytecloud.com/hosting/windows-coldfusion-managed-server

                                1 hr 14 min
                              • ColdFusion Summit East Recap

                                Cloud Experts Unleashed - Episode 17

                                In this episode, we reminisce about Adobe ColdFusion Summit East 2024 thinking about all the people we met, the amazing content, and the product updates.


                                Guests

                                Adobe ColdFusion Senior Technical Evangelist, Mark Takata
                                xByte Cloud CTO, Dakota Clum
                                xByte Cloud CMO, Ryan Brown


                                Topics Discussed:

                                • How did this compare to previous Summit East conferences

                                • How was the mix of government versus non-government
                                • Standout sessions from Summit East
                                • How did this year's certification compare
                                • When will the next version of ColdFusion launch
                                • Which bugs will be fixed in ColdFusion Next
                                • When is alpha for ColdFusion Next launching
                                • How to join pre-release program (email [email protected])
                                • Why attend Vegas ColdFusion Summit 2024
                                Useful Links

                                ColdFusion Summit 2024

                                ColdFusion Cloud Servers


                                39 min
                              • ColdFusion 2023 Update 7 and ColdFusion 2021 Update 13

                                Cloud Experts Unleashed - Episode 16

                                In this episode, xByte Cloud CTO, Dakota Clum, and xByte Cloud CMO, Ryan Brown, discuss the latest ColdFusion 2023 Update 7 and ColdFusion 2021 Update 13.

                                Topics Discussed:

                                • What is in the update
                                • New scope settings
                                • Current exploit of the vulnerabilities (or lack of)
                                • What can break
                                • Temporary workarounds - when will flags be deprecated
                                • Application level flag (searchimplicitscopes = true )
                                • JVM flag (-Dcoldfusion.searchimplicitscopes=true)
                                • Beyond scope, what other fixes are included with this update

                                Useful Links

                                ColdFusion 2021 Update 13

                                ColdFusion 2023 Update 7

                                ColdFusion Cloud Servers at xByte Cloud


                                8 min

                              About Cloud Experts Unleashed

                              From the publisher's feed

                              Interviews with some of the experts in cloud and hosting industry. Our guests are on the front lines actually doing the work and giving you real world context.