From my experience in the pass 8 years on web development industry, I find the common software development cycle can be way too complex and time consuming when apply on small to medium web applications. A one man show web development might not need the trending development framework, just keep it small and lean. While a framework is a must for managing a small to medium group of developers

I suggest that we categorize the web developments into these categories:

Small scale:

• AWS Disaster Recovery Plan: Simple disaster recovery plan
• Methodology: Extreme programming
• Example: Facebook Apps, Micro CMS, Static HTML, Micro web applications

Medium scale:

• AWS Disaster Recovery Plan: General disaster recovery plan
• Methodology: Extreme programming or Lean software development
• Example: Open source CMS, wordpress, drupal, customized CMS, General web applications

Large scale:

• AWS Disaster Recovery Plan: Advanced disaster recovery plan
• Methodology: Lean software development or Rapid application development
• Example: *aas, Platforms, API, Web services, Big Data, government project
• (Most of the suggestions from Tom are large scale, it’s a useful guidelines and we can simplify it according to our needs)

Scale	AWS Disaster Recover Plan
Small	Simple: AWS AMI, S3 monthly database backup
General	General: AWS AMI, S3 weekly database backup
Advanced	Advanced: AWS AMI, AWS RDB, Load Balancer, Auto Scaling Group

 

 

Hosting Plans

In order to have a better decision on which hosting plans should be use, you should take the following applications characteristic into consideration:

Micro Web Applicatications

• Static HTML sites
• Facebook Apps
• Low data communications
• Low traffic

 

General Web Applications

• WordPress or other CMS
• Customized CMS or Application
• Database driven application
• Low to Medium data communications
• Require simple backups and failover solutions
• Low to medium traffic

Advanced Web Applications

• Complicated Web Applications such as sharepoint, big data, APIs, web services.
• Multiple Databases driven application
• Medium to High data communications
• Require advanced backups and failover solutions
• Medium to high traffic.

 

	Hosting Providers	Hosting Plans	Deployment	Disaster Recover Plan
Micro Web Applicatications	Amazon AWS	T or M Class instances	GIT, local staging	AWS AMI, S3 monthly database backup
General Web Applications	Amazon AWS	M Class instances	GIT, local staging or external staging and production environment	AWS AMI, S3 weekly database backup
Advanced Web Applications	Amazon AWS	M.xlarge or C Class instances	GIT, external staging and production environment	AWS AMI, AWS RDB, Load Balancer, Auto Scaling Group

Please note that rational estimations and hosting experiences are required to determine which hosting provider and plan to be use. Use the following to decide on your provider. You should be looking for a balance between flexibility, service offerings and cost.