LAMP / WAMP

Anyways, GAE is a no-go.

First it uses a non relational database (i.e. no "join") that lacks even of a proper tool. Apparently Google added an external service of SQL but for a price.

Second is the stability, it is not quite stable (or when i used), SLA inferior to 98%.
Third is the price, it is costly, even Azure is cheaper than GAE.
And fourth is the whole business model, Google charges using some specific rules that are hard to follow. It forced us to do some nasty trick in the code and configuration.

I abandoned GAE years ago. Python?, they must be joking, the later they allowed Java but only for some users and later with lots of restrictions.

I had similar impressions when it launched.

By then the pricing was quite on par with Amazon but with lots of restrictions.

I don't know if it is is expensive because now they have much more PHP PAAS businesses to compete.

As for non-relational database, its not just joins, it is real transactions. I cannot afford dealing with possible data inconsistencies in my applications.

As for the whole cloud concept itself, it seems overrated. It is sold as if some day you have a surge of millions of visitors, you will be ready. The reality is that very few sites get more than 1 million visitors a month.

The vast majority of PHP sites will never be there to need such high availability architecture. Believing that you will need it is wishful thinking. But if you need it, then you may be making enough money to pay for the move.

The "Cloud" can be a very bad move. Just look at Office365 from MS. Last year their main server park was hit by the storm in NY, which broke connection for some days, meaning no-one, at least not from the people I know here in Denmark, could get in contact with their documents and what not.

Ofcourse one could argue, that MS's approach is not truly cloud based, with apparently one server park.

But for cloud based solutions, my biggest, and maybe unfound, concern is, you never know who is wathcing or reading your code or documents.