Everybody’s talking about cloud services today. It’s one of the hot new buzzwords, but most of the conversation is about how to develop custom applications in the cloud. While that is a really important topic, it ignores another very useful attribute of a distributed cloud: as a great place to build and host an IT infrastructure.

The dearth of discussion about this overlooked facet of cloud computing is the reason I wrote this book. I was especially interested in discussing the topic in the context of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud offering because it is my opinion that Amazon’s service represents one of the most flexible and cost-effective of the major cloud vendors. I especially feel strongly that the AWS cloud is particularly well suited to hosting a custom IT infrastructure.

Apparently the good people at O’Reilly agreed!

Run your entire corporate IT infrastructure in a cloud environment that you control completely—and do it inexpensively and securely with help from this hands-on book. All you need to get started is basic IT experience.

You’ll learn how to use Amazon Web Services (AWS) to build a private Windows domain, complete with Active Directory, enterprise email, instant messaging, IP telephony, automated management, and other services. By the end of the book, you’ll have a fully functioning IT infrastructure you can operate for less than $300 per month.

• Learn about Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and other AWS tools you’ll use
• Create a Windows domain and set up a DNS management system
• Install Active Directory and a Windows Primary Domain Controller
• Use Microsoft Exchange to set up an enterprise email service
• Import existing Windows Server-based virtual machines into your VPC
• Set up an enterprise-class chat/IM service, using the XMPP protocol
• Install and configure a VoIP PBX telephony system with Asterisk and FreePBX
• Keep your network running smoothly with automated backup and restore, intrusion detection, and fault alerting