It is a service that lets you run your own projects on Google's infrastructure using a suite of software tools they provide for building web services. Your project is probably so small that they wouldn't even notice. Wouldn't it be nice if you could borrow a few cycles on their server for your own app or website.

The system is also redundant, so even if entire data centers go down, Google keeps ticking. Google has put an unfathomable amount of engineering and money into building this hyper-reliable, globe-spanning infrastructure that can withstand any amount of traffic the world can deliver. It's the web's equivalent of a train that you can set your clock by. That's how reliable Google's infrastructure is. Have you ever wondered if your internet connection was broken? What did you do? If you are like a lot of people you opened up a web browser and went to because if Google doesn't load, it couldn't possibly be a problem with Google it's much more likely that your internet service is down.

I didn't intend to wait a year, but the hindsight is valuable and I'm in a better position to evaluate the process now that I've lived with it for a while. At the time I mentioned that I would report back soon about the experience of using App Engine to host a gallery/blog site. It's been about a year since I redesigned this site and rewrote the entire thing to operate on Google's App Engine.

Google app pic