August 2021 Summaries

In August, DigitalOcean focused on addressing customer feedback and improving the platform's security and usability. Key updates include a new Droplet Console for secure one-click SSH access to Droplets, two new Linux distributions (CentOS Stream 8 and Rocky Linux 8.4 x64), expanded availability of Managed MongoDB in all regions, new features and enhancements for App Platform, new preconfigured 1-Click Apps in the Marketplace, and updates to the Cloud Firewall Rules allowing Kubernetes clusters as sources and destinations. Additionally, there were updates to the DigitalOcean Command Line Interface (CLI) and Terraform Provider.

In this text, the author reflects on their two-year journey at DigitalOcean and highlights the company's commitment to simplifying cloud computing for developers. They discuss recent improvements in processes and features, as well as the launch of new products aimed at supporting customer growth. The author also acknowledges the challenges faced by everyone during the past 16 months and expresses gratitude to customers and team members for their support. DigitalOcean's mission remains focused on serving its customers, with plans to invest heavily in their growth aspirations.

DigitalOcean has introduced new features to its App Platform, a fully managed solution that helps businesses build, deploy and scale their apps quickly. The platform now allows users to securely connect their apps to Managed Databases as Trusted Sources, improving app security. Additionally, App Platform supports alerting and monitoring capabilities for better visibility into the status of your apps. It also integrates with Managed MongoDB, providing more flexibility in deploying applications. Furthermore, the platform now supports deployment from a single git repository (monorepo), reducing development time. Lastly, users can easily publish their sites built on Stackbit to App Platform for visual editing and collaboration benefits.

DigitalOcean has released its first-ever Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) report for 2020. The company is committed to publishing annual workforce data and improving towards their targets over time. They aim to reflect the communities they serve in their employee population by 2025 in terms of race/ethnicity and gender, using the U.S. census as an indicator. Globally, by 2022, DigitalOcean aims for zero differential sentiment across all employees regardless of gender or ethnicity when conducting their annual TIDE employee survey. The company will ensure equal total rewards opportunities for all employees regardless of various factors including gender identity, ethnicity, location, sexual orientation, disability status, and more.

DigitalOcean introduces a new Droplet Console that provides one-click SSH access to Droplets through a native-like SSH/Terminal experience. The console eliminates the need for passwords or manual configuration of SSH keys, making it easier and more secure to connect to Droplets. In addition to improved SSH access, the new Droplet Console also includes features such as copy/paste text, multi-color support, multi-language support, and OS/images supported for Linux distributions. The console is available by default on any new Droplets and can be enabled manually on older Droplets.

The web hosting industry has grown rapidly due to the ease of building refined, modern web presences using platforms like Wordpress, Shopify, and Magento. Managed cloud hosts provide a service by abstracting the many options provided by public cloud platforms, allowing developers to focus on their core competencies. Cloud-first managed hosting providers leverage public clouds for scalability, support, security, and cost benefits, which they can pass along to end customers. When building a managed hosting business, key factors to consider include ensuring clients' needs are met, building on a platform that works, budgeting, and providing timely support. DigitalOcean is a cloud provider that balances the flexibility and scale of high-performance cloud platforms with the cost and support needs of growing small businesses.