Question

So for my Android app I need a centralized server so multiple phones can use it. This server is only going to hold text. Just coordinates and a string per request.

I looked into Amazon S3 and Google Storage. These store "buckets" of info through a RESTful API. So basically, I can't put/get info into these things as I would into a database. I'm going to have to send/receive a text file correct?

Would it make more sense (both financially and technically), to buy my own web server so I can just create a MySQL DB or something and do it this way, or would the bucket thing still be the best way to go (cloud storage).

Thanks!

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Solution

The storage services tend to make the most sense when the data is read/served many multiples of times more then it is written/stored. The situation you describes sounds like a good use case for one of the hosted server options (EC2, Rackspace, etc.) but you may also want to look into Google App Engine since it provides you some free service before you incur any cost. That will let you develop an app without requiring any investment, especially since you don't yet know what the future usage rate of your app will be.

In any of these environments you could create a web service that allows clients to connect via http / REST to store information.

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