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Dropbox manage to do 1PB per server, why doesn't backblaze do it?
by Scarbutt 11y ago
Dropbox manage to do 1PB per server, why doesn't backblaze do it?
- bryanlarsen 11y agoI believe that DropBox is using 12TB drives, which aren't available for general sale, yet. Backblaze is using 4TB drives, which is the current $/TB leader.
- wmf 11y agoIt looks like 8TB SMR would be cheaper than 4TB. I don't mean to be negative, but Backblaze is starting to look like yesterday's technology today.
- hackcasual 11y agoBut if that 8TB drive has a higher failure rate, that needs to be taken into consideration as well.
- rtkwe 11y agoIt is but not by much. They actually provide the $/GB for a Seagate 8TB Archival SMR hdd in their SMR section. It comes to .034 $/GB vs .036 $/GB for the 4TB drives they're currently using. They've done the math it looks like and decided that the small gain doesn't make up for the time lost on overwrites.
- venomsnake 11y agoBackblaze are/were bootstrapped. They don't have the money to burn to move outside of the sweetspot $/GB - so their logic starts with which size drive is expected to be cheapest per GB in the next 12 months. I remember some of their old posts explaining why they made the jump from 2 to 3tb drives - they are slightly more expensive today, but we expect them to go down in price soon.
- atYevP 11y agoThis is accurate. Unlike many Silicon Valley companies, we live within our means :D