4 ms·

I wrote about this back in 2009: https://blog.kozubik.com/john_kozubik/2009/11/flat-rate-storage-services-vs-rsyncnet.html https://blog.kozubik.com/john_kozubi

by rsync 6y ago

I wrote about this back in 2009: https://blog.kozubik.com/john_kozubik/2009/11/flat-rate-storage-services-vs-rsyncnet.html https://blog.kozubik.com/john_kozubik/2009/11/flat-rate-stor... ... and the key concept is aligned interests: "... paying a flat rate for unlimited storage, or transfer, pits you against your provider in an antagonistic relationship. This is not the kind of relationship you want to have with someone providing critical functions." When you are doing something important you want your interests to be aligned with your provider. If you pay for every bit you store, your provider will enthusiastically enable you to store as much as you can. Your interests are aligned. If you're paying flat-rate unlimited, the relationship is an antagonistic one and the provider will do all manner of sneaky, underhanded - even outright hostile - things to stop you from storing more bits.

The_Colonel 6y ago
> ... paying a flat rate for unlimited storage, or transfer, pits you against your provider in an antagonistic relationship. This is not the kind of relationship you want to have with someone providing critical functions. This looks like a good theoretical point, but I don't see how it holds in practice. What would be practical examples of this happening? (assuming POV of somebody not intentionally abusing the system) > If you pay for every bit you store, your provider will enthusiastically enable you to store as much as you can. Again, good point in theory, but I'm not sure how this works psychologically - flat rates bring peace of mind and allow easier budget planning. I still remember how internet browsing in dial up days were sort of stressful.
- rsync 6y ago
  "This looks like a good theoretical point, but I don't see how it holds in practice. What would be practical examples of this happening?" The example given in my original blog post: "the more you upload, the more we throttle you. The little users don't bother us and the big users eventually just go away" "Again, good point in theory, but I'm not sure how this works psychologically - flat rates bring peace of mind and allow easier budget planning." Wouldn't you get more peace of mind knowing that your provider was working hard to support and enable your use-case ?
  - The_Colonel 6y ago
    > "the more you upload, the more we throttle you. The little users don't bother us and the big users eventually just go away" The thing is that I use the services mostly as envisioned - I don't upload > 2 PB of cam recordings (one r/datahoarders case I remember) into unlimited, so I fall into "little users", just like probably > 99% of users ... > Wouldn't you get more peace of mind knowing that your provider was working hard to support and enable your use-case ? Perhaps I'm naive, but usually I believe they do that either way. If I'm not happy, I'll go to another provider, but so far I didn't really have bad experience with "unlimited" services.

by rsync 6y ago

The_Colonel 6y ago

> ... paying a flat rate for unlimited storage, or transfer, pits you against your provider in an antagonistic relationship. This is not the kind of relationship you want to have with someone providing critical functions. This looks like a good theoretical point, but I don't see how it holds in practice. What would be practical examples of this happening? (assuming POV of somebody not intentionally abusing the system) > If you pay for every bit you store, your provider will enthusiastically enable you to store as much as you can. Again, good point in theory, but I'm not sure how this works psychologically - flat rates bring peace of mind and allow easier budget planning. I still remember how internet browsing in dial up days were sort of stressful.

rsync 6y ago
"This looks like a good theoretical point, but I don't see how it holds in practice. What would be practical examples of this happening?" The example given in my original blog post: "the more you upload, the more we throttle you. The little users don't bother us and the big users eventually just go away" "Again, good point in theory, but I'm not sure how this works psychologically - flat rates bring peace of mind and allow easier budget planning." Wouldn't you get more peace of mind knowing that your provider was working hard to support and enable your use-case ?
- The_Colonel 6y ago
  > "the more you upload, the more we throttle you. The little users don't bother us and the big users eventually just go away" The thing is that I use the services mostly as envisioned - I don't upload > 2 PB of cam recordings (one r/datahoarders case I remember) into unlimited, so I fall into "little users", just like probably > 99% of users ... > Wouldn't you get more peace of mind knowing that your provider was working hard to support and enable your use-case ? Perhaps I'm naive, but usually I believe they do that either way. If I'm not happy, I'll go to another provider, but so far I didn't really have bad experience with "unlimited" services.