4 ms·

Switched from GCP to my own server hardware. After doing the math it came out that it would pay for itself in less than a year. Depending on individual usecase,

by warent 5y ago

Switched from GCP to my own server hardware. After doing the math it came out that it would pay for itself in less than a year. Depending on individual usecase, cloud can be prohibitively expensive and running a server for a small business really isn't nearly as hard as they'd have you believe

jenscow 5y ago
Yes, but what about the million new customers you're going to get next week?
- 10000truths 5y ago
  Funny, but honestly, a single dedicated server should easily be able to handle a million users, for most CRUD apps.
  - Nextgrid 5y ago
    The cloud has normalized terrible underpowered VMs, so many new developers may just not be aware of how much performance a real dedicated machine has - even a relatively "mid range" one (i7 & 16 GB RAM).
    - moooo99 5y ago
      This! I benchmarked a whole bunch of different cloud providers for fun (& my bachelor thesis) and was impressed by how bad some cloud VPS perform. Considering the really steep price to get any kind of significant memory/CPU resources with the major cloud providers as well as the steep bandwidth charges this little experiment was eye opening
      - tasubotadas 5y ago
        Could you please share your thesis? Maybe over email?
        moooo99 5y ago
        I appreciate the interest, unfortunately I can’t share as it is under a non disclosure. But since there seems to be so much interest in the benchmark part I will see if I finde the time to re compile the data and publish it as a blogpost
      - warent 5y ago
        Would be very interested in reading this thesis, my email is in my profile
      - kebsup 5y ago
        I'd be interested as well.
    - jjav 5y ago
      > The cloud has normalized terrible underpowered VMs, so many new developers may just not be aware of how much performance a real dedicated machine has This. I'm now seeing many younger developers with no exposure at all to hardware servers, only underpowered cloud VMs. Not sure how to solve this, but I certainly enourage everyone to spend time now and then benchmarking cloud setup vs. local hardware to at least understand the performance spread and cost tradeoffs you're making. I've seen too many setups paying 4 and even 5 digit US$ monthly bills to AWS, for workloads that could have been served off a single $1000 box without it breaking a sweat.
- dsr_ 5y ago
  Having plans for what to do in case of a success disaster is good. Spending in expectation of having a success disaster can be disastrous.
- dx034 5y ago
  Funnily enough that was a use case for dedicated servers I encountered. Usage based pay is great if you have an unlimited budget, but most companies would rather have predictable cost and not serve every traffic spike. Especially for internal use (CI/CD, Analytics), you'd rather want to queue a few things up than always having to consider your budget when you want to run something.
lapser 5y ago
Cloud isn't about cost though. Cloud is about value. You can scale super easy when you inevitably need it (assuming you've "made it" anyway - whatever that means). You get a burst of new users, it's trivial to add additional nodes (again, assuming you've set up your infra to be easily scalable). With own hardware, scaling is not as easy. You'll have to do a lot more around plumbing too. Networking, security, many other things that you'll have to address. Stuff that has already been solved for you.
- izacus 5y ago
  That "inevitably" is doing some really heavy lifting in your post. It practically never comes for most companies.
  - judge2020 5y ago
    But most companies' dream is to reach that ""inevitable"" point where the cloud saves it; it becomes a bet where they either reach that level of scale, or die trying.
    - jjav 5y ago
      > But most companies' dream is to reach that ""inevitable"" point where the cloud saves it; it becomes a bet where they either reach that level of scale, or die trying. And how many die trying due to bleeding all the funding to AWS, instead of running everything off a couple cheap boxes underneath the CTOs desk? I've been in at least one which ran out of money that way. Don't pay for the future pipedream now, pay for what you need. That "inevitable" dream of near-infinite scale up usually never arrives for most companies. If it does, worry about it then.
      - lapser 5y ago
        AWS gives away literally tens of thousands of pounds to start ups. Granted, it's to lock them in down the line but getting free credits gets you further than not having credits.

by warent 5y ago

jenscow 5y ago

Yes, but what about the million new customers you're going to get next week?

10000truths 5y ago
Funny, but honestly, a single dedicated server should easily be able to handle a million users, for most CRUD apps.
- Nextgrid 5y ago
  The cloud has normalized terrible underpowered VMs, so many new developers may just not be aware of how much performance a real dedicated machine has - even a relatively "mid range" one (i7 & 16 GB RAM).
  - moooo99 5y ago
    This! I benchmarked a whole bunch of different cloud providers for fun (& my bachelor thesis) and was impressed by how bad some cloud VPS perform. Considering the really steep price to get any kind of significant memory/CPU resources with the major cloud providers as well as the steep bandwidth charges this little experiment was eye opening
    - tasubotadas 5y ago
      Could you please share your thesis? Maybe over email?
      - moooo99 5y ago
        I appreciate the interest, unfortunately I can’t share as it is under a non disclosure. But since there seems to be so much interest in the benchmark part I will see if I finde the time to re compile the data and publish it as a blogpost
    - warent 5y ago
      Would be very interested in reading this thesis, my email is in my profile
    - kebsup 5y ago
      I'd be interested as well.
  - jjav 5y ago
    > The cloud has normalized terrible underpowered VMs, so many new developers may just not be aware of how much performance a real dedicated machine has This. I'm now seeing many younger developers with no exposure at all to hardware servers, only underpowered cloud VMs. Not sure how to solve this, but I certainly enourage everyone to spend time now and then benchmarking cloud setup vs. local hardware to at least understand the performance spread and cost tradeoffs you're making. I've seen too many setups paying 4 and even 5 digit US$ monthly bills to AWS, for workloads that could have been served off a single $1000 box without it breaking a sweat.
dsr_ 5y ago
Having plans for what to do in case of a success disaster is good. Spending in expectation of having a success disaster can be disastrous.
dx034 5y ago
Funnily enough that was a use case for dedicated servers I encountered. Usage based pay is great if you have an unlimited budget, but most companies would rather have predictable cost and not serve every traffic spike. Especially for internal use (CI/CD, Analytics), you'd rather want to queue a few things up than always having to consider your budget when you want to run something.

lapser 5y ago

Cloud isn't about cost though. Cloud is about value. You can scale super easy when you inevitably need it (assuming you've "made it" anyway - whatever that means). You get a burst of new users, it's trivial to add additional nodes (again, assuming you've set up your infra to be easily scalable). With own hardware, scaling is not as easy. You'll have to do a lot more around plumbing too. Networking, security, many other things that you'll have to address. Stuff that has already been solved for you.

izacus 5y ago
That "inevitably" is doing some really heavy lifting in your post. It practically never comes for most companies.
- judge2020 5y ago
  But most companies' dream is to reach that ""inevitable"" point where the cloud saves it; it becomes a bet where they either reach that level of scale, or die trying.
  - jjav 5y ago
    > But most companies' dream is to reach that ""inevitable"" point where the cloud saves it; it becomes a bet where they either reach that level of scale, or die trying. And how many die trying due to bleeding all the funding to AWS, instead of running everything off a couple cheap boxes underneath the CTOs desk? I've been in at least one which ran out of money that way. Don't pay for the future pipedream now, pay for what you need. That "inevitable" dream of near-infinite scale up usually never arrives for most companies. If it does, worry about it then.
    - lapser 5y ago
      AWS gives away literally tens of thousands of pounds to start ups. Granted, it's to lock them in down the line but getting free credits gets you further than not having credits.