I’ve also been skeptical of the commercial cloud for scientific computing workflows. I don’t think this cost benefit analysis mentions it, but the commercial cl

I’ve also been skeptical of the commercial cloud for scientific computing workflows. I don’t think this cost benefit analysis mentions it, but the commercial cloud makes even less sense when you take into account brick and mortar considerations. In other words, if your company/institution has already paid for the machine rooms, sys admins, networks, the physical buildings, the commercial cloud is even less appealing. This is especially true with “persistent services” for example data servers that are always on because they handle real-time data, for example. Another aspect of scientific computing on the commercial cloud that’s a pain if you work in academia is procurement or paying for the cloud. Academic groups are much more comfortable with the grant model. They often operate on shoe-string budgets and are simply not comfortable entering a credit card number. You can also get commercial cloud grants, but they often lack long-term, multiyear continuity.