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Buuut... The Aws+kubernetes approach is very scalable. If overnight, HN became the new Facebook, the single server model wouldn't work, and the business oppo

Buuut... The Aws+kubernetes approach is very scalable. If overnight, HN became the new Facebook, the single server model wouldn't work, and the business opportunity would be lost. However, the kubernetes model probably would scale (probably with a few hiccups still, but doable), and HN would suddenly be a 100x business. That is why business leaders pick the more expensive 'best practice' setup.

amelius 4y ago
I like it that HN has a built-in protection against an eternal September :)
bl0rg 4y ago
No. Bored engineers pick it because it’s more fun to build complex systems being able to handle a wider array of scenarios.
kosinus 4y ago
I don't believe business opportunities are lost that quickly. Sure if you're down for 2 months, yes. But use a solid dbms and web framework and you can transition to multiple servers quite easily, in the order of hours. Doesn't even have to be k8s, but call in an expert the next day if you have to.
sph 4y ago
Reading your comment and the answers, I have a hard time telling if you're being ironic or serious here. I'm going to be charitable and assume yours is some very sharp wit that flew over the heads of some that replied to you :) Indeed it is a terrible idea to optimise any piece of software that's put online in the rare occurrence it becomes the next Facebook. No, it will not happen overnight. No, you can run on an autoscalable k8s on AWS setup and it will still break, you will have to completely re-architecture and write a lengthy "what went wrong" post-mortem anyway. I feel the "premature optimisation is the root of all evil" mantra is not yet being taught in DevOps school.
imiric 4y ago
> If overnight, HN became the new Facebook Begone, Satan! > That is why business leaders pick the more expensive 'best practice' setup. Realistically, how many companies reach the scale of FB? If successful, they'll reach a few thousand concurrent users, which can be serviced by the monolith model, and even scaled traditionally. HN is a testament of how well this model can work. Building an entire infrastructure around the 1e-9% chance it will have to service a FAANG-level scale of traffic is the definition of premature optimization. Instead, setting up and maintaining this HA infrastructure is a huge resource sink, which at an early stage of a startup can make or break the project. It's insane that this model of building for burstable scale where everything is a microservice has become so prevalent in the industry. Cargo culting whatever tech is produced by FAANGs is doing immeasurable harm. These are not best practices. EDIT: Ah, if you were being sarcastic... Touché.
- therealdrag0 4y ago
  FANG is hyperbole. There are a TON of companies between HN and FB that have scale or complexity that requires more than a single service to run.
kcartlidge 4y ago
> If overnight, HN became the new Facebook, the single server model wouldn't work, and the business opportunity would be lost. I know you're probably being /s but just in case ... all they'd need to do as a stop-gap hack whilst they worked it through is spin up another couple of servers and stick a load-balancer in front. If it does have a filesystem back-end then move that into cloud or network storage. Not ideal, but it would probably survive long enough for a more thought-through solution to arrive.

amelius 4y ago

I like it that HN has a built-in protection against an eternal September :)

bl0rg 4y ago

No. Bored engineers pick it because it’s more fun to build complex systems being able to handle a wider array of scenarios.

kosinus 4y ago

I don't believe business opportunities are lost that quickly. Sure if you're down for 2 months, yes. But use a solid dbms and web framework and you can transition to multiple servers quite easily, in the order of hours. Doesn't even have to be k8s, but call in an expert the next day if you have to.

sph 4y ago

Reading your comment and the answers, I have a hard time telling if you're being ironic or serious here. I'm going to be charitable and assume yours is some very sharp wit that flew over the heads of some that replied to you :) Indeed it is a terrible idea to optimise any piece of software that's put online in the rare occurrence it becomes the next Facebook. No, it will not happen overnight. No, you can run on an autoscalable k8s on AWS setup and it will still break, you will have to completely re-architecture and write a lengthy "what went wrong" post-mortem anyway. I feel the "premature optimisation is the root of all evil" mantra is not yet being taught in DevOps school.

imiric 4y ago

> If overnight, HN became the new Facebook Begone, Satan! > That is why business leaders pick the more expensive 'best practice' setup. Realistically, how many companies reach the scale of FB? If successful, they'll reach a few thousand concurrent users, which can be serviced by the monolith model, and even scaled traditionally. HN is a testament of how well this model can work. Building an entire infrastructure around the 1e-9% chance it will have to service a FAANG-level scale of traffic is the definition of premature optimization. Instead, setting up and maintaining this HA infrastructure is a huge resource sink, which at an early stage of a startup can make or break the project. It's insane that this model of building for burstable scale where everything is a microservice has become so prevalent in the industry. Cargo culting whatever tech is produced by FAANGs is doing immeasurable harm. These are not best practices. EDIT: Ah, if you were being sarcastic... Touché.

therealdrag0 4y ago
FANG is hyperbole. There are a TON of companies between HN and FB that have scale or complexity that requires more than a single service to run.

kcartlidge 4y ago

> If overnight, HN became the new Facebook, the single server model wouldn't work, and the business opportunity would be lost. I know you're probably being /s but just in case ... all they'd need to do as a stop-gap hack whilst they worked it through is spin up another couple of servers and stick a load-balancer in front. If it does have a filesystem back-end then move that into cloud or network storage. Not ideal, but it would probably survive long enough for a more thought-through solution to arrive.