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Why not just run IaaS on the cloud? Maintaining a datacenter is expensive. Now I’m not sure if there are companies that provide management of actual physical in

Why not just run IaaS on the cloud? Maintaining a datacenter is expensive. Now I’m not sure if there are companies that provide management of actual physical infrastructure - battery backup, generator, cabling, certifications of premises etc.

lucasyvas 4y ago
Came here to suggest this - I'd have first run the numbers if running on a desirable cost IaaS to see if that was a comfortable middleground. It still amounts to self hosting everything yourself, except for compute, networking, storage - the basics (which are deceptively difficult when you account for secure access). And you get nice APIs to automate with still. Don't get me wrong, it might end up being more expensive at a threshold still, but do you really want to do your own... everything? Load balancing, DNS? What a total waste. That said, some hardware companies have APIs to do most of that stuff - a little human runs out to fulfill your request if need be in some cases I think. Still like... much to worry about.
ranger207 4y ago
That's called colocation: you provide the servers, they provide the racks
- gautamdivgi 4y ago
  Do you need people in the colo to wire stuff up or is that handled by the colo folks?
  - vel0city 4y ago
    As others have mentioned, there's usually a remote hands feature that you can contract out. If you wanted to, many colos will rack and wire up all your equipment for you, for a cost. It really depends on how much you're wanting to offload on to the provider. They might do it all for you, they might just give you a cabinet or cage with power and a network drops.
  - social_quotient 4y ago
    You drop off the box and they wire it up and give you remote console access. You can even schedule an on-site meeting with your equip as needed. Some colo partners will also keep replacement parts for you like if a disk or power supply goes bad.
  - foepys 4y ago
    You can usually pay the data center staff for their time to push a button or connect a few wires. Seems expensive at first when they quote you 50€/15 minutes but often way cheaper than somebody driving there and going through security to do the same. Unless you don't want strangers touching your assigned rack, then you need to bring the key.
  - rob-olmos 4y ago
    In addition to the other comments, after it's up & running some colos will also offer "remote hands" assistance, like replacing a failed drive. In that case ideally the enclosure will or can be made to make that slot's LED red or something so they know exactly which drive to pull.
- RajT88 4y ago
  The new term for this old concept is now being called, "Data Center as a Service".
dogleash 4y ago
> Maintaining a datacenter is expensive. Now I’m not sure if there are companies that provide management of actual physical infrastructure I knew the cloud marketing machine had done the new generation dirty. I didn't know it was this bad.
- gautamdivgi 4y ago
  I’m not new gen. I’ve worked in telcos providing 5 9’s infra availability. A datacenter is not just servers. There is a whole host of civil, mechanical and electrical engineering that plays into it. Edit: also OSHA rules, cable splicing, how to handle ladders, etc, etc.
  - dogleash 4y ago
    > A datacenter is not just servers. If you buy colocation, it is tho.
    - gautamdivgi 4y ago
      So basically trading one provider for another
- goodpoint 4y ago
  This has to stop at some point.
- skullone 4y ago
  So much this! PXE is apparently too hard for engineers to learn to bootstrap a VM, but they'll go to $5k worth of training to learn Terraform to deploy a CRUD app and call that a win :/
  - mardifoufs 4y ago
    I mean, PXE and bootstrapping VMs aren't even close to being what people use terraform for. VM provisioning, in general, is basically just one of the many (and also most trivial) steps in the usual Terraform deployment.
dboreham 4y ago
Uh. That's how essentially how the entire internet is run.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- gautamdivgi 4y ago
  Yes. I know, I work for a telco and have worked with central office switches and telco edge clouds. I know what goes into designing a data center to maintain 5 9’s availability. I don’t think it’s a level of complexity most companies need though. So to your point it’s how the internet is run. But your midsize enterprise isn’t a telco. They have no expertise with this stuff.

lucasyvas 4y ago

Came here to suggest this - I'd have first run the numbers if running on a desirable cost IaaS to see if that was a comfortable middleground. It still amounts to self hosting everything yourself, except for compute, networking, storage - the basics (which are deceptively difficult when you account for secure access). And you get nice APIs to automate with still. Don't get me wrong, it might end up being more expensive at a threshold still, but do you really want to do your own... everything? Load balancing, DNS? What a total waste. That said, some hardware companies have APIs to do most of that stuff - a little human runs out to fulfill your request if need be in some cases I think. Still like... much to worry about.

ranger207 4y ago

That's called colocation: you provide the servers, they provide the racks

gautamdivgi 4y ago
Do you need people in the colo to wire stuff up or is that handled by the colo folks?
- vel0city 4y ago
  As others have mentioned, there's usually a remote hands feature that you can contract out. If you wanted to, many colos will rack and wire up all your equipment for you, for a cost. It really depends on how much you're wanting to offload on to the provider. They might do it all for you, they might just give you a cabinet or cage with power and a network drops.
- social_quotient 4y ago
  You drop off the box and they wire it up and give you remote console access. You can even schedule an on-site meeting with your equip as needed. Some colo partners will also keep replacement parts for you like if a disk or power supply goes bad.
- foepys 4y ago
  You can usually pay the data center staff for their time to push a button or connect a few wires. Seems expensive at first when they quote you 50€/15 minutes but often way cheaper than somebody driving there and going through security to do the same. Unless you don't want strangers touching your assigned rack, then you need to bring the key.
- rob-olmos 4y ago
  In addition to the other comments, after it's up & running some colos will also offer "remote hands" assistance, like replacing a failed drive. In that case ideally the enclosure will or can be made to make that slot's LED red or something so they know exactly which drive to pull.
RajT88 4y ago
The new term for this old concept is now being called, "Data Center as a Service".

dogleash 4y ago

> Maintaining a datacenter is expensive. Now I’m not sure if there are companies that provide management of actual physical infrastructure I knew the cloud marketing machine had done the new generation dirty. I didn't know it was this bad.

gautamdivgi 4y ago
I’m not new gen. I’ve worked in telcos providing 5 9’s infra availability. A datacenter is not just servers. There is a whole host of civil, mechanical and electrical engineering that plays into it. Edit: also OSHA rules, cable splicing, how to handle ladders, etc, etc.
- dogleash 4y ago
  > A datacenter is not just servers. If you buy colocation, it is tho.
  - gautamdivgi 4y ago
    So basically trading one provider for another
goodpoint 4y ago
This has to stop at some point.
skullone 4y ago
So much this! PXE is apparently too hard for engineers to learn to bootstrap a VM, but they'll go to $5k worth of training to learn Terraform to deploy a CRUD app and call that a win :/
- mardifoufs 4y ago
  I mean, PXE and bootstrapping VMs aren't even close to being what people use terraform for. VM provisioning, in general, is basically just one of the many (and also most trivial) steps in the usual Terraform deployment.

dboreham 4y ago

Uh. That's how essentially how the entire internet is run.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
gautamdivgi 4y ago
Yes. I know, I work for a telco and have worked with central office switches and telco edge clouds. I know what goes into designing a data center to maintain 5 9’s availability. I don’t think it’s a level of complexity most companies need though. So to your point it’s how the internet is run. But your midsize enterprise isn’t a telco. They have no expertise with this stuff.