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> "If we consider the typical lifecycle of a server, the highest costs arise from the moment when new hardware is purchased." If that's the case, why aren't th

by Tepix 2y ago

> "If we consider the typical lifecycle of a server, the highest costs arise from the moment when new hardware is purchased." If that's the case, why aren't there more low budget hardware servers being offered? After all these years, there's Kimsufi by OVH but not much else. There is a lot of very cheap hardware available these days that makes for a good small server to use as a mail server. Having a dedicated server for this purpose results in much better privacy. I hope to see more low budget dedicated servers!

sirtaj 2y ago
Racks of N100s.
PeterStuer 2y ago
The frontloaded cost model is not just the cost of the hardware, but all the other cost incurred before the first payment rolls in (transportation, build, installation, test, ...). Once it is up and running the variable cost are very low, just energy usage and customer support mostly.
voidwtf 2y ago
Real estate. There is a constant battle to increase performance per watt and increase density. Think of it like performance per watt per sqft. Once the hardware improves significantly enough you’re losing money by not putting new hardware in that space utilizing that same power. To make an extreme out of it, imagine an entire datacenter full of pentium 4 powered servers. Which could be replace by a single 42u rack. Nobody would want to pay what the electricity would even cost to run those servers. Often times the oldest hardware running in data centers is hardware that has been running the same workload from the same customer for a decade.
- ijnnndi 2y ago
  While you are correct, this is not what Hetzner said. If the highest cost in the TOC would be acquisition an not floor space over time, then OP would be right
  - voidwtf 2y ago
    having worked in this industry previously, i can confidently say that hardware has a lifecycle. towards the end of that lifecycle the hardware is no longer affordable to even have powered on. if the server costs $46 a month to have racked up and powered on, and is less powerful than a $15 vps we’re offering in the same location then what sense does it make to continue offering that server?
- justsomehnguy 2y ago
  > entire datacenter full of pentium 4 powered servers > Which could be replace by a single 42u rack Way, way less. A couple of nodes on EPYC with 2TB RAM already would have more capacity than that.
kassner 2y ago
How old you want to go? The first option I see on Server Auction is a €38/mo i7-6700, roughly 9 years old. An equivalent 14th gen would be the i3-14100, with 33% [1] more performance. Assuming this would be the server’s last customer, Hetzner might be decommissioning 12-15 year old hardware. There is quite a big leap in energy efficiency between 6th and 14th gens. At some point they economically turn into space heaters. 1: https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-6700-vs-Intel-Core-i3-14100/3515vsm2277146 https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-6700-vs-...
bravetraveler 2y ago
Have you not seen their auction listings? Old dedicated gear for peanuts: https://www.hetzner.com/sb https://www.hetzner.com/sb

by Tepix 2y ago

sirtaj 2y ago

Racks of N100s.

PeterStuer 2y ago

The frontloaded cost model is not just the cost of the hardware, but all the other cost incurred before the first payment rolls in (transportation, build, installation, test, ...). Once it is up and running the variable cost are very low, just energy usage and customer support mostly.

voidwtf 2y ago

Real estate. There is a constant battle to increase performance per watt and increase density. Think of it like performance per watt per sqft. Once the hardware improves significantly enough you’re losing money by not putting new hardware in that space utilizing that same power. To make an extreme out of it, imagine an entire datacenter full of pentium 4 powered servers. Which could be replace by a single 42u rack. Nobody would want to pay what the electricity would even cost to run those servers. Often times the oldest hardware running in data centers is hardware that has been running the same workload from the same customer for a decade.

ijnnndi 2y ago
While you are correct, this is not what Hetzner said. If the highest cost in the TOC would be acquisition an not floor space over time, then OP would be right
- voidwtf 2y ago
  having worked in this industry previously, i can confidently say that hardware has a lifecycle. towards the end of that lifecycle the hardware is no longer affordable to even have powered on. if the server costs $46 a month to have racked up and powered on, and is less powerful than a $15 vps we’re offering in the same location then what sense does it make to continue offering that server?
justsomehnguy 2y ago
> entire datacenter full of pentium 4 powered servers > Which could be replace by a single 42u rack Way, way less. A couple of nodes on EPYC with 2TB RAM already would have more capacity than that.

kassner 2y ago

How old you want to go? The first option I see on Server Auction is a €38/mo i7-6700, roughly 9 years old. An equivalent 14th gen would be the i3-14100, with 33% [1] more performance. Assuming this would be the server’s last customer, Hetzner might be decommissioning 12-15 year old hardware. There is quite a big leap in energy efficiency between 6th and 14th gens. At some point they economically turn into space heaters. 1: https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-6700-vs-Intel-Core-i3-14100/3515vsm2277146 https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-6700-vs-...

bravetraveler 2y ago

Have you not seen their auction listings? Old dedicated gear for peanuts: https://www.hetzner.com/sb https://www.hetzner.com/sb