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$4k is all you need to build a whitebox 256GB machine: dual-socket G34 motherboard with 16 DDR3 slots lke the ASUS KGPE-D16 ($500) + two Opteron 6320 (2 * $300)
by mrb 12y ago
$4k is all you need to build a whitebox 256GB machine: dual-socket G34 motherboard with 16 DDR3 slots lke the ASUS KGPE-D16 ($500) + two Opteron 6320 (2 * $300) + sixteen 16GB registered ECC DDR3-1600 (16 * $160) + chassis/PSU ($500) = $4160.
Doing this on Amazon r3.8xlarge ($2.8/hr) would cost you $8100+ over 4 months.
A DIY server can make sense in some cases. Eg. you are a very early-stage startup with almost no funding, and you are good at assembling and troubleshooting computers, and are ok with mere warranty on parts as opposed to full vendor support from HP/Oracle/Dell, go for it. That's how many startups started (see Google and their makeshift half-donated half-loaned boxes in 1998).
- ZachPruckowski 12y agoDon't forget to factor in the costs of running, cooling, and maintaining that much hardware (also bandwidth costs). I'm not saying it's $2k/month, I'm just saying don't compare the physical box and AWS without factoring everything in. At the end of the day, if you don't need the support, you're probably right that a dedicated box makes sense there.
- adventured 12y agoAWS has among the highest bandwidth costs you're going to run into, if we're talking co-location, dedicated, or self-hosting. Their bandwidth costs are the sole reason I won't go anywhere near AWS yet, I consider their prices outrageously high. 10tb = roughly $1,000 per month They're between 5 and 50 times more expensive on bandwidth than the options in dedicated / colo / self hosting.
- dekhn 12y agoYou can negotiate with AWS.
- liotier 12y agoI don't believe that startups in their garage days have anywhere near the necessary leverage to negotiate anything with Amazon...
- jaequery 12y agoAgree, not many people actually realize just how slow and expensive AWS actually is. Kudos to SO for going with their own hardware.
- dekhn 12y agothey negotiate, still. I know several startups which went to amazon, said, "hey, your competitor is cheaper, what is your value prop" and suddenly had 50% discounts, etc. It's amazing how much you get simply asking!