

What are the main issues/shortcomings of cloud computing? - simonebrunozzi


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simonebrunozzi
Many startups today use AWS/Azure/GCP/Rackspace/etc to power their IT,
especially when they just got started. When they grow at scale, some of them
prefer to get back to owning hardware, or colocation. Others stay there. In
your view, what are the main issues that cloud computing has? If you can, be
specific about your use case. Thanks!

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byoung2
Cost is the main one, with flexibility of selecting your own hardware being
second. If you are just getting started, and you want to keep costs low or you
don't have enough demand to justify buying hardware or building data centers,
the cloud is perfect. This is the Uhaul stage, where you only move once every
few years, so it makes sense to rent.

As you grow you might find that you were starting and stopping servers all the
time to match demand or for batch processes, but you keep 100 servers on all
the time. Or it could be that you want specific hardware that the cloud
providers don't have (e.g. a specific CPU or drive). It might make sense to
move these to purchased hardware to keep costs low or get the exact hardware
you need, but remember that you'll have to deal with buying new hardware when
it gets old or fails, and buying additional hardware to scale. This is the
touring band stage, where you buy a van instead of renting one.

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simonebrunozzi
Good point. Why do you think big cloud providers can't offer competitive
solutions for startups at scale?

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SteB
We know that the majority of companies want (and need) to use a hybrid
infrastructure, private/public cloud. Moving workloads from private to public
and viceversa is the main issue, for several reasons. Managing costs at scale,
like you said, is a challenge for many companies that want to go back at some
point.

How can you make it easy to move workloads from public to private and
viceversa? What are the best providers today offering a complete hybrid
platform with public cloud and hardware (dedicated servers or similar)?

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MichaelCrawford
It is common for employers to advertise their job openings on sites with
domain names other than their own - taleo and the like.

If you direct me to some other domain, and I link to a page at that domain,
you are indirectly promoting a business other than your own. By contrast, if
you have your own employment listings at your own site, then my link would
promote your business interests.

