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Cloud Computing vs Dedicated Servers

Posted by on 25 Aug 2008 in Cloud Computing, Forward Thinking | 11 comments

Cloud Computing vs Dedicated Servers

A very outspoken post over at The Register makes it very clear what the risks are in this debate. While Cloud Computing is the current “big thing” and everybody seems to be getting in on the act – and we’re even assessing how it fits into future web development plans – there is still a solid argument for sticking with dedicated servers.

The reason is principally one of reliability and accountability, or more to the point that you can call somebody at 3am when the dedicated servers that you are paying hard currency for fail and know that somebody is feverishly scurrying around a data centre ensuring your SLA is upheld. As Ted Dziuba put it:

No matter what the name, you, the developer, will still be dealing with reliability and accountability. Using someone else’s infrastructure for your application will forever be a business risk, but it sounds so much less so with a cuddly name. Your CTO will fall for the next cycle pretty easily. The compunction he feels for his latest data center build-out will outweigh the downsides of an external dependency.

Clouds have been notoriosly unreliable in the recent past (I am sure this will be remedied as Clouds are in their infancy in terms of infrastructures) and it can be very embarrassing when your data goes off-line for a long period, or your applications are down without warning. More to the point – who do you call, and how do you know they are fixing “your” problem when you are just renting a small corner of a nebulous, fluid environment (aether) which (theoretically) provides failover and mirroring to prevent just such an occurrence? When one server goes wrong it can be more easily diagnosed and fixed, but when a segment of the Cloud goes offline, it may be symptomatic of a wider disturbance in the aether.

If you are using Cloud-based systems, you might like to check out Hyperic‘s Cloud Status Monitor at http://www.cloudstatus.com/

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Related Reading from this Blog

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  4. Cloud vs Traditional Hosting
  5. When the Clouds break; Risks in the Public Cloud
  • Cfscorpia

    I am seriously considering moving my managed, dedicated server to a cloud environment. I’d love to hear others thoughts & experiences on this.

  • Cfscorpia

    I am seriously considering moving my managed, dedicated server to a cloud environment. I’d love to hear others thoughts & experiences on this.

  • http://www.emissary-consulting.com Edward

    Hi Cfscorpia,

    The Cloud is similar to virtual servers in the sense that you have less direct sysadmin control over your web sites. If this isn’t an issue, then the Cloud offers some great benefits. We’re moving most of our clients over to the Cloud at the moment and the transition is smooth as non of the sites require anything specific that would require a dedicated server.

    I would recommend checking out my other posts on Cloud Computing in the section specifically about Clouds. http://www.brilliantthinking.net/category/tech-posts/cloud-tech-posts/

    More posts coming in the near future, and looking forward to hearing others thoughts on the subject.

  • http://www.emissary-consulting.com Edward

    Hi Cfscorpia,

    The Cloud is similar to virtual servers in the sense that you have less direct sysadmin control over your web sites. If this isn’t an issue, then the Cloud offers some great benefits. We’re moving most of our clients over to the Cloud at the moment and the transition is smooth as non of the sites require anything specific that would require a dedicated server.

    I would recommend checking out my other posts on Cloud Computing in the section specifically about Clouds. http://www.brilliantthinking.net/category/tech-posts/cloud-tech-posts/

    More posts coming in the near future, and looking forward to hearing others thoughts on the subject.

  • http://www.goblinridge.co.uk Yorkshire Web Design

    Helpful article. We are currently on Windows servers but are wanting to move towards a LAMP setup. We are currently assessing the pro’s and con’s of a dedicated Linux server or Cloud Hosting. Veering towards Cloud for the lower monthly costs and we don’t have enough LAMP projects yet to justify a dedicated server. Thanks for the info!

  • http://www.goblinridge.co.uk Yorkshire Web Design

    Helpful article. We are currently on Windows servers but are wanting to move towards a LAMP setup. We are currently assessing the pro’s and con’s of a dedicated Linux server or Cloud Hosting. Veering towards Cloud for the lower monthly costs and we don’t have enough LAMP projects yet to justify a dedicated server. Thanks for the info!

  • http://www.emissary-consulting.com Edward

    Your welcome. The good thing about the Cloud (for example Rackspace) is that you can mix and match Windows & LAMP servers as you need to. I like the company name – how did you decide on Goblin Ridge?

  • http://www.emissary-consulting.com Edward

    Your welcome. The good thing about the Cloud (for example Rackspace) is that you can mix and match Windows & LAMP servers as you need to. I like the company name – how did you decide on Goblin Ridge?

  • http://www.remanufacturedink.info Kieran Adams

    Can anyone suggest a reliable Dedicated Server hosting that is not very expensive?

  • http://www.remanufacturedink.info Kieran Adams

    Can anyone suggest a reliable Dedicated Server hosting that is not very expensive?

  • Pingback: Cloud Computing vs Dedicated Servers « The Tech Tutorial

  • Adam

    I am glad I found this post. I have a web based software RhinoSEO.com. We are on a dedicated through Rackspace but have been pressured by consultants to move to the cloud. The main upside to cloud hosting is the low cost clustering/load balancing. But I am unsure if that is enough to move from a dedicated. The same results can be achieved with the dedicated, but its more expensive.

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