[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]
Matt Nash wrote:
Could anyone tell me the pros and cons of a server using cloud type technology versus a dedicated server? I am thinking that if I use a dedicated server I could probably run multiple virtual machines, which is unlikely to be possible on a cloud based server. If there are any other pros and cons that people can think of, then please let me know.
First you need to define what you mean by "cloud" as like its namesake the term is somewhat nebulous, but for the sake of argument I'll assume that it means you'll end up with some sort of virtual machine. Obviously there are the usual issues with contention for machine resources with virtual machines and there may be limitations on total network bandwidth, too. Disk IO may not be anything like as fast as a physical server. Some VM providers use VMs that save the machine state when you reboot whilst others restart the machine from a set configuration each time which doesn't suit some services, but is quite handy if you somehow manage to trash a load of files that are still in the original image. Some VMs are provisioned using seriously out of date OS releases. I was working on a recently-configured EC2 instance last week that was running Fedora 8 which has had no support for years and there are no security updates for known issues. Some VM providers don't seem to be that fussed about throw-away VMs being used for spam delivery which means they're heavily blacklisted and impractical to use for an outbound mail relay. Not that I have south-American female warriors particularly in mind at this point, oh no. If you're not running services full-time then EC2's pricing model where you only pay for the time you use might be quite attractive. I don't think it's so great if you want a VM running all the time. Physical servers lose out when it comes to things like hardware failure and (usually) cost. If you're setting up your own VMs on a rented server then it may well not be a walk in the park. Getting all the networking stuff functioning correctly can be tricky, though it is getting easier. Personally I like the degree of control I have with a physical server and if I could justify the cost I'd probably always go that route, but I'd not expect that to be a compelling reason for everyone. James -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html