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Is it possible to host Facebook on AWS?

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Re: Is it possible to host Facebook on AWS?

#11

Post by sgslo »

pier25 wrote: post #8

> Its application code is still developed using PHP This is surprising since 1) Facebook is most likely using Hack and 2) it could save a lot of money by moving to Go. > Facebook’s entire site runs on HHVM (desktop, API and mobile) Isn't Facebook running mostly on React? I'm guessing HHVM only really powers the API, business logic, etc.

HHVM is a VM for executing Hack and PHP, used extensively on the backend at Facebook.

The majority (all?) of the front end and mobile apps are powered by React and React Native, respectively.

Re: Is it possible to host Facebook on AWS?

#12

Post by pryelluw »

pier25 wrote: post #8

> Its application code is still developed using PHP This is surprising since 1) Facebook is most likely using Hack and 2) it could save a lot of money by moving to Go. > Facebook’s entire site runs on HHVM (desktop, API and mobile) Isn't Facebook running mostly on React? I'm guessing HHVM only really powers the API, business logic, etc.

Explain point #2, please.

Re: Is it possible to host Facebook on AWS?

#13

Post by BinaryIdiot »

jzelinskie wrote: post #7

I think a lot of the smaller details this article glosses over contribute to FB's ability to run on so few machines. For example, comparing my anecdotes of FB's internal network (they probably have the most organized/mature IPv6 network on the planet) with those of my AWS public cloud experience, I'd reckon that a lot of FB applications would require architectural redesigns to operate in that kind of environment. The…

> The real question isn't "can FB be hosted on AWS?", it's "why isn't FB competing with AWS?" because what they've already got is much better for the range of applications that they deploy.

This. When they bought Parse I thought for sure they would get into the same business as AWS / Azure / etc but then they phased it out. Their have so much network infrastructure I thought for sure they would want to offer such services and yet they still have not.

I'm starting to think they won't ever get into the same business.

Re: Is it possible to host Facebook on AWS?

#14

Post by cbhl »

pier25 wrote: post #8

> Its application code is still developed using PHP This is surprising since 1) Facebook is most likely using Hack and 2) it could save a lot of money by moving to Go. > Facebook’s entire site runs on HHVM (desktop, API and mobile) Isn't Facebook running mostly on React? I'm guessing HHVM only really powers the API, business logic, etc.

I imagine the lifetime savings of having a backend in Go is dwarfed by the one-time cost of such a migration.

That's why they invented Hack and HHVM in the first place -- it was a cheap-enough compromise that didn't require rewriting the whole code base.

Re: Is it possible to host Facebook on AWS?

#15

Post by bedros »

ryandvm wrote: post #9
jzelinskie wrote: post #7

I think a lot of the smaller details this article glosses over contribute to FB's ability to run on so few machines. For example, comparing my anecdotes of FB's internal network (they probably have the most organized/mature IPv6 network on the planet) with those of my AWS public cloud experience, I'd reckon that a lot of FB applications would require architectural redesigns to operate in that kind of environment. The…

I suppose the reason Facebook doesn't resell their infrastructure is because their endgame is to _be_ the internet. From their point of view, any site you're on that isn't Facebook is their competition.

That's exactly why only a fool will use reactjs in their web design, because FB will put you out of business and if you sue them for infringing your patents, your reactjs license is revoked

Re: Is it possible to host Facebook on AWS?

#16

Post by dgfgfdagasdfgfa »

bedros wrote: post #15
ryandvm wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose the reason Facebook doesn't resell their infrastructure is because their endgame is to _be_ the internet. From their point of view, any site you're on that isn't Facebook is their competition.

That's exactly why only a fool will use reactjs in their web design, because FB will put you out of business and if you sue them for infringing your patents, your reactjs license is revoked

That's exactly why only a fool would build their software product around patent protection.

Re: Is it possible to host Facebook on AWS?

#17

Post by zepolen »

bedros wrote: post #15
ryandvm wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose the reason Facebook doesn't resell their infrastructure is because their endgame is to _be_ the internet. From their point of view, any site you're on that isn't Facebook is their competition.

That's exactly why only a fool will use reactjs in their web design, because FB will put you out of business and if you sue them for infringing your patents, your reactjs license is revoked

I didn't know this, this needs to be more well known.

How does this affect libraries like preact?

Re: Is it possible to host Facebook on AWS?

#18

Post by tyingq »

cbhl wrote: post #14
pier25 wrote: post #8

> Its application code is still developed using PHP This is surprising since 1) Facebook is most likely using Hack and 2) it could save a lot of money by moving to Go. > Facebook’s entire site runs on HHVM (desktop, API and mobile) Isn't Facebook running mostly on React? I'm guessing HHVM only really powers the API, business logic, etc.

I imagine the lifetime savings of having a backend in Go is dwarfed by the one-time cost of such a migration. That's why they invented Hack and HHVM in the first place -- it was a cheap-enough compromise that didn't require rewriting the whole code base.

I'm not even convinced there's much savings. Hhvm supports an asynchronous pattern, and their proxygen web server (no fixed number of fcgi processes), so the typical PHP bottlenecks may not be an issue for FB.

Wouldn't most of the pressure be on whatever the data layer is?

Re: Is it possible to host Facebook on AWS?

#19

Post by oneplane »

The answer is no. This is because you can't compare commodity hosting like AWS with specialized hosting like Facebook's data centers and infrastructure software. This question of possibility has nothing to do with 'number of servers' or 'amount of money'. It's architecturally incompatible.

Re: Is it possible to host Facebook on AWS?

#20

Post by madeofpalk »

zepolen wrote: post #17
bedros wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly why only a fool will use reactjs in their web design, because FB will put you out of business and if you sue them for infringing your patents, your reactjs license is revoked

I didn't know this, this needs to be more well known. How does this affect libraries like preact?

It is rather well known but it's mostly FUD.
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