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Humor has been a coping mechanism since the beginning of time. Relax.
Iranian missile blitz takes down AWS data centers in Bahrain and Dubai
111–120 of 179 posts
Re: Iranian missile blitz takes down AWS data centers in Bahrain and Dubai
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
Slight tangent, but to me futuristic cities are actually places like Amsterdam, with cozy streets and bike lanes everywhere, not places like Dubai with 16-lane freeways and a quasi-slave underclass staffing the tacky malls.
And yet Amsterdam has a world famous seedy district
And yet Amsterdam has a world famous seedy district
What world-class city doesn't?
And if you think there aren't hookers in Dubai, then I don't know what to tell you.
Re: Iranian missile blitz takes down AWS data centers in Bahrain and Dubai
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
If anyone here is involved in making decisions about where to locate such centers, I'd love to hear more about how geopolitical risk factors in, and whether you plan and price out contingencies (e.g. "This is near an unstable area, worst case is we write off $###M, but after Y years it breaks even. And the site is better in these other factors than alternative Z over there..."). Is it similar to factoring for geophys…
Insurance. No need to write off anything or take a loss, just a slightly increased yearly cost. The cost of said insurance is likely going to be very high for a long time now though.
My impression is most commercial insurance policies specifically exclude acts of war (and similar). The extent of systematic damage that can occur in such scenarios would easily put them into insolvency. There are exceptions for life insurance, maritime shipping, aviation etc. but I gather they're uncommon, often limited-time in nature and come with high premiums. I've never heard of the equivalent for buildings and contents. Maybe someone can enlighten me.
I also agree with the sibling comment that suggests even if there were outsourced options available, hyperscalers might do better to self-insure.
But regardless whether the company eats it, or pays it through insurance premiums, I'm still curious how this type of risk is planned for (to whatever degree it is) and accounted. I assume it must have been contemplated in a deliberate manner, somewhere on a scale of "We knew this could happen, considered x, y and z, decided the venture was justified, and here's how we planned for such a contingency" to "That was dumb siting and someone will be fired". Obviously anywhere you put a building entails some level of local risk.
As years as a volunteer firefighter we do a lot of risk management at the tactical level and have to think through assessment and potential consequences. There are lots of guidelines we learn to help produce sound decisions. But at the end of the day to apply them you may need to make a judgement call, and you need to be prepared for things to go wrong. In a way I guess I'm asking about the economic and operational equivalent at the scale of hundred-million dollar data centers.
Ps. Like the original commenter said, I'm in no way meaning to be insensitive to the larger human and regional consequences.
Re: Iranian missile blitz takes down AWS data centers in Bahrain and Dubai
#114[flagged]
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Re: Iranian missile blitz takes down AWS data centers in Bahrain and Dubai
#115Does this count as offensive cyber?
Re: Iranian missile blitz takes down AWS data centers in Bahrain and Dubai
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The answer is obviously yes. Of course it isn't. In reality, being able to resist requires power. Power that's gained more or less independently such as Iran's. Gulf states should be in a position of power to able to resist US presence. The power they have right now is mostly gained through the help of USA and its allies. It's not the same as Iran. Not even close.
> Of course it isn't. In reality, being able to resist requires power. I gave examples of it actually happening. If sandal-wearing Houthis can resist, then well-funded oil states can as well. The Taliban beat the US. In fact, very few people have failed at ejecting the US from the country when they tried if you think back. The US tends to lose a lot.
> I gave examples of it actually happening.
Ironically Yemen (Houthis) are fighting not only with US but against other gulf sates like Saudi Arabia as well. It's not really an example that demonstrates unity in gulf.
> The Taliban beat the US.
Taliban, brought to you by US of A to combat Soviet Union's influence! Well, it seems they are done beating US and are now busy beating Afghan women.
> The US tends to lose a lot.
Do they really? After the war is over and US is beat, how does the life of an average American compare to someone's from your list. It is the people of Middle East who pay the biggest price. That's the real loss.
*edit: typo
Re: Iranian missile blitz takes down AWS data centers in Bahrain and Dubai
#117Not to be insensitive about the humanitarian and economic situation, but, I am curious why there are data centers in that region at all? It just seems horribly inefficient from a cooling and electricity standpoint. Not to mention water. My pessimistic assumption is that Amazon said "yes" to handouts from regional government efforts to be relevant in tech, and that those data centers dont really matter to anyone but l…
> local politicians and monarchs who believe they have a seat at the table. Are you from another planet? They DO have a set at the table because gulf Sovereign Funds are one of the largest and most reliable LP pools available for VC funds for quite some time. The current AI buildout is heavily dependent on Gulf money. Oil is not forever and Sovereign Wealth Funds usually have goals that are not simply acruing direct…
>Nobody sane would predict Israel and the US would start this war.
Israel predicted and started the war unless you consider they're insane [1].
[1] Iran is a distraction [video]:
Re: Iranian missile blitz takes down AWS data centers in Bahrain and Dubai
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
And yet Amsterdam has a world famous seedy district
And yet Amsterdam has a world famous seedy district What world-class city doesn't? And if you think there aren't hookers in Dubai, then I don't know what to tell you.
Actually, there are probably not a lot of hookers in Dubai at this moment. Most are probably back to Europe (or stuck in the airport).
Re: Iranian missile blitz takes down AWS data centers in Bahrain and Dubai
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
Middle East isn’t some 3rd world. If you can imagine futuristic cities, rich Middle East countries are already living in them with all the oil wealth. They have phones, computers, digital services just like the US and Europe. Makes sense they want a data center in the region, close to them just like the US and Europe have data enters close to their users.
If you can imagine dystopian cities, rich Middle East countries are already living in them with all the oil wealth.
I could never relax in such a place. Will always feel spooked