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The Cloud Computer

oxide.computer

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Re: The Cloud Computer

#121

Post by quickthrower2 »

solatic wrote: post #108
robertlagrant wrote: post #24

I'm a bit confused about them calling it a cloud computer. The primary benefit of cloud is you spend opex instead of capex. Isn't this moving back to capex again?

There's two independent issues: capex vs. opex, and flexibility. When opex is a primary benefit of the cloud, that's specifically for start-ups and other businesses that have little working capital. The actual primary benefit of the cloud for most cloud customers is flexibility - prior to AWS adoption, getting a server provisioned could be a multi-week if not multi-month affair negotiating between devs or operators a…

The way you put it, this capex thing though is sounding like just sacrificing cashflow for some accounting sophistry.

Surely the main benefit of reserved instances is lower TCO and if you can show you can afford AWS for 3 years a bank would surely loan you the money to pay upfront if you can save say 50% it is simply cheaper even with interest.

Re: The Cloud Computer

#122

Post by zeckalpha »

steve1977 wrote: post #102
throw0101a wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Absolutely. The point of cloud computing is that I don't have to care where something is running and that I (theoretically) have infinite elasticity and can scale in and out as fast and much as I need to. Define "I"? I-as-developer can call an VMware/OpenStack API with an on-prem/private cloud and get a new instance just as easily as calling an AWS API. I-as-developer does not have to worry about elasticity if the…

Private cloud is a marketing misnomer.

VPC doubly so then.

Re: The Cloud Computer

#123

Post by repelsteeltje »

quickthrower2 wrote: post #104
throw0101a wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They sell servers, but as a finished product. They sell rack-as-compute.[0] Their minimum order is one rack: You plug in power and network, connect to the built-in management software (API), and start spinning up VMs. [0] With built-in networking and storage.

Have they basically done for the data centre what iMac did for computers in about year 1999 (or whenever!)

> what iMac did for computers in about year 1999

Ehrm. What is that exactly?

Are you alluding to cute design, different user interface? Or ditching then common PC component modularity? "Thinking differently"?

One difference is that Oxide development was done in the open and they don't seem hell bent on creating a closed ecosystem. (Yet, at least)

Re: The Cloud Computer

#124

Post by [deleted] »

steve1977 wrote: post #72
dist1ll wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This server is for cloud operators - i.e. for organizations that are building their own cloud infrastructure. That's why Oxide is drawing comparisons to hyperscalers.

If you are building your own cloud infrastructure, you're not doing cloud computing. Unless you rent it out and are a cloud provider , but the website at least does not seem to target those.

[deleted]

Re: The Cloud Computer

#125

Post by throw0101a »

steve1977 wrote: post #52
throw0101a wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Private cloud is a thing too: lots of folks run VMware, Hyper-V, or OpenStack in-house.

And it's as much of a misnomer there.

> And it's as much of a misnomer there.

Dude, why are you even in this thread? Trying to be a Debbie Downer is just going to ruin the rest of the day.

* https://xkcd.com/386/

Trying to get the last word in on the Internet is a quick and easy way to have a bad time. Let it go and move onto something else.

Re: The Cloud Computer

#126

Post by tock »

dewey wrote: post #79
keepamovin wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, man! That's the way it should be done. It's not a company's business to decide how much your life should cost. It's its business to reward you for the value you provide, and that value is not tethered to your location, so neither should be your salary!

This really is one of these things where every employee in a cheap cost of living area will say "Exactly, man!" and people in an expensive area will see it differently because it might cap them lower than what they could get. I always find that a very naive point of view, of course I would want to earn a US tech salary while living somewhere in the country side, who wouldn't. But I'm also aware that this is not how t…

It's just crab mentality unfortunately.

Re: The Cloud Computer

#127

Post by dewey »

throw0101a wrote: post #105
dewey wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Early stage VC-backed startup compensation is very different from later stage companies or bootstrapped companies. It's very common for founders or early employees to receive a lower salary and receive equity instead.

Holding paper-gains equity doesn't provide monthly cashflow to buy groceries. :)

I'm sure 200k will cover that, even in the SV.

Re: The Cloud Computer

#128

Post by wild_egg »

dewey wrote: post #79
keepamovin wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, man! That's the way it should be done. It's not a company's business to decide how much your life should cost. It's its business to reward you for the value you provide, and that value is not tethered to your location, so neither should be your salary!

This really is one of these things where every employee in a cheap cost of living area will say "Exactly, man!" and people in an expensive area will see it differently because it might cap them lower than what they could get. I always find that a very naive point of view, of course I would want to earn a US tech salary while living somewhere in the country side, who wouldn't. But I'm also aware that this is not how t…

> of course I would want to earn a US tech salary while living somewhere in the country side

It's not about what you want, it's about knowing your value. If your work is worth a SF salary then that's what you should be getting.

Moving from Idaho to SF doesn't magically make you more productive. The company knows it's still getting more value from you than what you're being paid. They just want to keep more of that value for themselves whenever possible.

Have some respect for yourself and know your worth

Re: The Cloud Computer

#129

Post by EvanAnderson »

steve1977 wrote: post #90
dist1ll wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference is that when you're buying a x86 system, the entire CPU bringup (incl. AMEGAS/openSIL on AMD) runs proprietary and poorly documented firmware. You're entirely at the mercy of the vendor. Oxide has put immense effort into writing open-source platform initialization code, and built their own open-source BMC/RoT solution.

So effectively I’m at the mercy of Oxide, at least as long as their system does not become some kind of standard. Not in theory maybe, but in practice. Because as a customer, I would probably also need to put in immense effort to understand and maintain that software myself.

Their firmware is open source. You can pay whoever you want to maintain it. You can't do that with Dell, HP, Supermicro, and the unknowable rabbit hole of ODMs and sub-suppliers and contractors who actually make the hardware and firmware for these companies.

Until you've dealt with a malfunctioning Dell or HP server and have to live with being told "we don't know why it acts that way, we'll try to get the ODM to repro" I don't think you can appreciate how cool Oxide's offering seems.

Re: The Cloud Computer

#130

Post by growse »

steve1977 wrote: post #95
thom wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are many “you”s in most enterprises. If your platform engineering team builds their own cloud, and offers an experience similar to other cloud providers (or even better and more targeted), this could be a clear win.

You = the enterprise The definition of cloud is “out there in the sky - not here”

Actually, the definition of cloud is "a visible mass of particles of condensed vapor (such as water or ice) suspended in the atmosphere of a planet (such as the earth) or moon".

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cloud

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