arXiv moving from Cornell servers to Google Cloud • Hacker News Board

Re: arXiv moving from Cornell servers to Google Cloud

#151

Post by londons_explore » Fri, Apr 18, 2025, 10:13 PM UTC

falcor84 wrote: post #26

londons_explore wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This.... I bet arXiv was run on server hardware costing under $10k before... And now it'll end up costing $10k per month (with free credit from Google which will eventually go away and then arXiv will shut down or be forced to go commercial)

I assume they would still have the serving code they use now and if they do choose to go back to maintaining it on their own hardware they'll always have that option. It seems they just don't want that anymore.

That's why they're being encouraged to use cloud run and all the other cloud functionality so a migration back becomes very hard.

Re: arXiv moving from Cornell servers to Google Cloud

#152

Post by Wilder7977 » Fri, Apr 18, 2025, 10:14 PM UTC

infecto wrote: post #139

sd9 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should the 90 million people in Iran not have easy access to scientific knowledge?

Unfortunately their government is a historic adversary to many western nations. The people there are nice but that’s what happens.

So it is not _ideal_ , considering that human knowledge is a common good.

Re: arXiv moving from Cornell servers to Google Cloud

#153

Post by TZubiri » Fri, Apr 18, 2025, 10:38 PM UTC

x_may wrote: post #40

It may be that it was time for the hardware that was previously running Arxiv to be retired and this is just another Capex -> Opex decision being made by so many tech companies. I'd like to know if GCP is covering part of the bill? Or will Cornell be paying all of it? The new architecture smells of "[GCP] will pay/credit all of these new services if you agree to let one of our architects work with you". If GCP is hel…

"Reaffirming our commitment to science" or something similarly self affirming.

While I understand that something is more genuine if done in secret, it doesn't stop being a real commitment to science just because you make a pr post about it.

If company X contributes to Y open source foundation, that's real and they get to claim clout, nobody cares about a post anyways.

Re: arXiv moving from Cornell servers to Google Cloud

#154

Post by infecto » Fri, Apr 18, 2025, 10:41 PM UTC

Wilder7977 wrote: post #152

infecto wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately their government is a historic adversary to many western nations. The people there are nice but that’s what happens.

So it is not _ideal_ , considering that human knowledge is a common good.

Disagree. It is ideal. Iran has been behind many terrorist activities over the decades.

Re: arXiv moving from Cornell servers to Google Cloud

#155

Post by mindslight » Sat, Apr 19, 2025, 12:13 AM UTC

quantumHazer wrote: post #63

gcr wrote: post #44

Cornell is currently in hiring freeze. These roles will not be filled. Source: I applied to a Cornell-related lab in March. A week after submitting my application the role was rescinded and my contact emailed me explaining the situation.

Is it related with policies from the US administration?

[flagged]

Re: arXiv moving from Cornell servers to Google Cloud

#156

Post by musicale » Sat, Apr 19, 2025, 12:26 AM UTC

RIP

Re: arXiv moving from Cornell servers to Google Cloud

#157

Post by toomuchtodo » Sat, Apr 19, 2025, 1:11 AM UTC

stonogo wrote: post #141

khuey wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If GCP is helping, stay tuned for a blog post from google some time around the completion of the migration with a title like "Reaffirming our commitment to science" or something similarly self affirming. "Google pays to run an enormous intellectual resource in exchange for a self-congratulatory blogpost" seems like a perfectly acceptable outcome for society here.

It wasn't when it happened to Usenet.

Frequent backups to the Internet Archive for rehydration when needed. RIP Dejanews. Hopefully we’ve learned from past experience.

Re: arXiv moving from Cornell servers to Google Cloud

#158

Post by ryao » Sat, Apr 19, 2025, 1:44 AM UTC

fc417fc802 wrote: post #150

ryao wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The two are not comparable. The 1TB of transit at Amazon can be subdivided over many recipients, while the solid state drive is empty and only can be sent to one. That said, I agree that transit costs are too high.

So order multiple drives, transfer the data to them, and drop them in the mail to the client. That should always be the higher bandwidth option, but in a sane world it would also be less cost effective given the differences in amount of energy and sorts of infrastructure involved. The reason to switch away from fiber should be sustained aggregate throughput, not transfer cost.

The other guy was also comparing them based on transfer cost. Given that 1TB can be divided across billions of locations, shipping physical drives is not a feasible alternative to transit at Amazon in general.

Re: arXiv moving from Cornell servers to Google Cloud

#159

Post by axus » Sat, Apr 19, 2025, 1:53 AM UTC

infecto wrote: post #154

Wilder7977 wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So it is not _ideal_ , considering that human knowledge is a common good.

Disagree. It is ideal. Iran has been behind many terrorist activities over the decades.

So has the USA but we're mostly good people here.

I can't be angry at Google for following US law, any more than I can be angry at Huawei for following Chinese law.

Re: arXiv moving from Cornell servers to Google Cloud

#160

Post by mistrial9 » Sat, Apr 19, 2025, 2:35 AM UTC

khuey wrote: post #121

x_may wrote: post #40

It may be that it was time for the hardware that was previously running Arxiv to be retired and this is just another Capex -> Opex decision being made by so many tech companies. I'd like to know if GCP is covering part of the bill? Or will Cornell be paying all of it? The new architecture smells of "[GCP] will pay/credit all of these new services if you agree to let one of our architects work with you". If GCP is hel…

> If GCP is helping, stay tuned for a blog post from google some time around the completion of the migration with a title like "Reaffirming our commitment to science" or something similarly self affirming. "Google pays to run an enormous intellectual resource in exchange for a self-congratulatory blogpost" seems like a perfectly acceptable outcome for society here.

mirrors, please