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The Cloud Computer

oxide.computer

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Re: The Cloud Computer

#221

Post by barrkel »

cpursley wrote: post #3

Can somebody explain in a sentence or two what this actually is and what the benefits are?

The way I interpret it: an integrated stack of compute, storage and networking hardware and monitoring software that you can plug in to your data center (owned or colo) and can e.g. deploy Kubernetes to, and then use as a deployment target for your services.

The main USP: you own it, you're not renting it. You're not beholden to big cloud's pricing strategies and gotchas.

Secondary USP, why you buy this rather than DIY / rack computer vendor: it's a vertically integrated experience, it's preassembled, it's plug and play, compatibility is sorted out, there's no weird closed third party dependencies. Basically, the Apple experience rather than the PC experience.

Re: The Cloud Computer

#222

Post by JeremyNT »

ollybee wrote: post #208
fefe23 wrote: post #11

This is actually a pretty big deal. They sell servers, but as a finished product. Not as a cobbled together mess of third party stuff where the vendor keeps shrugging if there is an integration problem. They integrated it. It comes with all the features they expect you to want if you wanted to build your own cloud. Also, they wrote the software. And it's all open source. So no "sorry but the third party vendor droppe…

Existing vendors will provide rack integration services and deliver a turn key solution like this. Also vendors of virtualization management software have partnerships with hardware suppliers and be happy to deliver fully integrated solutions if you're buying by the rack. The difference is in those cases you have flexibility in the design which seems to be missing here. Proxmox and a full rack of Supermicro gear woul…

> Proxmox and a full rack of Supermicro gear would not be as sophisticated, but end result is pretty much the same, with I imagine far far better bang for buck.

I think the question is how well they can do the management plane. Dealing with the "quirks" of a bunch of grey box supermicro stuff is always painful in one way or another. The drop shipped, pre-cabled cab setups are definitely nice but that's only a part of what Oxide is doing here. No cables and their own integrated switching sounds nice too (stuff from the big vendors like UCS is closer to this ballpark but also probably closer to the cost too).

I suspect cooling and rack density could be better in the Oxide solution too, not having to conform to the standards might afford them some possibilities (although that's just a guess, and even if they do improve there these may not be the bottlenecks for many).

Re: The Cloud Computer

#223

Post by keepamovin »

dewey wrote: post #184
keepamovin wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that why you went to Berlin? How does Berlin compare to SV for cost of living?

This site is usually helpful: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?cou...

Interesting, it's almost double in SV the cost of Berlin!

How much salary do you think should allocate to base and how much toward any location adjustments, in general?

Re: The Cloud Computer

#225

Post by apexalpha »

wiradikusuma wrote: post #218

So what's the use case for this? Can I buy this and start a hosting company?

I work at a Telco that needs the teams to be able to create VMs, networks etc.. But due to legal constraints we need to host it on prem.

For those companies this would probably be a cost effective solution since now we spend a lot of resources managing varying Openstack installations with different hardware from HP / Dell etc...

Re: The Cloud Computer

#226

Post by svnt »

andrewstuart wrote: post #7
cpursley wrote: post #3

Can somebody explain in a sentence or two what this actually is and what the benefits are?

Weird there’s no mention of GPU at all when you’d think that’s what would prick up the ears of the hosting companies ….. stack a pile of GPUs in a rack, surely you can sell time on that. The Oxide machines seem to be aimed at 2020.

Now to see how their development timeframes and synchronization efforts with big hardware companies go.

This is where they will enter the real “hard” part of hardware, with an exec team from software. Can they respond to the market while making hardware?

They seem to have presented as generally thoughtful about their approach. If they can release major variants about annually or even sub-annually that is what I think will enable them to win.

Re: The Cloud Computer

#227

Post by lopkeny12ko »

> We’re really excited to have the first commercial cloud computer — and for it to be generally available! If you yourself are interested, we look forward to it making its first impression on you — reach out to us!

Can we please stop with the "the only way to get our pricing is by booking a sales call with us." This is a 100% surefire way for me to never pay for your product, and instead go to competitors who provide straightforward, no-nonsense pricing on the website.

This is ironic given the amount of self-praise they give themselves in this article about how much they care about shipping something you can buy once instead of renting from the traditional cloud. Great, so then tell me how much it costs...

Re: The Cloud Computer

#228

Post by civilitty »

ollybee wrote: post #208
fefe23 wrote: post #11

This is actually a pretty big deal. They sell servers, but as a finished product. Not as a cobbled together mess of third party stuff where the vendor keeps shrugging if there is an integration problem. They integrated it. It comes with all the features they expect you to want if you wanted to build your own cloud. Also, they wrote the software. And it's all open source. So no "sorry but the third party vendor droppe…

Existing vendors will provide rack integration services and deliver a turn key solution like this. Also vendors of virtualization management software have partnerships with hardware suppliers and be happy to deliver fully integrated solutions if you're buying by the rack. The difference is in those cases you have flexibility in the design which seems to be missing here. Proxmox and a full rack of Supermicro gear woul…

Classic hacker news! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224

Re: The Cloud Computer

#229

Post by ren_engineer »

jpdb wrote: post #22

I really wish oxide had a Homelab/consumer centric offering! Spec wise, some low power systems like an Intel NUC, LattePanda Sigma, or Zimaboard. You could fit 3/4 of them in a single 1u with a shared power supply. They could even offer a full 1u with desktop grade chips on the same sleds. I have thought about building one myself, but it's a large investment of time that I can't seem to find lately.

I'd imagine they'll get to that eventually, these types of companies generally start at enterprise level because that's the most profitable and requires closing smaller numbers of deals. Once the product is proven and their support infrastructure is in place they can go for other market segments to try and maximize revenue

Re: The Cloud Computer

#230

Post by paxys »

lopkeny12ko wrote: post #227

> We’re really excited to have the first commercial cloud computer — and for it to be generally available! If you yourself are interested, we look forward to it making its first impression on you — reach out to us! Can we please stop with the "the only way to get our pricing is by booking a sales call with us." This is a 100% surefire way for me to never pay for your product, and instead go to competitors who provide…

Their pricing starts at $500K (but realistically will be $1-2M per order at a minimum). This is not intended for people who browse their website, click "buy" and fill in their credit card info. If you don't want to talk to a sales rep you were never their target customer, and I'm sure they aren't sweating the hypothetical lost sale.
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