[GNC] [MAINT] Unplanned network outage

[Chris Green]

On Thu, Apr 29, 2021 at 08:18:57AM -0400, Derek Atkins wrote:
> 
> On Thu, April 29, 2021 7:51 am, Liz Dodd wrote:
> > On Wed, 28 Apr 2021 12:03:56 -0400
> > Glenn Fowler <gfowler1 at outlook.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Hi Derek,
> >>
> >> Wouldn't it be advantageous to move to a cloud server to relieve you
> >> of maintaining hardware and issues with network & power outages and
> >> the risk of natural disasters such as fire?
> >
> > "Cloud" is simply a euphemism for someone else's computer.
> > I suspect Derek is of my vintage, and we are happy dealing with
> > managing our own stuff and not parking it on someone else's computer.
> 
> Indeed.  A cloud service has the same kind of outages.  Just look at all
> the times that Microsoft, Google, FB, etc services go offline.  It's rare,
> but it happens.  Moreover, if data gets moved into the "cloud" (i.e., onto
> someone else's computers), then your (our!) data is at their mercy. 
> Worse, you don't know *where* your data lives (or who has access to it!!)
> 
> Another alternative is putting a piece of hardware into a colo facility. 
> That could provide better connectivity and power -- but it's much more
> expensive on an ongoing basis, and frankly I DO have my hardware on a UPS
> that lasts over 2 hours at current loads.
> 
> I acknowledge that there have been several incidents recently, which is
> actually quite unusual.  But I've been running these services myself for
> well more than a decade now (probably getting closer to 2 decades). 
> Outages are, on average, few and far between -- and we have full control
> over the security of our data.
> 
More of a half-way house as it were would be a virtual server, where
you (Derek) have complete control of the system but nasty basic things
like power supplies and continuous operation of the hardware is
someone else's problem.  Like a colo facility but much cheaper.  My
little virtual server costs only a little over £5/month.  That's
probably still rather more than a computer sitting at home (though it
might well be a close run thing if you take into account power costs).

-- 
Chris Green