Author Topic: A new paradigm  (Read 2665 times)

mungeclimber

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A new paradigm
« on: April 12, 2012, 12:01:46 PM »
I joke sometimes at work about a new paradigm. Today while reading about the Facebook purchase of Instagram and perhaps that Facebook is now uncool because it has a billion + valuation, it occurred to me that the problem with complaining about the cool factor relative to money comes down to how you want your sites funded.

How do you then build out, by direct funding, a site that serves the needs of it's user base. Take donations?  Well, we see how often wikipedia is used and yet they are still asking you to donate.

You could fund it thru advertising, but make too much and it becomes uncool.


What if you could directly provisiong hardware and app layer support by direct donation and watch that progress as donations came thru. Then as soon as you hit a bench mark, it automatically provisioned the next layer of hardware and app necessary to support what you wanted out of the site? 

With cloud based services, and on-demand hardware and storage options now becoming more common, I think this paradigm is possible. It would take planning and the right code/mechanisms to set up the auto provisioning. But with the right visibility into how the money creates the next feature set, it could take off on it's own.
On Aid at Pinns... It's all A1 til it crumbles. - Munge

mynameismud

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Re: A new paradigm
« Reply #1 on: April 12, 2012, 04:18:37 PM »
There are other hardware costs.  
Power, UPS, PDM's , Power Whips, AC, Floor space, Server cabinets, SNX, people,  etc...

Most cloud based providers charge more when you scale so after a time it makes sense to do it your self and get others to piggy back on your infrastructure so you can charge them.  Last I read 1.5% of the worlds power usage is social media data center infrastructure.  That is one of the reasons why it made sense for Google to build a 3GW solar farm on their campus.  This is also one of the reasons they really want you to use their cloud.  You might get some usage free but they get paid through advertising or some other channel.

Not really a new paradigm.  Cloud vs local has been going on for quite some time.  Initially it was all cloud since only large institutions could afford a system.  Then small systems came out and small data centers started to crop up.  It has been going back and forth every since.  What makes the cloud possible is the same thing that makes a very small data center possible.

The fight to a certain extent is talent.  If you have a good IT person they can build a small data center in a small foot print.  The tools keep making it all easier but since it is easier we get more features so it get more complex.  Good Admins are not real easy to find.  There is a ton of talent out there.  Getting a person who is talented, organized, works hard, cares, communicates, proactive, documents, adaptive, level headed, and can prioritize is not so easy.
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F4?

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Re: A new paradigm
« Reply #2 on: April 12, 2012, 05:30:15 PM »
Fund through flesh

I'm not worthy.

mynameismud

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Re: A new paradigm
« Reply #3 on: April 12, 2012, 05:39:18 PM »
that is another 5% of the world power usage.
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mungeclimber

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Re: A new paradigm
« Reply #4 on: April 12, 2012, 06:22:16 PM »
There are other hardware costs.  
Power, UPS, PDM's , Power Whips, AC, Floor space, Server cabinets, SNX, people,  etc...


Not really a new paradigm.  Cloud vs local has been going on for quite some time.  Initially it was all cloud since only large institutions could afford a system.  Then small systems came out and small data centers started to crop up.  It has been going back and forth every since.  What makes the cloud possible is the same thing that makes a very small data center possible.



Hardware DC layer is part of the cloud provider. Funding the growth and new features, on demand, as it were, seems not present. Admittedly my research is thin.

If there is a middleware service, that has direct funding, and visibility into that growth as it's funded, with fast deployment of the cloud storage, compute, db, etc (think azure), then it's already happened. But I don't think it has. Think like funding directly, like kickstarter, but for it's own infrastructure of apps. Self supporting community of features funded by it's user base.

I see your point about talent. 

And it could be unsustainable for other reasons having to do with marketing (lack of visibility/critcal mass).
On Aid at Pinns... It's all A1 til it crumbles. - Munge

mynameismud

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Re: A new paradigm
« Reply #5 on: April 12, 2012, 09:22:57 PM »
I think it could work.  With a team it possible.  Start small and grow. 
Here's to sweat in your eye