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Use One Big Server (2022)

(specbranch.com)
343 points antov825 | 1 comments | 31 Aug 25 17:29 UTC | HN request time: 0.22s | source
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bob1029 ◴[31 Aug 25 18:16 UTC] No.45085506[source]▶
This isn't even the end game for "one big server". AMD will give the most bang per rack, but there are other factors.

An IBM z17 is effectively one big server too, but provides levels of reliability that are simply not available in most IT environments. It won't outperform the AMD rack, but it will definitely keep up for most practical workloads.

If you sit down and really think honestly about the cost of engineering your systems to an equivalent level of reliability, you may find the cost of the IBM stack to be competitive in a surprising number of cases.

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dardeaup ◴[31 Aug 25 23:35 UTC] No.45088064[source]▶
At what cost politically? I would expect political battles to be far more intense than any of the technical ones.
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sgarland ◴[01 Sep 25 00:30 UTC] No.45088334[source]▶
That’s because 75% (citation: wild-ass estimate) of tech workers are incapable of critical thinking, and blindly parrot whatever they’ve heard / read. The number of times I’ve seen something on HN, thought “that doesn’t sound right,” and then spent a day disproving it locally is too damn high. Of course, by then no one gives a shit, and they’ve all moved on patting each other on the back about how New Shiny is better.
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grg0 ◴[01 Sep 25 18:36 UTC] No.45095362[source]▶
I do wish this field were more scientific and factual. Rather, it more closely resembles cults.
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1. dardeaup ◴[01 Sep 25 22:50 UTC] No.45097308[source]▶
I agree. I always cringe when I see a job posting where they're wanting to hire a "passionate" xxx engineer. I always think to myself, "no, you really don't. you want to hire a dispassionate engineer who is objective". It's very difficult to be objective when you're passionate about something (especially a technology). And then what do you do with that passionate person when the organization gets rid of the technology that they're passionate about?

ETA - fixed spelling error