Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Cloud Hosting : Media file servers - to cloud or not to cloud

[whdev]

Hey guys, just wondering is it a good idea to cloud media file servers? Main function of the server would just be hosting static media files (videos, images, etc.) and let people download them direct. Nothing fancy, nothing dynamic.

Does seems like using cloud for this is more expensive, because really what's really going to be used is the bandwidth (and bandwidth on cloud is expensive). Probably need decent HD speed, not a lot of CPU. Since download will be 24/7, hourly billing isn't really an advantage.

What do you guys think?

[gordonrp]

I ran a large media site in the past, no way would it have been profitable if I used S3 or other CDN/cloud services. Assuming you're running a free media site I would think you would have a hard time recouping cloud costs.

Look for an unmetered server solution, and yes you want HDD speed not CPU (assuming no video encoding is going on) so I would look for RAID10 if your budget allows, or separate non-RAID hard drives if your budget does not allow for RAID. You're typically better off with 2x 1TB drives than 1x 2TB drives when considering a non-RAID solution, the more spindles the better.

[chennaihomie]

I would agree with Gordon. CDN would be a very costly solution for serving a lot of content unless you are going to charge your visitors of your website. Try getting an high bandwidth server instead. Preferably close to your targeted audience.