Results 1 to 25 of 28
-
04-28-2011, 09:49 AM #1Newbie
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Posts
- 8
Cloud providers: why omit CPU type?
I have always been wondering: Why are cloud providers omitting CPU type? They basically sell 2Ghz, 2GB RAM, 2GB storage, not Xeon 2Ghz, 2GB RAM, 2GB storage.
Also why isn't anyone also asking such question? Isnt it relevant? Is it because it is too new and people just dont understand how it works and thus doesn't care what kind of CPU they are buying?
Someone once told me: it doesn't really matter to the client, but to the provider. If provider offers Celeron, it will be able to put much less accounts(vps/cloud) on it, so its rather a provider choices to save on space/optimization/etc.
Ok, but since most of providers use Xen to provide cloud services, and since Xen doesnt allow RAM overselling, the above thinking is useless, right? Because if you have a Celeron with 2GB RAM and a Xeon with 2GB RAM, and let's say you offer a Cloud with 1GB RAM, it won't matter where you put, you will only be able to put 2 of this plan in either the celeron or Xeon, since both have same RAM amount.
Thoughts?
-
04-28-2011, 10:13 AM #2Newbie
- Join Date
- Mar 2011
- Location
- Honolulu, HI
- Posts
- 20
I think the main reason is the marketing spin on the term "cloud." At the end of the day no matter how you put your ad campaign together its still the same hardware everyone else is using and has been using for quite a while. You've probably seen this video by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison Why Larry Ellison hates Cloud computing and it sort of goes into the same thing you're getting at but with broader strokes likening "cloud" to "Internet" back in the day.
A lot of customers are fixated on cloud and like you say don't have any idea about what it means or how it works, kinda like "managed services," a little different definition depending on who you ask.Kuni Agard, Sales & Business Development Manager
Superb Internet Corp. Ahead of the Rest® since 1996
Dedicated Servers|VPS|Reseller
Toll Free 888-354-6128 x2123 ۰ kagard@superb.net ۰ www.superb.net
-
04-28-2011, 10:20 AM #3Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Jan 2011
- Location
- Varna, Bulgaria
- Posts
- 1,276
First Xen does allow overselling of RAM.
About the CPU - if they tell you a specific CPU then they would have to stick with that CPU forever? It is much better to just tell you some measure of productivity i.e. GHz in this case, though MIPS or FLOPS would be better. But i doubt many customers would understand MIPS/FLOPS, while everyone knows GHz.
-
04-28-2011, 10:23 AM #4Newbie
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Posts
- 8
-
04-28-2011, 10:27 AM #5Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Jan 2011
- Location
- Varna, Bulgaria
- Posts
- 1,276
Yes, 1 GHz on a modern Xeon would be better than 1GHz on some old Celeron, that is why i suggested using something more real, like MIPS. However noone who has to pay electricity bill would make a cloud out of Celerons Plus you can't put too much RAM on a Celeron system.
Also saying "Xeon" doesn't mean much - an old generation Xeon is no match for the performance of a modern Xeon, even if both are at tha same frequency 2GHz.
-
04-28-2011, 11:08 AM #6Randy
- Join Date
- Aug 2006
- Location
- Ashburn VA, San Diego CA
- Posts
- 4,615
IMO those who are cloud shopping aren't concerned with CPU...they have probably been taught by marketing hype that cloud will automatically scale to anything their app needs...
Fast Serv Networks, LLC | AS29889 | DDOS Protected | Managed Cloud, Streaming, Dedicated Servers, Colo by-the-U
Since 2003 - Ashburn VA + San Diego CA Datacenters
-
04-29-2011, 07:05 PM #7Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Jul 2002
- Location
- London, United Kingdom
- Posts
- 4,455
Generally, no, it's not relevant (assuming the provider is giving you *dedicated* resources). The physical hardware specification tends to only matter for the oversellers using software like OpenVZ for the virtualisation - where you're sharing the capabilities of the box.
We quote 2Ghz CPU and almost always overdeliver (as servers are added to the clusters, they're usually faster cpus) - finding it better to promise the minimum the client can expect/use/rely-onRob Golding Astutium Ltd - UK based ICANN Accredited Domain Registrar - proud to accept BitCoins
Buying Web Hosts and Domain Registrars Today @ hostacquisitions.co.uk
UK Web Hosting | UK VPS | UK Dedicated Servers | ADSL/FTTC | Backup/DR | Cloud
UK Colocation | Reseller Accounts | IPv6 Transit | Secondary MX | DNS | WHMCS Modules
-
04-29-2011, 07:31 PM #8WHT Addict
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- Massachusetts
- Posts
- 123
Exactly, most cloud providers that I have worked with sell dedicated resources and generally there is very little difference between brands that you would end up actually noticing.
I would also expect that any reputable cloud provider would tell you what the underlying hardware is if you asked about.
-
04-29-2011, 09:56 PM #9Cloud Hosting Pioneer
- Join Date
- Jan 2010
- Posts
- 1,030
The CPU type does matter a lot, frankly it matters more than the clock speed. Why? Modern processors with virtualization support and proper enhancements will function significantly faster than older ones of the same clock speed. We've easily seen 500% increases in speed, clock for clock, comparing one processor type to another.
So "2GHz" or whatever really means nothing. As a consumer, you should be concerned about the processing technology used in your servers. Besides the processors themselves, the memory speed/cache/pci, etc are all going to vary in speed and quality based on the chipset used.
Now to take it to another level, some providers such as Rackspace and ourselves do not list CPU specs publicly due to the fact there are several Clouds in production of various hardware specifications. A quick message to any company though should yield you exactly what you are looking for.
-
05-02-2011, 02:19 AM #10Web Hosting Guru
- Join Date
- Jun 2010
- Location
- Panama
- Posts
- 267
Most of the cloud host company's tend to put almost the same hardware on the hypervisors but not always will is like that for example, your vm cloud machine can be in an hypervisor with 2.4ghz but in the future can be in 3ghz or 2.0 ghz due to hardware upgrades or replacing an old one, your vm will just scale with the new hardware in the cloud.
-
05-04-2011, 05:10 AM #11Junior Guru
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Posts
- 192
Also, the later xeons are -required- by clouds that offer windows, etc, as the virtualisation support on the chips is needed to run the OS, let alone do it efficiently.
____________________________________________
European and USA IAAS Cloud Hosting
http://www.dediserve.com Dublin, London, Dallas
Ranked by Cloudharmony.com as the fastest cloud in the world.
-
05-04-2011, 05:47 AM #12Hello World
- Join Date
- Nov 2009
- Location
- /etc/my.cnf
- Posts
- 10,657
-
05-04-2011, 09:17 AM #13Cloud Hosting Pioneer
- Join Date
- Jan 2010
- Posts
- 1,030
-
05-04-2011, 09:25 AM #14Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- May 2003
- Posts
- 1,708
We don't state specifics because we use a mix of Intel and Opteron. All are server grade processors still being produced, but as stated above the technology changes so quickly every new server installed is quicker than the last one. I tend to think most cloud providers are doing the same.
-
05-04-2011, 10:29 AM #15Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Sep 2004
- Location
- Miami, FL
- Posts
- 2,762
Most of them will tell you when/if you ask. But then again, not all will use the same equipments all the time. As kris1351 said, technology changes all the time. My cloud provider do tell me what servers they use and etc but in the end, there's just too much to keep up and I end up not wanting to know anymore.
Eventually comes back to square 1. Not wanting to know what they use.Aaron Ong
Dedicated Servers - 100TB Servers - 100Mbps Unmetered Servers - Web Hosting - CDN Network
Servers in Central, East/West Coast USA, EUROPE and ASIA
Welltodo Century - www.welltodocentury.com
-
05-04-2011, 02:28 PM #16Web Hosting Guru
- Join Date
- Oct 2010
- Location
- Copenhagen
- Posts
- 252
Sadly, most cloud providers are really bad at transparency when it comes to CPU specs, including RackSpace. I've tried to get MIPS, Flops and a Passmark score for different server configurations without a result. Only response I could get: The cpu's are all different. But you'll get around 2-2.4GHZ. Hardly pressed, they advice their customers to open a test account and do the benchmarking themselves.
Amazon are doing fairly well with their ECU (one ECU being equivalent of a 400 passmark score).
The CloudHarmony initiative is a good place to start when comparing processing power across the spectrum, IMO.
-
05-04-2011, 03:55 PM #17Web Hosting Guru
- Join Date
- Aug 2005
- Posts
- 309
Today I asked Rackspace what CPUs they used in their cloud, and they said "...we don't share a lot of the proprietary data on the specs...our techs may be able to share a little more on that once you are onboard"
Sorry, but I don't buy the "proprietary" argument. This would be analogous to wanting to buy a new car but having the dealer refuse to tell you any specifications or let you look under the hood until you've agreed to buy the car.
Perhaps some providers have outdated or inadequate infrastructure they are trying to hide.
-
05-04-2011, 04:52 PM #18Cloud Hosting Pioneer
- Join Date
- Jan 2010
- Posts
- 1,030
They do, I've had customers recently come over that were on Kentsfield processors with them. haha
-
05-05-2011, 10:34 AM #19Web Hosting Evangelist
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Posts
- 451
I'm not sure why people are omitting CPU types. We pretty much stay on the brink of technology. All of our Intel machines are Westmeres, All of our AMD Machines are the Magny-Cours. IF we can save 10w of power, we will do it. When Bulldozer comes out, We are more than likely going to be jumping on that boat.
Thanks for bringing this up. It does make sense.█ Michael Wallace - michael@innoscale.net
█ Innovative Scaling Technologies Inc. - A Cloud Service Provider
█ 24/7 Support, Call us @ 1-307-200-4880
█ www.innoscale.net - Seattle, Silicon Valley, Dallas, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Europe
-
05-05-2011, 10:41 AM #20Temporarily Suspended
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Posts
- 351
So really, all clouds are hosted on Athlon single cores, face it.
-
05-05-2011, 10:42 AM #21Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Oct 2001
- Location
- Ohio
- Posts
- 8,535
We don't publish the information on our site as it really depends on which cloud it is, and when it was built. Each zone of ours will have the same specs as all the HVs were built at the same time, but the specs will differ from zone to zone. Not wildly, but there's some differences.
If you ask, we'll share info about the servers, but we won't be as open about our SAN units.
-
05-05-2011, 04:48 PM #22Web Hosting Guru
- Join Date
- Oct 2010
- Location
- Copenhagen
- Posts
- 252
-
05-05-2011, 09:24 PM #23Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Oct 2001
- Location
- Ohio
- Posts
- 8,535
-
05-07-2011, 05:52 AM #24Web Hosting Guru
- Join Date
- Oct 2010
- Location
- Copenhagen
- Posts
- 252
-
05-07-2011, 11:16 AM #25Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Oct 2001
- Location
- Ohio
- Posts
- 8,535
Similar Threads
-
Best cloud provider? List of cloud providers?
By AndiV74 in forum Cloud HostingReplies: 28Last Post: 09-27-2012, 01:12 PM -
Alternative cloud hosting providers to VPS.Net and Gigenet cloud
By microvax in forum Cloud HostingReplies: 7Last Post: 08-26-2011, 06:28 PM -
Any cloud-type solutions less expensive than Rackspace Cloud?
By jk09 in forum Web HostingReplies: 7Last Post: 06-20-2010, 09:17 AM -
Cpu type
By Webbezcom in forum Dedicated ServerReplies: 8Last Post: 01-04-2009, 04:58 AM -
Any hosting providers for this type of site?
By Grond in forum Web HostingReplies: 5Last Post: 06-27-2002, 12:47 PM