Ask HN: Cloud - is it waiting to bite us in the tush, hard?
Has anyone read through a service agreement with cloud service providers?
First problem: Cloud hosting services are apparently not responsible for "security and privacy" of whatever you upload. This basically means you don't own what you create/upload - they could pass on your uploaded content to anyone (even for money) and you have no remedy against them. This also means no IP for you (since they are considered public domain)!
Second problem: The cost is sky high when you scale. Has anyone done a cost comparison b/w cloud based maintenence, hosting and deployment vs your own servers on maybe rented out racks? Compare backups and multi-nodal solutions.
Finally: You have no control over your stuff - what triggered this in my mind was when I saw how many companies have their sites taken down while they are being investigated for stuff they have very little control over vs. companies who own their infrastructure and thus need to be subpoena-ed or issued a warrant against to but taken down. For example, consider two scenarios of a popular company, say Facebook or Craigslist, let's make it FB. Now if FB is on the cloud and some teenager kills himself from being bullied through it then all the police have to do is ask the hosting company to take down FB while it’s under investigation. The hosting company wants to keep peace so it complies and FB can’t do a thing about it. On the other hand, if FB has its own infrastructure and the cops have an issue, FB can wave the middle finger at them until they get a order from a judge to shut their servers down, which is much, much harder for cops to do and they must make a strong case before getting such order. So basically my point here is you’re at someone’s mercy and could be driven out of business easily by the flick of a switch.
None of this is concrete, and is just a starting point. However, they are serious concerns, and I don’t think there is a better place than HN to ask this question. Please share your thoughts freely.