zlacker

>>pul+(OP)
> Vertical scaling — a bigger, exponentially more expensive server

This is in practice not true at all. Vertical scaling is typically a sublinear cost increase (up to a point, but that point is a ridiculous beast of a machine), since you're (typically) upgrading just the CPU and/or just the RAM or just the storage; not all of them at once.

There are instances where you can get nearly 10x the machine for 2x the cost.

>>margin+lu
Disagree- typically vertical scaling is lumpy, and even worse- CPU and RAM upgrades are typically not linear, because you're limited by the number of slots/sockets and the manufacturers intentionally charge higher (expoentially) prices for the largest RAM and fastest CPUs.

>>dekhn+UG
With clouds this is not true anymore. They are exactly linear. If you ask for a smaller node they are simply propositioning a chunk of a larger machine anyway.

There is a point where the exponential pricing starts, but that point is way out there than most people expect. Probably ~100CPU, ~1TB RAM, >50Gbps network etc.