zlacker

Data centers cost billions. Signal, and pretty much everyone else who isn't already in the data center business, is far away from breakeven on that.

>>maxfur+(OP)
There are several steps between using AWS and building a datacentre.

- Using similar services from cheaper cloud providers

- Renting VMs

- Renting whole servers

- Renting rack space + power

- Renting larger spaces (many racks, or part or all of a whole floor)

>>maxfur+(OP)
The small ISP/phone/cable company I worked for in high school had a data center. Maybe 20 racks. It was pretty damn reliable (old-school phone infra techs knew how to make shit stay “online”). I guarantee it wasn’t above the single-digit millions to build, inflation adjusted.

>>hotnfr+oe
That example of your small telecom company isn't really relevant here, is it? Signal needs to work well for people around the world.

>>frakki+po
You can serve tens to hundreds of millions of messaging clients with data centers (plural) that don’t cost billions, even collectively, to build.

>>maxfur+(OP)
You don't have to buy a data centre... You can lease space in an existing facility for almost nothing.