The summary.
HYPERSCALE FACILITIES ASSUME FAILURE RATHER THAN PREVENTING IT
They build redundancy in software instead of in every server, which requires both software designed for it and enormous scale.
Smaller facilities compete on proximity, flexibility and local support.
EDGE COMPUTING EXISTS BECAUSE DISTANCE IMPOSES LATENCY THAT BANDWIDTH CANNOT REMOVE
Most businesses meet it as a content delivery network, which speeds delivery but not generation.
Establish which of those your problem actually is.
INTENSIVE WORKLOADS HAVE OUTGROWN MANY EXISTING FACILITIES
Air cooling has a practical limit, and specialised capacity is scarcer and more expensive as a result.
Most small businesses need none of it.
LOCAL CAPACITY HAS GROWN SUBSTANTIALLY
Traffic between African networks once routed through Europe. Local hosting now means lower latency and continued reachability during international disruption.
Grid reliability remains the defining operational challenge locally — ask any provider how they address it specifically.
AUTOMATING AN UNDEFINED PROCESS PRODUCES AN AUTOMATED UNDEFINED PROCESS
Define it first.
THE MISCONCEPTION THAT COSTS MOST
That the provider backs up your data. Their backups protect against their failures, not your deletions.
